Grandma's Mince-Pies!

My Grandma is famous for 2 great things - 1. Her apple pies/crumbles and 2. Her Christmas mince pies! And at this time of year, with the tree up and family coming over, what better than to freshly bake some mince pies. She (and I) cheat a little with using ready-made mince meat from Sainsbury's with some added brandy, and then make the short-crust pastry to her perfected recipe. 
Ingredients - Makes 2 dozen pies.
20 oz self-raising flour
5 oz lard
5 oz butter
2 1/2 tbsp caster sugar
5 tbsp cold water
Large Jar of Mincemeat mix (I used Sainsburys)
Good splash of brandy
Egg wash


1. Add a good splash of brandy to the mincemeat in a bowl (preferably leave overnight)
2. For the pastry - cut the fat into small cubes and rub into the flour, stir in the sugar once the mix is like breadcrumbs.
3. Add the water and bring the pastry together (don't be tempted to add more water, it will come together eventually, this is what keeps it 'shortcrust') Then wrap in foil and if possible refrigerate over night, if not at least for a couple of hours. 
4. Cut the pastry in half and roll out for the bottom with a large fluted cutter (approx 1/2 cm)
Place the bottoms in a non-stick tin, add a teaspoon of mincemeat (don't overfill them)

5. Then roll out the other half of pastry and cut the tops out (either using the same size cutter or a slightly smaller one) and then at this point - you can freeze them in the tin for a couple of hours until they're hard enough to carefully lift out the tin and put into a box to keep them in the freezer for a few weeks.
6. Or cook straight away at about 150c for about 20-25minutes until golden.


Then dust with icing sugar and serve with festive cheer!

Pizza - Healthy, Easy and Delicious!

Mmn, Pizza! I absolutely adore Pizza, even more since travelling in Italy in July. The kind of pizzas that I like are the Italian, thin kind with lots of tomato sauce and not smothered in cheese like American styles. I make mine out of wholemeal flour and use really good mozzarella cheese and quality ingredients. 
Here's the simple recipe, you can add whatever toppings you like:
Ingredients - (makes 2 good sized pizzas)
For the base - About 300g of wholemeal plain flour (not that sure on the quantity, I just chuck it in the bowl and add more if needed)
1/2 sachet of yeast
About a tablespoon of olive oil
Pinch of Salt
Tepid Water
Chopped fresh basil
For the sauce - Olive oil
1 tin tomato purée
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1/2 red onion, chopped
Clove of garlic, crushed
Fresh basil
Splash of Balsamic Vinegar
Toppings - Mozzarella (I like either Sainsbury's taste the difference or Sainsbury's organic or if I'm feeling extravagant, M&S have some great options or the local deli), Red Onion, Mushrooms, Prosciutto/Parma Ham, Asparagus, Courgette etc...
Preheat oven to about 200c.
To make the dough: Mix the flour and yeast in a bowl, then pour in some olive oil and a tiny bit of salt and chopped basil if using. Then very gradually add the tepid water and keep stirring until all combined. Hard to say how much water, if you put too much and it's too sticky then add more flour and vice versa. No need to prove. Then roll it out to your chosen thickness, I usually do about 1 1/2 cm thick and put on a tray (I find the pizza trays with holes in best as they don't stick, also don't worry if the dough is rough, it's supposed to be rustic) and pop into the preheated oven about 5minutes before topping to help them rise a bit and shrink away from the tray.
For the sauce: Fry off the onion and garlic in a pan and add the basil, then add the purée and stir until it starts to blacken. Then pour in the chopped tomatoes and reduce the heat, add a splash of balsamic. 
Then assemble the pizzas with half the sauce on each of the bases, add the cheese and toppings and cook for about 12minutes until the cheese is bubbling and toppings just crisp.

The Pizzas are also really good if you have a group to feed. You can make them in batches and serve with lots of salad. We built a pizza oven so it's great fun in the summer but to be honest, they taste just as good in the normal oven!

Chocolate and Pistachio Fudge (Another thrifty Christmas gift!)

This time in 3 weeks, it will be Christmas Day! And while I'm going to make this fail-proof fudge a couple of days before Christmas for presents, I thought I'd better post it now in case anybody wants to make it before. I'm going to make a big batch and bag it up in these presentation bags I got from Lakeland - http://www.lakeland.co.uk/50-presentation-bags/F/product/12007 and tie the bags with ribbon. 

The Macaroons I posted last week will be for the girls and the fudge can be for the guys (Nearly all grandpas love fudge!). 

The recipe is from Nigella, I saw it on her Christmas TV programme a couple of years ago and it's so quick and easy to make yet looks really good. The photo below is from her website, I'll post mine when I make it and bag it all up.

Ingredients - Makes about 70 pieces)

350g Dark Chocolate, chopped (minimum 70% cocoa)

1 x 397g can condensed milk

30g butter

Pinch of salt

150g pistachios

Put the chopped chocolate, condensed milk, butter and salt in a heavy-based pan on a low heat. Stir to melt.

Put the nuts into a freezer bag and bash them with a rolling pin until broken into rubble (both big and little pieces)

Add the nuts to the melted chocolate and condensed milk and stir well to mix.

Pour the mixture into a tray 23cm square, smoothing the top.

Let the fudge cool and put in the fridge until it has set. Then cut it into small pieces. Cutting 8 x 10 lines in the tin.

One cut, it can be kept in the freezer, no need to thaw just eat. (Or keep it in bags for a couple of days maximum like I'm going to do)

p.s Put the Christmas tree up today at my parents house ->

Nigella's Chicken... one to warm you up in this big freeze!

