Freshly made tortillas using an ancient 'metate' in the island of Patzcuaro in Michoacan, Mexico

The ancient art of making fresh corn tortillas is no easy task, to do that in a place like London is actually a real challenge.  Cool Chile Company are the people who have undertaken such a task and finally they have their brand new tortilla making machine in place!  This is good news for tortilla lovers all over the UK.

On an grey, icy and cold January morning Mexican friend Gicela and myself, went to northwest London to meet Dodie who was going to show us her new tortilla machine.  When we arrived to the place, we had no idea that we were going to be transported directly back to the days when –napkin in hand; we used to queue at the local artisan tortilla maker to buy fresh and soft tortillas in Queretaro for Gicela and in Mexico City for me.  For any person who has been to one of these tortilla shops, you will know exactly what I mean by the evocative smell of fresh maize dough being cooked and the rickety sounds that emanate from an over used tortilla machine.

Of course that things are slightly different at Cool Chile, the machine is brand new and the process follows all the rigorous food safety and hygiene standards required by the industry over here.

First there is the mixing process, where water and dehydrated masa harina meet to make the dough or masa:

Then the dough is fed into the machine, cut into identical rounds and then taken through a heated conveyor belt that cooks the tortillas to perfection:

Then fresh tortillas are ready to be packed.

This operation seems very simple, but maybe because of this  simplicity, it is that the whole thing is actually very complicated.  For a start it is very important to access the right masa –by this I mean one which is fine enough for making tortillas with the right texture and of course one that is GMO free.  Then there is the business of the water –a crucial element here.  London water is really hard and I reckon that this is a reason why tortillas over here can turn from soft and pliable to solid cardboard discs in a matter of seconds –in my next post some tips on how to avoid this… And then there is the issue of packaging them under the right conditions so that they arrive to customers still soft and yummy.

Dodie and all the staff at Cool Chile Co., do their best efforts to ensure you get good tortillas over here.  Of course they are not going to be identical to the ones you get off from a stall or a tortilleria in Mexico, simply because conditions are very different: weather, logistics, water etc., however these tortillas are good and very tasty.

When you buy a packet, consume them as soon as possible, warm them up inside a plastic bag in a lower setting in the microwave for just a few seconds until warmed through; if you put a glass of water in the microwave at the same time, the tortillas retain their moisture.

If you are not using them all in one go, wrap them tightly in cling film and keep in the fridge but for no longer than a day or two, otherwise they will go stale.  Tortillas are made to be consumed on the day of purchase.

Leftover tortillas are not good for making soft tacos because they dry up quite quickly.  However there are lots of things you can do with them, you can turn them into totopos or tortilla chips: cut them into triangles and bake them until crispy or fry them in a little oil.  These are good for chilaquiles or tortilla soup.

Leftover tortillas are also very good for making a dish from northern Mexico called Migas.

The recipe will follow in my next post, watch this space…

If you want to buy soft corn tortillas go to www.coolchile.co.uk

*With thanks to Gicela Morales for her videos and to Dodie Miller and Cool Chile Co. for allowing us the experience of seeing the only tortilla machine in London

I did not know that this was going to become my own patch of land!

Coincidentally this is a photo of my allotment 5 years before it was mine, I took this photo with my then new camera –just by chance! and little did I know that this was going to become my own little patch of London’s fertile earth!

Yes, like many people who were bit by the bug of the hot summer of 2003, I decided to finally stop dreaming and apply for an allotment and yes I did have to patiently wait in the queue.  For long six years I waited, the last one being the most frustrating because for the whole year I was literally ‘the next one on line’ I finally got given a piece of land and it is so exciting!  More of allotment adventures in future posts…

This is what we were given

After one very hard day of hard digging! The excitement of the first day!

At present all the work seems non existent because we are in winter, but I am doing my theoretical work, such as planning, looking at seed catalogues, reading on the subject  and  ‘investing on the land’ by feeding it, at present it is all preparation work:

The soil is ready to be wrapped up to lie 'dormant' during winter...

I really look forward to this experience, I have wanted it for many, many years.  On the first day we made more acquaintances than many visits to the local park, local pubs and restaurants have done.  This reaffirms my belief that allotments create cohesiveness in societies.

Literally to all the people I tell I have a new allotment, they get all excited and 99% of people want to know more, they want to grow their own food and many are surprised to know that you don’t need a patch to do so, a windowsill can do wonders actually!   I conclude that more should be done to increase awareness in people growing their own vegetables, because regardless of whether people have their own allotment, urban agricultural patch, balcony or windowsill and pots, the experience of growing your own produce at whatever level brings joy, connects you to the earth and if has to be good.

