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Gramma Pumpkin Pie

Preperation time 20 mins, plus cooking.

Serves 6.

Take advantage of Gramma pumpkin season in Autumn/Winter to make this delicious pumpkin pie or a pumpkin cheesecake.

Ingredients

Good quality shortcrust pastry, lined into a 18cm pastry tin and baked blind at 200c until golden (approx 15 mins)

1kg gramma pumpkin, peeled chopped into large peices and steamed until tender then cooled a little

2 lemons juiced

2 tbspns orange zest

2 eggs and 1 egg yolk lightly beaten

1 cup light muscovado sugar (or substitute brown sugar)

1/2 tspn freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tspn ground cloves

2 tspns ground cinnamon

1/2 currants (we suggest naturally dried Tabletop grapes) warmed with 2 tbspns brandy and left to soak

Method

Heat oven to 220C.

Add pumpkin with the rest of the ingrediants and mix thoroughly and add to pastry case, smooth top.

Bake for 10 mins, reduce heat to 180C then bake for a further 10-15 mins.

Serve warm or cold with double cream or cream frache.

 

Pomegranate and Duck Salad

Preparation time 15 mins

Serves 6

A delicious and impressive salad that can be served as a starter or a main and takes advantage of autumn produce.

Ingrediants

2 large ripe pomegranates

6 duck breasts

2 lemons, juiced

3 tablespoons good quality balasamic vinegar

1/2 tspn finely zested orange

2 radicchio heads leaves washed and then chopped

500g walnuts, dry roasted  in a pan over medium heat and then roughly chopped

Method

Lightly score the skins of the duck breasts, with a sharp knife and season well with salt and pepper.

Halve pomegranate and remove seeds then place in a bowl with salt, pepper and 2 tbspns lemon juice, orange zest and 1 tbspn olive oil.

Lay the duck breasts, skin side down, in a large, heavy-based dry frying pan and gradually turn up the heat. Fry for 5-10 minutes until most of the fat has rendered from and the skin is golden brown.

Turn over and lightly brown the other side for a couple of minutes or until the duck breasts feel slightly springy when pressed. Remove from the pan and add balsamic vinegar, 2 tbspns lemon juice and 2 tbspns olive oil. Remove from balsamic, and then slice breasts.

Mix raddichio and pomegranate, plate then drizzle with balsamic from duck, season to taste. Top with duck slices and sprinkle with roasted walnuts.

 

 

 

Quince and Walnut Crumble with Quince Icecream

Preparation time 20 mins, plus 4-8 hours for quince cooking

Serves 6

This recipe might seem like a lot of work is required but cooking quinces is worth it! Double the poached quinces recipe and eat leftover quinces for up to 2 weeks for breakfast or dessert. Poached quinces can also be added to cakes or tarts.

Ingrediants

Poached Quinces

6 quinces washed and peeled and cut into sixths, cores reserved

1 vanilla bean

1 stick cinnamon

juice of 1 lemon

9 cups water

4 1/2 cups sugar

 

Crumble Topping

100g plain flour

65g brown sugar

50g ground walnuts, for best results shell fresh walnuts then blitz in a food processor (you can substitute ground almonds)

30g walnuts, lightly toasted in a frypan with a 1 tbspn caster sugar and roughly chopped

75g butter chopped

1 tbpsn finely grated orange zest

 

Quince Icecream

1/2 litre good quality vanilla icecream (or make your own)

1 cup reserved quince poaching liquid reduced to a syrup over medium heat to 1/3 cup strained and cooled

 

Method

Poached Quinces

Preheat oven to 150C.

Heat water and sugar in a large heavy based saucepan until sugar has dissolved.

Place cores in a piece of muslin and add to saucepan with quinces and tie, vanilla bean, cinnamon and lemon juice. Make sure sugar syrup covers the quinces otherwise add a little more water and sugar (2 parts water to 1 part sugar). Cover with a baking paper cut to fit and a lid and cook for 4-8 hours until quince is deep red, do not stir. Cool. Poached Quinces will keep covered in syrup in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Remove approximately 3/4 of quince pieces and place in one large buttered  or six individual baking dishes.

Crumble

Preheat oven to 180C

Combine flour, sugar, ground and chopped nuts in a bowl. Rub in butter and rind using fingertips until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. (You can double this or any crumble mixture and freeze half for later use as a quick dessert.)

Spread crumble mixture over quinces and bake for 45-50mins nntil crumble is golden and bubbling.

Serve with Quince Icecream or vanilla icecream and double cream.

Quince Icecream

Remove icecream from freezer and soften slightly mix in reduced quince syrup, return to freezer for 30 mins or until needed.

