I have a bottle of Marmite that’s been languishing in the back of the cupboard for quite some time. Instead of just smearing it on buttered toast (not that there’s anything wrong with that), I was looking for more interesting applications of this ingredient, which tends to elicit either hatred or love.

How about Marmite rarebit palmiers? A combination of a recipe by Gary Rhodes for Welsh rarebit made with Marmite, and a box of puff pastry (with a sprinkling of smoked paprika on top for good measure).

These are some tasty hors d’oeuvres. Even people who hate Marmite will eat them. Especially if they are holding a drink in the other hand.

For another use of Marmite, a big ‘thank you’ to Sarah at veggieDELISH for posting her Mum’s delicious “Marmite Tart” recipe.

There’s only 1 tsp of Marmite in the entire recipe, but its signature flavour definitely comes through — you end up with a buttery, light cake with cheese pockets and a huge umami hit from the Marmite. Serve with a salad dressed with a strong vinaigrette, to cut through the buttery richness. The only change I made was adding more grated cheese and lining some individual ramekins with panko after the butter.

Marmite and Cheddar Flan

based on the recipe at veggieDELISH

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup + 1 ½ T melted butter
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Marmite
¼ cup panko breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In an electric mixer combine the flour and baking powder. Slowly add the melted butter and then add the grated cheese.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, salt and egg. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.

Pour into a pie dish that has been buttered and had panko bread crumbs swirled around the inside. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out cleanly from the centre, and the top is crackled and slightly golden.

Using the skewer, make small holes over the top of the tart. Melt together the 1 ½ T butter and 1 tsp Marmite and pour over the warm tart.

This is based on the Date Cake recipe by May Bsisu in her book “The Arab Table.” The only modifications I have made here are the additions of crystalised ginger and ginger powder, which makes the cake into a hybrid of Jamaican Ginger Cake and Middle Eastern Date Cake. This is extremely flavourful and stays moist for as long as it lasts.

Ginger-Date Cake

½ lb honey dates, pitted, coarsely chopped
½ cup crystalized ginger, fine dice
1 cup boiling water
½ tsp powdered ginger
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, lightly beaten

Put the chopped dates and crystalized ginger in a bowl and pour the boiling water over top. Put aside for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F . Grease a 7″ by 11″ baking pan.

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. The Kitchenaid helps here.  Meanwhile mix together the flour, baking powder and powdered ginger in a separate bowl.

Mix in the baking soda and the vanilla to the bowl of dates and water.

Add the egg to the creamed sugar and butter and beat well. Add the flour mixture in a few additions, then blend in the date water mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out cleanly from the centre of the cake.

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

The original recipe has a sugar, butter and cream icing poured over, but I find the cake already amazingly sweet and moist without that. Especially with some caramelized bananas placed on top. And ice cream.

Almond cookies from Siena, Tuscany. Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Perfect with a cup of coffee (or a glass of vin santo if you have it). The apricots are not traditional but work well with the almonds, as well as adding a nice textural contrast.

Apricot and Almond Ricciarelli

150 g almond flour
2 egg whites
40 g all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
70 g icing sugar + extra for dusting the cookies
200 g granulated sugar
1 tsp almond extract
100 g almonds, toasted, rough chop
100 g dried apricots, rough chop

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Combine the granulated sugar with the almond flour. Add in the baking powder and the all-purpose flour. Combine thoroughly.
Beat the egg whites until stiff.  Gently fold the almond mixture into the egg whites. Add the almond extract, nuts and apricots.
Place some icing sugar in a bowl. Form one tablespoon of dough into a quenelle, flatten it to form the traditional almond shape and then press the top of the dough into the icing sugar. Place the cookies on a silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes until crackly and golden.

This recipe has 3 separate components, but it’s not difficult and is really delicious.

Apricot Topping
1 cup dried apricots
1 cup water
3 T sugar
5 green cardamom
1 cinnamon stick

Put the apricots, spices and water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove the spices and mash the apricots and remaining water to form a pulp. Stir in the sugar. Leave to cool.

Shortbread
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup icing sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Beat butter and icing sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Stir in flour, combining well. I used some english muffin sized ringmolds placed on a silicone pad. Butter the insides of the ringmolds. Fill the molds halfway (about 1/2″) with the shortbread mixture and pat down with the underside of a metal spoon. Bake for about 12 minutes until slightly golden. Leave in ringmolds to cool.

Crisp Topping
1/3 cup oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 T cold unsalted butter, cubed

Cut the cold butter into the flour. Stir in the ots and the sugar to form a texture that resembles coarse crumbs.

Spread some apricot mixture on top of the cooled shortbread inside the ringmolds. Scatter some of the crisp topping on the apricot mixture. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool and carefully remove the tart from the ringmold. A sharp knife run along the inside of the ringmold can help if there are any sticky bits.

