Christmas Spirit for 2012

fruit cake - 

The simplest recipes are sometimes the best and this is no exception. Gluten-free beer is easy to find now in the big supermarkets and taste very good. I smothered my thick slices in lactofree butter spread and my friends had goats butter or Pure sunflower spread and all were delicious. Brilliant with a cuppa, in a lunch box or picnic but ideal for festive entertaining as you can wrap it up tightly in clingfilm once it is cold and firm and store it for up to 6 weeks. However, my loaf was gobbled up on the day of baking,still warm a pungent with Ale and spices!
Grease and line a standard non stick loaf tin. Preheat the oven to 140C or 120Cfan.
You  need to mix 390g mixed dried fruit with a 500ml bottle of normal or gluten free beer in a saucepan. Bring to the boil,  and simmer until reduced by half. Turn off  the heat and let the fruit absorb the Beer.
Mix 100g soft dark brown sugar, 2 heaped teaspoons mixed spice, 1 of ground cinnamon and a generous grating of nutmeg into the boiled fruit mixture.
Mix in 185g Doves Farm gluten-free self raising flour blend #GF
or for those can manage it on a wheat-free regime: 85g of the above flour and 100g organic spelt flour
or 85g self-raising flour and 100g wholemeal self-raising flour, preferably organic
Lastly, mix in 2 large beaten eggs, free-range preferably.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1 1/4 hrs  until risen, well browned and firm to the touch.
Remove from the oven and cover with a tea-towel to ensure it stays moist. Store until needed.

Seasonal Christmas Recipes for all Occasions

Winter draws in and the wood fires are burning brightly inside as the fog settles like a cloak of dense dullness over everything outside. This is the moment I start thinking about our Christmas food and browse through my rather long and dusty shelf of cookbooks, flick through my enormous pile of cookery magazines and finally go back to my treasure trove of best ever recipes collected over the past 4 years and resting in a haphazard pile in an old file. Having lurked around these for some time I am tempted by my new apps and e-books and the excitement is reaching giddying heights!
Eric Lanlard is my great baking hero of the moment, Ottolenghi my savoury baking and salads hero of the year and I am certainly going to use both books over Christmas but as of last week I finally succumbed to the temptation to download a cookbook onto my ipad3. Having had the excitement of two of my own cookbooks being made available as e-books this year, I am converted to using the e-books along side the hard or paperback books. I think that there is room for both and pleasure in both. Well, which book to choose? I plumped for Nigelissima as I had watched two of the episodes on the television recently and thought that the recipes looked delicious, easy and simple to shop for, which is my own criteria for preparing meals. Wow, what fun! I can dip in and out at any time that  I fancy without doing my usual of going to the bookshelves in the office, then forgetting what I was looking for and choosing to do something entirely different! I can take it to the supermarket in my handbag... even I don't forget to bring the source of all credit cards...............and then I actually achieve 100% successful shopping for the ingredients instead of remembering the 5 not so important things and forgetting the one vital ingredient! Welcome to middle age...girls!
So now I have chosen my first 2 new recipes that I shall be making this weekend as a practise run for the big week of flawless and inspired  festive entertaining!??? Next week another two recipes for you to try!

So now tested and approved of by the entire family here are the recipes.
The all important Pudding for Christmas Eve as we wait with bated breath for the time when Father Christmas can safely get down the chimney or in our case, squeeze down the flu into the totally shut and scorchingly hot wood burner and appear unscathed out of the lock! Here is the recipe to keep the sugar buzz up and the festive spirit lively!
CHOCOLATE OLIVE OIL CAKE WITH EXTREMELY EASY CHESTNUT ICE CREAM
Naturally gluten, wheat and dairy free and slightly healthier than most! Serves 8
Whether you choose a tiny dollop of this luscious and seasonal ice cream on top or beside a smidgeon of chocolate cake or you go for it and luxuriate in heavenly wedge of dense chocolate with a titanic scoop of very rich and smooth ice cream is of course entirely yours and I wonder what I will be going for that night!
Use an old ice cream or yoghurt pot, washed and dried to freeze the ice cream in for the next month.
The cake can also be frozen but equally you can make it a week before and seal it in an air-tight container which is what I shall do.
Children will prefer a good vanilla ice cream, this is for grown-ups!
For a dairy-free version gently fold the chopped whole cooked chestnuts with the brandy into good quality or home-made vanilla dairy or lactose free ice cream and refreeze until needed.
Make the ice cream first: serves 4-8
Mix 250g can of chestnut spread (vanilla) by Clement Faugier or the equivalent weight of marron glace paste or even mushed-up leftovers from a box of whole marron glaces.
Mix this in a bowl with 4 teaspoons of good brandy or Calvados and 55g of sieved icing sugar.
Roughly chop up half a can or vacuum sealed pack of chestnuts and mix into the paste.(use the rest for stuffing the turkey or with the brussel sprouts on Christmas day).
Fold in 300ml whipped double cream (the best you can get).
Transfer the mixture into the prepared container and freeze overnight but make sure you serve it straight from the freezer as it melts extremely quickly due to the very high sugar content.
Make the cake:
Use light olive oil or it will be overpowering.
Preheat the oven to 170C/gas 3
Grease and line a 21cm square cake tin with a drop of oil and a circle of non-stick paper or teflon sheet.
In a jug, mix:
55g Organic sifted cocoa powder, (check it is dairy free if needed)
with 125ml of boiling water until smooth.
In another bowl mix 150g ground almonds with 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of fine salt. In a bigger bowl mix 200g caster sugar with 150ml olive oil and 3 large free range eggs and beat until thick and creamy with an electric hand whisk. Mix in the cocoa mixture more gently and then briefly mix in the almond mixture.
Scrape the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for about 45 minutes or until just set. An inserted skewer should come out a bit sticky! Cool until cold and then turn out and store until needed.
To serve: dust with a little  sifted (dairy-free) cocoa powder.
What an heavenly combination and so easy!

Almond Paste and a bit of a catch-up!