My gorgeous serrano chilli plant by the kitchen windowsill, grown from seed!

Growing your own food is also extremely important for the security of many people around the world.  Did you know that in many parts of poor countries, it is women who do the agriculture? That they do it efficiently and that by doing this they are actually able to preserve and feed their families?  Not only that, if people –women particularly; were given their own plot of land, they would become more self sufficient and secure, bringing with it a level of independence, in other words the effects of having a patch of land can change lives in many positive ways in many parts of the world!

More posts on this topic will appear here in the near future.

I never ask for charity money because I know how overwhelmed we are by extra information and for people asking for money etc. I have witnessed the work of this charity from the beginning and I can assure you that ALL the money raised goes towards curing the blind. Please send what you can and ask your friends the same thing; instead of getting one Christmas present this year, ask them to use that money to change somebody else’s life, I can assure you this will be one of the best investments you will ever make.

THREE MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE…..

How many times have you heard/seen an appeal like this?
“Your donation of £15 will cure another blind person in India”.
How many times have you not responded because of a suspicion that your £15 would not in fact do this?
You are right to be suspicious. Your £15 can only be curing a blind person if all that money goes to the hospital incurring the surgical costs for that operation. Your £15 can only be curing a blind person if that person is actually blind.

The man in this picture is 32year-old Dr.Shiva, an eye surgeon living in the state of Orissa in India. The woman is ophthalmologist Dr.Lucy Mathen from the London-based charity Second Sight. The boys are 9year-old Subala Suna and 12year-old Ranjit Bariha. Both were blind and had their sight restored by cataract surgery. Earlier this year, Lucy met Dr.Shiva and discovered that:
He had single-handedly cured 6,000 blind people in the past year
He had offered all the surgery free of charge
He took no salary and sleeps on the floor of his office
He works from 4.30am till midnight most days
Why?
Because the state of Orissa has at least half a million people unnecessarily blind from cataract. And he can restore sight in just three minutes (perhaps five minutes when it comes to children like the two in this picture).
Shiva comes from a poor family himself. So he has dedicated his life as an ophthalmologist to eradicating blindness from his home state…an area where up to half the population lives on less than 15pence a day. With his surgical skills he could be earning a fortune in one of India’s wealthy cities (where 80 per cent of eye surgeons work in private practice).
Second Sight seeks out doctors like Dr.Shiva who are actually curing the blind.
Second Sight’s own experienced volunteer surgeons also work alongside teams like Dr.Shiva’s and cure the blind themselves.
Second Sight does not spend one penny of donated money on office costs. Second Sight is run by volunteers. So
Just £12.50 donated each month would cure a blind person in India. A monthly direct debit for a year would mean 12 people would regain their sight because of you.

This should have taken around three minutes to read (the time it takes Shiva to do a cataract operation). If you are convinced, why not try the Three Minute Appeal on just five friends? www.secondsight.org.uk lucymathen@yahoo.com

If you have a glut of tomatoes, you can a) buy the tomato book and get recipes to make chutneys, salsas and ketchups or b) work with them as they ripen.

Below is a simple yet effective recipe that can be used for tomatoes that are ripening at various times, in other words ideal for tomato growers, it makes a delicious tomato sauce that a) takes no time and b) is absolutely delicious.

Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan, add a clove of pureed garlic –or two, and fry gently until aromatic, add some optional pimenton and stir, add some ripen or nearly ripen tomatoes, cut in half or in wedges depending on the size, season well with salt, pepper and add a little sugar, mash the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon whilst stirring, add some water so that you end up with a gloopy sauce.  Add some roughly torn basil leaves.  Add this tomato sauce to freshly cooked pasta and serve with parmesan shavings.This sauce tastes of heaven, it is fragrant and delicious, it will remind you of Italian holidays.  Its simplicity and the flavour combinations are sublime, ideal for a mid-week meal.

some of the produce from our garden

Having said all of that, obviously you don’t have to grow tomatoes to enjoy this sauce… just buy some of the heaps of tomatoes available and give it a go, it is truly yum!

This is the time when we should harvest our own fruits and vegetables.  This is the time when we can start making local contacts with our neighbours and share food.

Bring common sense to your life.

Grow your food and share it with those near you.

