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Mediterranean sausage plait
Sausage meat mixed with diced onion, tomato puree and oregano in a rich buttery pastry casing. We had this with cauliflower cheese and roast tatties
Fruity breakfast bars
Tonight's supper - cheesey vegetable bake with braised red cabbage and sprouts. The topping on the bake was a spare garlic baguette that needed using, was really good :)
Orange and cinnamon biscuits
4 oz butter
4 oz sugar
6 oz plain flour
zest of one large orange
1/2 tsp cinnamon, or to taste
milk to mix
Cream butter and sugar, add flour, zest and cinnamon. Mix well, then add milk to mix to a stiffish dough for rolling out. Roll out and stamp with a biscuit cutter, bake in a hottish oven until golden brown, cool on a wire rack. Mine are seasonally shaped pumpkins :)
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Cream of tomato soup
Fill a roasting tin with ripe tomatoes, drizzle with your preferred oil, teaspoon each of sugar and sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper, bit of chopped garlic. Roast in a hot oven until very soft ad just starting to turn colour. Turn the whole lot into a saucepan and add a chopped onion, simmer with the lid on until onions soft and cooked through. Remove from heat, then liquidise and pour back into rinsed pan. Heat to almost boiling point, then stir in a tablespoon of double cream and serve
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Mango chutney recipe
3 - 4lbs ripe mangoes
3 cups of vinegar - any kind
1lb demarara sugar
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp powdered ginger
3 medium onions, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
Peel the mangoes and remove flesh from around the big blade in the middle; chop, but not too finely. Put the flesh and juice into a wide pan with everything else, and leave to cook, just under a simmer for 2 - 3 hours, until it's a thick consistency, but some of the mango still retains its shape. Remove from heat, pot and seal immediately, Store in a cool, dark place, and leave about 4 -5 weeks before trying. Makes approx 1 x 2lb Kilner jarful.
Blackcurrant swirl 'ice-cream'
A foray into the fridge resulted in the discovery of several cartons of yoghurt, well past their 'sell by' and 'best before' dates - not that I take any notice of them......... I ate the rhubarb and ginger sheep milk yoghurt for lunch, was lovely. I love sheep milk yoghurt, it's very different to that made with cow's milk. There were two small tubs of natural sheep yoghurt and half of a large carton of goat milk yoghurt, they got tipped into a bowl with a pot of mascarpone and whisked with a fork. I found the 4th punnet of blackcurrants (that I couldn't find when I was making jam the other day), so gently stewed them with some sugar and a splash of water, then passed it through a sieve to make a coulis. This was swirled into the yoghurt mixture, and it's now in the freezer. It looks really pretty, and a quick spoon dipping suggests it's going to taste good too - the gentle creaminess of the yoghurts and mascarpone offset by the sharpness of the fruit. Looking forward to this one :)
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Chickpea 'tofu'
This looks like it could be really useful,, will be giving it a go soon
http://www.girlcooksworld.com/2013/03/burmese-chickpea-tofu.html
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Paprika chicken
 Have made this for supper tonight, with rice. No recipe as such, and it's a good way of stretching some chicken - two chicken breasts will feed three adults this way. Heat some butter and a little oil in a pan, add onions and diced chicken, cook over medium heat, add chopped fresh tomatoes, a squirt of tomato puree and a slosh of wine. Add smoked paprika to taste, cover and leave to cook over a low heat - mine is on the low end of the Rayburn until supper time, smelling rather good. Will finish it with either soured cream or fresh cream, depends what's needing used up first. The chicken, tomatoes and spring onions all needed using up, and I added in the leftover artichoke hearts from the other day. Any other chopped veg could be added to use it up, if raw, add at the beginning, if cooked, add later on. ****************************************************************** |
Marrow and ginger jam
1 lb peeled and cubed marrow/courgette
1 lb granulated sugar
ginger to taste - add gradually if not sure
Put everything into a wide topped pan/jam pan and dissolve the sugar slowly over a lowish heat. Turn up the heat and bring to a rolling boil, then continue to setting point, pour into prepared jars, seal. label when cold, store in a cool place.