How time flies when you fly of to America for 3 weeks and return the first day of school. Not a moment to spare since and frankly got a bit zonked but now after a timely visit of generously helpful Grandparents, life has caught up a bit and there is now time to jot down a few words and new recipes. America was as amazing as it was 25 years ago on my last visit and my friends as fun and generous as they were then when we were all having fun in New York and Long Island together. The highlights were of course entirely different to the highlights 25 years ago and it makes me giggle to think of the things that I now think of fun; Alas not nightclubs, cocktail bars and all night parties but horse and carriage driving in Virginia, watching 2 pairs of Osprey dive for fish in Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, shopping in Bloomingdales in New Jersey and the Circle Line Cruise around the Statue of Liberty in New York. Hhhmmm.......not exactly glitzy!
We did however concentrate on the delights of the local food and wine in each county and I was amazed at how many vineyards there were in Maryland and they were quite nice but no wow factor unlike the best of our English wines. Maryland crab cakes were delicious and we sampled three lots only to find that they were all totally different in taste and texture, artistic licence gone a bit mad. I shall make some this weekend for fun.
New York cheese cake unbelievable delicious and so light yet rich at the same time, tons better than our cheesecakes here, unless of course home-made!
Nobody seemed very keen on much exercise on our trip but we did enjoy a couple of spring walks in the woods in Virginia until it was whispered that the local brown bears were starting to come out of hibernation and to keep a look out. Return was prompt! Carriage driving was on the other-hand entirely perfect and our favourite ride was into Middlesburg and into the ice-cream parlour where all of us including the dog and horses enjoyed the best ice-cream that I have ever had! I am now improving my own ice-cream recipes!
Back home at last and glad to see that the endless rain the Herefordshire has been having is at last having an effect and my stream in the garden is full and my new plants, trees and climbing delights are all spreading out and growing faster this spring than in the previous 2 years. Hope for the garden yet! I will battle on trying to convert a blank farm yard canvas into a charming English garden!
Having crammed in a couple of house parties to add to my usual whirlwhind existance I have tried out some amazing new recipes to delight my guests. I have to say that the cookbook by Eric Lanlard is exceptionaly good and his chocolate chip cookies, lemond meringue roulade, lemon and passionfruit tart, Baked blueberry cheesecake, malteser squares and rhubarb and apple tart were all without excepton excellent. Buy the book if you like baking!
I have had a new experience in baking, using almond paste as a base, I made flour-free chocolate chip cookies and they were divine and very easy. Scrumptious warm with tea, coffee or hot chocolate and amazing with ice-cream.
Here is the recipe:
Line a cookie sheet with greaseproof or teflon sheets
Preheat oven to 350degrees
Mix in a large bowl, 3/4 cup (170g aprox) almond butter (which you buy in health food shops or big supermarkets) with 1/2 cup light brown soft sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar.
Add 1 large egg, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 1 teaspoon pure Vanilla extract, a pinch of fine salt,and mix well.
Fold in 1 very heaped teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 cup slivered or flaked almonds and 1/2 cup dark,milk or white chocolate pieces or chips.
Scoop out walnut size balls of dough and place well apart on the sheets so that they can spread.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Leave to cool but eat warm if you cannot resist!

Apologies for american measurements!

My next recipe is reassuringly English!
Cinnamon Nutella Cake
Preheat oven to 180C/gas 4 and line a 20cm round cake tin
Put 175g softened butter, 175g caster or granulated sugar, 3 large eggs, 200g self-raising flour, 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder,2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, and 4 tablespoons milk into a bowl and for a couple of minutes with an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy.
Tip 3/4 of the mixture into the prepared tin and shake to smooth out. Plop 4 heaped tablespoons of Nutella into spaced out blobs and then cover lightly with the remaining cake mix.
Sprinkle or don't sprinkle with 50g roughly chopped hazelnuts depending on whether you are nutty people or not and bake in the oven for about 1hr or until golden brown and cooked through.
Cool in the tin and then turn out and serve or wrap in foil to keep for up to a week. Very useful for an iminant invasion of family or friends for the weekend!

Happy Baking to you all and I am now off tobake my new Ale Fruit Loaf which is gluten free, to "do" my three hanging baskets and plant out my extremely leggy white geraniums while the sun has momentarily burst out  from behind black clouds and into slightly more spring-like light and warmth.

Who is Herman?

Of all the bizare things in life, Herman the Friendship cake has to top the list of incomprehensible activities  for me. Who is Herman anyway and why did he want to make a sour dough cake with seething and bubbling dough that you have to stir once every day for NINE days? You then give 3 parts to your friends if you dare! Then fling the cake ingredients into hungry Herman and bingo 10 days to make a fruit cake. Wow! that really suits my economy of time and movement lifestyle but how kind of my treasured neighbours and the gesture is much appreciated.
Yesterday, in glorious sunshine I set off with my plumber terrier to gather kindling for next winter from the orchards next door. This should have been a tranquil and delightful afternoon but alas this activity is not ideal with a stick loving dog. To begin with it was quite funny, every time I picked up a stick to break it and put it in the wheelbarrow, Lucy would grab it and proceed to have a game of tug of war. One stick, fine. 3 sticks fine. 500 sticks not fine! I had to deploy immense deception to divert her by pretending to collect another less worthy stick and then grab the best stick and throw this into the wheelbarrow. A cunning plot you may think but with great intelligence and dexterity my dear dog leapt into the wheelbarrow and started extracting the sticks and spitting them back out onto the ground!.... I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! Actually I pretty much did both as she then bit my finger by mistake trying to wrestle a stick off me!
I am making a gorgeous prune and brandy ice cream for my next dinner party when I have 8 guinea pigs to dinner! I will serve this divine ice with my squidgy brown sugar meringues which are the best that I have ever made. So, just in case you are not a guinea pig destined to taste these incredible edibles, here is the recipe. Cheap and Easy and will keep for over a week in a sealed airtight container for your next spot of light entertaining. You can then use the egg yolks to make the chocolate ice cream in the previous blog or the prune and brandy ice if it is as gorgeous as the recipe makes out and I put it in the next blog
Brown Sugar Meringues
This recipe doubles up easily for 6 egg whites used in the ice cream recipe in the last blog.
As you know, whisk the egg whites until the mixture is so stiff at the end that you can turn the bowl upside down and contents will not slither onto your gorgeous new hairdoo!
Heat oven to 140C/fan120C/gas 1. Lay non-stick paper over a baking sheet or two for double quantities
Blend together in a tea cup 1 teaspoon each of cornflour, wine or cider vinegar, pure vanilla extract until smooth
You will also need 3 large egg whites
100g caster sugar
50g soft brown sugar

Use a hand held electric whisk to beat egg whites until stiff in a metal or glass bowl. Add half the caster sugar and beat until thick, add remaining caster sugar and beat until glossy and then add half the cornflour mixture. Beat again and then add brown sugar followed by remaining cornflour mix. Beat until super stiff. Use a tablespoon to scoop up enough mixture for each meringue, I make them huge which is much more fun and trendy.Bake for 1hr and then turn off the oven and leave them in for the rest of the day or night. Bake for longer if they are really huge.

A brief encounter with snow and lots of encounters with chocolate!