 

Zucchini Flowers with Chevre and Chives

Preperation time 10 mins
Serves 6 as a appetiser

Don’t be daunted by cooking with zucchini flowers they are quite easy to prepare and cook and make a delicious and impressive appetiser. Experiment with different cheeses and herbs including ricotta, feta and goats cheese.

Ingrediants

12 zucchini flowers

Stuffing
200g chevre, we suggest Udder Delights Chevre
4 tbspns grated parmesan, plus extra for serving
1 egg lightly beaten
2 slices good quality stale bread roughly crumbled into crumbs
1 tbspn chopped chives
1 tbspn chopped dill

Batter
2 cups self raising flour
300ml beer
1 tspn salt
sunflower or vegetable oil for frying

Method

To prepare batter sift flour into a bowl, make a well in the centre and whisk in salt and enough beer that mixture is runny and smooth, leave batter to rest for 2 hours, 30 min is ok if that is all you have.
To prepare zucchini flowers, gently open flower and remove the stigma, stamen and pollen tube (everything inside the petals).
To prepare stuffing crumble chevre into a bowl, add bread crumbs, egg, and mix well, then add herbs.
Using a teaspoon open flowers and fill with mixture until pleasantly stuffed. Close petals over the stuffing. Place flowers on a plate, this step can be done a few hours in advance.
Heat enough oil to come 2/3 up the sides of a medium saucepan until it reaches approximatly 180C, if you don’t have a thermometer oil should be just about at simmering point. Cook one flower first to check temperature gently place flower petals first into the oil holding the other end of the zucchini for a few seconds while petal is in the oil so the flower doesn’t sink to the bottom. Then gently drop the other end into the oil. Flower should take a few minutes to go golden brown, remove and place on paper towel. If temperature is hot enough to brown flowers in a few minutes continue to cook flowers in batches.
Once all the flowers are cooked, plate, sprinkle with extra grated parmesan and serve while still hot.

Chestnut, Endive, Radicchio and Pancetta Salad

Preparation time 15 mins, plus chestnut preparation time

Serves 4

A delicious salad by itself or with left over roast chicken or a panfried duck breast or pork chop. To get chestnuts to the peeled stage first score, then simmer in water for 15 mins and then remove the outer shell and the inner shell while chestnut is still warm.

Ingredients

2 handfuls washed curly endive leaves, broken into pices

2 handfuls washed radicchio leaves

1 small handful pancetta cut into small pieces, or subsitute bacon

1/2 bunch shallots finely chopped

250g peeled chestnuts (approx 500g whole chestnuts)

2 tspns dijon mustard

1/3 cup walnut (or other nut oil)

1 tspns red wine vinegar

2 slices sourdough bread, toasted, buttered and cut into cubes, make just before needed so they are still warm

pepper

 

Method

Arrange salad leaves on a large plate or invidual plates.

Saute pancetta over medium heat  in a frypan until crisp remove pancetta, leaving oil in pan, and spread over leaves.

Cook whole chestnuts in the same pan for a few minutes and then add to salad.

Add shallots to pan cook for a couple of minutes then add oil and mustard to pan and then vinegar.

Pour hot dressing over salad, sprinkle with cubed bread and season with pepper to taste.

Stuffed Plums with Vanilla Yoghurt Cream

Serves 4

Preparation time 10 mins, plus cooking.

A very easy dessert that can be prepared up to baking in advance, leftovers are also delicious.

Ingrediants

6 Large plums

100ml orange juice (or water)

100ml white wine

1 vanilla bean

1 cinnamon stick

100g unsalted butter

12 Digestive biscuits (stocked at Wiffens)

4 tspns sugar

150ml plain yoghurt

150ml double cream

 

Method

Preheat oven to 150C

Melt butter and then roughly crumble digestives into the butter, crumbled biscuits should all be coated with butter .

Halve the plums and place cut side up in a baking dish where they fit snugly.

Sprinkle sugar evenly over the plums, then stuff with biscuit filling.

Pour wine and juice around the plums add half the vanilla bean and the cinnamon stick.

Bake plums in oven until they are tender, if filling starts to burn cover with foil.

While plums are cooking mix together cream and yoghurt with seeds from half the vanilla bean.

Serve plums with vanilla yoghurt cream or icecream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steak with Perfect Roast Poatoes, Kale and Mustard Sauce

Serves 4

Preparation time 15 minutes, plus cooking.

Who doesn’t love steak and roast potatoes and kale is a perfect match. The secret to these crispy roast potatoes is boiling them first and not using any salt when baking, for a healthier less rich option omit the sauce.