Courgette and lime marmalade
| Inspired by a recipe idea on the Abel & Cole website, I experimented with courgette and lime marmalade. It's really rather nice! I'll be making more when I get home, but only made an experimental jar and a bit while in my holiday kitchen. 1 lb peeled courgette/marrow, coarsely grated 1lb granulated sugar zest and juice of two limes juice of 1/2 lemon Put everything into a wide topped pan (use a jam pan for larger quantities), and cook gently over a low heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Turn up the heat, bring to a rolling boil and continue to setting point. Remove from heat, stand for five minutes, then pour into prepared jars and seal. label when cool, store in a cool place.    |
Berry ripple ice lollies
 Inspired by a recipe from the Waitrose magazine supplement, I made these yesterday, my own version, a creamy custardy body with a mixed berry coulis through it. Place your berries in a small saucepan (I had blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries) with some sugar - not too much, a tart coulis will better offset the sweetness of the main lolly. Leave on a gentle heat to dissolve the sugar and soften the berries, then push through a sieve to extract the coulis, leave to cool. meanwhile, make half a pint of vanilla custard, leave to cool until just warm and beat in half a tin of condensed milk. When both the coulis and the custard mix are cold, layer them in your lolly moulds, then stir very gently with a skewer. Freeze until solid. |
Spinach and ricotta pasta with spring onions, sweet peppers and fresh ewe's cheese
This one is simple and quick, ideal for a weekend supper without too much effort. Quantities depend on how many you are feeding.
Slice some salad onions/spring onions in oil until softened, then add in a sweet bull's horn pepper, cut to very fine batons, leave to cook on a lowish heat. meanwhile, bring a big pan of water to the boil and cook the spinach and ricotta pasta(bought, but you could make your own; this was on offer at the time) for about 4 minutes, drain. Place pasta in shallow baking dish/tin, and pour over a can of good chopped tomatoes, stir in the peppers/onions and combine well. Break the ewe's milk cheese into small portions and dot the surface with them - use plenty. Give a good few big twists of black pepper to the top and bake in a hot oven for about 15 minutes until cheese is melted and just beginning to colour. Leave to rest a few minutes, then serve with a green salad and crusty bread.
Smoked haddock frittata
Slice some potatoes and onions thinly and fry in a little oil and butter until cooked through but not browned. Add flaked, cooked smoked haddock and heat through gently. Season well, then pour over beaten eggs and cook until set - can be finished under the grill. Really lovely, filling and a good way to stretch a piece of fish.
Lemon, courgette and poppy seed cake
6 oz soft butter
6 oz granulated sugar
3 eggs, beaten
6 oz self-raising flour
milk to mix if required
1 medium courgette, grated
zest and juice of one large lemon
1/2 tbsp. poppy seeds
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, mix well; add flour and milk if required to a dropping consistency. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Turn into a prepared loaf tin and bake for 35 - 40 minutes in a hottish oven. Cool on wire rack. Put the kettle on :)
Bomb-proof strawberry jam
4 lbs strawberries
3 1/2 lbs granulated sugar
6 tbsp. lemon juice
Hull the berries, cutting the larger ones into pieces and leaving the smallest whole. Place all ingredients in jam pan and set on a lowish heat, leave until sugar is completely dissolved (if not dissolved, the jam will crystalise around the top on storage). When all is dissolved, up the heat and keep at a good rolling boil until setting point is reached, remove from heat, leave to settle for 5 minutes, then pot into hot, clean jars, cover with a clean cloth and leave until cold. Cover and label, store in a cool, dry place
Smokey chilli beans
This is a very versatile base for a meal, quick, easy and cheap. Once the base is made, you can add in anything you like - cooked or raw meat (pork is particularly good),vegetables, boiled eggs, pulses, anything really; or you can just go with the beans as they are :)
1 medium onion
sunflower oil
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin baked beans
Worcester sauce
smoked paprika
chilli powder
gravy granules if required
Chop the onion (not too fine) and fry in oil until just softening; add tomatoes and baked beans, Worcester sauce and a good pinch of smoked paprika. Add chilli powder to taste, stir well, cover and leave to simmer on a lowish heat. If it requires thickening, add in a tsp gravy granules for a thicker sauce, boil until it thickens, thne lower heat and simmer intil onios cooked through and everything well mied in. Then add in any extras, make sure is piping hot; serve with baked potatoes, rice, on its own, good bread,etc.