This has truly been the most manic two months to start any year to date. Not only did I start the year with an astonishing Detox of such severity that every email that I sent ended with "love from" or "best wishes" from "Starving of Herefordshire"! This was brought on by a conversation with equally over-indulgent festive friends that it would be entirely possible to refrain from drinking anything other than water and teas for 3 weeks! I found this concept hideously alarming but in the spirit of 2012 I agreed to give it a go. Well, astonishing though it may seen it has been done, well most of the days anyway...... and what is more than extraordinary is that I did indeed feel amazing and gained at least another two hours per day in energy... frightening some would say!......
The highlight of January was the amazing cocktails and dinner at the Grocers Guild Hall. Divine to dress up and get a taxi into the City of  London but thoroughly fabulous to see inside the Grocers Hall. The amazing chandeliers, silver and paintings, the sheer size of the banqueting tables and the immaculate presentation of delicious food, course after course. The starter is definitely being snatched for my new cookbook!
A couple of other trips to London included a tour of the City of London with the Pink Lovely, a visit to the Geffreye Museum and the Bank of England Museum, both of which were fascinating. However, the favourite pass time of the Pink Lovely was sitting on a double decker bus! Thank God for the Oyster Card! Determined to see "The Railway Children" before it closed on the platform of Waterloo Station, we managed to get to the last performance and it was truly a delight.There were many more adults than children and I think that they secretly just wanted to see the steam train tooting in down the platform. Our trip ended up with skating outside the Natural History Museum and then going on the Merry Go round before returning back to  the quiet pastures of Herefordshire and the new school term.
Having made the decision not to write an e-book or App. but to throw myself into another cookbook with old fashioned paper and binding, I settled into daily writing and testing of winter recipes before the spring brings new ingredients and ideas to try.
We had a brief encounter with snow for one day and it snowed all day, piling up nicely under my watchful eye and those on the committee of the Ludlow Hunt Ball. If I ever question my heritage, remind me of this night because I am entirely sure than all the proof that is needed is here.  200 of us did fight our way through 3 snow storms which were so thick that the lines in the middle of the road were nowhere to be seen!  This was slightly dodgy with approaching traffic struggling towards you. This has to be entirely English, who else would venture out to a BALL in the middle of the Marches along zigzag lanes and single tracks to get to a marquis without snow chains or skiis! It was I am glad to say entirely worth it and we all danced until 2.30am and by the time we went home the moon was bright and the roads passable. But still quite definitely mad!
We are still just in February and this I shall call my chocolate month. I am not entirely sure what has happened but I seemed to have been obsessed by chocolate all month. Not a day has passed without a glorious, melting moment! I have tested every single chocolate recipe in my new book with great success it may be said but also with a secret supply that the Pink Lovely has not yet discovered!  I am now debating which one to write out for you here as they were all rather yummy and easy. Even when I was in London for a couple of days last week to see the Hockney exhibition and attend a few lunches and dinners, chocolate featured every few hours, are we due for an equinox or something! I even put chocolate in my venison stew which was gloriously rich and decadent. There was a brief moment when it occurred to me that I should join Chris Tarrant on Radio 2 and give up chocolate for lent but  giving up my daily cup of coffee seemed an easier option!  What will March bring? I will let you know but certainly not chocolate! So, before all the evidence of my current addiction disappears from my hidey places there is a little recipe that I would like you to try!
Chocolate Ice Cream
350ml whole milk
1 heaped tablespoon pure cocoa powder
The seeds from some cardamom pods (how many depends on how flavoured you like ice creams to be)
6 large eggs, yolks only
125g caster sugar
120g dark continental chocolate 70%cocoa, melted
300ml double cream

Heat the milk with the cocoa and cardamom seeds in a saucepan, simmer for 5 minutes on low. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl, when pale and thick whisk in the hot milk. Return this to the pan and heat, stirring continuously until thick enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon. Cool and then blitz in the liquidizer until smooth and silky. Pour the mixture into a freezer bowl or container and fold in the cream. Freeze until solid but beat the hell out of it every few hours so that it continues to be silky smooth.

Serve with chocolate brownies for a serious fix!

Another easy pheasant recipe!

Here is another quickie which can be prepared the day before, ideal for the busy weekends.
Serves 4
large pheasant breasts with skin on
2 red onions, thinly sliced
2-4 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 lemon thickly sliced
200ml chicken, pheasant or veggie stock
good pinches of sea salt
and freshly ground black pepper
30g unsalted butter
55g pine nuts
4 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley

In a large bowl, mix the pheasant or chicken with onions, garlic, oil, spices, lemon, stock and seasoning. Leave to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Preheat the oven to 200C or GM6 and bake the pheasant in a baking dish skin side up. Sprinkle over the onions and roast until cooked through. Melt the butter in a small frying pan, add the pine nuts and pinch of salt and toast until golden.  Toss the mixture over the pheasant with the chopped parsley and serve with rice or couscous.

A change in the Pheasant repetoire!

I love this recipe because it can be prepared the day before and then cooked 1/2hr before dinner!
Serves about 4
4 large pheasant breasts or chicken
2 red or white onions, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 a good pinch of saffron strands
juice and zest of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons cold water
a couple of pinches of sea salt
and freshly ground black pepper
100g unskinned hazelnuts
70g honey or maple syrup
2 tablespoons rosewater

In a bowl mix the pheasant breasts with the onions, olive oil, ginger, cinnamon, saffron, lemon juice and zest, water, salt and pepper and leave to marinate n a cool place for at least an hour or overnight if possible.
Roast/grill the hazelnuts on a tray until golden, cool enough to chop roughly.
Arrange the breasts skin side up in a baking dish with the marinade and roast until birds are NEARLY cooked through.
 Mix the honey or maple syrup, rosewater and nuts into a paste and spread over the pheasant breasts return to oven and cook for about 2-10 minutes until nots are brown but not burnt! Serve with rice.
This is my favourite recipe out of all the ones I tried. Another one later today!

Rhubarb in the Bolognese! Happy New Year!

Lurking around the fridge this bright New Year  morning, I shuffle around on automatic, make a cup of builders tea for me, fresh parsley and carrots for the guinea pigs, cold chicken for the dog and all is going well although in a slight blurr. This you may think is due to an excess of wines over the New Year celebrations, but no, this is due to leaving my glasses up on the 3rd floor and feeling that I can manage perfectly well without them. After all, you can feel your way through most things in life! Back to the fridge: I feel for the bowl of Tomato sauce, might aswell start making the Lasagne and for the bowl of mince. Grope around the darkest cupboard for a pan, chuck in the ingredients and shove it on the hob while I go and get dressed. I return in full glory of muddy jeans, back to front jumper, inside-out cardigan; so reassuringly normal... and Ahhh there are my glasses... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and there is a gently bubbling pan of stewed Rhubarb and best mince.. Dash to the fridge, definitely tomato sauce poised beside the jug of custard ... oops! Oh! Well... No one will ever know... just chucked in the tomato sauce but I remain firm about the custard!
We have a delivery of 20 plucked pheasants for the weekend, ready for freezing. Now the fun starts; gazing longingly at glossy photos of heavenly concoctions of feather-light whipped icing, cunning layers of fruits in glorious wrappings, dream-like cakes and pudding.... but with reality and regret I turn to the chapters on game and poultry. I whizz through the list until I reach guinea fowl, duck, chicken and turkey. On the basis that they are all pretty similar and bound to work!  Ottolenghi is top fave at the moment. So, Pheasant in saffron, honey and hazelnuts; Pheasants with sumac, za'atar and lemon; Pheasant breasts with cumin, coriander and white wine are my choices. Whichever recipe is the best I will post! Until then I wish you all a very happy new year and an abundance of all that is good in 2012.

We have already had one Christmas dinner, another one coming up!

