Blackberry & apple jam August 22, 2010

Ingredients:

500g blackberries

500g cooking apples (peeled, cored and chopped)

1kg caster sugar

3 tablespoons pectin

100ml cold water

5 x jam jars

Instructions:

1. Put the blackberries and apples. lemon juice and water into a large saucepan

2. Simmer for approx 20 minutes, or until all fruit has softened and can be mashed with a potato masher

3. Add the sugar to the pan and stir until dissolved

4. Once all sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and boil rapidly for 5 minutes

5. Remove from the heat, stir in the pectin and leave to one side to cool whilst placing your jam jars into the oven to sterilize. (Gas mark 4 for approx 10 mins)

6. Remove jars from the oven and pour in the jam. Leave to one side to cool and then place in the fridge

Enjoy!

Scotch Eggs August 2, 2010

The perfect accompaniment to any picnic, this recipe is inspired by Heston’s Scotch egg recipe that’s featured on the Waitrose website, however I’ve tweaked the spices used and simplified the recipe slightly so that it’s even tastier, and easier to do!

Ingredients:

10 medium eggs
450g Pork Sausage meat

A good handful of sage leaves, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped

45g French’s mustard
1 packet of chives, finely chopped
Plain flour
50ml milk
125g breadcrumbs
Lots of sea salt and ground black pepper

Sunflower oil, for frying

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 190c, gas mark 5. Place 8 of the eggs in a large pan of boiling water and cook for 1 and half minutes. While the eggs are cooking, fill a bowl with cold water and ice and once cooked, add the eggs to the bowl. Leave to rest for a few minutes, and then carefully de-shell the eggs.

2. Place the sausage meat in a bowl and add the sage, mustard, garlic, seasoning and chopped chives.

3. Divide the mixture into 8 and then wrap the sausage meat around each egg, pressing the edges in order to seal it. Any gaps will result in the sausage meat bursting when being cooked and exposing the egg.

4. Put the flour into a small bowl and season. In a second small bowl, beat the remaining 2 eggs and stir in the milk. Put the breadcrumbs into a third bowl. Roll each egg in the flour, gently tapping off any excess, then dip it in the beaten egg and finally, roll it in the breadcrumbs, making sure that all sides are coated

5. Heat a deep fat fryer to 190c or fill a saucepan with oil deep enough to cover the eggs and heat to 190c. Fry the Scotch eggs 3 at a time for 2 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on a drying rack over a baking tray. When all the eggs have been fried, place the tray in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn each egg (as you’ll have an oily underneath) and then cook for a further 5 minutes. You can eat immediately so that they’re nice and warm, or cool in the fridge and eat when cooled with either a good dollop of Branstons Pickle, or make up your own mustard and mayonnaise dressing with equal quantities of Helmans mayonnaise, wholegrain mustard, and a tablespoon of French’s mustard.

Deeeelicious!!

Poached salmon June 21, 2010

This is a healthy, simple dish that’s packed full of flavour. Serve with a few steamed veg, or a nice light summer salad.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Half a fresh lemon(sliced)

2 lightly smoked salmon fillets

Water

- serves 2 -

Instructions:

1. Place the salmon fillets and all ingredients into a deep pan.

2. Pour in boiling water so that it completely covers the salmon fillets

3. Leave to simmer on a medium heat for approximately 4 minutes – or until the fillets are heated through.

4. Gently remove the fillets from the pan and serve with a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil and accompany with either a nice summer salad or a few seasonal veg.

Enjoy!

Mothers day honeycomb March 14, 2010

It’s always nice to give a personal touch to a Mothers Day gift, and what better way than to make this delicious honeycomb – aka ‘Hokey Pokey’ by Nigella Lawson. Wrap up chunks of the golden honeycomb in baking paper and tie with string for a rustic look, or place some tissue paper into a pretty box to give it a decadent feel.

Ingredients:

100g white caster sugar

4 tblspns golden syrup

1 and half teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

100g milk cooking chocolate (optional)

Instructions:
1. Add the sugar and syrup to saucepan. Stir together, and then once incorporated, turn on the hob to a medium heat and leave to melt.