Leftovers can be put through the blender for a soup base, or use it as a curry base, or just keep adding in more beans, meat etc
Mascarpone cheese
This method, as it hardly warrants being called a recipe, is my take on it after reading lots of different versions on the net, and it worked well for me. Do try it - not the cheapest of things, but you can quite often pick up cartons of cream reduced for quick sale, and the cheese itself will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge, covered.
1 large carton double cream - 600ml size
juice of 1 small lemon, or half a large one
Heat cream in a heavy based saucepan with the lemon juice until just under a good simmer - not boiling though, but almost - keep at this temp for about ten minutes, when the mixture will thicken. Stir constantly meanwhile, until it thickly coats the back of your wooden spoon. Remove from heat and leave to cool for half an hour. Line a sieve with 3 or 4 layers of scalded muslin (I used my cheese straining cloth, folded over) and place over a bowl; pour in the mixture and leave until cold, then put into the fridge to firm up and chill. There won't be a lot of liquid in the bowl. Turn out of sieve after 24 hours or so and put into bowl or similar and cover. Keep in fridge.
The taste, I found is much nicer than the bought tuff in plastic tubs. Use as above on toast, in baking, as a filling/icing for cakes beaten with icing sugar - it pipe very well when thick and stiff, all sorts of things.
Or just eat it out of the bowl with a teaspoon........................
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Fruity nobs and squash curry
Had a quantity of almost stale muesli to use up, so have made it into fruity nobs:
8oz muesli (mine had fruit nuts seeds in)
8oz sugar
8os flour
8 oz butter
good tbsp of golden syrup
Melt butter and golden syrup, add in rest of ingredients and stir thoroughly; if a bit on the dry side add milk, fruit juice, water to get the right consistency for rolling into balls.
Roll into balls, place on tray and flatten, bake in hottish oven until golden and crisp, cool on tin for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Cheap curry for Friday supper tonight , happens to be a favourite of mine, I love the texture of the squash after a long, slow gentle cooking on the cooler end of the Rayburn.
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 tin water
4 cloves
1tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground fenugreek
chilli powder to taste
1/2 tsp salt
good few twists of black pepper
generous tbsp honey
4 oz butter
uice of 1 lime
1 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 butternut or other squash, peeled, de-seeded and diced
cream to finish
Put tomatoes and water in pan with cloves, leave to simmer until thickened, then add in everything else, stir well, lid on, and simmer for a couple of hour on a gentle heat. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Freezes well at this point. Add cream to finish and re-heat gently before serving with rice or/and naan breads.
Roll on supper time :)
How to make corned beef
For each 12lb beef, allow 1 - 1/2 lbs salt - scale down accordingly. Place a layer of salt in a container (I used an ice cream tub), place meat in and cover with salt. Cover and leave in fridge for 24 hours. Make up a curing solution: to every 4 pints water, add 8 oz brown sugar, 1 tsp bicarb, spices as liked (bay leaf, allspice, peppercorns, etc). Heat to dissolve sugar, cool, then pour over meat in tub, return to fridge when cold and leave 3 - 4 weeks.
When ready, take out, soak for a few hours in cold water before cooking. To cook, simmer in water for about 20 minutes to the lb or so, with 20 minutes over; I baked mine which was successful too.
Don't expect it to look or taste anything like the tinned stuff, though, because it really won't! It's a good thing to know how to do for keeping beef without using the freezer. It's nice served hot with potatoes and vegetables and dumplings, or in a hash, as I did with the first bit of mine.
Hope this helps, shout if I've missed anything. This is how I do mine, by the way, adapted from several methods/recipes
Red flannel hash
Easy and economical this one; fry some chopped onion in a good piece of butter until soft but not over-coloured; add in chopped cooked potatoes and chopped beetroots, stir well and leave to fry until potatoes are coloured and well-fried; stir in chopped/sliced corned beef ( home made or bought, they're both good in this dish). Heat to piping hot, top with a poached egg fresh from that morning and a big ladle full of baked beans.
