Apple & Sultana Chutney with a Chilli Kick

My basic apple & sultana chutney with a little bit of a 'kick'.  This is great to cook if you need to clear your head.  Remember to put the extractor fan on high though!

1.5kg Cooking Apples, cored and finely diced; no need to peel
750g Light Muscovado sugar
500g Sultanas
1 Medium white onion, finely chopped
1 Medium red onion, finely chopped
10ml Mustard seeds
10ml Ground Ginger
10ml Ground coriander
10ml Garlic powder
10ml dried Chilli flakes
5ml Salt
300ml Cider vinegar
300ml Red Wine Vinegar
150ml Balsamic Vinegar

1. In a large, heavy based pan, combine all the ingredients.

2. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 45-60 minutes, stirring frequently until thick & syrup-like.  Remember to keep it moving every minute or so as it gets thicker to prevent it sticking to the pan.

3. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a while.
4. Decant into hot, clean, sterilised jars and seal.

5. Store in a cool, dark place for 2-3 weeks for the flavours to develop fully before enjoying.

Christmas Turkey Leftovers Loaf

Just what do you do with all that turkey & stuffing you've got leftover from Christmas dinner? Why, make a Leftover Loaf of course!

500g Strong white flour

10g Fresh yeast

350g Warm water

10g Cornish sea salt

50g Colman's cranberry sauce

200g Cooked turkey, chopped

100g Stuffing, crumbled/cubed

1. Into a large bowl, place your flour & rub in the yeast to break it down into small breadcrumb sized pieces.

2. Weigh the water into your bowl & sprinkle over the salt.

3. Using a dough scraper. Work the water into your flour until fully combined.

4. Tip the dough onto your table and knead (without adding flour to your table) for 10 minutes until smooth.

5. Lightly oil your bowl and return the dough to it.

6. Cover with a cloth and leave it in a warm, draught free place to rest for 30-60 minutes until risen.

7. Preheat your oven to 240C.

8. Lightly flour your table and tip your dough into it, top side down.

9. Using your hands. Press the dough into a rectangle approx. 60x20cm.

10. Spread the cranberry sauce onto your dough. Leaving a 5cm border on the long edges and a 2cm border on the short sides.

11. Sprinkle the turkey and stuffing evenly over the cranberry sauce.

12. Fold one side of the dough over the filling & press to seal the long edges.

13. Fold the other side over and again press to seal the long edges.

14. Fold  the dough round into a circle and seal the short edges together.

15. Lightly oil a bundt tin and place your ring of dough into the tin.

16. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm, draught free place until doubled in size.

17. Place the tin in the oven & immediately turn the temperature down to 220C

18. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.

19. Turn onto a cooling rack and leave to cool for 10 minutes before cutting.

29. Can also be enjoyed cold.

Quick Red Onion Relish

This is a great & quick dish to serve alongside any dish of meat, or even with some cheese & a wedge of bread.  Very versatile indeed!

2 Red onions
25g Butter
1 heaped Tsp Sugar
10ml Balsamic vinegar

1. Slice the onions.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan.
3. Fry the onions until they soften.
4. Add the sugar and cook for a few minutes until the onions start to break down.
5. Add the balsamic vinegar and continue to cook further for a few minutes until the relish becomes sticky & syrup-like.
6. Serve hot as an accompaniment with a meal or allow to cool and serve with cheese & cold meats.

Mince Pies with a Sweet Cinnamon Pastry

Using the mincemeat I made from mum's vintage recipe book, I made up a batch of sweet cinnamon pastry and turned out some gorgeous tasting mince pies.

200g Plain flour
5ml Ground Cinnamon
Pinch salt
50g Lard
50g Butter
25g Sugar
30ml (approx.) Cold water

1. Place the flour and cinnamon in a large bowl with the salt.
2. Cut the lard and the butter into small cubes and rub the fat into your flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Stir in the sugar.
4. Add most of the water and mix together with a table knife until a dough forms.  You will need to adjust the water depending on your mixture.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and quickly bring it together.
6. Wrap it in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to cool.
7. Preheat your oven to 220C.
8. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out on a floured board.
9. Cut round shapes to fit the cake/muffin tin you are using.
10. Place the pastry rounds into your tin, being careful not to puncture the pastry (the mince pies will stick in the tin if you do).
11. Fill the pastry cases 1/2 way up and place a cut out shape of leftover pastry on the top.
12. Cook for 15 minutes until the pastry is golden brown (the pastry will be slightly darker than normal due to the sugar and cinnamon content.
13. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool a little.
14. Enjoy with a cup of coffee and perhaps a dollop of my rum butter that will melt through.

Well.... I had to have a bite to check they were ok, didn't I?

Mincemeat from mum's 1958 book

This recipe comes from one of the two recipe books my mum has given to me recently.

It was originally gifted to her and dad in 1958.  I aim to try many of these tried and tested recipes in an attempt to bring back good, old fashioned, baking.  As this is a vintage recipe, I've chosen to use imperial measurements first with the metric equivalent bracketed afterwards.

