Chocolate tiffin or refrigerator cake

6 Comments / cake, chestnuts, chocolate, vegetarian /

This is another of those recipes with a variety of names, some call it tiffin, others refrigerator cake, others still a no-cook chocolate cake. I am sure there are other names for it too.  This is my version and although there are a list of ingredients below it really is one that you can play around with and add whatever is your favourite fruit and nut combination or add whatever you have in the cupboard. This week I had a packet of vacuum packed roasted chestnuts, some dried cranberries, dried blueberries and macadamia nuts in my cupboard.  I used milk chocolate Hobnobs because they were the only biscuits I had in the house, but you could use digestives or Rich Tea or any other biscuit you have in the tin.

This is rich and decadent but delicious and a real treat with a good coffee and five minutes peace and quiet, although the latter is highly unlikely in this house.

150g best quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
50g butter
4 tbsp golden syrup
50g dried cranberries
50g macadamias
50g pecan nuts, chunkily chopped
25g dried blueberries
80g Hobnobs (or any other biscuit you may have in the tin) broken into chunks
60g roasted chestnuts

Method

Place the chocolate, butter and syrup in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water until they have all melted.  Stir to combine.

Add all the other ingredients and stir to combine.

Line a loaf tin (mine measures 20cm length x 12cm width x 6.5cm depth) with clingfilm, with plenty to overhang the sides. Pour the chocolate mixture into the tin and smooth the top.  Place in the fridge for a few hours until set.  Remove from the tin and peel off the clingfilm. Cut into slices and serve with a lovely cup of coffee and put your feet up and enjoy.

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Sausage and butter bean hot pot

3 Comments / chilli, pulses, sausages, stew, tomato /

I have called this a hot-pot for more than one reason, it’s a lovely warming one pot dish, but it also has a fresh chilli and my local butcher’s spicy sausages in it, which are indeed spicy, making it a very hot pot indeed.  You can of course use any sausage you prefer. It’s an easy and quick supper which is lovely served with purple sprouting as we had it, or with pasta or rice or just some good bread to mop up the tomato-ey juices.

6 sausages (spicy if you like)
1 fresh chilli, deseeded and chopped finely
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped finely
1 small onion, peeled and chopped finely
1 400g tin tomatoes
1 215g tin of butter beans in water, drained
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Method

Place the sausages in a large pan with a little olive oil over a medium heat and brown all over.   Add the onion and cook for a few more minutes until beginning to soften, add the chilli and the garlic and cook for a further two minutes, until the onion is translucent.  Add the tomatoes, the butter beans and the bay leaf and season with pepper (don’t add the salt yet or it will toughen the beans). Stir to combine the ingredients and then cook over a gentle heat for at least 20 minutes until you have a rich tomato sauce. Add salt to taste just before serving.

If you have used spicy sausage and you find it too hot for your taste buds you can serve plain greek yoghurt alongside or stir in 2 tablespoons of yoghurt just before serving.

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Aga baked ham

16 Comments / ham /

This is what I cook if I am catering for a fair few people.  So I always cook it for my daughters’ birthday parties.   It was my youngest’s 3rd birthday this weekend and we were having a family tea for her.

It’s very easy to cook this ham in a four-oven Aga as you can just leave it to cook away all night.  You could cook it in a conventional oven at a low temperature, but I guess that may use a fair amount of electricity and there are probably better ways of cooking a ham in a conventional oven.  This is a recipe from my Mum, but I have no idea where she got it from.

This ham weighed 6kg and cost in the region of £17.00 from my local butchers.  It fed 8 adults and two children at the party and has supplied us with enough ham for two ham and cheese omelettes, a spaghetti carbonara for four, about five sandwiches, and there’s a bone for the dog when it is all finished, so it is quite a bargain really.

I placed the ham in a large bowl and filled it with water and then drained this water away and refilled with fresh water.  I covered the bowl and then kept it in a cold place overnight.  Soaking a ham like this makes sure that it is not too salty and because I won’t be boiling it in water is probably wise, but ask your butcher if they think it is necessary when you buy your ham as cures can be different.

The herbs and spices faintly scent the ham and this way of cooking preserves the full flavour of the meat and retains a delicious moistness.