Summer's End chutney
Thought I'd re-post this as it might help with seasonal gluts of vegetables; use any veg/fruit you have, just keep the vinegar/veg/sugar ratios the same; add spices and seasonings as you desire.
Summer's End chutney
6lbs of fruit/vegetables
3lbs tomatoes - green or red, or mixture of both
4lbs soft brown sugar
1 lb dried fruit
2 pints vinegar
herbs and spices to taste
Chop all vegetables finely and place in pan; add rest of ingredients and simmer slowly for several hours until thickened - when you draw the wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan, it should be thick enough not to run in and fill the space made. Stir occasionally during cooking time. Spoon inot hot, clean jars and seal immediately, or leave until cold and pot up then. Label date, and store somewhere cool and dry for about 3 months before using
Summer's End chutney
6lbs of fruit/vegetables
3lbs tomatoes - green or red, or mixture of both
4lbs soft brown sugar
1 lb dried fruit
2 pints vinegar
herbs and spices to taste
Chop all vegetables finely and place in pan; add rest of ingredients and simmer slowly for several hours until thickened - when you draw the wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan, it should be thick enough not to run in and fill the space made. Stir occasionally during cooking time. Spoon inot hot, clean jars and seal immediately, or leave until cold and pot up then. Label date, and store somewhere cool and dry for about 3 months before using
Elderflower cordial - 11th June 2012
This one is well worth making - summer in a bottle,and will keep for a long time, either processed in a hot water bath or frozen in eg plastic milk containers. Drink it with soda or plain water and lots of ice, drizzle it over cakes, use to flavour stewed fruit. icecream, whipped cream etc, mix with gin or vodka..........endless uses :)
1 colanderful of flowers, as much green removed as possible, but I don't worry too much
water to cover
sugar
Place flowers in pan and cover withcold water; simmer for about 15 minutes or so, strain, and measure the liquid. Return it to the pan and add 12 ox white sugar to each pint of liquid. Heat getnly until sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Leave to cool, then store/process/drink as desired.
Use diluted as squash; also makes lovely summery ice lollies
Saturday, 19 November 2011
'Condensed milk'
The final piece of the jigsaw that is avoiding Nestle products has fallen well and truly into place, so I can cock a snook at them. I have long avoided the company on ethical grounds ( Baby Milk Action and others), but the sticking point recentlyw as condensed milk - I use it for puddings and fudge making, etc. Up until a few years ago, you got a choice of Carnation or Fussell's - then these were both swallowed up by the evil Nestle. I confess I did keep buying the milk - some for using, other for storage for emergencies and prepping.
I scoured the internet and came up with the theory that you can indeed make your own 'condensed milk' - I use the inverted commas as it's strictly a substitute for the real stuff- something that those who post about it don't seem to bother with, but I do. Another gripe with me is that of the recipes I've seen on the net,s everal have no acknowledgement of where they came from - not an easy thing to make up a recipe for this due to getting the proportions just right. A quick copy and paste shows me that at least one blogger has re=posted a method that is not hers, with no acknowledgement, and that makes me cross.
This is the recipe I used:
http://almostbourdain.blogspot.com/2011/01/homemade-condensed-milk.html
I ma delighted to report that it is highloy successful - great consistency (was my worry), tastes just like the real thing, quick and easy to make, and not too hard on the housekeeping money. I haven't used it in mkaing anything yet, it's in the fridge. I think I'll have an investigate into how to store it - might try freezing a little as an experiment, would be wonderful to be able to make a double batch for future use. I wills ave the next tin I open, wash it out and store, so I can get a quick and easy measure for my home made 'milk'. Give it a go, it's one of the more worthwhile things to make at home.
Homity Pie
This is one I make fairly regularly; we all love it, it's quick, easy and cheap, and you can add little bits of leftovers to it, make extra pastry at the same time for something else, make two or more for freezing as it freezes well too.
I make mine in a metal spnge cake tin - it's best for cooking the pastry thoroughly on the bottom - nothing worse than a soggy bottom lol - and it's easy to remove from the tin as it has a loose base.