Click here for more information.

Delicious Granny Smiths from the neighbours next door.

Now that the summer is nearly over and the kids are going back to school, there might be some things that you want to do with your time, like getting inspiration for cooking good things.  Or maybe you just want to be the student and do a cookery course.  Or you might just want to have some fun and watch a cookery demo.  Whatever is the case, below is a schedule of classes that I will be doing during the autumn that include cookery demos, hands-on classes and full courses.  They all promise to be highly interesting, fun and inspiring, so come and join at any of the various venues where I teach.

Thursday 10^th September 11 am: A Middle East Hands on Feast.  Cookery day at Just Cook info@just-cook.com

Drawing on influences from Turkey, the Lebanon, Syria & others, our expert Sofia Craxton will guide you through varied techniques, from learning how to bake the Turkish way, use of herbs & spices to create fabulous vegetarian dishes & a variety of dips, sauces & marinades, to produce a stunning Middle Eastern banquet which will amaze & astound your friends.

SOLD OUT Saturday 19^th September 11am: Working It 9 to 5: Fast Food for Busy Lives with Sofia Craxton at www.booksforcooks.com

Do you love food, fashion and cooking for friends and family yet find your busy lifestyle gets in the way? Join Sofia Craxton for a class that will tantalise your tastebuds and your inner fashionista as she cooks from Ravinder Bhogal’s Cook in Boots and take home simple, tasty and effortless dishes to dress up or down.

SOLD OUT Thursday 1^st October 11am: Ottolenghi Flavours with Sofia Craxton at www.booksforcooks.com

Ottolenghi draws on a wealth of culinary traditions – in particular the Mediterranean basin – to make inventive honest food from quality ingredients. Sofia Craxton shows you how to rustle up three courses in no time using recipes from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook.

Saturday 31 Oct  11am: Festive Feasts from Around the World at Divertimenti Brompton  http://www.divertimenti.co.uk/Cookery_school/sc1m-festive-feasts-from-around-the-world.html

Autumn is the start of festival season in many parts of the world. Religious, historical and culinary themes form the basis of celebratory and remembrance feasts. Join Sofia Craxton as she prepares a number of these festive favourites from the wonderful to the weird! Recipes include Mexican Sugar Skulls (Mexican Day of The Dead), Aubergine Persian Stew with Crusty Smoked Rice , Pumpkin Pie (American Thanksgiving) and Corn Bread Conkies (Guy Fawkes Night Barbados Style!).. Just to name a fabulous few!

SOLD OUT Saturday 14th November at 11 am: Flavour at www.booksforcooks.com
With kitchens that feature olive oil next to soy sauce, vanilla pods next to chilli powder, oregano next to garam masala, we can all enjoy the tastes of many parts of the world in our own homes. Inspired by Vicky Bhogal’s Flavour: A World of Beautiful Food Sofia Craxton takes an array of aromatic ingredients and shows how to combine them according to their flavour in simple and imaginative ways and you take home a collection of exciting new dishes.
Wednesday 25 Nov at 11 am :  Super Soups! Hands-on Masterclass at Divertimenti Marylebone http://www.divertimenti.co.uk/Cookery_school/sc2m-super-soups-hands-on-masterclass.html/

Join soup supremo and former New Covent Garden Soup chef, Sofia Craxton, for a hands on masterclass. Learn how to prepare super soups and stocks, using the best ingredients this season has to offer. Recipes include Chicken Lemon and Tarragon Soup, Spinach Tomato and Mascarpone Soup and Spicy Butternut Tom Yum Soup.

Thursday 26th November at 11 am: Serving Up Simple Dinner Parties at www.booksforcooks.com

Sofia offers a creative guide to inspirational yet practical menus for stress-free dinner parties over the festive season, while you get to take home a collection of tried-and-true recipes for great dinner party fare.

I also do lots of private cookery classes e-mail me for information info@sofiacraxton.co.uk

The book Teach yourself Ayurveda tells us that ‘its lipophilic properties enable it to penetrate deeply into the cell membranes, making it a potent brain tonic that strenghtens the nervous system, improves memory and concentration and it promotes a good complexion and eyesight’. *

It has also been found that it increases good cholesterol and decreases bad cholesterol.  Ayurveda recommends that it should be used instead of unrefined cooking oils (apparently olive oil causes cellulitis).

So ghee not only tastes delicious, it is good for the body!