Another triumph! Well, anyway, I didn't set the oven on fire like I did last weekend and I only forgot the chestnuts for the sprouts and omitted the perfectly formed and fried onions for the stuffing... but I thought last year's Christmas pudding from Monsieur Tesco was rather good considering it was 6 months out of date. The stuffing was a marvellous rescue,due to a brain wave of mixing all the left-over odds and ends of chutneys that I had made this year: rhubarb and ginger, pear and spice and mango and cardamom and bashing them into the mixture, totally made up for the lack of onions and chestnuts!
We had left-over cranberries of course and so I made some delicious cranberry and cream cheese muffins this morning and so as promised, here is the gluten free recipe but simply change the flour to your preferred kind to suit you. This can also be made lactose free too! Enjoy....
LEFTOVER CRANBERRY AND CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS
100g soft cream cheese or lactofree cream cheese
250g caster sugar
150g fresh cranberries or frozen
200g Doves Farm gluten-free or wheat-free plain flour mix
2 generous teaspoons baking powder
2 large free range eggs
75ml sunflower oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Heat the oven to 190C/170Cfan/gas5; line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin cases.
Beat the soft cheese with 25g of the sugar and chill until needed.
Heat the cranberries together with another 25g of the sugar until they start to pop. Squish them a bit but not much!
Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the remaining 200g sugar, baking powder and pinch of sea salt. Stir in the eggs, oil, vanilla and cranberries. Divide the lumpy mixture between the cases. Make a small dip in the centre of each one and gently push in a blob of the cream cheese mixture. Bake for 25 mins or until firm and springy to touch. Cool on a wire rack and eat warm or cold.

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and I will be back with more recipes for the New Year

Rodent pedicures!

To my horror, a friend came round for coffee yesterday and on viewing our resident rodents, Noodle and Doodle, declared that they needed pedicures. I have come to terms with small rat-like things in The Pink Lovely's playroom but nail clipping was not really on my list!  In fact it brought back fraught memories, as I am sure all mothers will agree, who can remember, the anxiety and stress of cutting a new born babies' and todlers' nails. For some mad hormonal reason we seem to forget that we have been giving ourselves manicures and pedicures for the past 15-20 years and go to pieces just at the thought of it,......pictures of missing fingers and toes!
Bribing my friend with a large piece of chocolate fruitcake, which alas, has not made it to Christmas as expected, she heroically clipped the little treasures nails for me. Saint or What!
The excitement of my days never ceases to amaze me as this morning, you would have thought yesterday was enough excitement for one week, I made a cup of tea and on discovering that we had no more milk, hastily retrieved my tea bag and plopped it into a tumbler with a bit of water in the bottom. Lurking in the back of my cupboard was some historic, almost neolithic milk powder and I made up enough to hopefully not poison me but to give me an acceptable cuppa. It tasted disgusting! So, I retrieved the teabag and left it to stew for a few minutes hoping to save the situation. One gulp and OH MY what a surprise, Vodka and tonic flavoured tea! Not a glass of water then but an unfinished tipple from last night! That will teach me to be so slovenly!
As promised I am giving you the recipe for bacon and cheese straws for all your hundreds of guests this festive season. Indeed I may even have a party myself!
I am entirely hopeless at making puff pastry and have never succeeded  in making a gluten-free version so this is not an allergy-free recipe but I shall make amends in the next blog with another recipe that is and will certainly be helpful for  Christmas entertaining.
One big tip: Always buy the most expensive all butter puff pastry you can find. The taste is superb and it is far lighter with crispier layers. The top Michelin Star chefs in the country use it and every chef I have ever met has admitted to baking with bought puff or flaky pastry. So, brazen it out and quote me!
BACON AND CHEESE TWISTS
Heaps of them!
1x large packet Tesco finest or other flash all butter puff pastry
for ultimate cheating use the pre-rolled out pastry sheets!
Very thin long strips of rindless yummy bacon and not the watery cheap stuff! You can use middle cut or streaky, smoked or unsmoked or maple cure is perfect, ditto Parma ham cut into long strips
Mature or Vintage Cheddar cheese,grated on to a huge pile on a plate
Your favourite mustard, Dijon or grain but not made-up mustard powder as it is too strong
1-2 eggs beaten until smooth
flour for dusting

Place the rolled pastry onto a floured board or clean surface and brush it with mustard. Use a sharp knife to cut very long strips from top to bottom about 1inch or 2.5cm wide.
Take each strip and place a line of grated cheese along it, place the strip of bacon over the cheese and then twist gently all the way up into secure straws. Cut into 3 or 4 lengths depending on your preference and how many mouths you have to feed.  Brush them all with beaten egg and place on a non-stick baking tray. Bake them in batches, leaving room for them to expand until golden, puffy and crispy. I suggest 220C or 200Cfan oven or the hottest oven in the Aga. Serve warm or store overnight and then reheat for about 10 minutes in the same oven temperature the next day.

Where is my Christmas Spirit?

Not easy to make a Christmas Cake on crutches but then I figure that it is a wee bit early, I would rather take it to the limit of the allowed panic time before starting the annual fraught search for recipes and ingredients! Now off crutches and gamely leaping across the kitchen again, we decided to make the cake last night. We found nearly all the ingredients and swapped a few here and there, no dried sour cherries, so natural glacé will do! but alas, at the vital moment: Where is my Christmas Spirit? Nor brandy or Cognac, not even Calvados or Whiskey. Dismay all round; but then Aha! lurking at the back of the cupboard is the very last dribble of  Romanian Peach something... So, we chucked that in and we will see! In fact that should go nicely with the chocolate.....Chocolate you say, in Christmas Cake, Yuck! Actually the cake not only looks perfect but it tastes far less sweet and cloying due to the organic cocoa powder and 70%dark chocolate. Even better it was the easiest fruit cake that I have ever made! So a big thank you to Lara Savill who has a brilliant blog on baking for this recipe idea which I have now adapted.
IDEAL FOR BIRTHDAYS,CHRISTMAS,SHOOTING LUNCHES, RACING PICNICS, LUNCH BOXES, A HEARTY TEA AROUND A ROARING LOG FIRE AFTER A LONG WALK.

 Chocolate Fruitcake (gluten-free/dairy-free or traditional wheat/spelt flour)
200g Pure Sunflower spread or butter of course
200g dark brown soft sugar
100g 70%dark continental (DF) chocolate, broken into pieces
80ml good brandy, Cognac or Calvados
A good dash or two of pure vanilla extract
250g raisins
250g sultanas
100g  each dried cranberries, natural colour glacé cherries and mixed        peel   
200g Doves Farm gluten free self raising flour mix or a spelt flour or wheat flour
100g ground almonds
3 tablespoons organic cocoa powder
1 teaspoon mixed spice
3 large free-range eggs, beaten with a fork in a jug
Preheat the oven to 150C/fan130C/gas2
Use a deep rubber cake mould for ease about 20-21cm round or prepare a cake tin in the normal way.

