To Tanzania ~ With Love

Our little Miss KH will be heading off for a year or two in Tanzania this time next week. Continuing in the tradition of sending her off around the world with a full tum (when she went to Australia we gave her a full Scottish meal of Veggie Haggis, Neeps, Tatties and Rhubarb Crumble) we had a surprise barbie for her tonight, the weather even played along with us which is always a bonus.

To round off the meal was a Chocolate Tart which had proved very problematic the first time I tried to make it, the pastry just never wanted to be made into a tart, if it didn't solidify to the tart tin base then it stuck to the bottom of the greaseproof paper when I tried to blind bake it - disaster! The filling, however, can be saved and turned into a rather nice fondue, just in case you ever need to know! This time round I ditched the shortcrust pastry as described in the recipe and stuck with the tried and tested Rachel Allen Shortcrust Pastry (please excuse the quality of the photos - Pimms had been consumed!)

Rachel's Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
200g plain flour, sifted
1 tbsp icing sugar
100g chilled butter, cubed
1/2 - 1 medium egg, beaten

Place the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor and whiz briefly. Add half the beaten egg and continue to whiz. I find I need to add nearly all the egg before its just moist enough to come together in a ball.

With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough until it is about 2cm thick then wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for at least 30 mins or, if you are pushed for time, in the freezer for 10-15 mins.

Makes 400g
Taken from Rachel Allen's 'Bake'

Milk Chocolate Tart

400g shortcrust pastry
Double cream or ice cream, to serve
Filling
250g milk chocolate, broken into pieces
1 cup double cream
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Pimms Strawberries
Strawberries, hulled (I used a punnet for 4 of us and have lots left over)
2 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp Pimms

Roll pastry between 2 sheets of cling film to a 35cm round. Use to line the base and sides of a 3cm deep, 25cm (base) loose based flan pan. Refrigerate for 30 mins (I was a bit pressed for time and skipped this step but the pastry didn't seem to be any the worse for it). Preheat oven to 180C.

Make filling; place chocolate, cream and sugar into a heatproof bowl. Sit over a pan of simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water) and stir until melted and smooth. Allow to cool. Stir in the eggs.

Line pastry with baking paper. Cover base with raw rice. Bake for 15 mins. Remove rice and paper. Cook pastry for a further 10 mins, or until golden and cooked through. Reduce oven to 170C.

Remove pastry from oven. Pour filling into pastry case. Bake for 30 mins, or until just set. Set aside to cool.

Make Strawberries; place strawberries, icing sugar and Pimms in a bowl. Toss gently to combine. Stand for 15 mins. Serve tart with strawberries and cream for adults or with plain strawberries and ice cream for kids.

Serves 8

Not 100% sure where I got the original recipe from, have a feeling it could have been http://www.taste.com.au/

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo of the tart all nicely sliced and covered with strawberries and softly whipped cream (probably wouldn't have done it justice even I have had though) but it was goooooooooooooooooood!

A Trio of Tarts

My zeal for making jams seems to be taking over my fridge!  Currently occupying space is a failed Strawberry Jam recipe, which tastes perfect but could be used as mortar ... it clearly did not need that extra 3 minutes of rapid boiling!  There is also some seriously under set Apricot and Passionfruit Jam that Hubby is not that keen on and a new attempt at Peach and Apricot Jam which (in my humble opinion!) is just right!  Technically this one isn't taking up room in my fridge at all, but there always seems to be that bit extra left over that isn't quite enough to put in a jar.  I'll post the recipe for this jam at a later date, but if you can't wait please click here to find a more 'chunky' version which was my first ever attempt at making jam! 

As such there isn't really a recipe for these tarts.  All I did was make up some of Rachel's Sweet Shortcrust Pastry, used a pastry cutter to cut circles and used them to line 3 'mince pie' tins.  All that was left to do then was to dollop [where reasonably practical!] a teaspoon of the chosen jam in the center on the pastry circles and bake them in a preheated 180C oven for 12 mins. 

Easy peasy!

And a little bit yummy too ;0)

Although it hasn't used up any where near as much jam as I would have like it too!  Guess I'll just need to make some more hehehehe

Rhubarb Custard Crumble Tart

When I first made it the the UK all those years ago, my 'Auntie' and 'Uncle' in Chester very kindly put me up for two years.  I know!  Can you imagine putting someone up in your home for two whole years!  Amazing people and technically speaking not my true Auntie and Uncle as Auntie Linda and Mum were friends since childhood.  When my Grandparents decided to pick up sticks and move their young family from London to Tasmania Auntie Linda came out with them for two years before returning back to the UK where she then met my Uncle and started a family of their own.  Anyhoo, all those years later I turned up on their doorstep and the rest is pretty much history. 

