Baked Apples - Recipe

Baked Apples

Bramley apples are perfect for baking and if you take them out of the oven at exactly the right time the apple within will be lovely and fluffy. They are filled with layers of butter, brown sugar and dried fruits, it's as simple as that.  Cinnamon mixed in with the layers would be good too.

My hubby insists on having his baked apples floating in Birds custard and why not!  I'm not sure they would go with posh custard, creme fraiche or cream.  Ice cream would be good though for that hot and cold pudding combination.

We never hear the words ‘let’s have Baked Apple and custard tonight’. This retro recipe appears to have been written out of the majority of recipe books, although Nigel Slater has written a recipe for this in his books.…..it's delicious.

You will need:

For each Bramley cooking apple:

Butter, mixed dried fruit, dark brown sugar.

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove the apple core with an apple corer. Score each cooking apple round the middle, going quite deep into the apple.
2. Put the apples into a baking dish, using the handle of a teaspoon fill the centres with butter, dried fruit, and sugar – repeat the layers until the apple cavity is filled to the top. Top each apple with a cube of butter as the last layer.
3. Add a few tablespoons of water to the dish and place in the oven to bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Nigel Slater's Smoked Haddock with Potato and Bacon

You will definitely need more sauce on your plate than this!

We would happily eat this tasty meal any day of the week, my husbands name for this is 'posh fish and chips' and I agree.  Dyed smoked haddock is our choice because it always looks good on the plate.

A pan of fabulous bacon and chips

Smoked Haddock, cream, bay leaves and peppercorns

There is a very generous amount of sauce, we didn't waste one single drop - dunk some fabulous bread into any remaining sauce.

The Smoked Haddock with Potato and Bacon recipe can be found on the Guardian website.

I am entering this into Dish of the Month challenge hosted by Janice at Farmers Girl Kitchen and the host for June is Sue at A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate.

A Nigel Slater Recipe - A Soup of Cauliflower and Cheese

Cauliflower Cheese Soup is a firm favourite, it's filling and comforting, not the best choice for those who may be on a diet, but for the rest of us a luxurious soup.

Grain mustard is stirred through the pureed soup along with a pot of creme fraiche - Nigel likens this soup to Welsh rarebit which I'll go along with....I made some mixed grain bread and served grilled cheese on toast to go alongside.

The recipe can be taken to dinner party level by using Gruyère Cheese. For an everyday soup a mature Cheddar cheese is fine, this was my cheese of choice because I had a slab in the fridge shouting to be used.

Taken from Tender Volume I -  Nigel Slater A cook and his Vegetable Patch - page 189.

I am entering my soup into Dish of the Month challenge hosted by Janice at Farmers Girl Kitchen and Sue at A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate.

For more soup postings:
Celery, Leek & Stilton
Cauliflower Cheese Soup with Parmesan Wafers
Broccoli & Stilton Soup with Stilton Croutons
Spicy Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

Nigel Slater's Hot Cross Bread and Butter Pudding

Nigel Slater may not be too thrilled about my little Easter chick but I think he's cute.

I had the last two packs of cinnamon and raisin Hot Cross Buns, a purchase one Sunday from Waitrose on the M6, and just a few miles away from where Nigel was brought up.

Making hot cross buns and then cutting them up for bread and butter pudding, that's just one step too far......they very conveniently come in a pack of four.

A generous handful of sultanas were sprinkled over the buns, the recipe says to sprinkle over peel too - not for us though.  The custard base uses egg yolks instead of whole eggs, a pot of double cream and the equivalent in milk, which makes a glorious custard. I always freeze my left over egg whites for a meringue making session.

The two of us couldn't polish off all this pud by ourselves, it heats up perfectly in the microwave and my husband said it tasted even better the second day, and he should know, because he's a bread and butter pudding expert.

Taken from Nigel Slater - The Kitchen Diaries II - sadly I can't find a link out to the recipe.

I am entering this into Dish of the Month - March 2013. Hosts are Janice at Farmers Girl Kitchen and Sue at A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate.