6 oz pastry (3 oz each white and wholemeal, 4oz butter, 1 egg, water to mix)
3 -4 large potatoes, boiled
2 medium onions, chopped or sliced and fried
1/2 pint very thick cheese sauce
Set your oven to hot, so the pastry will cook quickly, evenly and come out crispy. Make pastry, and roll out half to line the tin; combine sauce with potatoes and onions - I do this while it's still hot/warm. so a speedy dish to make as it's then only the pastry that needs to be cooked. Pile into the pastry shell, dampena round edges with cold water and roll out rest of pastry to make lid. Add holes to allow steam to escape (ensures the top won't be soggy on the underside), and into the oven until nicely browned. Leave to cool a little before serving, nice with roast potatoes and a green vegetable. Also good cold.
You can add all sorts of vegetalbe leftovers into the sauce - mushrooms, cooked vegetables, cooked carrots, boiled eggs, etc.
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Hot cross pudding.............
What to do with any leftover hot cross buns, even if they're slightly stale.
1 bun per person
1 egg per person
butter
milk
1 tbsp sugar
Slice the buns in half, or in three if thick, and spread with butter; cut each slice in half. Arrange on end in a baking dish. Beat the eggs with an equal volume of milk and add sugar; pour over bun slices and into a hottish oven until the custard is set and the bun tops crispy. Serve warm with custard or cream.
Shepherdless Pie
I often make a meatless version of Shepherd's Pie; Bean is vegetarian,a dn it doesn't do the rest of us any harm to have meatless meals a couple of times a week. I occasionally use Quorn mince or similar, but prefer to use vegetables, etc. This is one of my favourite incarnations, using green lentils. Serves 4 with hearty appetites!
8oz or so of green lentils
1 large carrot, diced
1 medium onion, chopped fine
mushroom ketchup
tomato puree
mixed herbs, fresh or dried
4 - 6 large potatoes
milk, butter and seasoning to mash
Put lentils, onion and carrot in a pan, and just cover with water; bring to the boil, then leave to simmer until lentils are tender, when the carrot and onion should be cooked too. Meanwhile, peel and boil potatoes until tender, drain and mash with milk, butter and seasoning.
Add a good spoonful of mushroom ketchup, about a tablespoon of tomato puree and a good pinch of herbs to the lentils, mix thoroughly and put into pie dish. Top with mashed potatoes and bake in a hot oven until golden and crisp on top. If you like, grated cheese can be sprinkled over the potato. A vegan version can be made by using olive oil in the potato instead of butter and milk.
Serve with plain seasonal vegetables - we're having braised leeks tonight.
St Clement's cupcakes with mascarpone icing
Named after the soft drink of the same name, these St Clement's cakes are a nice mix of zesty lemon and orange. Citrus fruits are good prices throughout the winter, and what nicer way to look forward to spring than with a lovely little cupcake?
6oz butter, softened
6oz sugar
3 eggs, beaten
6 oz self raising flour
zest and juice of 1 lemon
milk for mixing
Icing:
1 tub of mascarpone cheese (250g)
icing sugar to taste
colouring if required
zest of 1 large or 2 small oranges
Cream butter and sugar, beat in eggs. Add flour, beat well, and add milk, zest and juice, mix to a soft dropping consistency.
Divide between 12 muffin cases ( or smaller fairy cake cases; mix makes 12 large), and bake in a hot oven until risen and golden, and firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.
Icing: beat cheese with enough icing sugar to taste, add zest and colouring as required. Pipe into swirls on top of cakes and decorate with thin strips of zest. Leave to set for a while. Alternatively, spread icing over the cakes with a knife, then decorate.
Goat's yoghurt, blueberry and orange cake
I've been intrigued by the yoghurt cake recipes I've come across on the net recently, so thought I'd give it a whirl, but customised ofcourse! It's the recipe where the ingredients are measured out using the yoghurt pot as a measure. This would be a useful recipe for when you're low/run out of butter. I also think it sounds a bit healthier than usual, especially with the fruit in it; at least it was until MrL decided to change his into a pudding and piled a big dollop of double cream on it!