1lb Raisins (450g)

1lb Currants (450g)

1lb Sultanas (450g)

1lb Apples (450g)

1/2lb Candied peel (225g)

1/2lb Suet (225g)

Pinch salt

1/2lb Demerara sugar (225g)

1tsp Cinnamon (5ml)

2 Lemons, rind and juice

2tbs Orange marmalade (30ml)

1/4 pint Rum (125ml)

1. Coarsely chop the dried fruit and place into a large mixing bowl.

2. Peel and core the apples then chop finely. Add to the bowl.

3. Add the candied peel, suet, salt, sugar, cinnamon, rind and juice of the lemons, the marmalade and the rum.

4. Mix thoroughly together.

5. Place into sterilised jars and seal.

6. Store in a cool, dark place.

This recipe will make approx. 6lb of mincemeat and if kept in the right conditions should keep for a year.

Brandy may be used instead of rum.

BBC Good Food Show, Winter 2013

I visited the BBC. good Food winter show last Saturday with 2 wonderful friends, Carmela Hayes & Julie Elliott. We are an awesome trio when we get together and last week was no exception!

Starting on the train to Birmingham with Pain aux Raisin for breakfast, we visited stands laden with cheese, crackers, olives, British oils (Duncan Farrington from Farrington's Mellow Yellow fame), spices, chocolate, coffee, gin (from the lovely guys at Warner Edwards), wine, pickles, chutneys and a myriad of other amazing ingredients.

We had 4th row tickets for the Super Theatre to see Paul Hollywood & Mary Berry demonstrate their recipes and were treated to a rather fabulous looking 'kitchen hand' who not only swept the floor, but also brushed Mary Berry down and tried to wipe the grey from Paul Hollywood's beard.

The kitchen hand was only Gino Di'Campo!!!!!!

At the end of a fabulous day we bumped into the lovely Urvashi Roe who recommended we visit the Barbers cheese stand (how did we miss this?!) I'm so glad we did as I entered a competition to win a hamper of cheese.

Well, blow me down with a feather because look what I won.....!

A HUGE, quality made wooden box.

Which when opened revealed a gorgeous quality apron.

And underneath the insulation and packaging a MASSIVE treasure trove of amazing cheese.  In fact over 3kg of their 24 month matured Vintage Cheddar Cheese.  Now I know this cheese is good stuff as I tasted some at the show, we had 'train snacks' of cheese on the way home and I bought 2 packs of it to bring home for the family to enjoy too.

How lucky am I?  Thank you to the Barber family for my generous prize. The wooden box will be kept for storage to remind me of your generosity.

Colmans Season and Steam Sachets with Crispy Sage & Onion Stuffing

Using some more of the ingredients from the kit I was sent by the Unilever kitchen, I created a whole tasty meal, which I'll share with you here:

CHICKEN

4 chicken breasts, cubed

15ml Rapeseed oil

50g Paxo Sage & Onion Stuffing Mix

50g Flora buttery

4 Cloves garlic

1. Cube the chicken into bite sized pieces.

2. Place into an oven roasting dish.

3. Drizzle with oil.

4. Sprinkle with the stuffing mix and dot over with the flora buttery.

5. Throw in the whole cloves of garlic.

6. Roast at 180C for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile...

POTATOES

500g Potatoes

100ml Water

1 Sachet of Colmans Season and Steam Garden Herb & Potatoes mix

30ml Rapeseed oil

1. Cube the potatoes into even sized pieces.

2. Place the potatoes into the steam bag and sprinkle with the Season Mixture in accordance with the instructions on the back of the sachet.

3. Add the water and use the to tie the top of the steam bag. Shake well to coat the potatoes with the Garden Herb mix.

4. Cook in the microwave on high power for 9 1/2 Minutes, according to the timings provided for your microwave.

5. Remove from the microwave and allow to stand for 1minute, then drain.

6. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the potatoes until nicely browned all over.

VEGETABLES:

150g Courgettes, sliced 1cm thick

1 Medium red onion, diced

120g Red pepper, cubed

130g Vine ripened tomatoes, quartered

Colmans Season and Steam Mediterranean Vegetables mix

1. Prepare the vegetables as above and place into the steam bag.

2. Sprinkle the season mixture over the vegetables and use the tie to seal the bag, in accordance with   packet instructions.

3. Shake the bag to coat evenly.

4. Microwave on high for 5 1/2 minutes according to the timings provided for your microwave.

5. Remove from the microwave and allow to stand for 1 minute.

Serve

Bread making the Bertinet way

Bread making tips:

* Always use strong flour.

* Do not add more flour than the recipe tells you to.

* Water should be body temperature. When you put your finger in, it should feel neither hot or cold, but should feel 'wet'!

* Fresh yeast gives a much better flavour. If you can't get fresh, then it's fine to use dried 'easy blend' yeast but halve the quantity that the recipe suggests or follow the packet instructions.