Nigel Slater Recipe: A Creamy, Crunchy Fruit Sundae

The wild blackberries are from a stash in my freezer.  A relative picked these last year at a top secret location in Melton Mowbray - I now live in the West Midlands, and I'm not likely any time soon to pass this intelligence to any Meltonians.

Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers was must watch TV and the recipe from his programme can be found on the BBC Food website.

This is an easy, yet delicious dessert recipe and all you have to do is gather the six ingredients together, whisk the cream and layer the ingredients.  I slightly adapted the recipe and used half double cream and half natural yogurt which I mixed together. The base layer is a scoop of vanilla ice cream, followed by a cream, meringue and blackberry layer, a few chopped pistachio nuts are sprinkled over for decoration.

A perfect sundae and I am entering this into Dish of the Month - January 2013. Hosts are Janice at Farmers Girl and Sue at A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate.

Nigel Slater's Coffee and Walnut Cake

Do you think Nigel will approve of the way I have decorated the cake? I am guessing not, but I fell in love with these little coffee cup chocolates and decorated my coffee and walnut cake with them instead of the usual walnuts. Well, it is coming up to Christmas...........and if it looks good and tastes good, then that's ok with me.

These coffee cups were made especially for me (well perhaps not!). Here we have cappuccino, caramel macchiato, hazelnut latte and espresso.

The cake is light and fluffy, the buttercream can be made stronger with the addition of more coffee to counteract some of the sweetness, the tiny coffee cups are perfect......it's good enough to make you forget Christmas is on the horizon!

The cake keeps well and here is the recipe:

You will need: 2 x 21cm greased sponge tins.

For the cake: 175g softened butter, 175g unrefined golden caster sugar, 65g chopped walnut pieces, 3 large eggs, 175g self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas Mark 4. Beat the butter and sugar until light, pale and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time to the butter and sugar, beating well after each addition.
2. Mix the flour and baking powder together and mix gently into the cake batter. Stir the dissolved coffee into the cake mix, followed by the chopped walnuts.
3. Divide the cake mixture between the two cake tins, smooth lightly and bake for 20-25 minutes.

For the buttercream: 200g softened butter, 400g icing sugar, 2 tsp instant coffee granules, 60g walnut halves.

To make the buttercream:

1. Beat the softened butter until soft and pale, add the icing sugar and beat until soft and fluffy. Dissolve the coffee granules in 1 tbsp boiling water and then mix into the buttercream. Fold in the walnut pieces.
2. Spread one of the cakes with a third of the buttercream, then place the second sponge on top, and spread the remaining buttercream on the top, and around the sides if you wish.

NIGEL SLATER'S LEMON POSSET

This classic recipe is taken from Nigel Slater's wonderful book Tender Vol II.
A Cook's Guide to the Fruit Garden.

Only three ingredients are used in this delicious recipe, lemons, sugar and cream and they produce one of the best desserts you will ever eat and perfect for a Summer's day.

Many people pass on making the dessert course and this is sometimes because of time restraints or possibly cost. This is a dessert that can be made in advance, takes ten minutes to prepare and for a cost of around £2.50 fills eight shot glasses. I bought my shot glasses from a well known discount department store and have used them time and time again. They are a crafty way to serve individual desserts and always look good on the plate.

My shortbread is a recipe by Lorraine Pascale from Baking Made Easy and you can see my posting here. The shot glass is perhaps swamped by the shortbread, but who wants a tiny piece of homemade sugary shortbread anyway.

Makes: 8 shot glass servings

500ml double cream, 150g caster sugar, 75ml lemon juice.