Another Nigella recipe... Can you tell I'm a huge fan yet?
I made this Chicken last Sunday as it started to snow and I felt under the weather, it's a real hearty nutritious dinner and is perfect in this chill! I know that in a couple of weeks, everyone will be thinking about Turkey or Goose for their Christmas lunch so this is a recipe to cook in the weekends before or after. If you're looking for a new stock pot (to cook this in), try Costco, they have a hugee one for about £30! A real bargain. If you have some left over, it turns into a good soup!

Ingredients - (Serves 6)
1 large chicken
2tsp garlic oil
100ml white wine 
4 leeks, cleaned, trimmed and cut into 7cm logs
4 carrots, peeled and cut into logs
1-2 sticks celery, sliced
2 litres cold water
1 bouquet garni
A few sprigs of parsley (Optional - I hate parsley so left it out)
2 tsps Salt
A few really good grindings of pepper or add pink peppercorns
To serve - mustard


Get out a large, flame-safe cooking pot (with a lid) so the chicken can fit snugly.
On a washable board, un-truss the chicken and put it breast-side down and press until the breastbone cracks (trust me, it's not as bad as it sounds) and then press down again to flatten it. Then cut off the ankle joints with kitchen scissors (keep them).
Put the oil in the pan to heat, then brown the chicken breast-side down and turn up the heat and turn over the chicken, tossing the feet in. Still over a high heat, add the wine to the pan and let it bubble before adding leeks, celery and carrots.
Pour in enough cold water to cover the chicken but leave the very top poking out, put the bouquet garni in and the parsley if using. The chicken should be almost completely submerged by now, if not add some more cold water until it is just about covered.

Bring to the boil and then clamp on the lid, turn the heat right down and leave to cook for 1 1/2- 2hours. I gave it 1 hour 40 mins then left it to stand with the heat off but lid still on for the last 20mins.
Then carve the chicken, it should be so tender that it falls straight off the bone and serve the chicken with the vegetables and brown basmati rice, adding a ladleful or two of liquid over each shallow bowl, as you go.
Then serve with more black pepper and the mustard. 






N.B My parents wanted theirs with potatoes and this works well too, I also cooked up some cabbage to have on the side and added peas into the broth.
Also, if you have some left over (we seemed to have loads), you can make some soup out of it in the following days.


< A good meal for the cold weather, this is a photo from a snowy walk I had with my puppy in the week.

I love Christmas!

Does anybody else find Christmas magical and enchanting? Carols being played, lights, decorations and the smell of cinnamon mixed with pine from the Christmas tree.


I've always wanted to make a Christmas Gingerbread House, they look so good and last for months. But it's finding the time! With January exams, Christmas parties and lots of baking for gifts to do, I think I'd better give it a miss this year. But if anybody makes one and finds an easy recipe, please let me know for next year!
Meanwhile, I'll stick to admiring the ones in the shops, these > were in the Selfridges food hall (a.k.a Mecca).


All is not lost though, I'll be posting some Christmas cupcake, cookie and fudge recipes in the next couple of weeks!


Happy Baking and Christmas Shopping!

p.s this is a photo of the outside of my parents house all lit up! Getting the tree tomorrow!

Toffee and Apple Sauce Muffins

The cookbook's photo

While I should have been revising... I got distracted with my new cookbook again - Home Bake by Eric Lanlard. I saw a recipe for toffee and apple sauce muffins and seeing as I'd just bought a huge tub of apple sauce, it seemed like a good idea. I don't know if they've come out as well as I'd hoped they would, they look a bit different to the ones in the book (see photos later) but they taste really good so I guess that's the main thing! Yours will probably come out better, let me know if they do!

Makes 12 large muffins


For the apple sauce (if making it or use a shop variety) - 300g brambley apples (about 1 large), 100g soft light brown sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 2tsp Calvados (optional)






For the muffins - 275g plan flour
100g caster sugar
1tbsp baking powder
75g unsalted butter
2 large eggs
125ml milk
100g home made or bought fudge, chopped into small chunks
2 tbsp cinnamon sugar (2tbsp soft light brown sugar mixed with 1/4tsp cinnamon)
Icing sugar, for dusting


To make the apple sauce, peel and core the apples and cut into small cubes. Place the diced apple in a saucepan with the sugar, cinnamon, Calvado and 1tsp water. Cook over a low heat until the apples are tended but not mushy, leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200c/180 fan and line a muffin tin with muffin cases
Sift the flour, sugar and baking powder into a large bowl

How mine turned out. Not bad but not the best.

Beat the butter and eggs together then add milk. Stir this mix into the flour along with the fudge, until just incorporated. Don't overstir, it's fine if it's a bit lumpy.
Spoon half the mixture into the muffin cases then spoon over 2/3 apple sauce. Cover with the remaining batter and with a small spoon, make a swirl of apple sauce in the top and dust with the cinnamon sugar.
Bake in the oven for 20-25mins. Cool on a wire rack. Serve dusted with icing sugar. 

Scones!

Had some friends over last weekend so baked some scones to have with jam!
I used a Mary Berry recipe - 
(Makes 12 scones)
225g Self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
50g butter
25g caster sugar
1 egg
Milk


Pre-heat the oven to 220c. Lightly grease 2 baking trays
Measure the flour and baking powder into a bowl, then add the butter and rub in with the fingertips until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.
Break the egg into a measuring jug then make up to 150ml with milk. Stir the egg and milk into the flour - you may not need it all - and mix to a soft but not sticky dough. (I added some raisins and chocolate chips at this point) Turn out on to a lightly floured work surface, knead lightly and then roll to a thickness of 1cm.
Cut into rounds with a fluted 5cm cutter and place them on the prepared baking trays. Brush the tops with a little extra milk or any egg and milk left in the jug and bake for about 10mins until they are a pale golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and eat them as fresh as possible. (Note - if you have some left over the next day, microwave them for a few seconds to revive them).