Archive for December, 2009

The Recipe Blog would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very merry christmas or Happy Holidays!

For those of you celebrating today eat well and don´t consider the diet. Thats what January was invented for!

As always you can receive updates from our site by subscribing to our feed or by following us on twitter. We are hoping to dedicate a great deal more time to the site from the New Year, so stay tuned for developments. We hope to encourage some guest posters to pay us a visit occasionally – and if this is something you might be interested in please do let us know!

Love you all,

Eliza

A few years ago my mother and I were trying to think of a twist on the traditional christmas cake – during the process this is something we played with – using dried tropical fruits finely chopped in place of some of the more traditional fruits. It was a moderate success. This year we tried again, and have improved the recipe marginally. Each time it gets a little better – but here is the current recipe.

One point of note, and I stress this to everyone who is making a traditional christmas cake – preparation of the fruit is everything, especially with mine or my mothers cakes. We believe in detail – so ensure that all sultanas and raisins are washed, dried and halved, removing any stems or damaged fruit.  I hate the thought of unwashed fruit, even if it does come from a packet marked prepared. Drying is essential to avoid a soggy, sad cake with all the fruit at the bottom. Also check other dried fruit to ensure they are good quality.

Ingredients::

8 oz plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp ground mixed spice
¾ tsp ground ginger
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
¾ tsp sea salt
1 oz candied peel – lime only
1 oz glace cherries
3 tbsp dark rum
3 tbsp limejuice
1 tsp of vanilla extract
6 oz softened butter
6 oz soft dark brown sugar
3 large eggs – room temperature
1 oz desiccated coconut, or 2 oz fresh
3 oz seedless raisins
3 oz golden sultanas
3 oz dried papaya
3 oz dried cherries – quarter
3 oz dried pineapple – unsweetened

Preparation of Fruit

Raisins and sultanas – these should be washed, dried and halved, removing any stems or damaged fruit. Check other dried fruit to ensure they are good quality.

Preheat over to 140 degrees Celsius

Sift flour, baking powder, ground mixed spice, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a baking bowl, put aside

Chop the candied peel finely and place in a bowl, along with the glace cherries, rum, lime juice and vanilla extract, cover and leave until required, then transfer to a liquidiser and blend until fairly smooth

In a separate bowl, cream together butter and soft brown sugar until pale in colour and smooth, beat in eggs (one at a time) adding a little flour with each egg

Stir in sieved dry ingredients along with prepared fruit and desiccated coconut. Add the candied peel/spirit/cherry mixture to the cake and continue mixing, test for dropping consistency. It should drop off the spoon in a few seconds. Continue mixing until mixture “shines”. If the cake is too dry, add a little milk

Cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes, checking after 1 hour and covering with greaseproof paper if the cake is browning too quickly. To test to ensure it is done, put a fine clean skewer into the centre of the cake – if it comes away clean, then the cake is done and can be removed from the oven

Do not open the door for the first hour of cooking, as it will sink

When cooled brush lightly with rum, wrap in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight container in a cool dark place. This cake will improve with age. Brush the top and sides (lightly) with rum once per week

Feeling the cold this winter? Are you like thousands of Brits and completely snowed in? If so, then this is most certainly a recipe for you!

I love a lamb hotpot when the winters start to really set in. Of course my family have always traditionally served this with Yorkshire Pudding, but these days I find it far too heavy and tend not to combine the two. It is lovely with a great chunk of homemade bread. Incidentally this is also my first entry written with Windows Live Writer. I will let you know how it goes!

Ingredients:

1 lb neck of lamb
2 large onion
2 stalks of celery
1 small white turnip
2 carrots
4 medium potatoes
6 oz pearl barley
Chicken stock
Sprigs of thyme and bay leaves – place in a muslin bag
White pepper
Parsley leaves

Preparation:

Preheat an oven to 160 degrees Celsius

Peel the onions, halve and thickly slice

Peel and cut celery stalks into 4 pieces – diagonally

Peel the turnip, carrot and potatoes and cut into chunks

Place the vegetables and pearl barley into a casserole dish, put the neck of lamb on top then add the thyme and a bay leaf in a muslin bag tied with string

Pour in sufficient stock to cover the meat and vegetables then season with white pepper and salt

Bring slowly to the boil

Skim off any impurities

Cover the top of the stew with a circle of greaseproof paper, then a lid

Put into the lower part of a preheated oven for two hours

Remove the casserole lid, greaseproof paper and muslin bag

Sprinkle over the chopped parsley and gently stir

Check seasoning and adjust if necessary

Following rapidly on from my last post in which I disclosed my own mincemeat recipe I am now going to divulge my personal recipe for mince pies – in orange pastry. Its not unique of course because I´ve had mince pies in orange pastry in a couple of places – but this is my version tailored to my tastes.

Now I always make my mincemeat earlier in the year – usually around October. Leaving it a short while helps the flavours to mature.

Orange Pastry

8 oz self-raising flour
Pinch salt
1 tsp unrefined caster sugar
3 oz very cold unsalted butter, grated
1 tsp mandarin or orange zest, finely grated
Very cold orange juice

If the orange is not organic, wash under cold running water and brush lightly with a soft brush, dry and use a fine grater to remove the zest

Squeeze the orange and put the juice into the freezer until cold, but not freezing

Place the butter into the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or until nearly freezing

Sift the flour, salt and sugar into a bowl

Rub in the butter using fingertips only until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs

Stir in the zest and a little orange juice to bring the mixture together

Form into a disc, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for about 30 minutes

For Mince Pies

Bought mincemeat can be perfectly good these days, but try and buy a good brand. In this case I find you really do get what you pay for! Or you can use my recipe.