1. Place the cream and caster sugar into a saucepan and then bring to the boil, stir occasionally in order to dissolve the sugar. Now lower the heat and leave to bubble for approximately 3 minutes, stirring from time to time.
2. Reduce the heat enough to stop the mixture boiling over, now let it bubble enthusiastically for about 3 minutes, stirring regularly.
3. Remove from the heat, now stir in the lemon juice and leave to settle.
4. If you are using glasses leave to cool for a while and then pour into your glasses, cover with clingwrap to prevent a skin from forming.
5. Place in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS WITH MUSTARD & THYME BUTTER. NIGEL SLATER'S - A GRATIN OF SPRING GREENS & ROASTED WALNUTS

A couple of postings ago I put out a request to ask if any of my readers would kindly email Nigel Slater's recipe for the above to me, well success, June promptly replied and sent the recipe across to me. Thank you June.

The first recipe is from a favourite cookery writer of mine, Diana Henry and comes from her recipe book Cook Simple.

It's basically an all-in-one recipe with just a few ingredients to make a delicious main meal. Potatoes, onion, an eating apple, Tamworth free range pork chops (yes, of the Tamworth two fame - can you remember the two pigs that escaped on their way to the abattoir, way back in 1998!) and dry white wine.

Nigel's Spring Green Gratin was served alongside, and this unlikely pairing was a match made in heaven!


For the Spring Green Gratin:

You will need: 500ml whole milk, 1 small onion, 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf, 6 peppercorns, 500g spring greens, 60g walnut halves, 25g butter, 25g plain flour, 100g grated Parmesan cheese.

1. Add the onion spiked with cloves, bay leaf and peppercorns to the milk, bring to the boil and then leave to infuse for at least 15 minutes.
2. Trim the spring greens, shred into wide strips then dunk into a large pot of boiling water and remove after 30 seconds and drain.
3. Toast the walnut halves in a dry frying pan until they smell warm and nutty.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4.
5. Make the sauce by melting the butter, adding the flour and cooking for 3-4 minutes until pale biscuit coloured. Pour in the strained warm milk, stir until it thickens over a moderate heat. Simmer over a low heat for approximately 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the walnuts and half the Parmesan then season.
6. Put the greens in a medium size gratin dish, pour over the sauce and top with the rest of the cheese.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the crust is golden.

Not a looker this one, but extremely delicious.

Nigel Slater's 'A Gratin of Spring Greens & Roasted Walnuts'.

I have lost the recipe for the above, it was in the April 2010 issue of Sainsbury's Magazine.

Can anyone help me out on this please and email the recipe to margsblogspot@blueyonder.co.uk - I would be really grateful, because it is to be a blog posting, and also my husband has requested I make this again!

Thanks.

NIGEL SLATERS' LEEK RISOTTO WITH PARMESAN CRISPS

I could have told you I grew the leeks myself, I could have said I bought them from the Farmers Market, I could even have said, they were in my box scheme delivery. Alas, none of the above would have been true.

I know you are all going to be disappointed with me now, but they were out of a plastic see-through bag bought from the local supermarket. These leeks were left over from the Leek and Gruyere Quiche in my previous posting. I've let you down, I've let myself down and most of all I have let Nigel down - lets hope he will forgive a fellow West Midlander.

I preplanned the quiche and then forgot to buy the leeks and so had to settle for non-squeaky leeks. I could have made something else, but I had promised my husband I would make quiche, ran out of time and had to settle for the see-through bag!!!

If you can get crisp, bright, fresh leeks, then this simple recipe will taste even better, because it totally relies on the quality of the ingredients, that said, my risotto didn't disappoint but would have been even better, if only I had bought wonderful leeks....................'nough said about those leeks now.

The Parmesan crisps were tablespoons of grated Parmesan placed in a non stick pan and cooked until crisp. They were very moreish and one each just isn't enough - I would definitely make more.

The recipe is from Nigel Slaters new BBC programme Simple Suppers. It's great to have someone on TV who is giving the home cook simple, realistic, achievable and furthermore, delicious recipes. Nigel Slater never disappoints the home cook and he makes cooking stress free and enjoyable.

If you take a peek at his new cookery book you will find he grills some pancetta and adds this to the risotto at the end of the cooking time, but the above recipe is part of his DigIn series of programmes, which is obviously based on growing and eating your own veg!


Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be given some homegrown leeks! I know that I have missed the moment with the above recipe but I think I have now redeemed myself to you all.............

A COUPLE OF NIGEL SLATER RECIPES

How could I resist making a couple of Nigel Slater's wonderful recipes.

We find from reading his books, Nigel calls Toad in the Hole - 'Toad' - and has always fondly called it this since he was a child.

The sausages used should really be the herby variety, but in the freezer I had some fabulous pork sausages made by my local Q Guild butcher. Obviously for the photograph, herb would have looked better but I hadn't preplanned making this and so thick pork sausages it was.

You have to firstly skin the sausages and then wrap them in Prosciutto. The batter is slightly soggy underneath and crisp on top - exactly as Nigel wants us to experience his recipe. Also, a new twist, was to add grain mustard to the batter mix - his 'Toad' was a winner.

I served this with his browned onion and Marsala gravy, and have made this on numerous occasions.

The recipe comes from his book Nigel Slater's Real Food
PLUM CRISP - NIGEL SLATER'S KITCHEN DIARIES


This is a quick and easy recipe to make and I chose bright red ripe plums for this. Nigel advises the pudding is best eaten hot, with either ice cream or cold cream.

The crisp topping is made by simply melting butter and pouring over breadcrumbs and sugar.

The Kitchen Diaries is one of those books that you can't put down and then can't make your mind up which recipe to cook next!

Nigel writes for The Observer and you can find his Plum Crisp recipe here.

RASPBERRIES AND CREAM ICE

I was inspired to make this whilst looking through the August 2008 Sainsbury's Magazine. Nigel Slater, ice cream and raspberries - perfect.

Unfortunately, I had a problem with this recipe. If you eat this straight from the freezer the cream ice and raspberries are frozen solid. If you thaw it for a while, the cream ice melts and reverts back to its original consistency and the raspberries remain frozen.

We served ours semi-melted and had lots of extra raspberries with it.

Serves: 6

You will need: a 10 x 16cm loaf tin, 9cm deep, the base and sides lined with clingfilm.

75g caster sugar, 3 large eggs (separated), a few drops of vanilla extract or a knife-point of vanilla seeds, 275ml double cream, 250g raspberries.

1. Add the sugar to the egg yolks and beat until thick and pale. Stir in the vanilla. Whist the cream until thick, but still able to slide a little when the bowl is moved from side to side. You don't want it to be stiff. Fold the cream into the egg yolk and sugar.
2. Crush the berries with a fork. Just mash them lightly.
3. In a clean bowl and with a clean whisk, beat the egg whites until stiff. fold them tenderly into the mixture, followed by the crushed raspberries. Pour into the lined tin. Tap gently to level the mixture then cover loosely with clingfilm and place in the freezer for a good 4-5 hours until frozen.
4. To serve, slice with a heavy, sharp knife into thick pieces.

Note: this recipe contains raw eggs.

JAMIE OLIVER'S FABULOUS FISH CAKES

This is one of Jamie's 'Feed Your Family for a Fiver' recipes from Sainsbury's Try Something New Today.

They were very easy to make and instead of my usual method of cooking fish cakes in butter and oil in a frying pan, these were cooked in the oven with only a drizzle of oil over them and obviously this is a much healthier option.

The basics salmon was surprisingly good, and I wouldn't hesitate to use this again in recipes requiring cooked salmon. Make sure you go over the salmon though for the odd few bones because you wouldn't want your children to have any of these in their mouths!

I didn't follow Jamie's salad to the letter because I had other salad ingredients in the fridge to use up, but I give the recipe below.

On another note - I still prefer to fry my fish cakes for extra taste and colour, also I always add some chopped parsley to the potato and salmon.

Nigel Slater says tinned salmon makes 'deeply flavoured fish cakes'. He has written a charming piece about fish cakes for Waitrose.

As a child we always had fish cakes made with tinned salmon and mashed potatoes. They were mostly served with baked beans and then we used to prod open the fish cakes and pour malt vinegar inside of them! That meal was always one of my favourites as a child. Does anyone else remember having this dinner or a variation of it? I would love to know.