2. Once melted, turn up the heat slightly, enabling the mixture to bubble – leave for approx 2 minutes

3. Remove the pan from the heat, add the bicarbonate of soda, and with a whisk, mic everything together so that it bubbles – don’t whisk for too long as the air will go.

4. Add some baking paper to a shall baking tray and then pour the mixture onto it.

5. Place in the fridge to set for at least an hour then remove and smash into pieces.

6. Once you’ve smashed the pieces, you can either eat as is, or if you’d like to coat in chocolate, simply melt some milk cooking chocolate into a bowl over a saucepan of hot water and then dip in each piece of honeycomb until covered. Return to the fridge for the chocolate to set.

Enjoy!

Sticky pork belly with cheats jasmine rice February 21, 2010

What better way to celebrate Chinese New Year than with a sticky belly of pork cooked in Chinese 5 spices and served with jasmine rice.

ingredients:

For the pork:

450g pork belly

6 tbsp light soy sauce

Thumb of fresh ginger

2 star anise

1 tsp Chinese 5 spice

1 cinnamon stick

1 dried red chilli

200ml water

2 spring onions

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbspn caster sugar

For the jasmine rice:

white rice

1 jasmine teabag

Instructions:

1. Boil the pork belly for 3-4 minutes then remove and leave to call.

2. Cut the pork belly in to 2cm chunks

3. Heat the oil and sugar in a frying pan on a medium heat, then once the sugar is melted, add in the pork, fat side down and leave to brown/crisp. (Be extremely careful of the fat as it’s scalding hot due to the sugar)

4. Once browned, add in all other ingredients (except spring onions), give it all a good stir and then leave on a simmer for 50 minutes.

5. Pop the rice on to boil as per the packet instructions, and add the jasmine teabag to the water whilst it’s boiling. (remove the teabag around 5 minutes before the end of its cooking time).

6. Remove the pork from the pan, then return the pan to a high heat, adding half of the spring onions, and allowing all of the juices to reduce for approximately 5 minutes.

6. Return the pork to the pan, coat in all of the lovely juices, and then once heated through, pile on top of the cooked jasmine rice, topped with the rest of the spring onions.

Enjoy!

Valentine cupcakes February 12, 2010

This is a Nigella recipe. Both the sponge and topping are so quick and easy to make, that you’ll want to make them for more than just Valentines day!

For the sponge:

125g soft butter

125g caster sugar

2 eggs

125g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons real vanilla extract

2–3 tablespoons milk

Cupcake topping:
2 egg whites

4 tablespoons golden syrup

100g caster sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

Sprinkles to decorate

- makes 12 cupcakes -

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/200°C.

2. Put all of the ingredients for the buns, except for the milk, into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Pulse while adding the milk down the funnel, to make a smooth dropping consistency.

3. Divide the mixture into a 12-bun muffin tin lined with muffin papers and bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes. They should have risen and be golden on top.

4. Take them carefully out of the tin to cool in their papers, still on the wire rack.

5. Now for the topping. Place a glass bowl over snuggly over a saucepan of hotboiling hot water. Put all of the ingredients for the icing, except for the vanilla and sprinkles, into the bowl.

6. Whisk everything with an electric beater until the icing becomes thick and holds peaks like a meringue. This will take about 5 minutes, so be patient.

7. Take the bowl off the saucepan and on to a cool surface and keep whisking while you add the vanilla. Then keep whisking until the mixture cools a little. You want a proper peaked and whipped covering here, so spoon some icing over each bun, and then dollop another spoonful over in a swirly fashion.

8. Immediately shake over your choice of sprinkles, as the icing will set very quickly.

Enjoy with your loved one – or indeed, all by yourself!

Super-fast lemon cheesecake January 17, 2010

This is such a quick and tasty dessert to make but looks like you’ve spent ages preparing. I’ve used lemon and sour cream as a topping, but you could add any fruit that you like…

Ingredients:

2 lemons

4 eggs

600g soft cheese

10 tbsp caster sugar

8 digestive biscuits

70g butter

150ml sour cream

Instructions:

1. Place the biscuits into a plastic bag, then wrap with a t-towel and bang with a rolling pin until smashed into breadcrumbs.

