Apple Frangipane Tart

Sometimes there isn't the time or inclination to make pastry and crushing a few biscuits to make a tart case is perfect. Anyway, who doesn't love bashing biscuits with a rolling pin.......

This is a luscious tart, easy to make and you'll be sure to go back for another slice.

175g digestive biscuits
75g butter
200g Bramley apples
lemon juice
For the frangipane filling:
75g butter, softened
75g caster sugar
2 free-range eggs, beaten
75g ground almonds
1 tsp almond extract
50g flaked almonds

You will need: 20cm fluted loose-base round tin

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Place the biscuits into a large jug and using the end of a rolling pin crush until fine crumbs.
3. Melt the butter in a small basin in the microwave, pour onto the crushed digestives, mix to coat the biscuits and tip into the tart tin.  Press the crumbs evenly over the base and sides of the tart tin. Place in the fridge to chill.
4. Add the butter and sugar  to a bowl and mix until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, now add the ground almonds and almond extract mix until well combined.
5. Peel and core the apples, cut into thin slices. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to help prevent browning. Arrange the slices over the biscuit base. Dollop the frangipane filling onto the apple slices and spread evenly. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and set.

You may like:
Apple Ginger Cakes with lemon icing
Nora's Apple Pie
Blackberry and Apple Crumble Tart

Spicy Mince Beef Bake

I've been on holiday, the sun shone and our view from the apartment was a dream whether we sat on the small balcony or looked out through the patio door that spanned the whole width of our living area.  We went to the Mumbles in Swansea and it's a great place to visit for food and views.

No, I didn't make this lasagne whilst I was away, although the kitchen was amazing with everything you could wish for. We ate out for all our meals and why not when you are spoilt for choice in this fabulous location.

This is a great way to make lasagne with a twist by using the last of the tortillas instead of pasta sheets.

The meat base has a spicy kick, tortillas are far lighter to eat than pasta, the indulgent topping is made up of three different cheeses and the finished dish can be frozen.

The recipe is made in the conventional way - I've tried cooking mince beef in the Thermomix and it's okay if you like baby food!

If you are making this with small children in mind it's easy to leave out the chilli and simply puree the onions and red pepper to hide them.

Adapted from Mary Berry's Foolproof Cooking

You will need: 1.5 litre shallow ovenproof dish.

For the mince layer
1 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
500g/1lb 2oz beef mince
1 mild red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp mango chutney
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 small bunch fresh coriander, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
To assemble
3 large tortilla wraps
250g full-fat mascarpone
100g mozzarella, grated
100g cheddar, grated

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160C.
2. Pour the oil into a large ovenproof pan over a medium heat, add the chopped onions and fry for 3 minutes. Turn up the heat, add the mince beef and fry until brown, breaking up the meat.
3. Add the chilli, red pepper, garlic and spices and fry for 5 minutes, or until all the moisture has evaporated and the mixture is quite dry. Stir in the tomato purée, mango chutney, tinned tomatoes and salt and black pepper. Cover, bring to the boil and place in the oven for an hour.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and stir in half the chopped coriander. Raise the oven temperature to 200C.
5. Spread a third of the cooked mince beef mixture over the bottom of the ovenproof dish and lay one tortilla wrap on top. Spread a third of the mascarpone over the tortilla and sprinkle with a third of each of the mozzarella and Cheddar cheeses. Repeat twice more so you have 3 layers.
6. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling. Set aside for 5 minutes before serving and garnish with the remaining coriander.
7. Serve with a salad.

Pecan Sponge Squares

My husband isn't overly keen on cakes smothered in buttercream and he was delighted when I made this light textured cake which is rippled and topped with ground pecans.

This was another bake I made using my Thermomix, the cake batter took 20 seconds to mix!  I can now confidently say the finished sponge is comparable to using a food mixer or food processor.  If you like making sponge cakes in the traditional way then a food mixer will be fine.

A food processor or Thermie are ideal for this recipe, the pecans are ground and then put to one side whilst the cake is mixed.  I buy my pecans from the local Lidl store they are far too expensive in the supermarkets.

Adapted from Mary Berry's Absolute Favourites.

Conventional Method and Thermomix Instructions in Italics

100g butter, softened
2 large eggs
100g self-raising flour
100g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

For The Ripple
50g pecan nuts
10g light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

You will need: 20cm x 20cm tin greased and lined with baking paper.

