Here's A Sexy Little Pud That'll Charm The Pants off Them!!

CHEATS CHOCOLATE MOUSSE WITH RASPBERRY COMPOTE

350 GRAMS GOOD QUALITY 70% COCOA SOLID CHOCOLATE
1 DESSERTSPOON OF COCOA
1 MEDIUM TIN OF EVAPORATED MILK
3 SHEETS OF GELATINE
3 EGG WHITES
2 DESSERTPOONS OF CASTOR SUGAR
1 SMALL TIN OF RASPBERRYS IN JUICE.
GOOD GLUG OF PORT.

METHOD.

SMASH THE CHOCOLATE AND PLACE IN A BOWL OVER A PAN OF HOT WATER TO MELT WITH THE COCOA POWDER. WHEN ALMOST MELTED POUR IN THE EVAPORATED MILK AND STIR UNTIL SMOOTH. PLACE THE SHEETS OF GELATINE IN A LITTLE COLD WATER TO SOFTEN FOR 10 MINUTES. IN A SEPERATE MIXING BOWL, PLACE THE EGG WHITES AND WHISK WITH THE SUGAR UNTIL THEY FORM STIFF PEAKS AND IS QUITE FIRM. WHEN THE CHOCOLATE MIXTURE HAS COOLED A LITTLE WHISK IN THE SOFTENED GELATINE UNTIL DISSOLVED THEN USING A WOODEN SPOON FOLD IN THE BEATEN EGG WHITES UNTIL COMPLETELY COMBINED. SET ASIDE FOR A MOMENT WHILST YOU DRAIN THE JUICE FROM THE RASPBERRYS AND SET ASIDE FOR USE IN MAYBE A NICE VODKA COCKTAIL?? MASH THE RASPBERRYS WITH PORT TO TASTE AND PLACE IN THE BOTTOM OF 4 OR 6 SERVING GLASSES DEPENDING HOW HUNGRY YOU ARE. CAREFULLY SPOON IN THE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE AND LEAVE TO SET FOR ABOUT 4 HOURS OR EVEN OVERNIGHT IS FINE. TOP WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE SHAVINGS AND ENJOY. IF YOU WANT SOMETHING A BIT MORE BOOZY YOU CAN ADD A LITTLE BRANDY TO THE CHOCOLATE MIXTURE AT THE MELTING STAGE!

Cheats Pork Pie! Lavverly With Pickle Geezer!!

PORK AND SPICED APPLE PIE.

500 GRAMS OF MINCED PORK SHOULDER
2 BRAMLEY APPLES PEELED, CORED AND CUBED.
HANDFULL OF FRESH SAGE CHOPPED FINELY
SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE
GOOD SPLASH OF CIDER VINEGAR
2 DESERTSPOONS OF SOFT BROWN SUGAR
TEASPOON OF GROUND CINNAMON
PACK OF GOOD QUALITY SHORTCRUST PASTRY

METHOD.

PLACE MINCED PORK IN A MIXING BOWL ADD THE SAGE AND SALT AND PEPPER AND MIX WELL UNTIL COMPLETELY BLENDED, TAKE A TINY PIECE OF THE MIXTURE AND FRY UNTIL COOKED THROUGH, TASTE TO MAKE SURE THE MIXTURE IS SEASONED TO YOUR LIKING.
NEXT, PLACE THE APPLES IN A SMALL SAUCEPAN WITH THE BROWN SUGAR, CINNAMON AND CIDER VINEGAR, BRING TO A SIMMER FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES UNTIL THE APPLES START TO BREAK DOWN, MASH INTO A COARSE PUREE AND SET ASIDE TO COOL.
GET A GREASED LOAF TIN AND ROLL OUT TWO THIRDS OF THE PASTRY AND PLACE IN TIN WITH PASTRY OVERHANGING SIDES SLIGHTLY. TAKE HALF THE PORK MIXTURE AND PRESS DOWN INTO THE PASTRY LINED TIN FIRMLY THEN SPREAD THE APPLE PUREE OVER THAT THEN TAKE THE REMAINING PORK MIXTURE AND COVER THE APPLE UNTIL THE MEAT MIXTURE COMES TO THE TOP OF THE TIN LEVEL WITH THE RIM. ROLL OUT REST OF PASTRY TO MAKE A LID, EGG WASH THE EDGE OF THE PASTRY OVERHANGING THE TIN AND PLACE PASTRY LID OVER THE TOP AND CRIMP FIRMLY TO AVOID LEAKS. MAKE A HOLE IN THE CENTRE OF THE PIE TO ALLOW STEAM TO ESCAPE DURING COOKING. EGGWASH TOP AND PLACE ON A BAKING TRAY. COOK AT GAS MARK 4 OR ABOUT 140 ELECTRIC IN THE CENTRE OF THE OVEN FOR ABOUT ONE AND A HALF HOURS. LEAVE TO COOL COMPLETELY AND REFRIDGERATE OVERNIGHT. SERVE COLD SLICED WITH CREAMED MUSTARD MASH.

