Salmon Mousse - Starter

This makes a great starter as it's light so won't fill you up too much, but is still tasty. I served with melba toast. Measurements are imperial i'm afraid as it's an old family recipe!


Ingredients

1oz Butter
Half a finely chopped White Onion
1oz Flour
1/2pt Milk
Pinch Thyme (Dried or fresh)
1 Bay Leaf - Dried
Sprinkling of Nutmeg
8oz of Red Salmon - good quality tinned is easiest, but you can use cooked fresh too
1 Level dessertspoon of Gelatine (dissolved in 2tbsp water)
2tbsp Tomato Ketchup
3tbsp Mayo
Juice of 1 Lemon

Method

1.   Melt butter in a saucepan and gently  fry onion until transparent, but not brown.
2.   Stir in flour and fry off for 3 minutes.
3.   Add milk gradually - stirring all the time.
4.   Add thyme, nutmeg and bay leaf. Simmer over a gentle heat for 10 minutes until thickens.
5.   Remove bay leaf and cool slightly.
6.   Flake salmon into the sauce and beat to combine.
7.   Add gelatine.
8.   Stir in ketchup, mayo and lemon juice.
9.   Season and chill until needed.

Black Forest Cheesecake - Not for the faint hearted!

Pudding combined elements from family favourite desserts – Black Forest Gateaux and a Cheesecake to make... Black Forest Cheesecake. Be warned this is a very rich and calorific pudding. But so worth it!!!

 

Ingredients:

2 Packets of Double Chocolate Chip Cookies or Oreos

70g Butter – melted

500g Mascarpone

1tsp Vanilla Extract

300ml Double Cream

200g Milk Chocolate

200g Dark Chocolate

20 Cherries in Kirsch or Syrup - stoned

2tbsp Kirsch or syrup from the jar

You will also need a 20cm tin – spring form if possible as it’s easier! This cheesecake will need to be set overnight ideally.

Method:

1. Grease tin with butter lightly and line the bottom with baking parchment.
2. Whizz biscuits in a food processor to crumbs. Combine with the melted butter.
3. Tip into the tin and press down to form base. Place in the fridge while you make the filling.
4. Melt the chocolates in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and set aside to cool very slightly.
5. Beat mascarpone in a large bowl with the vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
6. Gently whip the cream and kirsch/ syrup. Fold into the mascarpone.
7. Fold in the melted chocolates and the cherries.
8. Pour into the tin. Smooth the top.
9. Chill in the fridge overnight.
10. Remove from the tin and spoon over some of the syrup/ kirsch from the jar and top with a few extra cherries.

 

Daupinoise Potatoes - Side Dish

Daupinoise are my favourite potatoes and are not for those watching their weight – hence why they are a special occasion dish! They aren’t normally on our Christmas day dinner menu, but they’re my favourite and as chef for the day it was my prerogative to add what I wanted on!

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

4 - 5 Large Potatoes (I use Maris Piper) - sliced widthways about 2-3mm thick

1 Garlic clove

500ml Double Cream

Nutmeg

Butter to grease dish

Salt and pepper to season

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to about 160/ 180/ Gas 4 – 5.
2. Grease a dish about 20cm x 20cm with butter. Then rub the dish with the garlic. Finely chop or mince the garlic and add it to the cream.
3. Layer the potato slices into the dish over lapping slightly until they reach about a cm below the dish top.
4. Pour cream over the potatoes. It should reach to the top of the potatoes. Push the potatoes down so they are all coated with cream. Sprinkle over nutmeg and seasoning.
5. Bake in the oven on a tray for about 45 -50 minutes until golden, bubbling and tender!

Christmas - Stuffing

A basic sausagemeat based stuffing. Add to it with whatever takes your fancy!


Ingredients

1 Packet of good quality sausagemeat
2 White Onions - diced
1 Small Loaf of Bread -  a day or 2 old
2tbsp Mixed Herbs


Method

1.   Whizz bread into crumbs in a food processor.
2.   Combine all ingredients.
3.   Use to stuff turkey, make into balls or bake in a buttered dish until cooked through.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I've been a bit slack this month with posts. Party season took over with a vengence and I have been trekking to various places for them! In the space of 3 weeks I covered Northampton, Bedford, MK, Aylesbury, Shropshire and London. Boy do I need a few days off at Christmas to recover. I hope you all had an amazing season too!

This year my mum relinquished responsibility for Christmas dinner to me! Okay, so it was only for the three of us and really it’s just a large Sunday roast. But baby steps. The next few pages I will share some the recipes I used to make my three course meal. Those with a star by them will have a recipe for you soon. I’ll hopefully manage to make up some leftovers recipes soon.

If any of you have any recipes you make as a tradition at this time of year I’d love to hear about them!

The actual meal consisted of:

Starter of Salmon Mousse* and Melba Toast

Main of Turkey Crown with the following sides:

Roasted Potatoes,

Daupinoise Potatoes*

Oven roasted honey glazed carrots and parsnips

Sausages in bacon

Yorkshire puddings

Stuffing*

Brussels Sprouts with pancetta (devil food, but my folks insisted!)

Bread Sauce

Gravy

Cranberry and Port Sauce

Dessert of Black Forest Cheesecake*

Tip for you - I used a lot of the throwaway tin trays to bake things in... less washing up. And if you dress your table in silver it fits in well!

Now pretty much comatose after all that food and just in time for cheesy family movies and I am now settling down for the pinnacle (for me anyway) of Christmas Day TV... Doctor Who and Downton Abbey!

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and here’s to the New Year. I look forward to posting even more recipes and random updates. 2013 is a busy year!

 

Clearing out the freezer - Chocolate Tart

Chocolate Tart

As it's the lead up to Christmas I try to clear out my freezer at least a little to be able to stock up on the leftovers I'll no doubt come home with from my parents. This week I had a friend for dinner who needed a little TLC. His favourite puddings are always chocolate and anything without it in is apparently not a pudding!

So, from the freezer I took out some pastry and some frozen cream and let it defrost (I think it must have been buy one get one free!). With that and some bits I had in the cupboard chocolate tart was on the menu.


Ingredients: (All approximates as I made it up!)

300ml Pot of Double Cream
200g Dark Chocolate - broken up
50g Caster Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
50g Butter
Half a block of pastry - about 250g (Shortcrust would be best, but I only had puff)
Dulce du leche - to drizzle


Method:

1. Grease and line a springform tin. Roll out pastry and place in tin so it goes a little up the sides. Blind bake for about 10 minutes until golden. Remove beans and cool.
2. Heat sugar, extract, cream and butter gently until simmering quickly. Add chocolate and mix well until chocolate and sugar have melted.
3. Pour into pastry case. Chill in the fridge for about 2 hours until set.
4. Remove from tin and drizzle with dulce du leche or other caramelly substance! It was yummy but very rich!

(Excuse the picture... drizzling isn't my forte!)