Here is Jamie's recipe:

Serves: 4

You will need: 350g basics salmon fillets, 4 baking potatoes, 1 lemon, 1 egg

1. Place the salmon fillets in a metal colander over a pan of simmering water. cover and steam for 5 minutes.

2. Peel the 4 potatoes, cut each into about 8 pieces and boil until soft. Mash and leave to cool. Remove any skin from the salmon, flake and mix with the potatoes, a lightly whisked egg, lemon zest and some salt and pepper. Roll the mixture into 8 fish cakes.

3. Drizzle olive oil on both sides of the fish cakes and cook on a baking tray in a preheated oven for 15 minutes at 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6 or until crispy on the outside and heated through.

For the salad: Round lettuce, cucumber portion, 2 tomatoes, 1 red onion.

1. Quarter the heart of the lettuce and set aside.

2. Chop all the remaining washed salad ingredients, including the outer lettuce leaves.

3. Place in a salad bowl.

For the dressing: Dijon mustard, juice of the lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper.

1. Make a well in the middle of the prepared salad and squeeze in the juice of the lemon. Add a dash of olive oil, a spoonful of Dijon mustard and the salt and pepper.

2. Mix through the salad.

3. Serve the fish cakes with the salad and quartered lettuce heart.

NIGEL SLATER'S MUSCOVADO MARMALADE CAKE

Is there still orange marmalade left in the jar after making Jamie Oliver's Hot Cross Pudding? Perhaps now would be a good time to use some of it up, that is, unless you have already had the rest of it on toast.

This cake comes about from Nigel Slater's love of marmalade and to quote him 'I use more of this amber jelly in my kitchen than ever touches a piece of toast'.

This is a very homely and comforting cake, with a wonderful light texture. If you leave it for a couple of days before icing then the cake becomes really sticky.

Nigel says after cooking, the cake will sink slightly, mine didn't though, perhaps he used too much marmalade!!

I made a couple of these and cooked them in small loaf tins, then I iced one of the cakes and popped the other in the freezer.

In the past I have made marmalade cake but have never been very impressed with the results and if you too have found this to be the case, here is the recipe that we have been waiting for.

SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE - FEBRUARY 2008

Serves: 8 people

You will need: a loaf tin 10 x 25.5cm, 7.5cm deep or 2 smaller loaf tins, lined with baking parchment.

175g soft butter, 75g light muscovado sugar, 100g golden caster sugar, 3 large eggs, finely grated zest of 1 large orange, 100g orange marmalade, 175g self-raising flour.

For the frosting:

100g unrefined icing sugar, 1 teaspoon orange flower water, 1 tablespoon orange juice.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/170°C fan/Gas 4.
2. Put the butter and sugars into the bowl of a food mixer and beat until pale and fluffy. The mixture should be the colour of milky coffee.
3. Beat the eggs lightly with a whisk and add to the butter and sugar mixture, just a little at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl regularly with a rubber spatula. If the mixture shows any sign of curdling add a tablespoon of the flour to bring it back together.
4. With the machine turning at moderate speed, add the grated orange zest and the marmalade. Stop as soon as they are incorporated. Remove the bowl from the machine, then fold in the flour with a large metal spoon. Do this firmly but carefully, until there is no sign of any flour.
5. Spoon the mixture into the lined cake tin or tins, lightly smoothing the top. Bake for 40 minutes if making one large cake, or 35 minutes if making two smaller ones. Check the cake is cooked with a metal skewer. (It should come out clean if the cake is ready). Leave to cool in the tin or tins - it will naturally sink slightly - then remove and cool on a wire rack.

To make the frosting:

1. Sieve the icing sugar and mix it to a smooth, slightly runny consistency with the orange flower water and as much of the orange juice as it takes, probably the whole tablespoon. Drizzle the frosting over the cake, letting it run down the sides, and leave to set.

I used the full quantity of frosting to ice one small loaf.