Ingredients

7 Dutch Cream potatoes washed, peeled and quartered or halved depending on size

1 bunch kale, finely sliced and washed

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

4 good quality sirloin steaks

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 tbspns Essential Cuisine Classic Beef Jus (Wiffens new Product can substitute water)

Sauce

2 tspns seeded mustard

2 tbspns cream

100ml water

100ml Essential Cusine Classic Beef Jus (or subsitute red or white wine)

Method

Preheat oven to 190C. Place the potatoes in a saucepan of hot water over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook until potatoes are not quite tender, ie a fork will quite easily travel through the first third of the potato but there is still resistance at the centre. Remove from heat and drain, shaking as you do so the surface of the potatoes is roughened up a little. Allow to cool and some moisture to escape. Add a couple of good slugs of olive oil to a baking dish, add potatoes mix so oil is evenly distributed then bake turning once for approximately 40 mins until potatoes are crisp and tender.

While potatoes are cooking remove steak from the refrigerator so they come to room temperature. When potatoes are almost ready heat 2 tbspns of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat , add garlic and cook for approximately 10 seconds, being careful not to burn the garlic, add kale and cook for a few minutes while stirring. Add jus or water and continue cooking until kale is wilted. Remove from heat, season to taste and put in a bowl covered with foil,  and place in oven which has been turned off.

Season steak with salt and pepper and heat olive oil in a large frypan over high heat. When oil is smoking add steaks and cook for a couple of minutes on each side until steak are  rare. Remove from heat and place steaks on a plate covered with foil.

For sauce-mix mustard, cream, jus and water in a jug. Place pan steaks were cooked in over medium heat and add mixed sauces. Bring to a simmer and cook until sauce has thickened and become glossy. Remove steaks from oven and add the juices from the plate. Remove from heat.

Plate potatoes on a plate with the steak on top of the kale, pour a small amount of  sauce over steak and serve.

 

 

 

Apple Cake

Preparation time 25 mins, plus 1 1/2 hour cooking
Serves 8

This is an absolutely smashing cake adapted from an Ottolenghi recipe. It gets better after a couple of days as the flavours develop so you can cook up to five days in advance and store covered in the refrigerator (icing on day of eating). Cooked cake can also be frozen.

Ingrediants

Cake

80g dried Muscatels (we suggest the Tabletop chemical free range or substitute sultanas)
3 tbspns brandy
1 tbspn water
280g flour, half white, half wholegrain
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp bicarb soda
80ml olive oil

40ml walnut oil (or substitute olive oil)
160g caster sugar
1/2 vanilla pod
2 free range eggs, lightly beaten
3 granny smith apples peeled,cored and diced into 1cm pieces (approx 400g of diced apple)
2 egg whites

Cream Cheese Maple Icing

100g unsalted butter at room temperature
100g light muscovado sugar
85ml maple syrup
220g cream cheese at room temperature

Whole walnuts to garnish

Cake Method

Place sultanas and brandy and water in a pan or container and microwave or cook over low heat until the sultanas have absorbed most of the liquid.  Remove from heat and cool. You can do this step a few days in advance if you wish.

Oil a 20cm springform cake tin and line and preheat oven to 170C.

Sift together flours, spices, salt, baking powder and bicarb soda.

In a mixer beat sugar and oils until well mixed add lightly beaten whole eggs in batches. Beat well. Mix in apples, sultanas and lemon zest. Fold in dry ingrediants.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and fold half at a time into the rest of the batter.

Pour into prepared tin. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until skewer comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in the tin.

When cake is cold remove from tin and cut in half to make two layers.

Icing Method

In a mixer beat together sugar, butter and maple syrup until airy and pale. Beat in cream cheese until smooth.

Spread half of icing on cut side of bottom layer assemble top layer and then spread remaining icing on the top of the cake and garnish with walnuts.

 

 

 

Baked Zucchini Polpette

Preparation time 20 mins, plus cooking.

Makes 24.

These are a delicious appetiser which babies and kids love. The uncooked mixture can also be frozen.

Ingrediants

4 tbspn rice bran oil

1kg zucchini finely diced

Grated zest of one lemon

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tbspns grated parmesan

1 ball fresh mozzarella

100g breadcrumbs

1 tbsp parsley chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Pepper and salt to taste

 

Method

Preheat oven to 200C. Oil a baking tray.

Heat oil in large frypan over medium heat. Fry zucchini for approximately 10 mins until tender and lightly browned. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Combine with the other ingrediants, taste and season if necessary.

Take 50 cent coin sized blobs of mixture roll into balls and place in baking tray. Bake for approximately 15 mins until golden.

Serve hot or cold. By themselves or with bread and salad.

Vietnamese Noodle Salad

 

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