Well I'm Back Folks, Hope You've Missed me?

It's great to be back!! Here's a simple but delicious recipe aired on BBC radio recently and got a massive thumbs up, and also it's gluten free, without the crusty bread that is!


CHICKEN CHOWDER SOUP.

1 MEDIUM WHITE ONION CHOPPED
1 SMALL TIN OF SWEETCORN
3 PEELED AND SLICED POTATOES
1/2 PINT CHICKEN STOCK
1/2 PINT MILK
1/4 PINT DOUBLE CREAM
2 GRAMS OF GRATED PARMESAN
HAND FULL OF LEFT OVER CHICKEN
SALT & PEPPER TO TASTE

METHOD.

IN A LARGE LIDDED PAN ADD A GOOD SPLASH OF OLIVE OIL AND THROW IN THE CHOPPED ONION AND GENTLY FRY UNTIL SOFT
ADD THE SWEETCORN, STOCK, MILK AND CHOPPED POTATOES, BRING TO A SIMMER AND LEAVE UNTIL THE POTATOES START TO FALL APART ADD THE CREAM, PARMESAN AND CHICKEN AND BRING BACK TO THE SIMMER UNCOVERED UNTIL THE SOUP HAS REDUCED BY A THIRD AND IT STARTS TO THICKEN. LEAVE TO COOL AND THEN BLITZ UNTIL SMOOTH IN A BLENDER. PUT BACK INTO A SAUCEPAN AND WARM THROUGH ADDING SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE. SERVE WITH WARM CRUSTY BREAD.

Top Christmas Tip!! A Turkey Named Jake The Peg. With His Extra Legs! Diddle,Diddle,Diddle Dum!

Well NORAD will be tracking Santa soon and you'll be fretting about the number of people you've invited for Christmas dinner after you said 'Never again' after last year. Well it's too late now but at least here is a way to get more breast meat from ya bird and enough brown leg meat for the savages to gnaw on. Buy a large fresh turkey crown which costs a lot less than a monster turkey from many good outlets and then seperately by as many turkey drumsticks as you need from your local major supermarket (Morrisons do the best deal) about £2.99 for 2 massive legs. I buy 4. That way, when you come to cook the turkey crown, you rest the breast joint on the legs in the roasting tin with a couple of carrots an onion some garlic cloves and a big slosh of white wine. This makes an amazing meaty stock inducing trivet. Cover the whole shaboodle in Roasting foil and slow cook. The leg meat will become incredibly tender whilst cooking and the steam from the broth created will ensure the white meat stays moist. When the breast meat is done remove the foil and drain off the stock and set aside to make the gravy. Now arrange the legs around the crown in the roasting tray and back in the oven to brown for about 15 minutes basting once with some of the broth. Voila! ''I'm Jake the Turkey, diddle diddle diddle dum, wid my extra legs diddle diddle diddle dum!!

Winter's A Coming!! Time For Some Comfort Food! Pork Steaks With Apple Sauce & Red Leicester!

Well today was a chilly one, which led me to thinking I should share with you all one of my favourite, ''Can't wait to get home'' dishes that unfortunately is horribly fattening but oh so yummy and doesn't hurt once in a while. Pork steaks with apple sauce and Red Leicester cheese served with a caramelized red onion mash. It makes my juices flow just thinking about it. For 4 people you will need:-

4 Thick pork steaks. (Make sure the rind is cut off. This can be used seperately to make quick crackling)

2 Eating apples. Cox's works best I find.

4 Thick slices of a good Red Leicester cheese

Olive oil for frying

Salt and Pepper to season.

