Marmalade (Makes: 3/4 jars – Preparation time: +4hrs)

Seville oranges are in season right now so it is time to roll up your sleeves and make Marmalade!  I learnt a couple of things last week, firstly that Seville oranges have a short season from the end of December to mid-February, and secondly that there is a high concentration of pectin (natural gelling agent) in the pith and seeds of citrus fruits.  What this means is that to make marmalade you only need 3 ingredients and decent amount of time on your hands.

Now I confess before I embarked on making Marmalade last weekend I gave Mummy Mortimer a ring to see if she had any top tips. Her advice was to cut the oranges in half and to cook them first in a shallow pan with a little water to soften the rind.  It was a great shout and meant that I could make the marmalade in two stages and the rind was incredibly easy to cut into slivers.

My tip is to put at least 4 side plates in the freezer for testing when the jam has reached setting point.  When you think the jam is ready to test – spoon a small amount onto one of the plates and place back in the freezer for 1 minute and then push the marmalade gently with your fingers to see if the jam wrinkles.  If it does then you will know that it is ready, if not keep boiling.

The beauty of making your own marmalade is that you can adjust the balance of sugar in the recipe to suit your own palate.  I personally prefer a sharp marmalade so I work on the following ratio 750g sugar to 1 litre of liquid and then add more sugar as needed.

The process of making marmalade whilst lengthy is very easy and I recommend you giving it a go if you can get it your hands on some Seville oranges.  At the end of the process you’ll have at least 3 jars which you and either keep and enjoy over the next few months or give to friends and family as gifts.  Enjoy!

“A wise bear always keeps a marmalade sandwich in his hat in case of an emergency”
~ A Bear Called Paddington ~

Haggis Scotch egg (Makes: 6 Preparation time: 30/45 minutes)

Scotch eggs have definitely been on the brain this weekend.  In honour of the Joneses being in town I thought I would try out a new recipe on them.  So this morning I knocked up some Scotch eggs for lunch.

I have to be honest it didn’t go entirely to plan!  Having successfully soft boiled the eggs  I then proceeded to ruin 6 of them whilst peeling off the shells. I don’t know if I was being particularly heavy handed or if the eggs weren’t as fresh as normal but whatever it was I ended up with a lot of yolk on my hands and had a minor sense of humour failure.  Fortunately for me my housemate came to the rescue and not only picked up some more eggs but ended up peeling the little devils for me.

Today’s Scotch eggs were made using both duck and chicken eggs and they were both equally as good as each other.  The only slight plus in favour of the duck eggs  they proved to be slightly more robust when it came to peeling and were the only two eggs that I actually managed to peel successfully.

For the meaty shell I used a combination of sausage meat and haggis, which helped the haggis to become more malleable for shaping around the egg whilst retaining its earthy beautifully seasoned flavour!  I am pleased to report after the initial egg peeling disaster all of the Scotch eggs once deep fried had retained their runny yolk – WIN!!!

Now then I have to stress that the even though I had what can only be described as an utter fail this morning – this was highly unusual!  Please do not let this put you off making  these little beauties as it really is very straightforward!  Enjoy.

Haggis pops with a confit duck egg yolk (Serves: 2 – Preparation time: 1 hour)

This recipe came off the back of a conversation that I had earlier in the week with two of my great friends who I met when I was living in Hong Kong.  As normal the topic of food came up and we were pondering the ranking of a pork pie, sausage roll and Scotch egg.  Off the back of that conversation GB piped up that she plans on hosting a Scotch egg party with the idea of an ostrich Scotch egg in the centre and then filtering out to goose, duck, hen and quail.

Whilst I love the idea of a Scotch egg party the thought of one absolutely massive ostrich egg did not appeal to me hugely.  However, it got me thinking – what if you confit the yolk and served with small pork or chorizo bites then that could be awesome!  Not being the type of person to leave an idea alone and what with it being Burns Night this week and haggis being readily available I decided to give it a go albeit on a somewhat smaller scale.  The result was delicious and this is definitely a recipe that I will be repeating!