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Place 25g of the pecan nuts in a food processor and whiz until finely ground. Mix in a bowl with the light brown sugar and cinnamon, set aside.
Add the pecans to the jug TM 8 Sec/Speed 7.
3. Chop the remaining pecans by hand and set them aside for the topping.
Chop pecans TM 4 Sec/Speed 6.
4. Add the ingredients for the cake batter into a bowl, beat until combined.
Measure the ingredients into the jug TM 20Sec/Speed 5.
5. Spread just under half of the sponge mixture over the base of the prepared tin. Spoon over two-thirds of the pecan ripple mix in an even layer. Spoon over the rest of the cake batter and level with a palette knife. Swirl the handle of a teaspoon through the cake batter. Sprinkle over the rest of the pecan ripple and scatter over the reserved chopped pecans.
6. Bake for 30 minutes until just firm to the touch. Remove the cake from the oven and cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes, turn out on to a wire rack to cool. Cut into squares.
7. Will freeze.

You may also like:
Cappuccino Cake
Coffee, Walnut & Raisin Cake
Strawberry Cake

Little Apple and Almond Cakes Recipe

These little cakes remind me in taste and texture of almond macaroons which I ate as a child.  They are easy to make and taste delicious.

My tins (in the photograph below) have removable bases and were given to me by an elderly lady who had been an avid baker but found she was baking less and less. The tins are old, well used and I love them. I'm sure you too have baking tins that have been passed onto you.

If you need a dessertcumcake recipe that is inexpensive to make then look no further......

Slightly adapted recipe from Mary Berry's Absolute Favourites.

Makes: 6

You will need:  six tins with removable bases measuring approximately 7cm or a muffin tin

75g butter, melted
100g self-raising flour
100g caster sugar
1 large egg, beaten
½ tsp almond extract
1 x Braeburn apple, peeled and thinly sliced
15g flaked almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Grease the inside of the tins with butter and dust with flour. Place the tins on a baking tray.
3. Pour the melted butter into a bowl. Add the sugar, flour, egg and almond extract and mix until smooth.
4. Spoon a little of the mixture into the base of each tin, arrange a few apple slices over the cake batter and spoon the remaining cake mixture on top, level with the back of a teaspoon.
5. Scatter the flaked almonds over the cake mixture. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until risen and golden.

6. Place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, remove the cakes from the tins. Serve warm (reheat in a microwave) with crème fraîche or ice cream.

Blueberry and Lemon Drizzle Mini Loaf Cakes

I turned to one of my Mary Berry cookbooks for this delicious recipe - I've adapted her lime and blueberry ring drizzle cake and used lemon to replace her suggested lime but only because I had lemons in the fridge, this was an instantaneous bake and there wasn't time to go out shopping for a few limes. The crystallised lemon rind is quick, easy to make and delicious, not a step to miss out.

Ingredients
110g soft butter
110g caster sugar
175g self-raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
1 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
50g blueberries (use some of the measured flour to coat the blueberries)

Crunchy glaze:
3 tablespoons lemon juice
75g granulated sugar

Crystallised lemon rind:
1 lemon rind (I used a zester)
70g caster sugar
100ml cold water

You will need: 8 greased and lined mini loaf moulds.

Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.  Cut 8 strips of baking parchment and line the loaf tin moulds.

Place the butter, caster sugar, flour, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the eggs, milk, and lemon zest. Beat with an electric hand whisk for about 2 minutes until smooth.

Divide half the batter between the eight moulds. Scatter the floured blueberries over the batter. Spoon the rest of the mixture over the blueberries and spread it evenly to cover the fruit.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until well risen. Whilst the cakes bake, make the glaze by mixing the lemon juice with the granulated sugar.  Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then loosen the sides with a palette knife. Lift them out of the tin with the baking paper strips and place on a wire rack to cool.

While the cakes are still warm, prick them all over with a skewer. Stir the glaze, then spoon it over the warm cakes. Leave to cool.

To make the candied lemon rind, use a zester to remove the rind from lemons in long strands. Or, if you are handy with a knife, thinly slice the lemon rind away from the lemon and cut into fine strips. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Combine the rind, sugar and water in a saucepan over a medium heat and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium/low and simmer for 10 minutes or until the rind is translucent. Remove from the heat. Use a fork to spread the rind in a single layer, over the tray. Put to one side for 5 minutes to set.
Now the candied zest is ready to decorate the cakes as you wish.

