Oct 12, 2014 - Zig zag the caramel sauce all over the tart and pop back into the oven to bubble up a bit. Dust with icin
WEEKEND KITCHEN RECIPE SHEET October 12th 2014
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PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW TIME SLOT!
SUNDAYS 11.00 - 13.00
CLAIRE DODD
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Easy Apple Tart with Salted Caramel Glaze (serves 6-8)
1 pack of ready rolled all-butter puff pastry, removed from fridge 20 mins before using.
5 Cox’s apples or similar
Juice of ½ a lemon
1 teaspoon of caster sugar
Glaze:
50g caster sugar
2 tablespoons of melted butter
¼ teaspoon sea salt (finely ground)
2 tablespoons double cream
Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC/ Gas Mark 4
Lay out your pastry on a piece of baking parchment, or straight onto a very non-stick baking tray. Score an edge of 1 cm all around the pastry to give a neat border – be careful not to cut all the way through.
Peel, core and slice the apples as thin as you can, and toss in the lemon juice to prevent discolouring, then place on some kitchen paper, you don’t want them too soggy.
Line them overlapping slightly all over your pastry inside the border, as pretty as you like. Sprinkle caster sugar evenly over the apples and place in the oven for approximately 25 minutes, until the apples are browning nicely and the pastry puffs up. Remove from the oven.
While your tart is baking, make the glaze. In a saucepan, pop in the sugar with 1 tablespoon of water and heat on a medium to high heat, swirling the pan until it turns a golden to nutty brown. Then add the melted butter, salt and cream, and stir briskly until combined (be careful, as this may splatter!)
Zig zag the caramel sauce all over the tart and pop back into the oven to bubble up a bit. Dust with icing sugar just before serving, then you could either serve hot, delicious with ice cream, or let the tart cool and slice into wedges.
Roasted Cod with Cauliflower, Cobnuts, Sage and Brown Butter (serves 2)
The roasted cauliflower is just a wonderful surprise - it’s nutty and flavoursome and goes perfectly with the fish.
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2 pieces of cod or Pollack
1 small cauliflower
A handful of cobnuts or hazelnuts (you can lightly toast them and crush them)
3 large leaves of sage, finely chopped
Olive oil
50g butter
Salt and pepper
Break the cauliflower into small florets, and lay them out onto a baking tray, drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Then roast for 20 minutes at 160ºC/ Gas Mark 3. A little charring adds to the flavour. The cauliflower is ready when a knife end pierces through easily.
While the cauliflower is cooking, place you cod on a small baking tray, and oil lightly and season. Roast for 8-10 minutes until opaque and flakes easily.
In a saucepan, melt the butter with a pinch of salt until it just starts to brown, then take off the heat and add the sage and the nuts.
Toss the butter mixture through the cauliflower and serve immediately. For extra sweetness, you can gently fry one sliced onion until golden and serve on top of the cauliflower too.
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Somerset Pork (serves 4)
4 pork loin steaks
1 large white onion, finely chopped
500ml of cider
2 apples, peeled and cut into wedges, tossed in lemon juice to prevent discolouring
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
250g pack of chestnut mushrooms, quartered
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh sage
200ml double cream
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
Season the pork liberally with salt and pepper (pork does love it so!). Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large deep frying pan, and when hot, add the pork and brown on both sides.
Remove the pork with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Now add your onions to the oil, and soften for a couple of minutes, then add the mushrooms and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until nicely browned and cooked through.
Add the cider to the pan with the oil and the juices and bubble up, scraping any sediment from the bottom (de-glazing the pan). Boil until reduced by half. Add the sage, and stir in the cream, giving it a good stir and a season.
Now add your pork back to pan, and finish cooking either on the hob for around 8 minutes on a gentle heat, or you can put in a medium hot oven for 8-10 minutes (depending on the thickness of the steaks).
JAMES HARKIN
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Pea, fennel & mint soup
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100g butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
100g chopped fennel
500g frozen peas
½ bunch fresh mint
½ a vegetable bouillon/stock cube
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Melt butter on a low heat in a casserole - add the onions and fennel and a pinch of salt, and cover with a lid. Allow to sweat down gently without colouring.
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Add the frozen peas and continue stirring, cover the peas with hot water by about 1 cm. Bring to the boil and add the mint and the vegetable bouillon cube, allow to simmer for approximately 10 minutes.
! Season with salt & pepper.
! Liquidize the soup and, if you want it extra smooth, strain through a sieve …
! You can serve this with croutons or, if you want to be very extravagant, grilled scallops on top!
! Vegetable Lasagne / leek wild mushroom courgette mozzarella & parmesan
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The key with the recipe is getting the béchamel (white sauce) spot on. This is an absolutely wonderful variation on a traditional lasagne.
! For the béchamel ! ½ litre milk
125g butter
125g flour
¼ of an onion roughly chopped
Sprig rosemary, bay leaf, crushed garlic clove, pinch nutmeg, salt & Pepper
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Infuse your milk with all the herbs and the onion – do not boil but bring up to heat just below boiling, then leave to sit for 5 minutes and strain the milk.
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In a separate pan, melt your butter on a low heat and add the flour. Cook the flour and butter mixture (roux) until it begins to go pale and has a sandy texture.
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At this point, add the roux to the infused milk and return to a high heat , stirring vigorously with a whisk. Slowly the mixture will thicken and become a lovely thick béchamel – you need to cook out the flour for about 5 minutes , continuously stirring and controlling the heat so as to ensure the béchamel doesn’t catch and stick to the bottom of the casserole.