Put the fat,sugar,chocolate,brandy, vanilla and all the dried fruits in a large pan and heat gently, stirring occasionally until all melted. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Mix the flour, almonds, cocoa and spice together in  big bowl. Stir the eggs into the melted chocolate mixture and then scrape it with a spatula into the flour mixture. Fold ingredients until mixed and then scrape into the mould or tin. Bake for 1 1/2 hrs.(An inserted skewer should come out clean when cooked).
The next day stab it all over the top with a skewer and drown it in the chosen alcohol.Wrap in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight container until needed or time to ice it. Remember to feed it with some Christmas Spirit again a few weeks before Christmas.
A few weeks ago I met Janet Woodward of Wellfoods at the Hereford Coeliac Society fayre. The Wellfoods stand looked tempting with piles of breads, rolls, pizzas and our own brand of gluten-free flour. I hobbled around on my crutches, chatting to the other stall holders and tasting their products. There were 4 stunning products: Muddy Boots: Caramelized Onion and Mozzarella Aberdeen Angus Beef Burgers which melted in the mouth and were truly scrumptious in the Antoinette Savill(Wellfoods) burger bun, I shall be ordering some of those today. They are also available in Waitrose.
Cake Angels: Julia's cup cakes, brownies and other goodies where delicious beyond belief and she has an amazing website which is located on my website. You can order Christmas cupcakes with astonishing decorations as a gift box but the brownies are heaven... So which to  choose?
Christine's Christmas Puddings:Gorgeous tiny puds for gluten-free guests or family in about 3 flavours.They are made in Dorset with a variety of different flavours. See my website www.antoinettesavill.com
Farabella: This has to be the best Italian gluten-free pasta around. Shapes and sizes never before seen in UK, they cook perfectly and tastes great. Again check my website.
I have dusted off last year's mincemeat and am now on a quest to find some interesting recipes other than mince pies for the festive season. I shall report back. Next blog will have delicious mini BACON and CHEESE STRAWS for festive drinks and show-off MINCEMEAT AND CINNAMON PALMIERS also ideal for parties.



                                          

Out of the provinces and into Provence!

Lucky me, just as school is full-on I decide to leave the provinces and disappear to Provence. From 13degrees to 26C, two hours from Birmingham. The aquamarine swimming pool twinkled in the sunlight as the last swish of the Mistral flew by, I lay there soaking-up the rays, finally getting to the last chapter of the Hare with Amber Eyes. I must move.
The heavenly market at Lorgues was surprisingly similar to Beaulieu market, Nice market and Ventimiglia market but was washed in dappled light from the plane trees and full of smiling faces unlike any of the above. We purchased 2 small smoked hams, 4 salamis for 20 EURO. A kilo of lavender honey which glistened like a pot of liquid gold and 2 heavenly goats cheeses. Back home for lunch: a salad of goats cheeses drizzled with honey and balsamic vinegar and wafer thin slices of ham, fresh figs and of course a bottle of rose. We had stopped on the way home at the local château and purchased a case of the lightest and most delicious rose I have ever tasted. Gone are the days of dark pink, slightly sweet rose d'Anjou! Our wine was fresh and easy but still had enough body to enjoy. We had a triumphant lunch party the next day that started at midday and ended at midnight and I made a lavish Lemon Risotto to go with roast Sea Bass. This recipe is easy but takes a bit of time so make sure you have something else to divert you in the kitchen otherwise you may  loose the will...
Lemon Risotto ( about 4 lemons)
Take a large non-stick frying pan and melt some butter and olive oil together and then chuck in a small, finely chopped onion and cook gently until softened but not browned. Add very thinly pared lemon  rind, cut into very thin strips. I suggest 2 un-waxed lemons for 6 people. A good pinch of fresh thyme leaves and about 4 cloves of garlic, crushed. Cook for a few minutes more. Add a handful of arborio rice per person and cook together for a minute or two. Pour in some white wine, vegetable or chicken stock to cover and simmer slowly, stirring frequently. When the rice in about halfway through cooking, squeeze the juice of two to four lemons into the pan, season with sea salt,  freshly ground black pepper and freshly grated nutmeg. Add more stock whenever you need to, until the risotto is creamy. At the last moment stir in a big knob of unsalted butter and finely grate some lemon zest (1 lemon should do) into the risotto. Serve immediately with any roast fish, fowl or pork. Lemons vary hugely so if they are small and dry then you will need heaps of them but if large and juicy just a few should do.

Rumour has it that a certain château is looking for someone to run it for a season....TEMPTING!

I am sure I turned into a Chorizo sausage

I never for a moment thought that I could actually feel like a chorizo sausage but after 14 glorious days of a little slice or two before lunch with a glass of chilled dry sherry and then well, a few more  of both to be honest. Hitting the chorizo as soon as we were back from the beach with a glass of red wine, demolishing large quantities of both so that I could hold out until 9.30pm when we went out to dinner in the harbour. Of course there were scallops and chorizo and also beans and chorizo and last but not least potatoes and chorizo!  By day 9, I was flagging a bit and by day 14 I never wanted to see a sausage ever again! But it was addictive, I don't dare think what goes into it but now I am addicted to baby cherry tomatoes from my garden which I can only imagine is a huge improvement calorie-wise.
Gallicia was a triumph of unexpectedness! Lush green forests and gardens, fields full of .... ah well - houses.... but all very rural and pretty. Endless mountains or were they big hills and zig-zag bends that had The Pink Lovely (now aged 8!) in paroxysms of motion sickness the entire time. The very first day we found out why it was so green and lush, it rained.... and it rained.... and it rained... a lot! but when it was sunny then wow was it hot and we rushed down to the magnificent beach and absolutely freezing Atlantic ocean. The Pink Lovely who is undoubtedly made of sterner things than me, was to be seen body surfing without a wet suit for hours on end. A total Mystery where that comes from!
As we were staying in a fishing village we indulged every day  in fresh squid, octopus, mussels, fish and some weird looking seafood in 6inch shells like a big nail file. Sometimes cooked with rice but mainly fried with wedges of local lemons. Fantastic. As for the wines, well, I had no idea! My kind host liberally picked the finest of his wines and they were all delicious. Ribera del Duero amongst many others were so good that we never needed to have a  Rioja. This just goes to show that it is best to be adventurous when ordering wines from a wine dealer or supermarket and try wines from different areas instead of playing safe!On my return I order 3 cases of different Spanish wines and NO Rioja!

The Pink Lovely calculated on our return that she had eaten 28 ice creams in 2 weeks, this rather horrifying statistic was mainly due to the fact that we were not tempted by the puddings and cakes. Having said that, we found the most spectacular St. James Cake in Santiago de Compostella. It is a concoction of ground almonds, butter and sugar, baked and dusted with icing sugar which has the symbolic knife in the middle of the cake. Our kind friends made the cake for The Pink Lovely's birthday lunch and it was rather delicious and looked perfect as you can see from the picture.

Driving me Cuckoo!

You will be glad to know that Shropshire cuckoos are alive and well in Mortimer forest. One resonant cuckoo abounding through the forest is charming. Half a dozen is driving me cuckoo on every walk this week! Of course it could be the time of year when the males are desperate for a bit of action and calling out for a willing Mrs.; bragging their assets with cheerful repetition and nonchalance! But the charm did ware off after the first half an hour! The dogs didn't raise an ear between them, they were far too busy chasing squirrels!
Back at home now and I can give you the two ice cream recipes. Both easy and ideal for plan ahead dinner or lunch party. Serve with florentines or tiny macaroons.
It is very easy to make ice cream but the only possible danger is over heating the custard so that it curdles, if this happens, do not panic! Immediately, put the custard into a liquidizer or failing that a food processor and beat it into emulsifying once again. As long as you have not actually made scrambled eggs this always works!!!!!!!!!!!

