Recipes

Serves 8

Meringue:
6 medium egg whites (at room temperature)
12oz / 350g icing sugar
2 tsps cornflour
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Poached Pears:
8 almost ripe pears (peeled carefully to keep shape, leaving stalk on)
1 bottle white wine
2 cinnamon sticks
2 vanilla pods or 1 tsp vanilla extract (not essence)
2 cloves
½ pt / 300ml water
4oz / 110g caster sugar
Peel of 1 lemon
Pinch black peppercorns

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas 4
1. Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment.
2. Whisk the egg whites and icing sugar together in a spotlessly clean bowl until the meringue mixture holds a stiff peak, add the corn flour, vanilla, vinegar and cinnamon - and whisk until smooth and glossy.
3. Divide the mixture evenly on the baking sheets into 8 x 13cm / 5" circles and make a slight dip in the centres. Place in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 120°C / 250°F / Gas ½.
4. Bake for 1 hour, until crisp, then cool on a wire rack.
5. Meanwhile prepare the poached pears. Place all the ingredients in a deep pan. Cover with a layer of greaseproof paper and poach for 20 - 25 minutes until they are soft but not mushy.
6. Remove the pears from the pan and set aside. Simmer the liquid gently for 10 - 15 minutes to reduce it to a syrupy consistency, then set aside to cool.
7. To serve: place one pear in each Pavlova and pour over a little of the syrup.
Serve with crème fraiche, Greek yoghurt or fresh whipped cream - delicious!

Labels: Dessert

This is the ultimate chocolate experience. It's best made the day before.

Serves 8-10

For the base
80g butter
60g dark chocolate
225g gingernut biscuits

Filling
180g butter
180g dark chocolate
4 free range eggs
180g dark brown sugar
180ml cream
Tablespoon of icing sugar to dust afterwards
A few handfuls of mixed berries to go on top.

Pre heat the oven to 180c/ gas 4. For the base melt the butter and sugar in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water.
Crush the biscuits until they are in fine crumbs, I use the food processor for this. Add the melted butter/chocolate mixture to the biscuit crumbs.
Grease the bottom and sides of a 23cm spring form tin. Spoon the mixture into the tin, press down and leave to chill whilst you make the topping.
Melt the chocolate and butter for the filling in the same way as before, allow to chill. Put the eggs, sugar and cream in the blender and mix, add the cooled chocolate (if the chocolate/butter is hot it may cause the cream to curdle. Pour the mixture onto the base and bake in the oven for 45 minutes until firm. The filling will rise as it baked but will shrink slightly once it is taken out of the oven.
Allow to cool, sprinkle berries on top and dust with icing sugar, Serve with crème fraiche.

Labels: Dessert

Serves 4 people

This is a delicious recipe, great for all the family

8 chicken thighs, skin on
Olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce
5 Tablespoons of Dry Cider
5 Tablespoons of Soy sauce
1 Heaped tablespoon of tomato puree
1 heaped teaspoon of ground ginger
1 heaped teaspoon of mustard powder
1 clove of garlic crushed
1 tablespoon of soft brown sugar

Pre heat the oven to 200C
First of all, make sure the chicken joints are absolutely dry by patting them with kitchen paper. Then rub each joint with olive oil and freshly ground pepper. The pack them on a roasting tray and into the oven for 30 minutes. Meanwhile make the sauce by combining all the ingredients. When the chicken has been cooking for 30 minutes, remove from oven, pour off any excess oil and pour over the sauce, return to the oven for a further 25 minutes, basting after 10 minutes.

Serve with baked potatoes and coleslaw - YUM!

Labels: Main Course

This is a heart-warming soup on a cold winter's day. The secret of a really good French onion soup is patience, all the onions to caramelise to get a deep brown colour and sweet flavour

Serves 4

2oz/50g Butter
2lbs/900g Onions thinly sliced
2pints/ 1.2lt Beef or Chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
4 slices of French bread toasted
2oz/50g Gruyere cheese grated

Melt the butter in a heavy based saucepan on the simmering plate, add the onions and cook gently, for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally until golden brown. Be careful not to let the onions burn, as they will have a bitter taste.
Gradually and the stock, season and cover with a lid and simmer for about 40 minutes.
Toast the bread and divide the grated cheese between the four sliced of toasted bread. Place on a baking tray and put in main oven until the cheese has melted. Place a slice of bread in each soup bowl and pour over the soup. Serve immediately

Labels: Starters

350g / 12oz coarse wholemeal flour
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of Salt
grated rind of 1 lemon
1 level teaspoon bread soda
125g carton natural yoghurt
75g / 3oz dark brown sugar
3 tbsps sunflower oil
1 egg
150ml / ¼ pint milk

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190°C / 375°F / Gas 5. Lightly grease a 900g / 2lb loaf tin.
2. Put the wholemeal, cinnamon, salt and lemon rind into a mixing bowl. Sieve in the bread soda and mix well.
3. Lightly beat the yoghurt, sugar, sunflower oil, egg and milk together and add to the dry ingredients. Stir well.
4. Transfer to the prepared tin and bake for about an hour. Turn onto a wire tray to cool.

Labels: Bread And Cakes