6kg ham
3 bay leaves
15 black peppercorns
5 juniper berries
4 whole cloves

For the glaze:

3 tsp mustard powder
3 tsp soft brown sugar
3 tsp maple syrup
15-20 whole cloves

Method

After soaking the ham in water in a bowl for at least twelve hours place the ham in a deep sided roasting tin with the bay leaves, peppercorns, juniper berries and 4 whole cloves.  Cover loosely with foil – make a tent so that the foil does not come in contact with the top of the ham otherwise you may find that the salt in the ham attacks the foil during the long cooking. Place in the simmering oven of a four-oven Aga and leave overnight or for 10-12 hours.

Remove the roasting tin from the oven.  Remove the rind of the ham with a sharp knife but leave as much of the fat underneath as you can.  Score the fat into diamond shapes with the knife.  Mix the mustard, sugar and maple syrup in a small bowl and spread all over the fat of the ham.  Pierce the ham at the corners of each diamond with a whole clove.  Place in the baking oven of the Aga  (about 180°c) for 20-25 minutes until the glaze is bubbling and golden.

Put the ham onto a meat platter and leave to get completely cold and then slice into lovely thick slices.

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Mince pie

6 Comments / mincemeat, pie, The Ordinary Cook, vegetarian /

Here is a mince pie made with the Christmas mincemeat, shortly before being polished off by me.  I like mince pies in all forms, whether made with shortcrust or puff pastry.  Last night I made them with shortcrust pastry.

As you will see from the picture at the bottom we love mince pies so much in this house that we also make them during the summer holidays.

This makes 24 mince pies.  You can freeze mince pies in the patty tins, once frozen you can then place them in a freezer bag for easier storage. When you are ready to cook simply place them back into the patty tin. They will need a few more minutes if cooking from frozen.

350g plain flour
175g butter
cold water

450g mincemeat

1 egg, beaten
light soft brown sugar or icing sugar to dust

Method

I always make my pastry in a food processor as it means you handle the pastry less and it makes for a crumblier texture.  Place the flour and butter in a processor and pulse until it becomes the texture of breadcrumbs. (If you are doing it by hand rub the butter and the flour lightly through your fingertips, lifting your hands up high in the air over the bowl as you do it until all of the butter and flour is combined and the texture of breadcrumbs).  Add enough cold water to form a dough (probably about 4-5 tablespoons, but add carefully) and mix until just combined.  Remove from the bowl and place in a plastic bag or cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thick.  Using a 7.5cm round pastry cutter, cut 24 rounds out of the pastry and using a 6 cm round pastry cutter cut another 24 rounds out.  You will need to re-roll the pastry to use it all up and I normally do this in two batches, splitting the dough into one ball that is two-thirds of the dough for the larger rounds and the second ball that is one-third of the dough for the smaller rounds.

Place the larger rounds into the bottom of each hole in two patty tins. Using a pastry brush, brush a little egg around the top of each pie.

Place a teaspoon of mincemeat into each pie, don’t overfill or it will burst out and burn during cooking.  Place the smaller rounds on top, pressing around the edge gently. Pierce a small hole in the top of each pie with the point of a sharp knife. Brush the top of each pie with egg.

Cook in a preheated oven at 200°c (400°f, gas mark 6) for 25-30 minutes until they are golden brown.  Dust with sugar or icing sugar as soon as they come out of the oven.

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Christmas mincemeat with pecans and dried cherries

4 Comments / mincemeat, preserves, The Ordinary Cook, vegetarian /

Well I missed Stir-up Sunday but I did manage to get round to making my mincemeat this week. It is worth making just for having the smell of Christmas in the house for a couple of days whilst it sits and soaks. I used Delia Smith’s recipe as a guide but added dried sour cherries and pecan nuts – two of my favourite things. I made the first batch last night, baking twelve and freezing twelve, and I am deeming this mincemeat a success. They get eaten pretty quickly in this house as the girls are both fans of a mince-pie too.  I am looking forward to making the next batch already. I use vegetarian suet so that I can offer them to anyone who may call.

This recipe makes 6lb (2.75kg) of mincemeat.

