Blog

Category: Dessert

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 300g Strawberries
• 250g Blackberries
• 100g Redcurrants
• 500g Raspberries
• 175g Caster Sugar
• 7 Slices Bread

Instructions:

Bring out the juices: Wash fruit and gently dry on kitchen paper – keep strawberries separate. Put sugar and 3 tbsp water into a large pan. Gently heat until sugar dissolves – stir a few times. Bring to a boil for 1 min, then tip in the fruit (not strawberries). Cook for 3 mins over a low heat, stirring 2-3 times. The fruit will be softened, mostly intact and surrounded by dark red juice. Put a sieve over a bowl and tip in the fruit and juice.
Line the bowl with cling film and prepare the bread: Line the 1.25-litre basin with cling film as this will help you to turn out the pudding. Overlap two pieces of cling film in the middle of the bowl as it’s easier than trying to get one sheet to stick to all of the curves. Let the edges overhang by about 15cm. Cut the crusts off the bread. Cut 4 pieces of bread in half, a little on an angle, to give 2 lopsided rectangles per piece. Cut 2 slices into 4 triangles each and leave the final piece whole.
Build the pud: Dip the whole piece of bread into the juice for a few secs just to coat. Push this into the bottom of the basin. Now dip the wonky rectangular pieces one at a time and press around the basin’s sides so that they fit together neatly, alternately placing wide and narrow ends up. If you can’t quite fit the last piece of bread in it doesn’t matter, just trim into a triangle, dip in juice and slot in. Now spoon in the softened fruit, adding the strawberries here and there as you go.
Let flavours mingle then serve: Dip the bread triangles in juice and place on top – trim off overhang with scissors. Keep leftover juice for later. Bring cling film up and loosely seal. Put a side plate on top and weight down with cans. Chill for 6 hrs or overnight. To serve, open out cling film then put a serving plate upside-down on top and flip over. serve with leftover juice, any extra berries and cream.

Category: Vegan

Area: American

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup Self-raising Flour
• 1/2 cup coco sugar
• 1/3 cup raw cacao
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 flax eggs
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup boiling water

Instructions:

Simply mix all dry ingredients with wet ingredients and blend altogether. Bake for 45 min on 180 degrees. Decorate with some melted vegan chocolate

Category: Seafood

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 1kg Potatoes
• Knob Butter
• Dash Milk
• 50g Gruyère
• 75g Butter
• 2 sliced Leek
• 75g Plain Flour
• 150ml White Wine
• 568ml Milk
• 2 tbs chopped Parsley
• 250g Salmon
• 250g Haddock
• 250g Smoked Haddock
• 6 Eggs

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 (180C fan).
Put the potatoes into a saucepan of cold salted water. Bring up to the boil and simmer until completely tender. Drain well and then mash with the butter and milk. Add pepper and taste to check the seasoning. Add salt and more pepper if necessary.
For the fish filling, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the leeks and stir over the heat. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 10 minutes, or until soft. Measure the flour into a small bowl. Add the wine and whisk together until smooth.
Add the milk to the leeks, bring to the boil and then add the wine mixture. Stir briskly until thickened. Season and add the parsley and fish. Stir over the heat for two minutes, then spoon into an ovenproof casserole. Scatter over the eggs. Allow to cool until firm.
Spoon the mashed potatoes over the fish mixture and mark with a fork. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown on top and bubbling around the edges.

Category: Beef

Area: French

Ingredients:

• 3 tsp Goose Fat
• 600g Beef Shin
• 100g Bacon
• 350g Challots
• 250g Chestnut Mushroom
• 2 sliced Garlic Clove
• 1 Bouquet Garni
• 1 tbs Tomato Puree
• 750 ml Red Wine
• 600g Celeriac
• 2 tbs Olive Oil
• sprigs of fresh Thyme
• sprigs of fresh Rosemary
• 2 Bay Leaf
• 4 Cardamom

Instructions:

Heat a large casserole pan and add 1 tbsp goose fat. Season the beef and fry until golden brown, about 3-5 mins, then turn over and fry the other side until the meat is browned all over, adding more fat if necessary. Do this in 2-3 batches, transferring the meat to a colander set over a bowl when browned.
In the same pan, fry the bacon, shallots or pearl onions, mushrooms, garlic and bouquet garni until lightly browned. Mix in the tomato purée and cook for a few mins, stirring into the mixture. This enriches the bourguignon and makes a great base for the stew. Then return the beef and any drained juices to the pan and stir through.
Pour over the wine and about 100ml water so the meat bobs up from the liquid, but isn’t completely covered. Bring to the boil and use a spoon to scrape the caramelised cooking juices from the bottom of the pan – this will give the stew more flavour.
Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2. Make a cartouche: tear off a square of foil slightly larger than the casserole, arrange it in the pan so it covers the top of the stew and trim away any excess foil. Then cook for 3 hrs. If the sauce looks watery, remove the beef and veg with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Cook the sauce over a high heat for a few mins until the sauce has thickened a little, then return the beef and vegetables to the pan.
To make the celeriac mash, peel the celeriac and cut into cubes. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Tip in the celeriac and fry for 5 mins until it turns golden. Season well with salt and pepper. Stir in the rosemary, thyme, bay and cardamom pods, then pour over 200ml water, enough to nearly cover the celeriac. Turn the heat to low, partially cover the pan and leave to simmer for 25-30 mins.
After 25-30 mins, the celeriac should be soft and most of the water will have evaporated. Drain away any remaining water, then remove the herb sprigs, bay and cardamom pods. Lightly crush with a potato masher, then finish with a glug of olive oil and season to taste. Spoon the beef bourguignon into serving bowls and place a large spoonful of the celeriac mash on top. Garnish with one of the bay leaves, if you like.

Category: Pork

Area: Canadian

Ingredients:

• 1 medium Potatoes
• 1 tsp Sunflower Oil
• 500g Minced Pork
• 1 finely chopped Onion
• 1 finely chopped Garlic Clove
• ¼ tsp Cinnamon
• ¼ tsp Allspice
• ¼ tsp Nutmeg
• 100ml Vegetable Stock
• 400g Shortcrust Pastry
• To Glaze Egg

Instructions:

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Boil the potato until tender, drain and mash, then leave to cool. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan, add the mince and onion and quickly fry until browned. Add the garlic, spices, stock, plenty of pepper and a little salt and mix well. Remove from the heat, stir into the potato and leave to cool.
Roll out half the pastry and line the base of a 20-23cm pie plate or flan tin. Fill with the pork mixture and brush the edges of the pastry with water. Roll out the remaining dough and cover the pie. Press the edges of the pastry to seal, trimming off the excess. Prick the top of the pastry case to allow steam to escape and glaze the top with the beaten egg.
Bake for 30 mins until the pastry is crisp and golden. Serve cut into wedges with a crisp green salad. Leftovers are good cold for lunch the next day, served with a selection of pickles.

Category: Seafood

Area: Japanese

Ingredients:

• 300ml Sushi Rice
• 100ml Rice wine
• 2 tbs Caster Sugar
• 3 tbs Mayonnaise
• 1 tbs Rice wine
• 1 tbs Soy Sauce
• 1 Cucumber

Instructions:

STEP 1
TO MAKE SUSHI ROLLS: Pat out some rice. Lay a nori sheet on the mat, shiny-side down. Dip your hands in the vinegared water, then pat handfuls of rice on top in a 1cm thick layer, leaving the furthest edge from you clear.

STEP 2
Spread over some Japanese mayonnaise. Use a spoon to spread out a thin layer of mayonnaise down the middle of the rice.

STEP 3
Add the filling. Get your child to top the mayonnaise with a line of their favourite fillings – here we’ve used tuna and cucumber.

STEP 4
Roll it up. Lift the edge of the mat over the rice, applying a little pressure to keep everything in a tight roll.

STEP 5
Stick down the sides like a stamp. When you get to the edge without any rice, brush with a little water and continue to roll into a tight roll.

STEP 6
Wrap in cling film. Remove the mat and roll tightly in cling film before a grown-up cuts the sushi into thick slices, then unravel the cling film.