Is it worth the effort of confiting the yolk? A thousand times YES – whilst it may take an hour to cook it is incredibly simple to do and at the end of it you get an egg yolk that is warm,silky and creates a wonderful sauce to dip the crunchy haggis pops in one you cut into it.  This is absolutely a recipe worth trying if you can get your hands some haggis!  Enjoy.

Seeded loaf (Preparation time: +4hrs)

Making bread maybe a slow process but once it is baked and you cut the first slice it is incredibly satisfying.  I have recently taken to making the dough up just before I go to bed and placing it in the fridge to rise very slowly overnight.  When I get up in the morning I take it out of the fridge and let it warm up for about an hour before knocking it back and shaping it for its second rise, which means I have fresh bread in time for a late breakfast

Aside from making sure that your bread has sufficient time to rise one of the most important things when you make the bread is how you shape it before placing it in the tin.  I will freely admit that there have been many occasions where I have rushed the shaping and ended up with a hollow loaf.  My tip it make sure that you knead the dough properly before the second rise and make sure that it malleable and supple enough to easily shape then slowly and carefully work the dough into the shape that you need for your tins.

If you haven’t made bread before do give it a try! It is a very straightforward process and kneading the dough can be hugely therapeutic especially if you have had a tough week.  If that isn’t enough incentive then just think about the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through your house and being able to eat the loaf when it is still warm from the oven – heaven!!

Avocado, smoked salmon with poached eggs on sourdough (Serves: 2 -Preparation time: 10 minutes)

My day always kicks off with a strong cup of coffee, it is my one vice that I simply can’t do without.  I love the ritual of making it, packing the coffee grounds into my percolator and then waiting the five minutes for it to brew whilst the blissful aroma fills my kitchen.   The only downside is that I have a tendency to gulp the coffee down in a matter of minutes before dashing out of the door to catch the train to work.

  At the weekend when time is not of the essence a lazy brunch with lots of coffee is how I like to start my day before heading out to walk Oscar up on Wimbledon Common.  The recipe below is a fantastic brunch option that is very simple to make and absolutely scrummy.  If you are efficient it can be prepped and on your plate in under 10 minutes.

 The key to this recipe is not over cooking your poached eggs so that the yolk is still runny when you cut into it and creates a beautifully rich sauce.  In essence poaching an egg is very straight forward, however sometimes it takes a couple of tries to work out the timings.  My tip for poaching an egg is to put a ¼ teaspoon of vinegar in the poaching water and make sure that the water is simmering whilst the egg is cooking not boiling.

This is a fantastic recipe full of vibrant colours that is a great way to start your weekend. Enjoy!

 

Pork belly with cranberry glaze (Serves: 3/4 – Preparation time: 2-2.5hrs)

I am going through a phase of trying to use up leftovers and empty my freezer which is no mean feat.  As a family we are notorious for hunting down a bargain and raiding the reduced aisle for tasty goodies. In fact there have been several occasions of late where certain members of the family have  bragged about stocking up their freezer with organic meat that has been reduced to quite frankly a silly price.

So why pork belly and cranberry I hear you ask, well quite simply a month or so ago I picked up a decent piece of belly pork that had been reduced and it has been sitting in the freezer waiting to be used along with half a bag of frozen cranberries that I bought for Christmas.  In the interests of trying to be somewhat more frugal this month I decided to knock to together Sunday lunch using up these ‘scraps’ and I have to say that I was very pleased with the outcome!  A beautifully tender piece of pork, crackling, topped with a sticky sharp cranberry sauce – YUM!

Now, whilst I made my cranberry sauce, if you are looking to cheat then just use shop bought cranberry sauce.  In all seriousness there isn’t much to this recipe so do give it try, if you don’t make the cranberry sauce then there are really only two steps – how much more simple can you get?! Enjoy.

Baked apples (Serves: 3 – Preparation time: 45 mins)

Happy New Year!

I have decided to share a recipe that helps to use up one ingredient that has a tendency to be leftover after Christmas – mincemeat. The recipe below is super easy and can be eaten either hot for pudding with a little cream, or is great served cold as a topping for porridge in the morning for breakfast.

The inspiration for this dish came after a visit to East Sussex to see some of my friends who swear by a bowl porridge for breakfast, topped with fresh apple, yogurt, seeds, nuts and honey before a days hunting, shooting or fishing.  Not being one for porridge normally, I am well and truly converted and the recipe below is my take on their porridge toppings.