Lightly grease a tart tin. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C.

Trim the pastry sheets and cut into rounds (try using a pastry cutter if you have one).  Place a round of pasty in each hole.

Place a heaped tablespoon of mincemeat into the centre of each, add a little orange zest then carefully place a second round on top. Gently seal the edges. I always like to decorate them with little shapes made from the remainder of the pastry – little stars, a simple christmas tree. It makes them that little bit more special. Place on the baking tray, brush with melted butter (very very light) and sprinkle with a little caster sugar.

Place in the centre of a preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until crisp and golden. Put on a wire rack and allow the pies to cool a little. Serve hot or cold. I love to serve a pie in the evening – usually hot with just a dash of cream. Wonderful! But my favourite treat is in the middle of the afternoon, just a mince pie with a cup of tea – so old fashioned, so christmassy!

My family would make dozens of Mince Pies at Christmas, and we would often give them away as gifts to our friends, family and neighbours. As a result of course Christmas just would not be Christmas without a mincepie. Obviously my mince pies have evolved a bit since my Grandma´s recipe – she believed in mass production over quality, whereas I strongly believe in this case – less with more filling is better than more with a thin spreading!

But first, here is my recipe for traditional mincemeat.

Ingredients:
2 oranges and 2 limes – finely grated zest and juice
½ lb cooking apples
6 oz candied peel
2 oz flaked blanched almonds
¾ lb raisins
½ lb sultanas
¼ lb currants
¼ lb fresh cranberries
½ lb vegetable suet
½ lb soft dark brown sugar
2 tsp ground mixed spice
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
A little freshly grated nutmeg
6 tbsp Brandy (or other spirit – to taste)

Prepare the fruit:
Wash the raisins, sultanas and currants, check for any damaged fruit or stems and discard. Place a clean tea towel on a tray, put on the fruit, cover and leave overnight to dry
Finely chop the candied peel
Halve the raisins, sultanas and halve the currants if they are too large
Wash, core and finely chop the apples and place in acidulated water (lemon) until ready to use

Place the citrus zest and juice, apples, candied peel, almonds, dried fruit, cranberries, suet, sugar and spices into a large bowl, thoroughly mix, cover and leave for 12 hours

Pre-heat the oven to 110 degrees Celsius

Cover the bowl loosely with foil and place in the bottom of the preheated oven for 3 hours

Remove from the oven and stir occasionally during the cooling process

Prepare the jars:
Wash in mild, soapy water
Rinse in hot water and dry
Place on a tray in a pre-heated oven set to 110° Celsius, leave 5 minutes to sterilise the jars

When the mincemeat is cold, stir in 6 tablespoons brandy (or other spirit of your choice), pack into the jars, cover with wax discs, seal and label with date made, contents and use by date (best eaten within 12 months)

Store in a cool dark pantry, larder or cupboard

I realise every daughter says this but my Mum does the best Christmas Cake. Its the most devine thing I have ever tasted, and it wouldn´t be Christmas without it. Served on its own, or with a slice of Wenslydale Cheese… its marvellous. Its uniquely her own because she does a rather unusual thing with the cherries – she puts them in a blender with the brandy and candied peel and whizzes them! It adds the most wonderful flavour to the cake, and it is a tip I would heartily recommend.

People would beg my Mum to make a cake. When she first invented the cake recipe that exists today she´d make one small cake, maybe two for the family. A year or two later we were mixing the cake by hand in a huge bread bowl – turning out 10 cakes for family and friends.

Ingredients
8 oz strong plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1½ tsp ground mixed spice
¾ tsp ground ginger
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp salt (not low salt)
3 tbsp – either Brandy / Sherry / Whisky or a mixture
1 oz glace cherries
1 oz candied peel
1 tsp almond extract
6 oz butter or margarine
6 oz soft brown sugar
3 large eggs – room temperature
1 oz ground almonds
6 oz stoned raisins
5 oz currants
4 oz sultanas
2 tbsp milk

Preparation of Fruit
Raisins/Sultanas – to be washed/dried/cut into small pieces, stems removed
Currants – to be washed and dried, stems removed – leave to dry overnight on a clean tea towel over a tray

It is important to pick through the fruit, remove any stems or damaged fruit.

Preheat over to 130 degrees Celsius.

Sift together flour, baking powder, ground mixed spice, ground ginger, ground cinnamon and salt into a baking bowl, put to one side.

Put candied peel, cherries, spirits and almond extract into a bowl, cover and leave until required, then transfer to a liquidiser and blend until fairly smooth.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter and soft brown sugar until pale in colour, beat in eggs (one at a time) adding a little flour with each egg.

Stir in sieved dry ingredients along with prepared fruit, ground almonds and the candied peel/cherry/spirit mixture, adding a little milk if needed.

Test for dropping consistency – mixture should drop off the spoon when tapped on the rim of the bowl – the mixture should “shine”

Cook until done – Use warmed darning needle or skewer to check. If it comes away clean it is done. We don’t do exact times in this house, but will let you know when we cook this next. Do not open the door for the first hour of cooking, as apparently it will sink.

When cooled brush lightly with Brandy, wrap in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight container. Store in a cool dark place. This cake will improve with age. Brush lightly with brandy once per week.