STEP 7
TO MAKE PRESSED SUSHI: Layer over some smoked salmon. Line a loaf tin with cling film, then place a thin layer of smoked salmon inside on top of the cling film.

STEP 8
Cover with rice and press down. Press about 3cm of rice over the fish, fold the cling film over and press down as much as you can, using another tin if you have one.

STEP 9
Tip it out like a sandcastle. Turn block of sushi onto a chopping board. Get a grown-up to cut into fingers, then remove the cling film.

STEP 10
TO MAKE SUSHI BALLS: Choose your topping. Get a small square of cling film and place a topping, like half a prawn or a small piece of smoked salmon, on it. Use damp hands to roll walnut-sized balls of rice and place on the topping.

STEP 11
Make into tight balls. Bring the corners of the cling film together and tighten into balls by twisting it up, then unwrap and serve.

Category: Chicken

Area: Indian

Ingredients:

• 1 large Red Chilli
• 0.5 Ginger
• 1 large Garlic
• Bunch Coriander
• 1 tbsp Sunflower Oil
• 4 Chicken Breasts
• 5 tblsp Peanut Butter
• 150ml Chicken Stock
• 200g Greek Yogurt

Instructions:

Finely slice a quarter of the chilli, then put the rest in a food processor with the ginger, garlic, coriander stalks and one-third of the leaves. Whizz to a rough paste with a splash of water if needed.
Heat the oil in a frying pan, then quickly brown the chicken chunks for 1 min. Stir in the paste for another min, then add the peanut butter, stock and yogurt. When the sauce is gently bubbling, cook for 10 mins until the chicken is just cooked through and sauce thickened. Stir in most of the remaining coriander, then scatter the rest on top with the chilli, if using. Eat with rice or mashed sweet potato.

Category: Beef

Area: American

Ingredients:

• 4-5 pound Beef Brisket
• Dash Salt
• 3 Onion
• 5 cloves Garlic
• 1 Sprig Thyme
• 1 sprig Rosemary
• 4 Bay Leaves
• 2 cups beef stock
• 3 Large Carrots
• 1 Tbsp Mustard
• 4 Mashed Potatoes

Instructions:

1 Prepare the brisket for cooking: On one side of the brisket there should be a layer of fat, which you want. If there are any large chunks of fat, cut them off and discard them. Large pieces of fat will not be able to render out completely.
Using a sharp knife, score the fat in parallel lines, about 3/4-inch apart. Slice through the fat, not the beef. Repeat in the opposite direction to make a cross-hatch pattern.
Salt the brisket well and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2 Sear the brisket: You'll need an oven-proof, thick-bottomed pot with a cover, or Dutch oven, that is just wide enough to hold the brisket roast with a little room for the onions.
Pat the brisket dry and place it, fatty side down, into the pot and place it on medium high heat. Cook for 5-8 minutes, lightly sizzling, until the fat side is nicely browned. (If the roast seems to be cooking too fast, turn the heat down to medium. You want a steady sizzle, not a raging sear.)
Turn the brisket over and cook for a few minutes more to brown the other side.

3 Sauté the onions and garlic: When the brisket has browned, remove it from the pot and set aside. There should be a couple tablespoons of fat rendered in the pot, if not, add some olive oil.
Add the chopped onions and increase the heat to high. Sprinkle a little salt on the onions. Sauté, stirring often, until the onions are lightly browned, 5-8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1-2 more minutes.

4 Return brisket to pot, add herbs, stock, bring to simmer, cover, cook in oven: Preheat the oven to 300°F. Use kitchen twine to tie together the bay leaves, rosemary and thyme.
Move the onions and garlic to the sides of the pot and nestle the brisket inside. Add the beef stock and the tied-up herbs. Bring the stock to a boil on the stovetop.
Cover the pot, place the pot in the 300°F oven and cook for 3 hours. Carefully flip the brisket every hour so it cooks evenly.