The simplicity of this recipe makes it an absolute gem, it takes a matter of minutes to prepare, the key really to this recipe is about how well you core the apple as you want to create a cavity that is large enough to pack all of the mincemeat in.  As the apple cooks it becomes beautifully soft and infuses with the spices and flavours of the mincemeat.

This is definitely a recipe to try and is absolutely fantastic on these chilly winter days.  Enjoy!

Mini pork and cranberry pies (Makes: 36 – Preparation time: 1.5-2hrs)

Christmas is well and truly on its way with Christmas parties happening left, right and centre!  Lately I have been making a lot of mince pies and whilst I like them I have to admit I am more of a savoury person, so last weekend I decided to try out a new recipe more in line with an open topped pork pie.

 I have to give credit to Cockburns of Bedale who are the real inspiration for this recipe – for many years when I visited my eldest brother up in Yorkshire we would go to this butchers early on a Saturday morning to buy their open topped pork pies still warm from the oven for lunch (that is if they lasted that long…).  If you are ever on the on the A1 heading through Yorkshire, I highly recommend that you make a little detour via Bedale and visit this butchers to try one of their pies, I promise you will not regret it!

 Whilst the pies have similarities to a pork pie they are not made using hot water crust pastry. Instead this pie recipe uses a shortcrust pastry made with beef suet, the pastry case is then filled with spiced pork meat and topped with homemade cranberry sauce – delicious savoury sweet goodness!  The pies make great canapes at a drinks party as they are surprisingly light but absolutely moreish.

 The recipe below does have a lot of steps, however if time is not on your side and you need a quicker option, then simply follow the cheat options below.

 Cheats option / time saver:

• Use shop bought pastry.
• Replace the pork mixture with some festive flavoured sausages instead and simply remove the meat from the skins.
• Use shop bought cranberry sauce preferably containing whole berries.

Mince pies using sweet shortcrust pastry (Preparation time: 1.5hrs)

I was chatting to my housemate about making pastry the other day and she was telling me of a Hawksmoor pie recipe that used both eggs and suet in the recipe and it dawned on me that this would be a great way to make sweet shortcrust.  By making the pastry with suet it made the pastry beautifully light and more flaky than crumbly.

The concept of using two types of fat to make the pastry is not a new one, growing up the Delia Smith recipe that I used to follow for mince pies used equal amounts of butter and to make the recipe.  However I have found the in using suet you get a far better distribution of fat throughout the pastry which gives it a marbled look when rolled out and it helps to turn the pies a beautiful golden brown colour during cooking.

Now to the mincemeat aspect of this pie – there is absolutely nothing wrong with using shop bought mincemeat!  This is exactly what I do however I like to ‘pimp’ it up a bit by adding chopped walnuts, cranberries, glace cherries, plump sultanas and brandy.  So if you have some dried fruit or nuts in you cupboard that you would work chuck it in, not only will it add to the flavour it will add to the texture of your pies.  Enjoy!

Tartiflette (Serves: 3/4 – Preparation time: less than 1hr)

Molten cheese oozing between layers of potatoes and smoky crispy bacon pieces – do I really need to say any more?  As I write this recipe I am sorely tempted to sneak out to the shops an buy another Reblochon as I adore this recipe (my waistline less so…)

 If you like cheese, but haven’t tried Reblochon before I implore you to try this Tartiflette recipe. However be warned this little number is not for the faint-hearted.  It incredibly rich and will require you to have worked up an appetite, or to have a lazy afternoon ahead of you so that you may quietly slip into what I like to consider a ‘food coma’ (an afternoon of dozing in front of a fire).

Reblochon is an unpasteurised mountain cheese that comes from the Haute-Savoie in France – it has a soft rind that you can eat and a gooey middle.  It has quite a strong smell so if you aren’t cooking with it straight away I would keep it in a Tupperware box in the fridge.  That being said its taste is surprisingly delicate and nutty which matched with the waxy buttery potatoes and the saltiness of the lardons is absolutely scrummy.  Definitely one to try this winter – Bon Appétit!