Puff pastry filled with basil pesto in the base, orange heirloom tomatoes (blanched, peeled, macerated in olive oil, prosecco vinegar, sea salt and basil leaves), capriccio fresco, which is a soft cow’s milk cheese, and green and purple basil. Around the outside is a basil vinaigrette and a drizzle of very nice extra virgin olive oil.

The heirloom tomatoes are from the Riverdale Farmer’s Market. My understanding is that the summer was so wet that a lot of the tomatoes were splitting on the vine. It was great to get some nice ones before the autumn starts up.

Goat’s Cheese Sformatino

olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
150 g goat’s cheese
3 T flour
some gratings of nutmeg
salt
pepper

Line some small ramekins with a little of the olive oil. Sweat the onion and garlic in some more olive oil. Beat the eggs and milk. Add the flour. Incorporate the cheese completely trying to avoid lumps. (Bringing the cheese to room temperature will help here.) Add the onion and garlic and seasonings. Pour the mixture into the prepared ramekins. Bake in a bain marie at 350°F for about 30 minutes (until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the sformatino comes out cleanly.)

For a stronger cheese flavour you can add more goat’s cheese or some finely grated parmigiano-reggiano. Some finely minced herbs like chives would also be a good addition.

Looking back I’m thinking this dessert would be best served British-style, which to me is the tart with lashings of crème anglaise poured over the top, not around the perimeter.  Red currants, mint and icing sugar are completely optional. A good cup of milky tea is in order.

Gooseberries aren’t the most commonly eaten berry in these parts, although in Europe they are certainly better known. When I was a kid, my Mom grew some gooseberries in the backyard along with red currants and blackberries. Being from the UK that would have been a taste of home.

Back when ‘Marks & Spencers’ still operated stores in Canada (I’m pretty sure they pulled out of Canada — maybe North America, much to the chagrin of British expats) I remember eating gooseberry fools — a combination of gooseberries, cream, sugar and maybe a bit of gelatin to firm things up — sold in individual serving cups like yogurt. For a department store Marks & Spencers had a great food section. I still miss it.

Today I felt like trying a new pastry recipe. It’s not particularly revolutionary, but it turned out nice and flaky and had no butter in it, just vegetable shortening, and cold evaporated milk instead of cold water to bring the dough together.

The pastry crust was for a tart filled with pastry cream and some gooseberry preserves.

The pastry (enough for a 9″ single pastry crust):

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening
3 T cold 2% evaporated milk

Proceed as per usual pastry making methods, i.e. don’t overwork the dough. Rest it in the refrigerator for about an hour. Don’t handle it too much and melt the fat, etc. I have to say though that I was pretty casual with this one and the crust still turned out light and flaky. Definitely forgiving and definitely a keeper.

After greasing and lining a small tart tin (4″) with the pastry, I filled it halfway with some vanilla pastry cream:

2 cups milk
3 large egg yolks
100 grams granulated sugar
50 grams all-purpose flour
vanilla bean
2 T liquid honey

Split the vanilla pod and put the pod and seeds in a pot with the milk. Scald the mixture. Make sure to scrape the inside of the vanilla pod with a spatula to get all the seeds out. Remove the pod and save it (dry it and put it in your sugar pot). Meanwhile whisk together the yolks and sugar. Add the flour making sure there are no lumps. Temper this mixture with the milk then add the lot into your pot and heat on med-low heat stirring constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. If there are any lumps pass the mixture through a strainer. Stir in the honey at this point.

On top of the pastry cream I spooned some gooseberry preserves. You could put whatever preserves or jam that you like in here. On top of that is a lattice of pastry that I made with a pasta cutter.

You could brush the crust with milk or egg to brown but I found the crust browned just fine without. For 4″ tarts bake at 375°F for about 40 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown.

As the weather warms up chilled soups make a pleasant start to a meal. This one is really simple to prepare. No cooking required — just break out the blender.

3 cups buttermilk
1 medium english cucumber
3 scallions
small bunch parsley
small bunch dill
small bunch watercress
zest of 1 lime
1 T white wine vinegar or lemon juice
2 T extra virgin olive oil
white pepper
sea salt
yogurt
hemp seed oil

Chop the cucumber and scallions. Reserve a few sprigs of dill and watercress for garnish. Blend everything except the yogurt and hemp seed oil on high speed for a few minutes until almost completely puréed. For a very smooth texture you could strain this through a sieve. Adjust with white pepper and salt. You may want to add more of a tang to this soup with extra buttermilk or vinegar/lemon juice.

Garnish with some of the greens, a dollop of yogurt and a drizzle of hemp seed oil.

This could also be used as a sauce for something like grilled shrimp. The contrast between spicy hot shrimp and cool green sauce would definitely work well.

This recipe is based on the tomato tart recipe in the book “Once Upon A Tart,” an excellent cookbook about a café in New York City. It is a casual read. I especially like the piece at the beginning where the two partners each describe starting up the business in an old abandoned store. The recipes are solid and down-to-earth, and easily accomplished by the home cook. Highly recommended.

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Over the holidays I made quite a few of these — 4 batches actually. They are pretty easy to make and very hard to resist.

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