Apple and Raspberry Pie: Recipe

Deep filled apple and raspberry pie fresh from the oven

It's British Pie Week from 2-8 March and I love a good pie, whether it's an apple pie that has to be served with Birds Custard, otherwise hubby sulks, or a chicken and leek pie served with a pot of delicious gravy.

Who better to turn to for a recipe than Mary Berry whose books I've grown up with.  This recipe is called Autumn Fruit Pie, the original recipe uses blackberries and apples, and comes from Mary Berry Cooks The Perfect......this book is full to bursting with an array of tempting new recipes.

Slightly adapted recipe
You will need:
23cm Pie tin 3.5cm deep - I used a tarte tatin dish but it was a little too large

800g Bramley apples thinly sliced
1 tbsp lemon juice (bottled is fine)
100g caster sugar
2 tbsp cornflour
225g fresh raspberries

Pastry:
350g plain flour
175g cold salted butter
1tbsp milk to glaze
2tsp caster sugar to sprinkle over

1. Place the flour and cubes of butter into a food processor and blend to breadcrumbs. Add 5 to 6 tablespoons of iced cold water and whizz until the mixture comes together. Tip out onto a floured surface and wrap in clingwrap and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
2. Remove the pastry from the fridge and cut into two making one piece slightly larger.
3. Place a large baking tin in the oven and preheat the oven to 180ºC .
4. Roll the larger piece of pastry out to line the pastry tin leaving the pastry overlapping at the edges.
5. Peel and core the apples.  Cut into thin slices and toss with the lemon juice.  Sprinkle over the caster sugar and flour and mix together to coat. Tip the apples and raspberries into the pastry case.
6. Roll out the lid until larger than the tin.  Brush the rim of the pastry with milk and place the pastry lid over the fruit. Press the pastry edges together.  Trim off the excess. With the back edge of a knife tap all round the edges to secure.  Crimp the edges together.  Cut a slit in centre of the pie 2cm long.
7. Make leaves with the pastry trimmings, Brush the lid with milk.  Place the leaves on the pastry lid. Sprinkle the caster sugar over.
8. Place the pie on the baking tray and bake for 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180ºC and bake for 35 minutes.  Leave the pie to cool slightly before serving.

Mary Berry's Spiced Dorset Apple Traybake - Recipe

The traybake is spiced with cinnamon

This is a cake-cum-pudding - according to my hubby it needs a large bowl of 'Birds Custard' - there isn't a cure for his love of Bird's Custard, it comes from his school days. In fact he often boasts that he introduced an American businessman to custard and told him that English puddings have to be served with the pudding floating in custard!

Yes, I did give him a chunk of the cake with his beloved custard - I had a piece with a dollop of cream but creme fraiche would cut through the sweetness of the cake and for me it would be the best choice.

Mary Berry is the queen of the traybake and I don't think I had ever heard of a 'traybake' until many, many years ago when I bought her Ultimate Cake Book.  This book is very well thumbed and is getting a bit tatty but it is a turn to book when I'm in need of baking inspiration.

Part of my collection of Mary Berry cookery books

Adapted recipe and method:

You will need: 30cm x 23cm x 4cm greased and lined with baking parchment.

225g butter softened
550g Bramley cooking apples
1 tbsp bottled lemon juice
225g light brown sugar
300g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Peel, core and thinly slice the apples, place them into a dish. Pour the lemon juice over the apples and toss gently together.
3. Put the butter, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, ½ teaspoon of the cinnamon, eggs and milk into a large bowl. Beat with a hand held electric whisk for 2 minutes.
4. Dollop half the cake batter into the tin and spread it out evenly with a spatula. Place half the apple slices on top and sprinkle over the remaining ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. Spoon the remaining cake batter on top in blobs and level the surface. Scatter the rest of the apple slices over the cake mixture and press them lightly into the surface.
5. Bake for 40 minutes until golden. Test the cake is cooked through with a skewer and the apples are soft and cooked. Leave the cake to cool in the tin. Remove the cake using the lining paper.

The original recipe, method and video how to make the cake is on the Daily Mail website.