* If you don't have a baker's stone, then use an upturned baking tray in your oven when you preheat it to ensure your bread starts to cook from the underneath immediately when you put your dough into the oven.

* Do not allow your bread to be in a draught when proving. If necessary, place the bowl in your microwave (switched off) with the door closed or in a closed cupboard.

* Have a spray bottle of fresh water handy beside your oven to mist the oven immediately prior to putting the bread in. This will help the crust.

* Have the oven door open for the shortest time you can when misting & putting your bread dough in to preserve as much heat as possible. 

I was lucky enough to attend a bread making demonstration recently at the Meile Cookery School in Oxfordshire with Richard Bertinet. Having seen his method of working the dough rather than kneading it, I was keen to try it out & I did so the following day with spectacular results. I was so impressed with this method that I can't ever see me going back to the old way of kneading that I'd always used.  Since that Saturday I've now made many loaves using Richard's, method all with success.

So, bearing that in mind and with a huge thank you to Richard for opening my eyes to a new way of working my bread dough, lets "Show the Dough Who's Boss!!!" 

Richard's basic bread recipe:

500g Strong white flour

10g Sea salt

10g Fresh yeast

350g Water (at body temperature).

If you are using a baker's stone, you should put your oven on now to 210°C with the stone in it to make sure that its fully hot ready for your proven bread to go in.  If you don't have a baker's stone, you can leave pre-heating it until you have worked your dough.

1. Weigh your flour into a large bowl.

2. On one side of your bowl, weigh the salt and on the other side weigh the yeast. Ensure you keep them apart.

3. Rub the yeast into the flour until it forms small crumbs.

4. Weigh the water into your bowl.

5. Using a plastic dough scraper, mix the dough together in the bowl ensuring you have all of the flour combined.

6. Tip your dough onto a clean Worktop/table. It will be sticky, but DO NOT FLOUR THE SURFACE OF YOUR TABLE!

7. Using your hands with your fingers outstretched & your thumbs parallel to your fingers, LIFT the dough from the table.

8. FLICK the bottom of the dough away from you..

9. As the bottom of the dough starts to swing back towards you, SLAP it down onto the table.

10. STRETCH the top of the dough up vertically.

11. THROW the top of the dough over the bottom. This will trap air into your dough to help make it light & to work the gluten.

12. Each time you go to lift, insert your fingers a 1/8 turn.

13. Continue this lift, flick, slap, stretch & throw about 10 times, keeping the top surface of the dough on top. DO NOT TURN YOUR DOUGH UPSIDE DOWN.

14. Use your scraper to 'take your dough for a walk' along the table & back again. Remember not to turn it upside down but to use the scraper to ease it from underneath & almost turn it round sideways. This helps to make sure that you are working all of the dough and that none of it remains stuck to the table.

15. Continue to work the dough & to 'walk' it every 10 cycles until you have a smooth dough that springs back when you press it with your finger.

16. LIGHTLY flour your table then turn your dough upside down so your smooth side is now against the floured table. Fold the outside edges of your dough into the centre & press down gently, then give a little turn & repeat until you have a smooth ball.

17. Sprinkle a light dusting of flour into your bowl and place your dough 'seam side' down/smooth side on top, into it. Cover the bowl with cling film & leave to prove & rest for 20-60 mins, depending on the temperature of your room. It needs to have doubled in size.

18. As soon as you have put your dough to prove, put your oven on to preheat to 210C (if you haven't already because you have a baker's stone). Placing an upturned baking sheet on the shelf will help the bread start to bake from underneath from the moment you put your bread in to cook.

19. Get yourself a water spray (like a plant spray) & fill it with water. Place this close to your oven ready for when you need to put your bread in.

20. Dust a flat baking sheet (or bakers peel) with flour/semolina & put to one side.

21. When your dough has rested & risen, LIGHTLY flour your table & turn your dough out, (top side down) and flatten it out gently with your hands.

22. Fold the edges in to the centre, as before, until you have a smooth round ball.

23. Turn your dough over and on to your dusted baking sheet. Slash the top with a very sharp knife/blade. This controls where the loaf will 'burst' so you can make a pattern if you're feeling arty!

24. NOW YOU HAVE TO DO THIS NEXT BIT QUICKLY AND WITHOUT BURNING YOURSELF IN THE PROCESS. Open the oven door & spray 12-15 times with water. Quickly slide the dough from your baking sheet onto the upturned baking tray that's in your oven. Apply another few sprays & close the door. Ideally this should only take a few seconds as you need to preserve the heat in your oven.

25. Bake your bread for 30-35 mins until nicely browned & it sounds hollow when the bottom is tapped.

26. Remove to a cooking rack & allow to cool before slicing & eating. 

Huge thanks go to Richard Bertinet (herein known to me as the Dough Daddy!) for opening my eyes to a new & much better way of working my bread dough and for allowing me to share his method with you.  He has also given me permission to create a small video which I'll upload to YouTube showing his technique of working the dough.

It also goes to the Miele Cookery School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire for the opportunity to see Richard's demonstration.