Cheese Puff Biscuits and Champagne

The festive spirit being fully upon us now,  we decided to have a drinks party on Sunday night. In truly adventurous spirit, 20 friends managed to get here through the snow and ice. Some walked and some drove. They all deserved a cracking good welcome and so we popped lots of champagne corks and The Pink Lovely dressed as a plum pudding fairy with full wings and petticoats, floated around the sitting room handing round warm cheese puff biscuits, mini mince-pies and cocktail sausages.
My Cheating Cheese biscuits
You will need to buy either 2 packets of mail-order gluten-free puff pastry (email me for information) or  ready to roll fresh or frozen puff pastry
A dusting of gluten free plain flour or wheat flour
1 block of extra strong local cheddar cheese or Arla lactofree semi-hard cheese
Caraway seeds
1 or 2 beaten eggs

I taught The Pink Lovely to roll our pastry by cutting the blocks into quarters and rolling out each part with a dusting of flour. She happily cut out loads and loads of rounds and stars.  We placed them on the non-stick baking sheets and brushed them lightly with beaten egg. Plonked a fingernail sized piece of cheese in the centre of each pastry shape. Sprinkled with the seeds and then baked them until puffy and golden. Leave them to cool a little before transferring to a  wire rack.  Reheat the Cheese Puff biscuits and serve warm with lots of mulled wine or fizz!

Shortbread and Ice cream

Comfort food for me is not the eating of it but the baking of it!  So this past week, I have baked rather more than I would normally! 4inches of snow outside, many daring and exciting walks with the dogs, the toboggan and the Pink Lovely lead to the need for kitchen warmth and comfort!  Personally, I am not a great fan of tobogganing as it inevitably leads me directly towards a mole hill, followed swiftly by the interior of a hedge! I do however enjoy pushing the Pink Lovely down the hill and watching her hair-razing decent and her funny navigation techniques!  We stomp back through the snow in the knowledge that the oven is on and ready for more action, but the marginally less dangerous kind!

The Pink Lovely hates shortbread so I am told. Bother, shortbread for tea today. Brainwave, I hide the title of the recipe and we think that we are making Christmas Biscuits that she can eat warm. The Pink Lovely then proceeds to make them, that his how easy the recipe is!

Shortbread recipe can be gluten, wheat or dairy free 

115g butter or dairy-free sunflower spread

55g caster sugar

good pinch fine sea salt

130g plain gluten-free flour mix or organic wheat flour

40g ground rice

Demerara sugar to finish

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/gas 2

In a good sized bowl, beat the butter and salt with the caster sugar until soft, light and smooth.  Sift the flour and ground rice over it and mix with a blunt knife to a smooth dough.  Bring the dough into a ball with your clean hands (not guaranteed with the Pink Lovely!) and gently push and press it into a flatter shape.

Place the dough onto a non-stick baking tray and press into about 8inch or 20cm circle or square. Score with

a sharp knife into about 12 portions. Sprinkle lightly with Demerara sugar and chill the dough in the fridge for about 15 minutes and then bake in the centre of the oven for about 45 minutes or until golden and cooked through.  Leave to cool on the tray and then cut through the scored lines into neat slices or squares.  Eat warm or cold.

Triumphant, The Pink Lovely eats 6 pieces of shortbread and loved them!  We then bashed the rest up with a rolling pin, which is fun at the best of times and particularly fun with a 7yr old! and we swiftly folded the little shortbread bits into a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Lined a baby loaf tin with cling film and spooned the iced mixture in, smoothed it over and bingo - pudding for lunch!  Freeze until needed and then cut into slices and serve with warm chocolate sauce drizzled over the top. Glorious!

Dazzlingly White

I feel like I have just walked through the wardrobe and found myself in Narnia! Everywhere is shimmering white, the temperature is an astonishing -11 degrees. The brilliant blue sky is an epic contrast to the ice crystals hanging off the trees and the feathery iced spider webs look like frozen lace on the gates and gate posts. Coco has sore paws after the walk due to salt getting in her paws on the icy lanes.  A warm bathe is perscribed but unfortunately we still have no water so a little bowl of luke warm Highland Spring Water is the only option!