Mary Berry's Lemon Drizzle Cake - Recipe

Lemon Drizzle Cake with a Crunchy Topping

I've been making this recipe for more years than I care to remember.  It's easy to make, only requires a few ingredients, bakes well and freezes too - not forgetting it is amazingly delicious.

This last week I've been away from home and it doesn't leave any time for baking, but I just managed to find time to make this Mary Berry recipe.  There are lots of recipes for lemon drizzle but this one has a tender crumb and the granulated sugar topping is perfect.

Mary Berry calls these Crunchy Lemon Syrup Loaves

Instead of making loaf cakes use a small oblong tin and make a traybake
 or the batter can be used to make cupcakes

It can get a bit messy in my kitchen!

You will need:
2 eggs at room temperature
175g self-raising flour
175g caster sugar
100g soft margarine (Stork)
1 tsp baking powder
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
4 tbsp milk

For the crunchy topping:
100g granulated sugar
juice of 1 lemon (to get more juice from the lemon simply pierce the lemon and place in the microwave for 10 seconds)

2 x 450g loaf tins, greased and lined

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Beat together the soft margarine, eggs, flour, caster sugar,  milk, baking powder and lemon zest until smooth, using an ice cream scoop place the batter into the prepared loaf tins.
3. Bake for about 35 minutes until golden brown.  Place the tins onto a wire rack to cool.
4. Whilst the cakes are cooling, make the topping by mixing together the granulated sugar and lemon juice.
5. Leave the loaves in their tins and pour the topping over them.  Leave to cool before removing from the tins.

More Lemon Drizzle Cake Recipes:
This Year:          Almond and Lemon Drizzle Cake Bars
Four Years Ago: Lemon Drizzle Cake - National Baking Week

Mary Berry's Whole Orange Spice Cake

Whole Orange Spice Cake

I took this recipe from Mary Berry's Christmas Collection cookery book which I've had since it first came out in 2006, although there is now an updated version.

It's an easy cake to make but one which requires using a food processor.  My small processor just coped with the amount of batter mix.

The skin was too thick and my orange had to be cooked for an hour or so

The orange should be a thin skinned variety otherwise it won't cook down enough in 20 minutes and will process into hard chunks of orange.

It's a huge cake, well it is for 2 people, I think it will feed 12 easily and because it freezes well without the icing sugar topping, it makes a very inexpensive cake to feed a crowd over Christmas and New Year. If I made the cake again I'd definitely make some type of orange topping rather than the dusting of icing sugar. The cake is very light and moist and I served my cake with double cream.

The star template is reusable and came in an assorted pack from Lidl.

I line the base and sides of my sandwich tins
 to ensure the cake doesn't stick to the tin

The recipe can be found on the Mary Berry website.

Banana and Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Banana and Chocolate Chip Cupcakes taken with the Nikon D3200

Looking at bananas in the fruit bowl turning from black to blacker, resisting throwing them out and then feeling pressured into using them happens far too often in my house, so let's do some baking. All you need are a few store cupboard/fridge ingredients to make the cake batter and hopefully a few cupcake cases.  I used nine tulip cupcake cases and shared the batter between them.

The recipe by Mary Berry for the banana and chocolate chip cupcakes can be found on the Daily Mail website, I substituted the caster sugar for soft brown sugar and left the milk out to prevent the chocolate chips sinking to the bottom of the cupcakes.

Banana and Chocolate Chip Loaf

Mary Berry to the rescue for those black banana recipes, the banana and chocolate chip loaf is one of the best I have ever eaten - I try to remember to leave the milk out of the recipe because I've always found the chocolate chips sink to the bottom of the loaf, in this instance I forgot and the chocolate chips sank....This loaf improves with keeping and turns lovely and sticky, a drizzle of chocolate on top of the loaf will totally transform it's otherwise plain appearance.

Both the cupcakes and loaf freeze perfectly.

More suggestions for using up those ripe or over ripe bananas:

Nigella's Chocolate Banana Muffins
Banana Blueberry Cakes

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Ginger: Recipe

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Toffee Sauce and Ice Cream

There are many variations of Sticky Toffee Pudding, and here is yet another, but this time with a ginger twist.  If dates aren't your thing, a pudding studded with stem ginger may well entice you towards making this rich and delicious pudding.

The pudding is really light in texture and the outer crust is sticky. I decided to use a toffee
sauce recipe using evaporated milk, it's more lightweight than using double cream and I promise the sauce doesn't taste of 'evap'.