450g Bramley apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped (I used two large apples to get this weight)
200g vegetarian suet
200g raisins
200g sultanas
200g currants
100g dried sour cherries
200g whole candied peel, chopped finely
350g soft dark brown sugar
grated rind and juice of 2 oranges
grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
50g pecan nuts, chopped
4 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ whole nutmeg, grated
6 tbsp good quality brandy

Method

Mix all of the ingredients, except the brandy, in a large bowl, making sure that everything is well combined.  Cover with a cloth and leave to stand for twelve hours.  Cover it loosely with foil and then place it in a low oven (120°c, 225°f) for three hours so that the suet melts and covers the rest of the ingredients.  This will help preserve the mincemeat for longer.  Allow it to go completely cold.  Stir the brandy in well (this is when the smell is at its most delicious and really is Christmas in a bowl!) and then spoon into sterile jars and seal.

Mincemeat will last for twelve months in a cool dark place.

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Bread sauce

4 Comments / bread, sauce /

Bread sauce is probably one of my favourite things, the combination of bread sauce and good sage and onion stuffing is very hard to beat.  It always reminds me of Boxing Day when we go for a walk in the morning and then return to cold turkey and stuffing and reheated bread sauce – my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  I was inspired to make some after reading a Rachel Eats post on Sunday lunch where she had cooked some to go with her slow roast pork.  So I made some to take to my mum’s for sunday lunch this week to go with the duck that she was roasting. I will be following a tradition and making it for Christmas Day, and making sure there is plenty so that I can enjoy some on Boxing Day. This recipe is adapted from the classic by Delia Smith.

1 onion, peeled and chopped in half
12 cloves
1 bay leaf
10 black peppercorns
425ml (15 fl oz) whole milk
25g (1 oz) butter
4 tbsp double cream
75g (3 oz) breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Stick the cloves into the cut onion and place in a pan with the bay leaf  and the peppercorns.  Pour the milk over.  Bring the milk to boiling point and then take off the heat and cover and leave to infuse for at least two hours.

Strain the milk into a jug and then pour back into the pan. Add the butter and the breadcrumbs and place onto a gentle heat and stir occasionally until the breadcrumbs have swollen and thickened the sauce.  This will take about 15 minutes.  You can now leave it to stand until you are ready to serve.

Just before serving add the cream and reheat gently. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve in a warmed bowl.

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Chicken, borlotti and cranberry soup

Leave a Comment / chicken, pulses, soup /

I had some chicken left over from a roast we had the other day and I was trying to think of something to do with it.  I had a can of borlotti beans in the cupboard, a swede and some cranberries I bought when they were on special offer the other day, so this soup seemed like the thing we should have for tea.  It was tasty and the cranberries added an interesting colour and a zingy bitterness that added and interesting and good dimension to the soup.  If you have celery or carrots in the house then add some of these; I didn’t have any in the cupboard.

I served it with parmesan croutons which are very easy to make.  Just cube some bread and place on a baking tray with a light sprinkling of olive oil.  Place in a preheated oven at 200°c (400°f, gas mark 6) for about 7-8 minutes until golden all over.  As soon as they come out of the oven finely grate some parmesan over them so that it melts on contact.

1 onion, sliced finely
100g swede, diced
splash of Marsala or Madeira wine (optional)
1 dessertspoon plain flour
the leftover meat from a roast chicken ( I had two drumsticks left over for this soup)
400g tin of borlotti beans, drained and rinsed (or any other pulses you may have)
a handful of cranberries (fresh or frozen)
570 ml (1 pint) vegetable or chicken stock
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Method

Sweat the onion and swede for about 10 minutes until the onion is translucent and the swede is beginning to take on a little colour. Add the flour and mix well, cook for a minute or so to cook out the taste of the flour.  Add a splash of Marsala if you are using it.  Add the stock and stir well to mix it with the flour. Add the rest of the ingredients except the salt (adding salt will make the bean tough). Cook for about 15-20 minutes on a gentle simmer.  Add salt to taste just before serving.  Serve in warmed bowls with the parmesan croutons or fresh bread.

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Chocolate buns or fairy cakes

4 Comments / cake, chocolate /

Are these called buns or fairy cakes?  I have no idea so I opted for both. It was the Christmas Fayre at my eldest daughter’s school the other day and they asked for cake donations so these were ours. Show me a kid who doesn’t love milk chocolate and hundreds and thousands…

I liked these too.  I added milk chocolate chunks to the cake mix so there was a very satisfying bite to these little cakes. The ones I held back from donating (well you have to enjoy the rewards of baking!) were soon polished off by me and the girls.