Frozen Eggs

Oh Yum, I cannot wait for my delivery of organic, free range eggs from my dear friend over Clee Hill for my rather late breakfast this morning. My hands are freezing from typing and a hot, steaming cuppa of Yorkshire Gold, (just enough water in the kettle) is an essential hand warmer and hot fried eggs on hot toast to warm the rest of me up!  The eggs have just arrived via my lovely au pair who picks them up from the class room on the school run and I do not believe it - they are actually frozen! They do not ooze out the remain firmly in the shell, absolutely amazing!  Oh well - Porridge for breakfast!
The Mice have been at the Christmas Cake, that is The Pink Lovely Mouse, Mummy Mouse and Au Pair Mouse!  There are a few crumbs left but we feel this may be a bit embarrassing when we actually do get to Christmas and have none left! So, we are making another cake and with the oven on for 21/2 hrs or more, we shall be snug in the kitchen.  I think we shall be finding other jobs to be done in the kitchen this morning!
The fog has finally lifted after 4 days and I am going to drive over to Stourbridge and collect my new car which does have 4x4 and should consequently allow me to spend my entire time driving on the freezing lanes rather than my entire time in the ditch, hedge or at the bottom of the hill. This will undoubtedly improve the quality of my winter life on the Herefordshire and Shropshire borders and with any luck as it is bright blue instead of murky bamboo, the farmers will see me coming at some distance rather than when they are about 2 feet away!
The Pink Lovely is playing in a Rugby Tag match at school today against the boys, rather her than me, sounds exhausting!  Off to the kitchen to warm up.....

Global Warming, House Cooling & Lanes Freezing

Not being a scientist, not even a vulcanoligist like one of my dear neighbours, I have little understanding of global warming. So at a dinner party a few days ago I mentioned that it seemed a little unlikely, as we are currently struggling in-12degrees that England is going to turn into Club Med! This comment was pounced on as ridiculous because quite obviously Global warming means freezing winters and boiling hot summers! Well, first I have heard of it! Freezing winters I can believe but boiling hot summers that indeed would be remarkable.  During all the excitement of trying to get my car out of the driveway and keep it on the freezing lanes, rather than in the hedge and watching with fascination at the car temperature indicator dropping to -10 on the way to school I have completely forgotten to check the oil tank. Slightly alarmed at the 2 inches of oil now left in the bottom of the tank I ring the oil company, it must be global warming, everyone is so cold they have all ordered more oil! Sorry Mrs Lawrence it may be 2 weeks.  TWO WEEKS! Immediate action is called for; I dash around the house and turn down the heating by 4 degrees in every room and then go and make some hot soup.
The Pink Lovely is now delighted to go to school so that she can get warm! We try and find our log shed through pea soup fog which is so thick I cannot even see my hanging baskets! The logs are damp and need to be lugged into the house and  into rows of baskets in the sitting room to dry out for the next few days.  At least we do have a wood burning stove giving out heat and we are as snug as a bug in a rug up there.
Disaster this morning, NO WATER! the pump that brings our water up from the underground well has finally frozen.  We have been heating the pump shed with an little electric heater and so far so good but this morning in -11degrees it has given up! Luckily our dear friend and neighbour who is a retired civil engineer has it under control and is at this very moment on a quest to revive the pump.
I am off to feed the birds in the garden,  hang out more fat balls for them and check the water in the stream has not frozen so that they can stay alive. The Pink Lovely has built a wooden nesting box and we are going to nail that to a tree this morning for the little bird that is trying to nest in the hole in the gate post!

The dogs, Lucy and Coco don't seem madly keen on walks just at the moment and seem happy with 25 minutes of dashing around the woods to keep warm and let off a bit of steam.  The deer have come down to try and find some grass and so the dogs get rather excited and huff and  puff around on a quest to find one!

GOOSEY GOOSEY GANDER......

Goose or Turkey for Christmas Day? December the first today and an early start as The Pink Lovely woke up at 3am to open day 1 on her advent calender!  Quite rightly, judging this not to be the exact moment to wake me up and confide in the unbelievable excitement of the ceremonial openings (3 gorgeous advent calenders!), I shall have to go and have a quick peak before she gets back from school! If I can get her back from school! Not only is it snowing but the lanes are skating rinks of compacted ice and crushed snow. Ideal for 10 minutes of top notch stress!
Back to the big question: There is a free-range goose farm down the lane and they look like a pure white snow storm on the hill side as they potter and flutter around the field. Very engaging but does one actually feed enough people or would a big fat juicy turkey be safer? Do we want days of turkey leftovers or might we survive on a slice of goose?
Either way the fruity stuffing that I made for my roast pheasant the other day was sublime.  The tartness of the apples complimented the delicate meat and the prunes gave it the sweet contrast. This is perfect stuffing for goose or turkey which is lucky as I am still undecided! It will cut through rich meat but enhance bland meat and is delicious cold.
RECIPE FOR EASY GLUTEN FREE CHRISTMAS STUFFING
Serves 6-8 ( 2/3 roast pheasants or a huge family roast chicken)
Bake the stuffing in a 1.5litre china soufflé dish or something round and deep for 2hrs, covered with a piece of buttered paper and a lid of double thickness foil. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/gas4. Or stuff the chicken/goose/small turkey with it.  If the turkey is huge, I suggest stuffing it with a traditional sausage-meat based stuffing and having this apple and prune stuffing as a side dish.
225g gluten free Antoinette Savill Signature Series white bread (Waitrose and Morrisons), whizzed into breadcrumbs
100g ready-to-eat, stoned prunes, finely diced
2 large Bramley apples, peeled cored and finely diced
1 small onion, finely diced
15g bunch sage, leaves only diced
fine sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, freshly grated nutmeg
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
30g melted butter or sunflower dairy free spread
Mix all the ingredients together with a blunt knife in a large bowl. Bind the ingredients together with the melted butter.  Stuff the cavity of the chicken or goose and roast until the bird is thoroughly cooked.