A fabulous recipe by Mary Berry from her book Mary Berry's Family Sunday Lunches.

I served mine with ice cream because I like hot puddings with a dollop of cold ice cream.......

Slightly adapted recipe.

Serves: 6-8 people

You will need:  greased and base lined baking tin measuring 26cm x 19cm.

75g soft unsalted butter, 150g light brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 175g self-raising flour, 1tsp bicarbonate of soda, 2 tbsp black treacle, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 125ml milk, 4 bulbs stem ginger in syrup chopped finely.

1. Heat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Place the softened butter and sugar into either a food processor or mixing bowl and beat until it is light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, flour, bicarbonate of soda, treacle, vanilla extract and milk - whisk or whiz until smooth and thick.
4. Pour into the baking tin, bake for 35 - 45 minutes until cooked.
5. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, turn out onto a baking tray.
6. Cut into slices - after cooling the pudding can be frozen or to reheat place on a plate and microwave for 30-40 seconds to reheat.

Sauce:
60g unsalted butter, 150g demerara sugar, 1 tbsp golden syrup, 150g evaporated milk

For the sauce: 
1. Melt the butter in a small pan.
2. Add the sugar and golden syrup to the butter.
3. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
4. Pour in the evaporated milk.
5. Beat until boiling.

To Serve:
1. Reheat a slice of pudding in the microwave for 30-40 seconds on high.
2. Pour the hot sauce over the pudding.
3. If you wish, serve with either a dollop of ice cream or some fresh cream.

For more of my yummy puddings:
Syrup Sponge
Plum, Rhubarb and Apple Crumble
Vanilla Rice Pudding with Blackberries & Plums
Brioche & Butter Pudding

Mary Berry's Gingerbread Traybake - Recipe

A traybake can be made in any square or rectangular tin and you can increase or decrease the quantities to your hearts content. I love a traybake because of its versatility.  A traybake doesn't have to be a cake, it can be a pudding too, cut into squares and open freeze for a rainy day. It was Mary Berry who back in the day first introduced me to the wonders of a traybake bake, and true to say it lost favour for many, many years.

Iced and decorated gingerbread.

The batter waiting to go into the oven for baking.

When I first married I used to watch her on TV (I was a child bride!),  I then went on to purchase my first cookery book, which was The Hamlyn All Colour Cookery Book and I can remember they updated this quite a few years after it first came out.  When Mary contributed to Home & Freezer Digest I used to buy this from the newsagents and can remember saving every copy.

I bought a copy of Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook and gave my children a copy of this too, to use for reference, and hopefully cook a few recipes.  My daughters husband uses this cookery book and makes a fabulous Potato Dauphinoise, another favourite is Potato Lyonnaise, he has also turned out a few memorable starters using recipes from this book.

Some of my Mary Berry cookery books - do you have a collection too?

There are a few recipes on my site that I have cooked from Mary Berry cookbooks and they are all delicious.  One of my favourites is her Lamb Tagine and this is one of the best tagine recipes ever. A couple of her books on my wish list are Mary Berry's Family Sunday Lunches and her latest cookbook, Mary Berry at Home.

The following recipe is taken from Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book - I always halve this quantity and use a 18 x 28cm tin.  Freeze un-iced.

Slightly adapted recipe.  For this quantity of mixture you will need a 30 x 23cm tin lined with parchment paper.

275g golden syrup
275g black treacle
225g dark molasses sugar
225g unsalted butter
450g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons mixed spice
2 rounded teaspoons ground ginger
4 eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons milk

For the icing:
225g icing sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
50g crystallised ginger finely chopped.

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF/Gas 3.
2. Measure the syrup, treacle, sugar and butter into a large pan.  Heat very gently until the butter has melted.  Remove from the heat and stir in the flour and spices.  Add the beaten eggs and milk, beat until smooth.
3. Pour into the lined tin.
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes until beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin.
5. Cool in the tin.
6. When cold lift out of the tin and remove the lining paper.
7. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the lemon juice, drop by drop and mix until smooth.
8. Decorate with the chopped ginger and leave the icing to set.
9. Cut into squares.

ROAST FILLET OF PORK WITH CRANBERRY AND MADEIRA GRAVY

On a very cold and frosty New Year's Eve, we went to a 'bit of a do' at a local 2 AA Rosette Award Hotel, where they were having a buffet and disco. I know we are all affected by the credit crunch, but the food wasn't great. I'm now thinking I should have stayed at home and cooked this meal on New Year's Eve instead of New Year's Day!!!