Elderflower Ice Cream (to make in the next 2 weeks before the season is over)
300ml home made elderflower cordial or make up about half cordial recipe and leave out the citric acid, you will easily drink the remaining cordial in a few weeks but I do suggest keeping it cool in the fridge
300ml full fat organic milk
300ml organic double cream
6 free range large egg yolks
100g unrefined caster sugar

Make a custard by heating the milk in a small pan over medium heat until simmering point is reached. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks until pale and fluffy with the sugar in a food processor or by hand. Pour the hot milk gradually into the eggs, beating all the time.Transfer the mixture to a thick based sauce pan over very low heat and stir with a wooden spoon pretty often in order to avoid the custard curdling. The custard needs to be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. When it is, pour it into a plastic container and leave to cool. Stir in the elderflower cordial and chill in the freezer until it is thickening up. Beat thoroughly before folding in the whipped cream and leave in the freezer until nearly frozen. Beat thoroughly again, I put it in my food processor. Seal and freeze until needed.

Chocolate and Chilli ice cream
350ml organic full fat milk
1 heaped tablespoon high quality cocoa powder
6 large free range egg yolks
125g unrefined caster sugar
a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes
120g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
300ml double cream

Heat the milk with the cocoa in a thick based saucepan over medium heat until it has all melted. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar together either in a food processor or by hand in a bowl. Beat in the hot chocolate milk and a sprinkling of chilli flakes. Then put the custard into the pan over very low heat and stir from time to time until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon. Add the chocolate pieces and stir until melted. Pour the hot custard through a sieve into a plastic container and discards the chilli. Leave to cool and then freeze until becoming thick. Fold in the whipped cream and freeze for an hour. Beat the ice cream thoroughly to get rid of any ice crystals. I use my food processor. Freeze and beat again a few hours later and then it will be really creamy. Seal and freeze until needed.

Much ado about Nothiing

The spring had arrived in full heated glory and for a moment there I was convinced that the time had come to entertain again. Cocktails in the garden by the stream, gazing lovingly at my fine and blossoming weeds and undergrowth. Lists were  made of  friends around the country who might be lucky enough to enjoy the bucolic moment, emails were sent, menus devised, seating plans puzzled over, wines and prosecco purchased in large quantities when................whooooosh, Bang, Crash and darkness!............The biggest storm here for 13 years and the farm power box is hit by lightening. No phones, no broadband for 10 days. We will gloss over the "no electricity for 48 hours", that is just not news worthy in these parts.
Then comes the rain, albeit very welcome, but it doesn't stop and then the sun goes behind dark and doom-laden clouds for 2 weeks. If I had been hit by lightening this might have been more useful as it would have undoubtedly given me a bit of a buzz and in fact may well have energized me for the next 40 years but, no, just my entire communication system! My mobile being a sensitive object only works half way up the hill and as you can imagine this was not entirely tempting in cold, damp, wet and windy days and impossible in the evening. So my glorious soirées were much ado about nothing and evaporated in a puff of smoke!
However, fate is a divine thing and having had a month of rain, summer is here, my garden is indeed looking rather cute. Not a weed in sight, the bank of the stream now has large clumps of blooming yellow flag iris and all the roses are having to be secured once again due to the enormous and heavy blooms. Enthusiasm is swift but brief and therefore a new list of dinner dates speed through the ether to my friends from near and far.
Now the fun starts, practising some new dishes for these culinary feasts over the next 6 weeks. Looking around I spy lofty branches swaying in the wind and huge elderflower blossoms heavy with rain but still smelling wonderful. So I searched for an elderflower ice cream recipe and have made it for dinner no.1.. I used the 6 egg whites to make a huge pavlova in which to put the ice cream and then will decorate it with fresh berries and mint leaves. I came across a recipe for Chocolate and Chilli Ice Cream and as all these ingredients were technically free ( woman's logic as I had them in the pantry and anything paid for with the previous month's housekeeping is free!); I proceeded to make pudding for dinner no.2...
The Pink Lovely aged 7 3/4 was hauled into taste them both to give her seal of approval but much to my surprise spat out the elderflower ice cream and gobbled up the chocolate and chilli which was a little confusing as she loves elderflower spritzer and hates chilli! I adored them both and so I shall give you the recipes ASAP.
The Pink Lovely by now totally suspicious at the number of dinner parties being planned became alert and interrogated me in a truly professional way. What do they teach them at school? Under duress, I finally admitted to FOUR. Are you MAD Darling? is her retort, you barely have time to bake cakes for the school summer fete the next day, have you forgotten my birthday party for 7 girls sleep-over the day after the next one? You cannot have forgotten that we are going to London that weekend ..no.3 and last but not least no. 4, you are already going to a party that weekend MUM. Do I need a diary, NO. My daughter is my diary, what an extraordinary brain she has.. I wonder why it has such marvellous recall for social activities and absolutely no recall on homework!
So, not entirely thought through, I would admit this is one of my most frequent moments of scattiness but why not juggle life a bit and create so much fun and amusement for your friends...............
How can life get any more exciting, it can and it does. Whizzing around Ludlow, I am accosted by a dear friend who tells me that a baby grand upright piano is lurking in the back of the auction house at that very moment. I have been searching (not very hard it would have to be said) for such a desirable object for going on 2 years. Off I speed forthwith and see this huge but first class piano that is actually in tune and in good condition. I fill in the forms, I find some friends already there and so sit down next to them. Butterflies abound, panic is near, actually total panic is here! bidding is not my thing at all. My neighbour kindly thumps me when the number comes up and my moment of triumph is near. Some joke is made as to how popular these antiquated monsters are, (missed that one!) and the first bid goes in at the highest price I had scribbled on my list. O.M.G. panic or what, so up goes the hand and Yes I did get it at the highest price because... no one else bid...........OOOOOOOOOOps. Oh well, that is the first and only time I will ever bid in an auction. The auctioneer was trying not to laugh unlike my friends who were spluttering into their brochures. Feeling rather aghast at the speed of everything my neighbour consoled me with the fact that she had actually bid against herself in her first auction until the kind auctioneer had informed her that he really was going to let her have the chest of drawers!
Four days later three burly men delivered the piano on the night that The Pink Lovely boards at school and I decorated it with balloons and left it for her return. The headmistress entered into the spirit of things and arranged for a surprise piano lesson that day much to the Pink Lovely's confusion.  "Your birthday present has arrived, it is in the office". The Pink Lovely bursts into the room and stands there absolutely dumbfounded. She cannot believe her eyes!  Mild panic as I translate this into disappointment that it wasn't actually an Ipod but then I see the smile spread across her face as she takes it in. I have recently invested in ear plugs but it is coming on nicely!

Simmel Cake and Fish Pie but not together!