Easy Gluten Free Christmas Mincemeat

It is snowing again and so the moment has come to do a Christmas Mincemeat tasting and choose between mine and a few other local goodies. Totally unbiased of course, The Pink Lovely will be the judge! A very discerning and honest 7yr old, I am quaking in my snow boots!
The verdict is out: All the other jars of mincemeat were too sweet and mine was voted the tastiest and richest but mine was not as colourful and oozy as the others. So now I am adding 4 more tablespoons of brandy to my recipe. If you want to put in some quartered glacé cherries for colour, then do!
I shall now go and stir the extra brandy into my mincemeat!                                          RECIPE FOR MY EASY GLUTEN FREE CHRISTMAS MINCEMEAT
makes about 4x400ml jars
2x large Bramley apples or 3 big eating apples, cored and finely chopped
500g mixed dried fruit
100g ready-chopped candied peel
60g blanched almonds, chopped
175g light muscovado sugar
1 large orange and lemon, zest and juice
2 heaped teaspoons mixed spice
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Plenty of freshly grated nutmeg
10 tablespoons brandy or rum
150g butter or sunflower dairy-free spread

Put all the ingredients except the butter in a large bowl, cover and leave all night for the flavours to develop.
Make sure you have your jam jars sterilized and hot.
Put the fruit mixture into a roasting tin or large dish and bake in a low oven until it is warmed through which should be about 20 minutes. Dot the butter over the warm fruit and carefully fold it in until it has all melted.  Divide the mixture between the hot jars and put the lids on.  Leave to cool and store in a cool, dark place.

Re

Sugar, Egg, Gluten, Wheat and Dairy Free Christmas Cake

I succumbed to temptation this afternoon and dug a tiny mouse hole into my Christmas cake and secretly spirited away a tiny morsel to taste. It is divine, moist, sweet and soooo fruity and I nearly ate the whole cake there and then! The Pink Lovely as my daughter likes to be known, is very excited that we can ice it in a couple of weeks once I have laced it with a bit more brandy.
You will need a large non-stick, loose bottomed cake tin, lined with a circle of non-stick baking paper or Teflon liner.  You will also need to preheat the oven to 150C.
In a large saucepan melt 315g butter or  sunflower dairy free spread, 340ml cloudy apple juice, 200g dates, pitted and chopped,100g prunes, pitted and chopped until hot and then bubble for about 3-5 minutes on medium high heat. Remove from the heat.
295g peeled, cored and grated cooking apples or windfalls, 350g raisins, 315g sultanas should all be combined in a large mixing bowl.  Then sift 150g Doves Farm gluten free flour mix over the fruit. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda and then 150g ground almonds and gently mix together. Finally, season with plenty of freshly grated nutmeg and mixed spice powder.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and give it all a gentle and final mix.
Gently scrape the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the centre of the oven until the cake is dark brown but not burnt at the edges!  This will probably be a couple of hours but insert a skewer into the centre of the cake to check that it is cooked all the way through. All ovens are slightly different and so are the cake tins but 2 1/2 hrs should be enough for most scenarios.  Let the cake cool in the tin, wrap it in baking parchment when the cake is cold and wrap this yummy bundle carefully in foil. Keep in a cool place until ready to ice.

Christmas Cake Not in the Bin!