For the Caramelized red onion mash.

8 Medium sized potatoes. Maris Piper is favourite.

2 Large red onions

 Knob of butter and a splash of olive oil for frying

2 teaspoons of dark brown sugar

Salt & Pepper to season.

Probably best to make the mash first, as this can be reheated before serving. Slice the Onions and place in a lidded frying pan with the olive oil , butter and brown sugar, start to fry on a medium heat turning the onions to cover in the oil and sugar and then cover with the lid and turn the heat down so as not to burn the contents. Fry gently, stirring occasionally until the onions turn a rich brown colour and look a little like melted toffee, take off the heat and set aside.

Slice the potatoes with the skins on and place in a large saucepan, rinse them thoroughly then cover with boiling water and simmer on the stove with a large pinch of salt until soft, drain and then mash with a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper, add the onions and any remaining oil from the pan to the potatoes and with a wooden spoon cream until smooth. Taste and season to suit.

For the apple sauce, peel, core and dice the apples and put in a small covered pan on a low heat with a 50mls of water. Cook until the apple turns to a soft mush and that's ya sauce sorted!

Heat a splash of olive oil in the pan that the onions cooked in and place the pork steaks in the oil to fry gently for at least 8 minutes on one side, resist the temptation to turn them. Season the side facing you with a little salt and pepper and then turn each one over and cook again for another 8 minutes. Now being pork it needs to be cooked all the way through, so with a sharp knife make 2 deep incisions in each steak to check that the meat is cooked all the way through, at this point if you are happy place a spoonful of your apple sauce on each one and then a slice of the cheese. Place under a hot grill until bubbling and serve immediately with the mash. Eat with a really good dry white wine and smile a lot as this plate of happiness warms you to the core!!

The Amazing Fig Cake! The Gluten Free Answer To Christmas Pud!!

Gluten! A word that strikes fear into the heart's of too many people these days, especially as Christmas is around the corner. Well on my recent trip to Portugal I was fortunate to eat in a fantastic small family restaurant where I discovered this little gem which I have tweaked to make this the perfect alternative to Christmas pudding, it contains no flour, eggs, milk, cream, or butter but tastes amazing and is also great cold with a cup of expresso. It is very dense and rich though so it tastes really indulgent and goes a long way as the portions do not need to be large!  To make 8 generous portions, you will need:-

250 gms of Soft dried figs blended to a paste

250 gms of Ground almonds                                                  

250 gms of Castor sugar
25   gms of good quality Cocoa
2.5  gms of Ground Cinnamon
2.5  gms of Ground Mixed Spice
Grated Zest/peel of half a lemon

150 mls of cold water.

Place the water, sugar, lemon zest, cocoa, cinnamon and mixed spice in a large saucepan, slowly heat to a boil and stir constantly for about 5 minutes to reduce to a point where if you drag a spoon through the mixture it leaves a brief wake exposing the base of the pan. At this point it gets really exciting and you have to be really quick. Add the ground almonds and the fig paste and stir like your life depends on it. The mixture will tighten immediately into a really thick paste like cookie dough. Make sure the almonds and figs are mixed thoroughly then remove from the stove. You will feel like you have done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson but believe me it will be worth it. Let the mixture cool for about 5 minutes and then spoon out onto a smooth surface. At this point you can mould the mixture into individual shapes, a ball,  or any damn shape you want really. I prefer a  traditional shallow cake shape as it is easier to divide. Dust with icing sugar and serve with Ice cream, vanilla cream, custard or just on its own. It also tastes divine if you feed it before serving with a little Disarrono You can keep it in the fridge and slice a bit when you need it and just blitz it in the microwave for about 40 seconds. Versatile, gluten free and although I say it myself, absolutely delicious!! Enjoy.

Work in progress!!

Just a quick note to everyone to say that I will be resuming shortly with a whole host of new recipes in the next few days. I am trying out some new and exciting salads, inspired by my trip to Portugal and as I speak I am working on a fabulous gluten free indulgent Christmas sweet treat that kicks the usual stodgy pud in the goolies!! Stay tuned lovely people!