I hope those who bought them at the Fayre enjoyed them as much as we did.

Make sure the eggs and the butter are at room temperature before you start as they will mix much easier and rise better.

Makes 18 cakes

110g caster sugar
110g softened butter
120g self-raising flour
20g good quality cocoa
2 eggs
30g milk chocolate, drops or chopped
splash of milk (if needed to make the mixture a soft consistency, if your egg is big you probably won’t need it)

18 paper cake cases and 2 patty tins (cupcake tins)

For the topping:
50g milk chocolate, melted
your choice of decoration

Method
Put the butter, sugar, flour, cocoa powder and eggs into a bowl and using an electric mixer beat together until just combined. If the mixture is a little stiff add a splash of milk and stir to combine. Add the chopped chocolate and stir to mix in evenly.

Put the paper cases into the holes of the tin. Put a spoonful of the mixture into each paper case, you want to half fill the cases to give space for rising.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180°c (gas mark 4) for 15-20 mins until springy to a slight touch.

Leave to cool, then top each cake with a spoonful of melted chocolate and sprinkle your choice of decorations on top.

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Sprouts, chorizo and chestnuts

4 Comments / chestnuts, chorizo, sprouts /

I love sprouts.  We had roast chicken last night and I was wondering how to dress my sprouts up.  I found some chorizo and I knew I had some vacuum packed chestnuts in the cupboard and so this dish came into being. It was very nice; the savoury tang of the sprouts combined with the salty tang of the chorizo and the sweetness of the chestnuts was just right. We will definitely be having this one again.

It’s hard to give quantities for this recipe, I used as much as we were likely to want to eat of each item.

sprouts
chorizo, diced
vacuum packed peeled chestnuts, roughly chopped

Method

Peel the top layer off each sprout and slice off the very bottom.  I don’t feel the need to put a cross in the bottom of the sprouts as life is too short and they cook just as well without it.  Put the sprouts in a pan and put in enough water to just cover them.  Bring them to the boil and simmer for about 7-8 mins until tender (or you could steam them until tender).  Drain the sprouts and leave to one side.  Fry the chorizo in a large pan for a few minutes over a medium heat until it begins to leech its golden oil.  Add the sprouts and the chestnuts and cook for a few minutes more, stirring gently,  until everything is piping hot and covered in the chorizo oil.  Serve immediately as a side dish.

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Marzipan chocolates

3 Comments / chocolate, marzipan /

It’s the time of year when Christmas cakes need to be marzipanned.  If you are marzipanning a cake then I definitely recommend making extra marzipan so that you can make a few of these.  I won’t be marzipanning a cake because my mum is in charge of Christmas cake baking but I couldn’t resist making some of these anyway because I love marzipan and I love chocolate therefore I adore marzipan chocolates.  You can make them into any shape and if you are more talented than me then maybe try making them into marzipan fruits.  My talents certainly don’t stretch that far.

Making your own marzipan is easy and much more satisfying and much tastier than the shop bought version.  It does contain raw eggs though so don’t make these for young children, pregnant women or the elderly or anyone else that has vulnerable health because of the risk of salmonella with raw eggs.

This is the recipe my mum always uses for her Christmas cakes and it works beautifully.

250g (8oz) ground almonds
125g (4oz) caster sugar
125g (4oz) icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp lemon juice
few drops of almond extract
1 free range egg, lightly beaten

50g 70% cocoa chocolate, melted

Method

Stir the almonds, the caster sugar and the icing sugar together in a large bowl until well combined. Add the lemon juice, almond extract and most of the egg and mix to a fairly firm dough (you may need all of the egg or you may not, so add it gradually).  Take the dough out of the bowl and knead on a surface dusted with icing sugar until smooth.  I then wrapped it in clingfilm and placed in the fridge for an hour or so to firm up a bit more before making into the sweets.

To make the sweets as pictured above I took small balls of dough and rolled until smooth then pressed down with the tines of a fork to flatten. I then dipped them in the melted chocolate and placed them onto greaseproof paper to set.

You could roll out the dough and use cookie cutters to make shapes. You could leave the chocolate out of it and simply enjoy the marzipan all on its own.

These eaten whilst enjoying a glass of Amaretto would send me to marzipan heaven.

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