Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits

I fancied making shortbread and I had some strawberries. Perfect. The thing is, I always see recipes for shortbread to be served with strawberries. I wanted to know what would happen if I put the strawberries in the biscuits. So I did. And they are delicious; you don't even need the cream.

A lovely biscuit to go with a cup of tea. How summery and oh so British!

Ingredients:

225g butter, softened
110g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
300g plain flour
100g cornflour
Pinch of salt
2-3 strawberries, chopped small

Method:      (Makes about 16)

Set the oven to 170 C and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. (A good tip is to sprinkle the baking sheet with water so that the paper sticks to it).

Cream the butter and sugar together until combined. Add the flours and salt and work in until beginning to clump coming together. It will be very dry at this stage. Add the strawberries and work them in to make a soft dough.

On a floured surface, or ideally a silicone sheet put the dough in the centre and cover with greaseproof paper. Roll out to a thickness of about 1cm. If the dough is still to sticky, add a little more flour. Cut into biscuits with your favourite cutter or slice by hand. Using a spatula, lift the biscuits onto the baking sheet, sprinkle with sugar and cook for 20 minutes, when they will be golden. Cool on a wire rack before eating. Or eat one hot like I did!

 

 

Quick Kimchi & Korean Sesame Spinach

Along with the Sweet & Crispy Korean Chicken I made yesterday, I also made a quick kimchi. I say quick, because kimchi is normally a fermented vegetable side dish. This is the non fermented version that doesn't miss out on the flavour, but you can make it and have ready to eat in a couple of hours as opposed to weeks or even months. This is a cabbage based one with spices and it is fresh and delicious alongside any Korean main dish.

Ingredients:

1/3 white cabbage or Chinese cabbage, chopped
2 tbsp. salt

2 tbsp. hot red pepper flakes
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. fish sauce,
3-4 spring onions, chopped
1/2 carrot, julienned strips

Method:

Put the chopped cabbage in a container with the salt and 3 cups of cold water. Leave to soak for about 2 hours, turning in the brine occasionally.

In a bowl, mix the remaining ingredients. When the 2 hours are up, put the cabbage in a colander and refresh well with water. Pat dry with a kitchen towel and add to the sauce. Stir well and it is ready!



Another dish I made was the Korean sesame spinach, to add another flavour and some beautiful colour.

In a large bowl, I mixed 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 finely chopped shallot along with 1.5 tbsp. soy sauce and 1.5 tbsp. sesame oil. Then blanch some fresh spinach, squeeze out the excess water and add to the sauce. Sprinkle over sesame seeds and serve hot.

A beautiful Korean meal, served with rice. Filling and so tasty!