2. Mix the biscuits with melted butter and push into the base of a cake baking tin so that it’s even and compact. Place in the fridge for half an hour

3. After this time, turn the oven to gas mark 2, whisk together the cheese, the juice of one lemon and sugar until it’s completely mixed then add the eggs and continue to whisk until everything’s nicely mixed together.

4. Pour the mixture onto the biscuit base and cook for 35 minutes then leave for one hour in the oven with it turned off. Once cooked, remove and leave to chill for half an hour before serving.

5. When ready to serve, mix the sour cream with the juice of one lemon and serve with a big dollop on top of a slice of cheesecake.

Enjoy!

Mushroom and ale pie January 5, 2010

A great one if you have veggie friends to impress for dinner (you could even add a little meat to the filling for yourself after you’ve dished up for your veggie guests!) …

Ingredients

1 onion

knob of butter

2 cloves garlic
1 lb leeks sliced into one inch slices and washed thoroughly
1 1/2 lb mixed mushrooms (button, wild and chestnut)
1/4 bottle stout (e.g. Black Sheep Ale)
Soy sauce
1 teaspoon yeast extract
1 oz flour
½ tbsp sugar
¼ lb bag garden peas
Salt and pepper
½ block jus roll puff pastry

- serves 2-3 -

Instructions:

1 Finely chop the onion and cook in the butter until soft. Add the garlic and leeks – sweat down until the leeks are soft. Add 1ib of  the mushrooms, a dash of soy sauce, the sugar and yeast extract.

2. When the juices have come out of the mushrooms make a roux with the flour, then slowly stir in the stout. Bring to the boil, and then simmer for 25 mins, diluting a little with water if necessary.

3. Add the rest of the mushrooms and the peas to the pan, and Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 7. Roll out the pastry to around 1cm thick and cut out the shape of your pie lid using the top of a pie dish as a guide.

4. Oil a baking tray, place your pie lid on it, brush with  milk or a beaten egg, and put it in the top of the oven. Cook for 8 – 12 mins until it has puffed up and turned golden brown. Take the pie filling from the pan and spoon on to a plate, then remove the pastry lid from the oven and place on top.

Enjoy with lots of creamy mash and carrots

Delicious!

Boozey mince pies December 17, 2009

This is such a simple way to jazz up your mince pies for Christmas

Ingredients:

1 Jar of good quality mince meat

1 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon finely rated orange peel

3 tablespoons brandy

egg cup of milk

pack of ready rolled dessert pastry

icing sugar (for decorating)

Instructions:

1. empty the jar on mincemeat into a bowl, then add to it the brandy, orange zest and giner.

2. Give everything a good stir together, then leave to rest on the side for 20 minutes.

3. Give another good stir, then taking your pastry, and using a pastry cutter, cut out large circles that will then fill a well buttered yorkshire pudding tray.

4. Place the pastry circles into the pudding tray, then using a teaspoon, spoon in plenty of the mincemeat mixture into each of the pastry circles.

5. Using a star shaped cutter, cut out tops for the pies from the remaining pastry, lay them on top, and brush lightly with milk

6. Pop into the oven on gasmark 5 for approximately 20 minutes, or until the tops have turned nicely golden

7. Remove from the oven place the pies onto a cooling tray.

8. Once cooled, take a sieve and dust the icing sugar over the tops of the mince pies.

Enjoy with a lovely glass of ginger wine!

Creamy chicken, pumpkin and sage pasta October 27, 2009

A great way to use up the flesh from your halloween pumpkins….

Ingredients:
2 tbspn olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
flesh of one small/medium sized pumpkin
200ml double cream
large bunch fresh sage
1 courgette (diced into small pieces)
10 cherry tomatoes (cut into halves)
2 chicken breasts, diced into 2 cm chunks
Pasta (I’d recommend tagliatelle)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a pan on a medium to high heat, and add the garlic and pumpkin. Cook for approx 4 minutes, or until the pumpkin is soft
2. Pop the pasta on to boil according to pack instructions.
3. Add the courgettes, tomatoes and chicken, and cook for a further 4 minutes.
4. Pour in the cream and finely chopped sage, season to taste and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the cream has taken on all of the flavours.

Serve and enjoy!