I have not made a simnel cake for about 20 years, so it was very exciting to be baking one this morning. It had a slightly unfamiliar look about it and I couldn't think what was wrong. 13 balls for the apostles and the naughty J.
In the end I had to google the recipe and see what I had forgotten. No wonder it looked strange... I hadn't grilled it! As you see from the photo, it came up a treat and was utterly delicious. We had afternoon tea in the garden, which I had been wrestling with all afternoon (the garden-not the tea!) and it looked rather good.. all be it temporally!
Having spent 1 1/2 hrs making a fish pie, it dawned on my why I had not made one since last August! Never mind, everyone loved it and even The Pink Lovely ate it which was a miracle..... Which reminds me that I must endeavour to get to church on Easter Sunday, in the village this year. 09.30am is a trifle early for me as this prevents a lingering breakfast but a serious attempt will be made. When I was telephoned last week to ask if we would like to attend, I answered in my sweetest voice, that if their service was going to be a thoroughly depressing and chilly affair, then frankly No!...As I can guarantee to have both  in my catholic church. The lady was not sure if I was joking or not.........but after some consideration, laughed and assured me that it would be a light-hearted and warm service.............................................
Today, I have planted my peas, sweet peas and beetroot. My veggie garden looks like an Indian Reserve with all the can wigwams! Sadly, I have managed to massacre my French beans which have died an early death in their little egg boxes, actually I not sure they were ever alive having been given to my by The Pink Lovely who had them in her school home work bag for some weeks before explaining what they were! I seemed to have deprived all the lettuces of life too.... Oh.. Well.. Hope over adversity or is it "hope over triumph"? Not sure................

It's the Silly season for Chocolate!

How many more Easter eggs do I need to buy? The Easter Bunny has to have a large bagful of eggs to hide when he arrives at Fox Barn on Easter Sunday! The entire length of the Lunch table has to have brilliant chocolate and fresh flower decorations. I have little bird nests with birds and eggs in them (from the garden centre in Sydney Street, London in about 2000!)...We were given a spectacular arrangement of wiggly pear branches which we have arranged in a huge vase and made lots of Easter chick, egg and flower decorations to hang on the wobbly branches, with guess what, hidden chocolate eggs in! Every drawer I open I seem to have hidden another packet of mini eggs or cute bunnies! My two extremely dead bay trees on either side of the front door, have now been pruned into need stick-balls, devoid of all the frazzled, brown bay leaves. They look rather cool and minimalist, so I am going to hang Easter eggs all over them for my guests on Sunday...rather fun!
As usual we will be thoroughly over-egged, so on 7th day of Easter week, ready for the Royal Wedding Day, we will be having my annual "Easter chocolate sauce" with vanilla ice cream. Simply gather up all the unwanted remnants of chocolate eggs, include if you have any, some small eggs that are too sweet, caramel or fudge style chocolates, pralines or even bits of those astonishing, excessively large bars of chocolate. Break the chocolate into small pieces and chuck them all into a  bowl ready for action. Judge how much chocolate you have, then in a suitable sized saucepan, over the lowest possible heat melt a few knobs of unsalted butter, a good sprinkling of dark brown soft sugar, vanilla extract and a good sprinkling of Brandy and black, fresh, warm coffee. Always, be cautious with liquids and chocolate, you can add more when you can see that the sauce is too thick. When the mixture starts to simmer, remove from the heat and gently stir in the chocolate. Best to use a spatula. Stir occasionally as it melts and return the pan to the heat to help it along if you are making a large quantity. When all the chocolate has melted then give it a brief simmer and bubble on the low heat, stirring in a good dash of double cream to get it to a thick pouring but smooth and glossy consistency and then serve warm with the ice cream. As I have no idea what sort of chocolate you will be using, I cannot predict what sort of sauce you will have but generally it will be either quite fudgy or soft and silky!
Now I must go and make our Easter chocolate cake and Nigel Slater's chocolate cookies although I am not sure that they will last to Easter, rather a blessing really considering how much chocolate is located around the house! Then I shall attempt an olive oil and chocolate mousse which sounds rather interesting for a birthday dinner at the weekend.
Lastly, our fresh eggs all get painted with patterns in fun colours for breakfast on Good Friday,  so I must walk up the Goggin and see if my friends have a spare half dozen for us. That is it for our Easter celebrations, unless of course you count the roasting of spring lamb with our garden herbs and wild garlic from the woods and the baking of hot cross buns dusted in cinnamon sugar!

Fox on the wall and Victorian shortbread

Sitting at the kitchen window on the 3rd floor of a London flat yesterday I observed with astonishment the capers of a dog and a fox in the garden below.Feeling slightly dazed which of course had nothing to do with the bottle of wine the night before......I thought I must be hallucinating. But no,the dog was running up and down the garden,barking madly all the time in the excitement of heading off this urban fox from his patch. The fox,obviously totally oblivious to the concept of a chase decided after about 10 minutes that this was rather tiresome and gracefully leapt up onto the top of the very high garden wall and proceeded to run daintily along it for 5 minutes until he got bored of bating the dog and leapt into the adjacent garden and disappeared. The dog looked rather disappointed and retreated for breakfast and so did I.
Back in Herefordshire today and it is the much longed for Red Nose Day. Not by me I hasten to add but by the Pink Lovely aged 7, who had, I am told, carefully laid out all her clothes, red nose and £1.00 coin for school today at least 3 days ago! She had been on count-down ever since! Apparently, the excitement of not wearing school uniform was almost more than she can bear! Sweet!  When we arrived at school this morning you will not be surprised to hear that nearly the entire year 3 was in......yes..... PINK.  Rather a shock to the system at that time of the morning.
Sunday morning,a day of rest............Well not exactly! Having watched the Royal Upstairs Downstairs last night on iplayer the Pink Lovely had decided that we should make the exact shortbread that was made in this Scone Palace episode for Queen Victoria's visit. She dutifully copied down nearly all the recipe while watching a repeat and this morning on entering the kitchen I was haled by the entire set of ingredients and utensils all carefully laid out ready for immediate action! This is not easy before breakfast but when you have to translate ounces into grams and guess the amount of butter to use,it is quite nerve racking! My 1936 copy of Mrs Beeton was ceremoniously brought down off the shelf and the recipe located for Scottish shortbread to give me a clue as to how much butter to use. Rather surprisingly, we have a huge tray of gorgeous shortbread but unfortunately I cannot remember how much butter I lobbed in! So it can never be repeated! A Royal Treat indeed!........................

Drop Scones or Scotch Pancakes & National Pie Week

Drop Scones are by far the easiest of pancake to make so we often have them for breakfast or tea with butter and honey or maple syrup. They are rather good with poached fruit with liqueur and crème fraiche as a pudding too. I use very alcoholic black cherries or brandied pears.
RECIPE
115g self raising flour or Doves Farm gluten free self raising flour mix
30ml caster sugar
1 large egg, beaten
150ml milk (goats or cow, fresh soya or Arla lactofree)

Lightly grease a frying pan. In a bowl mix the flour and sugar, make a well in the centre and stir in the egg with enough milk to make the bater the consistency of thick cream. Fold the mixture as quickly and lightly as possible. Heat the pan over medium high heat and drop a spoonful of the mixture into the pan. They should be small and neat, no bigger than the size of a slice of lemon!  Cook until bubbles rise to the surface (couple of minutes) and then flip over and cook until golden. Serve immediately or keep warm in a pile on a warm plate,under a clean cotton cloth until they are all made. The devour them with great pleasure!