You can purchase ghee from many places at considerable expense but you can make your own at a fraction of the price.  Below is a method for making it at home.   Just remember that once made you will need to place it in a jar and wait for it to cool down before sealing with a lid, keep at room temperature and never in the fridge -moisture and condensation are not good for it.  Ghee improves with time, it does not go rancid, which means you can make a large batch and use as you require.  Another thing, always use a clean spoon each time you help yourself to ghee to avoid contamination.

fresly made ghee in its liquid form

Method for making Ghee: [from Teach yourself Ayurveda]

Use a good quality unsalted butter.  It is good to make a large batch so you can use 2-3 x 250 g blocks at a time.  Place the butter in a clean and dry pan and on low heat, let it melt gently and then simmer on the lowest possibly heat.  At first the butter will make a crackling noise, it will look thick and cloudy and a foam will form on the surface.  Stir it from time to time for the first 2 – 3 minutes and then leave it to simmer for 15 – 20 minutes, the ghee will tell you when it is ready because the crackling sound will go and the butter will turn clear and acquire a golden colour.  Do not stir.  Take off the heat, skim any foam from the surface and strain the clear liquid through a piece of muslin into a clean and dry jar and allow to cool before sealing.  The milk solids should remain in the pan.

Use ghee instead of your normal cooking oils and enjoy delicious tasting foods that are actually beneficial for you, but like with everything in life, do not use to excess, because then like all things in life it will stop being good.

*from Teach yourself Ayurveda by Sarah Lie 2007.

corn, corn and more corn

Here is a very simple recipe for Mexican Corn Cake which is particularly delicious using home-grown sweetcorn.   This cake can be eaten on its own with tea or coffee, it can be served as a pudding and it can be served warm as a side dish to accompany things like mole or simply roasted or chargrilled green poblanos or capsicums.   If you are thinking of serving it as a savoury side dish, reduce the amount of sugar by about 20%.

Makes 1 x 18 cm round cake tin, or makes 8 muffins.

Ingredients

250 g sweetcorn kernels

50 g butter or ghee (this one is healthier and tastier)

50 g unrefined caster sugar

50 g plain flour

2 medium eggs

1 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

Heat up the oven to 180 C conventional oven / 160 C fan oven / Gas Mark 4

Grease and line the bottom of the cake tin and grease the sides as well.

Clean the sweetcorn and using a knife, dislodge the corn kernels from the ear of corn, put them in a food processor and whiz until they are more or less smooth.  Add the rest of the ingredients and process again for about 1 minute to incorporate well.

Pour this mix into the cake tin and put in the middle shelf of the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes, check that it is cooked by inserting a skewer to the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean, then it is done, if it is not, then give another 5 – 10 minutes; the top should be golden without being burnt.

Take out of the oven and leave to cool on a rack, serve.

Courgette flowers as sold in Mexican street markets

Or zucchini are abundant at this time of year.  It is lovely to wake up and find large yellow flowers fully open and a few days later off they go, one after the other and another and another until we feel overwhelmed by such abundance!

If that is the case and you have run out of ideas here is a recipe that featured in my first book ‘The Mexican Mama’s Kitchen’ and it is for a cake.  The principle is similar to that of a carrot cake, but here you use courgettes and I hope it is of use for those of you with a courgette or zucchini glut!

Mexican courgette and walnut cake:

Makes one x 23 cm round cake

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time:  40 minutes

3 large eggs

320 g 1 /2 cups caster sugar

250 ml / 1 cup vegetable oil

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

300 g / 2 cups plain flour

2 Tbsp chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon salt

350 g grated courgettes / zucchini

1 x 23 cm size baking tin, lined with greaseproof paper

Heat up the oven to 160 C (fan oven), 180 C (convection oven), 350 F, Gas Mark 4

Sift the flour with the baking powder, and put in a bowl.

Mix the cinnamon and sugar, put in another bowl

With a balloon whisk, beat the eggs until they look fluffy.  Add the sugar, cinnamon, oil and salt and continue beating.  Add the grated courgettes, walnuts and the sifted flour and baking powder mix.  Stir well until incorporated.

Bake the cake in the oven for about 40 minutes or until set.  One way to tell if a cake is made is to stick a skewer in the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean, then the cake is ready.

Take out of the oven, cool a bit, un-mould and leave to cool on a wire rack, decorate with sieved icing sugar and serve with vanilla scented ice-cream or crème anglaise.

courgette and walnut cake!

A very strange set of clouds after a very strange summer storm. July 2009