Pork fillet can be quite a dry meat because it is so lean but this was the perfect way to cook the fillets, swathed in a bandage of streaky bacon and filled with a mushroom and Parmesan cheese stuffing.

This made a perfect roast, the pork can be prepared the day before, sit happily in the fridge and cooked the next day. The roast cooks in just an hour, carves neatly (when my husband does the carving!) and any leftovers can be served with a salad the next day, which is exactly how we ate it. I know it's too late now to be thinking about buffets etc. but this is definitely a winner for the salad plate.


The stuffing could be made chunkier by not cutting the mushrooms as small as I did, but I had a new kitchen toy a few months ago and got a bit carried away!!

To make the roast you simply flatten two pork fillets, fill with the mushroom stuffing and wrap in streaky bacon.

I'm not sure whether the pork looks dry in the photograph, but it wasn't - promise.

Nearly forgot to say, I served the pork with potato dauphinoise, carrot batons and roasted cauliflower. I didn't make the cranberry and Madeira gravy because unfortunately I forgot to buy the cranberry juice. I made a brandy and mushroom sauce instead, which went surprising well with the meal.

I bought 450g of pork fillet and cut it into two pieces width ways. This was enough for two people with leftovers.

To make my potato dauphinoise, which is a lower in fat version of this classic, simply make in the usual way but to 900g of potatoes I use 300ml of half-fat creme fraiche mixed with 200ml of semi-skimmed milk, 50g Gruyere cheese or a reduced-fat Cheddar cheese coarsely grated and 15g unsalted butter.

Mary Berry is a prolific author of cookery books and you can visit her website here.

MARY BERRY'S CHRISTMAS COLLECTION

ISBN 0755315626 - Page 93

Serves: 6

You will need: 2 pork fillets of equal length, each about 450g in weight (trimmed of all fat), 10-12 long streaky bacon rashers, salt and ground black pepper.

For the stuffing: 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil, 1 finely chopped medium onion, 225g chopped chestnut mushrooms, 40g freshly grated Parmesan, 25g fresh white breadcrumbs, 3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves, 1 egg yolk.

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C/Gas 7.
2. Make the stuffing. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the chopped onion and fry for a few minutes over a low heat until tender. Add the chopped mushrooms to the onion, and cook over a high heat to drive off any liquid from the mushrooms. When the pan is completely dry, take off the heat and add all the remaining stuffing ingredients and season. Set to one side to cool.
3. Split the pork fillets length ways halfway through (but not entirely in half), open out and cover with clingfilm. Beat out to flat. Stretch the bacon rashers with the back of a knife, and arrange overlapping on a chopping board.
4. Put one of the fillets on to the bacon, season with black pepper and spread with the stuffing. Cover with the other fillet, beaten side facing down. Roll up tightly, folding each piece of bacon over the roll. Lift onto a roasting tin with the bacon join underneath.
5. Bake in a preheated oven for about an hour until the bacon is crisp and the pork is cooked.
6. Let the pork rest for a minimum of 10 minutes before carving.

For the Cranberry and Madeira Gravy:

You will need: 25g butter, 100g sliced chestnut mushrooms, 300ml cranberry juice, 75ml Madeira, 1 rounded tablespoon plain flour, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the sliced mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Gradually pour in the cranberry juice. In a small bowl blend the Madeira with the flour until smooth, then add to the sauce. Bring to the boil, stirring, then add the balsamic vinegar. Season.

This was a fabulous meal and I will be making it again. After eating this, we soon forgot about the previous evenings meal. After all, we had moved on to 2009. Happy New Year everyone!

Recipe: Lamb Tagine by Mary Berry

Just by looking at the list of ingredients in this recipe you can tell all those spices are going to make this fabulous.

This recipe is by Mary Berry and one I make time and again.  It's one pot cooking and can be cooked in the slow cooker too.  The flavours pack a punch and my kitchen always smells wonderful when this is cooking. I have slightly adapted the recipe and added some chicken stock to loosen the sauce. I made this for the two of us and halved the list of ingredients, although for the lamb I used 300g. The tagine is best made the day before and left in the fridge overnight for the flavours to develop.