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Remove from the heat and transfer to another container placing a knob of butter on the top. This will melt and create a film to ensure the béchamel doesn’t form a skin.
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I cannot stress the importance of fresh good quality béchamel – the ready mixes just don’t come up to scratch.
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If you fancy making your own lasagne sheets, here is James’ recipe. If not, simply buy lasagne sheets (fresh are best here) and skip this part of the recipe…
! Fresh pasta
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½kg plain flour 00
5 whole eggs
Tablespoon of olive oil
Pinch of salt
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Make a well in the centre of the flour and whisk all the other ingredients together – pour them into the well and begin kneading your pasta. If you have a food processor you could save a lot of time by using the bread attachment an allowing the machine to do the hard work on a low setting. Wrap the pasta and allow resting for 1hour before using.
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Make sheets of pasta by gradually feeding the pasta through your pasta machine to the lowest setting .dust with flour and reserve.
! At this point if you have bought pasta then the procedure is the same.
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If your lasagne requires a little pre-cooking, cook in boiling salted water for a minute or two, then drain.
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For the filling: I leek – sliced
300g mushrooms mixed with ceps
1 large courgette cut into half moons
Radicchio sliced
Butter
Thyme
Chives
Parmesan cheese (grated), mozzarella (or any other grated cheese)
*or use any vegetable you have to hand!!
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Sweat the leeks with the thyme in a knob of butter, followed by the courgettes and mushrooms, seasoning along the way. When cooked add the radicchio. You could actually add any cooked vegetables you like – cauliflower, broccoli, beans etc, – entirely up to you
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Layer your lasagne in a baking dish. Start with a layer of béchamel, followed by pasta, vegetables, cheese, béchamel, pasta… Continue to layer for 5-7 layers, making sure you finish with béchamel and cheese.
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Bake in the oven at 160ºC/ Gas Mark 4 for around 25 minutes, until the lasagne is cooked through and golden on top. Serve immediately.
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Apple strudel
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This is a great quick recipe especially if you have an apple tree in the garden. Any type of apple will do, just be aware that different types will require more or less cooking. Start off with 30g of brown sugar for cooking apples and vary accordingly.
! This will make 4 individual strudels
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6 or 7 medium sized sour apples
1 (500g) packet filo
Juice of 1/2 lemon
150g sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
Zest of ½ an orange grated
Bay leaf
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or golden syrup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
80g raisins
Icing sugar for dusting
Melted butter for brushing
Brioche crumbs or soft breadcrumbs
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Method
Prep:20min Cook 15 mins
Preheat oven to 220 C / Gas 7. Butter a tray, or line with baking parchment.
For the filling, peel the apples cut into quarters, then cut into thin slices. In a large bowl, drizzle with the lemon juice to prevent discolouring.
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Mix the sugar, cinnamon and cloves in a small bowl. Stir everything well. Now add the raisins, orange zest and maple syrup then add the apples.
! Heat a pan until very hot, and throw the mixture in the pan and quickly cook for 5 minutes.
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Remove the apples from the heat, put them into a bowl and add the brioche/bread crumbs to absorb any liquid.
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Take two sheets of fill pastry and brush both with butter. Place one sheet on top of the other. Have the sheets facing you in a diamond shape (i.e. the point facing you rather than a flat line) and pop some filling in the centre.
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Fold the top flap of pastry over the filling and brush with the butter. Fold the lower flap of pastry over it and press firmly. Seal the ends equally well with the butter .
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Turn the strudel over so that the nice side is facing up. Lay the strudel on the buttered baking tray and brush it with the remaining butter and dust with caster sugar.
! Bake the strudel in the middle of the oven for 12-15 minutes at 190ºC/ Gas Mark 5 .
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Leave to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Dust with icing sugar. A large dollop of cream, custard or vanilla ice cream goes really well with it.
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JEN BARBER
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Cheats Cassoulet
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Don’t be fooled into thinking that such a ridiculously easy recipe will not be stunningly tasty. This cheats cassoulet is absolutely wonderful…
1 large onion, chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 large tin of baked beans
1 large tin of lentils
A splash of Worcester sauce
salt and pepper
6 good quality sausages
Soften the onion in a saucepan on a medium heat in a little oil. Add in all the remaining ingredients except for the sausages.
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Allow the sauce to simmer gently for around 15 minutes and season to taste.
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While the sauce is cooking, grill or fry your sausages. Cut them up when cooked and mix them into the cassoulet. Serve.
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Easy Chocolate Bread Pudding
1 baguette
100g milk chocolate
500g fresh custard or tinned custard or 3/4 pint custard made with custard powder
150ml milk
1 egg
Butter to grease dish
Demerara sugar.
50g extra milk chocolate for the topping
! Slice the baguette into chunks and place in a bowl.
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Put the chocolate in a saucepan with the custard and milk. Heat gently and stir until the chocolate has melted, then beat in the egg.
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Pour the custard and chocolate mix over the bread until it is coated and chill for at least 4 hours.
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Grease an ovenproof baking dish and pour in the mixture. Bake at 180ºC/gas mark 4 for around 30-40 minutes until the custard is set.
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Sprinkle the Demerara sugar over the top and the extra 50g chopped milk chocolate and bake for a further 15-20 minutes, before serving warm.
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