Scandalized by my Daily Mail this morning, rather than by my Daily Male, I was aghast to read that  out of 10 million people who attempt to bake a Christmas cake at home this year, only 3 million will succeed and the rest will go in the bin!
Sainsbury's has set up the first dedicated help line for victims of Christmas baking disasters on November 21st the traditional day to make the cake and pudding. Will they cater for gluten, wheat and dairy free? If not then I will try and answer any questions on the cake but admit to succumbing to ready-made puddings!
So, in the mood for Christmas food, I dig out my Christmas cake recipe from last year, it is free from the above mentioned allergens and so easy to make that it is done in a blink of an eye!
But ladies and gentlemen with festive calories lurking around the corner I have also made this scrummy fruit cake  without eggs or sugar which must surely make it almost sin-free!......and much cheaper of course!
I am just going to doctor it with a little brandy but you can use ginger wine or nothing at all and then wrap it up in baking parchment and foil and keep it in a cool place until the glorious moment of icing and decorating with my gorgeous girl aged 7!
Recipe to follow..

Damson Vodka for Breakfast

After an exhausting 10 minutes round trip for the school run this morning, we sped off to a coffee morning for no other reason than to taste some home made goodies and have a cup of coffee.  Naturally, I did without breakfast so that I could indulge but didn't expect the Danish Pastries to come with Plum Vodka and coffee.  Dream come true really!  This reminded me to check on my Damson Vodka which is due for a stir and a surreptitious dip and lick of finger! There is nothing better to my taste than the Shropshire damson and our lanes are surrounded by them.  My little tree that I planted 2 years ago has not yielded fruit but maybe I am supposed to do something?
I have made my damson vodka with a slight twist this year, I added half a bottle of cherry liqueur from Romania that was gathering dust on the larder shelf. Fine idea I thought and Wow it packs a punch! Lucky Guys coming to Sunday lunch this weekend!

Mellow Yellow Piccalilli

Much excitement as we start concocting our Gluten, Wheat and Dairy Free Piccalilli or as my 7yr old daughter called it "Picadilly"!  Not much in the line of recipes for green beans, courgettes and cauliflower except for this tasty pickle.  We have to wait 3-6 weeks before piling it on to our Rye Sour dough bread and sheep's cheese ploughman's but hey what is a few weeks for such culinary delights!

Find 2kg of peeled vegetables out of your fridge, larder, freezer or kitchen garden which must include
cauliflower, green beans, courgettes,carrots,peppers and spring or red onions but generally anything which wont totally collapse and dissolve into the sauce.
100g fine sea salt
60g cornflour
25g tumeric powder
25g English mustard powder
25g ground ginger
4 teaspoons cumin seeds
4 teaspoons coriander seeds
1.2 litres cider vinegar
300g unrefined granulated sugar
100g local honey

Cut all the vegetables into small bite size bits. Place in large colander over bowl and sprinkle vegetables with salt. Mix well and leave for 24hrs. Rinse with very cold water and leave to drain.
Blend all the other dry ingredients in a small bowl with a little of the vinegar. in a big pan put the remaining vinegar with the honey and bring to boil.  Mix in the paste and then combine until smooth. Add all the vegetables and bring it all to the boil and cook for about 5 minutes or until bubbling and thickened.  Pack the pickle into warm sterilized jars, seal and wait.....................YUM

Make room in the deep freeze for pheasants

The moment is here and space is needed for 10 large, plump pheasants to rest in peace until needed.  I always know when to ring up a certain friend and hint madly that we would be game on for something local and wild!  The roads are now no longer an obstacle course of  young and innocent birds tootling about and pecking at the luscious tractor mud.  Something has to come out of the freezer. What do I have? Mainly beans and courgettes! Not a tempting thought for lunch today, so a dash to the pile of torn out magazine recipes that are lurking in a dusty pile in my office!  I also have to bear in mind that only a cauliflower, some peppers,carrots and potatoes dwell in the fridge this morning.
Tricky but I will be back with the result later.

Fireworks and Hot Dogs

Actually we left the dogs behind but the hot dogs were served from a big van by the front porch. Inspired idea by our hosts and delicious way of not having to cook food for 60 guests and to enjoy their own mulled wine, bonfire and fireworks. Undoubtedly, I was the only gluten and wheat free guest and so the van did not stock any or more to the point, the best, gluten free burger buns/bread rolls around.  Check out Antoinette Savill Signature Series of bread rolls stocked in all Waitrose stores around the UK. for your next party. Sorry, had to get that in!
On returning home, more hot dogs............ two in fact, Coco and Lucy sprawled out in front of the log burning stove watching the flickering flames and listening to the crackles and pops. Sounds like our party so everyone has had a great evening.

Celebration day at Fox Barn!!!

Utterly amazed that we have survived 2 years today in the depths of the Goggin! Wild snowy winters, damp foggy autumns, soggy sunny springs and cold wet summers!!!