Lamb neck fillet from Waitrose was used in my recipe. For some unknown reason the butchers around here don't seem to sell it.

One of my hubs favourite meals and I craftily always make this if I've been out and bought things I didn't realise I needed:)

I served mine with rice purely because we aren't fans of couscous.

You will need:

1 tbs sunflower oil, 900g neck fillet of lamb, boneless shoulder or leg, 2 large onions, 3 cloves garlic crushed, 175g quartered dried apricots, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ground paprika, ⅛ tsp hot chilli powder, 1 generous pinch of saffron soaked in 3 tbs hot water, 2 tbs honey, 800g tinned chopped tomatoes, ½ pint of chicken stock, chopped parsley and coriander to garnish.

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
2. Heat the oil in a large casserole and brown lamb in batches. When browned, remove and put on one side.
3. Add the chopped onions and garlic to a pan on a low heat, stir and then cover for around 10-15 minutes until soft.
4. Increase the heat and add the spices including saffron and soaking liquid.
5. Add the apricots, honey, tomatoes and lamb. Add some of the stock to loosen the mixture - you may need to top up the casserole during cooking to make a sauce.
6. Bring to the boil, season and cover with a lid. Pop in the oven for at least two hours.
7. Garnish with lots of parsley and coriander and serve either with couscous or rice.

COTTAGE PIE WITH CRUSHED POTATOES AND CHERRY TOMATOES

Traditionally, Cottage Pie is made with minced beef, and Shepherd's Pie with minced lamb. The meat and vegetables are then topped with mashed potatoes.

I like to make Cottage Pie with lean minced steak or lean minced beef, chopped celery, carrots and onion. I'm not a fan of Shepherd's Pie. The minced lamb, even after removing all of the fat, still tastes too fatty for me.

This recipe evolved from a Cottage Pie base in the freezer. I simply cooked some new potatoes, crushed them, popped them on top of the defrosted pie base, drizzled some olive oil over the potatoes and cooked the Cottage Pie in a moderate oven for 20 minutes. Some grated cheddar cheese was sprinkled over the potatoes and a few cherry tomatoes tumbled on the top. Freshly ground black pepper was then sprinkled over. Return to the oven until the base is bubbling and the cherry tomatoes start to burst their skins.

I haven't given a recipe for the Cottage Pie base as most of us have our own personal favourite. The recipe I use is one from a Mary Berry book that I have used for years!

FRUIT LOAF WITH FRESH LIME AND GINGER

Anyone for a slice of cake? This fruit cake is light, moist and has a lovely lime icing. The unusual thing about this particular cake is that you simply throw everything into a bowl and mix. By doing this the fruit won't sink to the bottom of the cake. If you decide to make it the 'proper' way, then as I found out, the fruit all sinks to the bottom of the cake.
Lucy Young has put stem ginger into this cake and it is a wonderful match with the limes.
I've made this cake several times and sometimes use Nigella Lawson's Malibu icing instead of the suggested one here. Below I have also given the recipe for this.
Lucy Young wrote this book for the Aga but also gives instructions for conventional cookers. Lucy works for Mary Berry and helps run Mary's Aga workshops.


SECRETS FROM A COUNTRY KITCHEN BY LUCY YOUNG

ISBN 0091896754 - Page 180

Makes 2 cakes.

175g self-raising flower, 100g soft butter, 100g caster sugar, 3 eggs - beaten, 50g raisins, 50g glace cherries - quartered, washed and dried well, 150g sultanas, 4 bulbs stem ginger - finely chopped, finely grated zest of 2 limes.

1. You will need two 450g (1 lb) loaf tins, greased and base lined.
2. Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF/Gas 3.
3. Measure all the ingredients for the cakes into a large bowl. Mix well until smooth. Divide between the two loaf tins, and level the tops.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes until golden brown or test if cooked by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean the cake is cooked. Leave to cool in the tins.

FOR THE ICING

100g icing sugar - sieved, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 bulb stem ginger - chopped,
finely grated zest of 1 small lime.
Simply mix the icing sugar and lime juice together until smooth. Spread over the top of the cakes. Garnish with ginger down the centre and arrange lime zest over the top.

Recipe taken from How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson - Page 23.

MALIBU ICING (slightly adapted)

125g instant royal icing
1 tablespoon Malibu
1 tablespoon water

Simply mix together until smooth and pour over the cake.