National Pie week this week and my all time favourite pie is home-made steak and kidney pie with plenty of rather good sherry and mustard in it. A wiff of puff pastry that is as light as air! Well definitely not my puff pastry then...............I have tried out half a dozen frozen and chilled puff pastries from various supermarkets and I have to say that without doubt that even on this occasion you definitely get what you pay for. So,double the price, All Butter Puff Pastry really is gorgeous, it literally melts in the mouth. The Pink Lovely, aged 7, supreme judge of puff pastry awarded it 5* and had seconds. Quite an achievement as she hates pastry.

The filling I was taught, one hung-over teenage morning by Madame Russell, our Diploma Cookery Course Teacher in a minuscule kitchen in Pimlico in the 1970s. Madame Russell was, let it be said, the second most terrifying women that I have ever met in my entire life. This could be due to the fact that she knew my French Grandmother, who was, indeed, the most terrifying lady that I have ever met.  Madame Russell's husband had been captured in Germany in the second world war and my Grandmother and her team had rescued him and then looked after him in her special hospital wing of her house in Surrey for a year until he was well enough to leave. Stern words about being as amazing as my Grandmother was not really the most encouraging thing for a 17 year old and I spent the entire 3 months in dire trepidation of being ask to make anything in front of the class!  Amazing, that I survived it and went on the cook all around the world and write 14 cookbooks!
For your filling, cook plenty of sliced onions in a half-half mixture of butter and olive oil and then when they are soft add plenty of crushed garlic, seasoning, grated nutmeg, a couple of cloves, Dijon mustard, very nice sherry, mixed herbs and toss it all around in the pan for a few minutes. Toss your steak and kidney, in any balance of mix that you prefer in flour and then chuck it into a very hot frying pan with some hot oil and seal it and toss it until evenly browned. Add the your onion mixture to the steak mixture in a casserole dish, stir in a bit of tomato puree and stock and cook in a medium oven until tender. Transfer the steak and kidney mixture to your pie dish and cover with the puff pastry. Brush with beaten egg and decorate if you enjoy it. Bake for about 35 minutes until the pastry is golden and puffy.

Not an excuse to be late for School & Blueberry Pancakes

Saturday morning, not quite sure why I promised to make Fresh Blueberry American Pancakes before school this morning. The Pink Lovely, aged 7 1/2, briefly looked pristine in her school uniform but then turned her hand to beating the mixture. Some of it stayed in the bowl, most of it went down her, but being A Domestic Goddess is never easy and best she learns this early on.  We made enormously thick pancakes which puffed up joyfully but then would not cook in the middle. Darn, I thought, this is tricky.. too little heat and they don't cook and too high and they burn. Never mind, we will eat them in the car, not my best idea as they are drizzled with maple syrup and the blueberries are oozing very hot and sticky, purple juice. Revert to kitchen table. Clock now says 08.20. Ooops! due in at 08.15am
Can one actually sneak into a full class room, with teacher in full flow, without being noticed? Not really. As I am bestowing my most winning and apologetic smile, I notice to my horror that I had forgotten to wipe The Pink Lovely's angelic little face. Now, I love the colour purple, don't get me wrong, but possibly not all round my daughter's mouth. Hands much the same colour. My brief moment of Domestic Goddess-dom evaporates and I retreat to ponder if I really am cut out to do Saturday School.
This is a SUPER EASY RECIPE, ideal for breakfast or afternoon tea.
Fresh Blueberry American Pancakes
Serve with Maple Syrup or Golden Syrup
Makes 12
150g plain flour or gluten-free Doves Farm plain flour mix
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1teaspoon baking powder
Large pinch fine sea salt
250ml buttermilk or 110ml St. Helen's Farm goats yoghurt with 110ml goats milk
1 large free range egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
200g fresh blueberries
sunflower oil for greasing

Put the first 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl and add half the buttermilk, the egg and the vanilla. Whisk everything together, add the remaining buttermilk and whisk until smooth. Add the blueberries and fold in. Lightly oil a frying pan and drop 2 tablespoons of the mixture per pancake. Cook each one until dark golden underneath and bubbling on top. Flip over and cook on the other side. Serve immediately.

I have to cook lunch and we are, as you know, busy saving the oceans at the moment! So, we are having Whitebait for the first time in 20 years.  Pubs in Shropshire and Herefordshire in 1970s, I recall, usually had a choice of 4 starters. These never seemed to vary which was part of the charm. Rather less exhausting than wading through a page of Pacific fusion or retro French or confused Italian starters that are so often listed nowadays on every pub menu.  Prawn cocktail (in various forms), Avocado vinaigrette on a sad piece of Iceberg lettuce, Melon and Parma ham and last but not least, Fried Whitebait with a wedge of lemon. So, reassuring, no big decisions.  I think we have too much choice nowadays not just in menus but in every shop and store. Things we didn't even know we wanted.
Whitebait was an old English term for tiny fish. They are transparent fishes that migrate into our rivers during spring and summer. They drift out to sea and feed on algae and other fish eggs.  The pinkish-white flesh is low in fat and has a fine texture with a mild and sweet flavour and edible skin. This is fast food at its best.  Choose fish that are pristine and smell fresh. Fish should not have bellies torn open. This is due to enzymes within breaking down the flesh-yuk!

Here is my recipe for Kathy who requested one yesterday
Chilli Fried Whitebait with Aioli
Serves 2 main course of 4 starter
Make Aioli first: either cheat or make the real thing! Cheat: Mix Helmans Mayonnaise with one egg yolk, plenty of crushed garlic(4-7cloves), a pinch of freshly chopped oregano leaves and season to taste. For the real thing: make mayonnaise and beat in the garlic and herbs. Transfer to a serving bowl.
In a polythene bag combine 1/2 cup flour with salt and pepper and a good sprinkling of chilli powder. Add the fish and shake the bag around so that the fish are evenly coated. Deep fry in oil until golden and crispy (about 5 minutes) and drain on some absorbent kitchen paper towels. Serve immediately with wedges of lemon, the Aioli and a big bowl of mixed salad.

The Pink Lovely's pink bicycle has been collected from the repair shop on a rather circuitous return trip from school this morning. To celebrate, we are going to Croft Castle to bike the length of the fish pools along the valley, up into the fields and down to the castle tea rooms where rewards will justly be given. Scones and tea have been requested! The word "we" is the royal "we" of course.... due to the fact that I have never successfully ridden a bicycle. Actually, never ridden a bicycle would be more accurate. I have of course ridden an elephant in Sri Lanka, a camel in Morocco, my childhood ponies and even a donkey in Greece but I have never managed to stay on a bicycle. So, when we go for a bike ride, I walk the dogs and inevitably end up pushing the bike up the near vertical path through Mortimer Forest to the gate at the top. This in itself is worthy of scones and tea and I have absolutely no guilty conscience what so ever!