1 pot of goat's milk yoghurt
2 pots of sugar
3 pots of self raising flour
1 pot of vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 good handful (about 4 oz or so) blueberries
zest and juice from 1 large orange
Mix everything very well until thoroughly combined. Pour into prepared tin and bake in a hot oven until well risen and golden brown. Turn out and cool on a wire rack.
Pancake canneloni
It being Shrove Tuesday yesterday, we had pancakes for supper. I made savoury ones for a change too, using them as canneloni. It's very easy, and a good way, again, of using up wee bits and pieces lurking in the fridge.
Fry some chopped onions in a little sunflower oil, add some chopped mushrooms, other veg, etc and cook until softened. I added a splash of red wine and some herbs; what you want is a good tasty mixture for the fillings. I diced some bacon as well, and added that, but fried separately.
While all that is cooking away, make the pancakes; I just use some flour in a bowl, break in an egg and add milk until it's the desired consistency. This batter was quite thick - the pancakes have to be rolled, so you don't want them too brittle and cracking. Lay the cooked pancake in the baking dish, heap in the filling and roll up - bit like Mexican. You can roll them on a baking tray , then carefully move them into the baking dish too. When they're all in, pour over a tin of chopped tomatoes and top with grated cheese; into a hot oven for about half an hour until golden and bubbly. I served ours with carrot, apple and pine nut salad.
Rather good it was too :)
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Parsnip wine
4lbs or so of parsnips
2 1/2 lbs sugar
2 lemons
1 gallon of water
1 good tbsp dried yeast
Scrub parsnips well; no need to peel. Slice them into a large pan (I use one of my jam pans for this) and pour over the water. Simmer until tender, but not broken up, then strain off the liquid into another large container. I give the cooked parsnips to the chickens, but you could put them on the compost too. Add the sugar to the hot liquid, stir well to dissolve; leave to cool to blood heat, then add sliced lemons and yeast. Stir well again, cover and elave in a warm place 4 - 5 days. Strain into demi-john, fit airlock and leave to ferment out. Rack off after 6 weeks into clean demi-john, then bottle after another 4 weeks. Leave a year or so before drinking (if you can).
Things are going to be a little different with my radical change in lifestyle (see Radical Homemaking) but I will still be cooking and baking, preserving and brewing all sorts of things like I always did, so expect some out of the ordinary things. I want to get some sort of outdoor cooking area set up and running, ultimately with a woodfired oven/cooker contraption. As they say, watch this space...............
Off-grid blueberry and honey fridge buscuits
Going off-grid shortly (I hope), I'm scouting about for recipes that will be suitable for cooking and eating without conventional power/oven, etc. So, I devised this biscuit recipe - cup of tea without a biscuit? Unthinkable!
16 rich tea biscuits, crushed
3 oz butter, softened
3 tbsp honey
handful of blueberries
large bar of chocolate
Place the honey and butter in a bowl, and break up the chocolate into pieces and place in a second bowl. Put both bowls into a hot and sunny greenhouse for a couple of hours (could take more, could take less, depending). When melted, stir the honey and butter well to mix, and add to the crushed bisuits and fruit. Mix thoroughly (I use my hands for this bit), and press into a baking tray, flattening and smoothing
it down. Pour over the melted chocolate to cover and leave in a cool place to set.
Et voila! Off-grid, solar powered biscuits.
Next step is home ground flour from home grown wheat, home churned butter, honey from hive and fruit from the garden (rasps would be nice, or blackcurrants).Still working on the chocoalte production, but the bisuity bit is really nice without it too.
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MrsL's honey fudge
Feel free to share the recipe if you like :))
1 tin condensed milk
1 lb demerara sugar
4oz butter
2 tablespoons honey
whole milk
Place the honey in a saucepan or ovenproof jug and put on a low heat until liquid; make up to 1/4 pint with milk. Place all ingredients in a large saucepan and place over a low to medium heat until butter melted and sugar dissolved. Put pan on high heat and bring to a good boil, and boil until soft ball stage is reached. Remove from heat and leave for ten minutes or so, then beat steadily until the fudge becomes grainy. Turn into prepared tin and leave to cool, then mark into small squares. Enjoy.