5 Add carrots, continue to cook: After 3 hours, add the carrots. Cover the pot and cook for 1 hour more, or until the carrots are cooked through and the brisket is falling-apart tender.
6 Remove brisket to cutting board, tent with foil: When the brisket is falling-apart tender, take the pot out of the oven and remove the brisket to a cutting board. Cover it with foil. Pull out and discard the herbs.
7 Make sauce (optional): At this point you have two options. You can serve as is, or you can make a sauce with the drippings and some of the onions. If you serve as is, skip this step.
To make a sauce, remove the carrots and half of the onions, set aside and cover them with foil. Pour the ingredients that are remaining into the pot into a blender, and purée until smooth. If you want, add 1 tablespoon of mustard to the mix. Put into a small pot and keep warm.
8 Slice the meat across the grain: Notice the lines of the muscle fibers of the roast. This is the "grain" of the meat. Slice the meat perpendicular to these lines, or across the grain (cutting this way further tenderizes the meat), in 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch slices.
Serve with the onions, carrots and gravy. Serve with mashed, roasted or boiled potatoes, egg noodles or polenta.

Category: Dessert

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 225g Medjool dates
• 175ml Boiling water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 175g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 eggs
• 85g butter
• 140g demerara sugar
• 2 tbsp black treacle
• 100ml milk
• 1 scoop ice cream
• 175g muscovado sugar
• 50g butter
• 225ml double cream
• 1 tbsp black treacle

Instructions:

Stone and chop the dates quite small, put them in a bowl, then pour the boiling water over. Leave for about 30 mins until cool and well-soaked, then mash a bit with a fork. Stir in the vanilla extract. Butter and flour seven mini pudding tins (each about 200ml/7fl oz) and sit them on a baking sheet. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
While the dates are soaking, make the puddings. Mix the flour and bicarbonate of soda together and beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl for a few mins until slightly creamy (the mixture will be grainy from the sugar). Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well between additions. Beat in the black treacle then, using a large metal spoon, gently fold in one-third of the flour, then half the milk, being careful not to overbeat. Repeat until all the flour and milk is used. Stir the soaked dates into the pudding batter. The mix may look a little curdled at this point and will be like a soft, thick batter. Spoon it evenly between the tins and bake for 20-25 mins, until risen and firm.
Meanwhile, put the sugar and butter for the sauce in a medium saucepan with half the cream. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring all the time, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Stir in the black treacle, turn up the heat slightly and let the mixture bubble away for 2-3 mins until it is a rich toffee colour, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn. Take the pan off the heat and beat in the rest of the cream.
Remove the puddings from the oven. Leave in the tins for a few mins, then loosen them well from the sides of the tins with a small palette knife before turning them out. You can serve them now with the sauce drizzled over, but they’ll be even stickier if left for a day or two coated in the sauce. To do this, pour about half the sauce into one or two ovenproof serving dishes. Sit the upturned puddings on the sauce, then pour the rest of the sauce over them. Cover with a loose tent of foil so that the sauce doesn’t smudge (no need to chill).
When ready to serve, heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Warm the puddings through, still covered, for 15-20 mins or until the sauce is bubbling. Serve them on their own, or with cream or custard.

Category: Starter

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 chopped Onions
• 2 sticks Celery
• 300g Carrots
• 500g Potatoes
• 4 Bay Leaf
• 5 tblsp Tomato Puree
• 2 tblsp Sugar
• 2 tblsp White Vinegar
• 1½ kg Chopped Tomatoes
• 500g Passata
• 3 Vegetable Stock Cube
• 400ml Whole Milk

Instructions:

Put the oil, onions, celery, carrots, potatoes and bay leaves in a big casserole dish, or two saucepans. Fry gently until the onions are softened – about 10-15 mins. Fill the kettle and boil it.
Stir in the tomato purée, sugar, vinegar, chopped tomatoes and passata, then crumble in the stock cubes. Add 1 litre boiling water and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 mins until the potato is tender, then remove the bay leaves. Purée with a stick blender (or ladle into a blender in batches) until very smooth. Season to taste and add a pinch more sugar if it needs it. The soup can now be cooled and chilled for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.
To serve, reheat the soup, stirring in the milk – try not to let it boil. Serve in small bowls with cheesy sausage rolls.