Auntie Linda, Mum and my second cousin Michele

Now the reason I started telling this story is because it was this period in my life that introduced me to rhubarb - before then it was very definitely relegated to the 'I Don't Like' file.  There used to be a lovely old couple who had a house a few doors along from us when I was little and they had the most amazing veggie patch in their backyard.  I remember being all of 5 years old and Flossie (that would be one half of the lovely old couple) used to force feed me and my brother raw rhubarb straight from the garden, hence it being added to the 'I Don't Like' file.  Anyway, Auntie Linda and Uncle David also had an amazing garden in which they also grew rhubarb.  One night after work Auntie Linda produced the most amazing Rhubarb Crumble for dessert and since then I was hooked.

Rhubarb Custard Crumble Tart
3 egg yolks
135g caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp cornflour
300ml double cream
2 vanilla pods, split lengthways, seeds scraped and reserved
500g rhubarb, cut into 4cm lengths
Knob of butter
For the Shortcrust Pastry
280g plain flour, plus extra to dust
60g custard powder
200g chilled butter, cubed
4 tbsp caster sugar
2 large free-range egg yolks
For the crumble topping
170g plain flour
110g chilled butter, cubed
55g light muscovado sugar

For the pastry, put the flour in a blender with the custard powder and a good pinch of salt. Whizz briefly, then add the butter. Pulse until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. Transfer to a big bowl and stir in the sugar. Add the egg yolks and 3-4 tbsp ice-cold water. Quickly mix together, then shape into a flat disc, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/ gas 6 and pop a baking sheet inside to heat up. For the crumble, put the flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl, add the butter and rub together with your fingers until the mix resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, then scatter over a shallow baking tray. Set aside.

Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface and use to line a 21cm, loose-bottomed, fluted tart tin that’s 3.5cm deep. Trim any excess pastry and prick the base all over with a fork. Line with baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake for 10 minutes on the hot baking sheet. Remove the paper and beans/rice, and bake for 5 minutes more until the pastry is crisp. Remove from the oven and set aside. Leave the oven on.

Make the custard filling. Mix the eggs and egg yolks, 60g of the caster sugar, orange zest and cornflour together in a bowl. Put the cream, 1 split vanilla pod and seeds in a pan over a medium heat and bring almost to the boil. Slowly strain the hot cream over the egg mixture, stirring. Pour back into the cleaned pan and return to the hob. Heat gently, stirring, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pour into a jug, then cover the surface with cling film to stop a skin forming. Cool and chill.

Place the rhubarb in a bowl, stir in the remaining 75g caster sugar and the seeds from the remaining vanilla pod, scatter over a shallow baking tray, dot with butter, drizzle with 1 tbsp water and add the vanilla pod. Roast for 15 minutes. Put a colander over a bowl, then pour the rhubarb into the colander, discarding the vanilla pod. Reserve the juices and allow the rhubarb to cool a little.

Pour the custard into the pastry case, then top with the rhubarb, poking it under the custard a little. Bake on the baking sheet for 12-15 minutes until the custard is just set. Put the crumble topping in the oven at the same time, shaking its tray occasionally, cooking for the same amount of time until crunchy and golden. Remove both from the oven. Carefully remove the tart from the tin. Scatter with the crumble and some of the reserved rhubarb juice. Serve warm or at room temperature.
 

 
Serves 6-8
Delicious Website
 

This is one of those recipes that is best made at the weekend, wish I had read through the recipe fully to understand that for myself before I started on Wednesday night!  The only thing I would maybe change was the custard, Hubby said it tasted quite eggy whereas I thought the orange overpowered the flavour of the vanilla ... and the texture was maybe a bit eggy.  Other than that its pretty yummy and would make a great finish to a family barbecue.

 

Snowflake Tart

I'm back!  We celebrated Christmas with Hubby's family at Sis in Law's place in Bathgate this year.  Bro in Law even managed to make it up from London, although Heathrow did its best the throw a spanner in the works, he at least managed to get a flight unlike so many others.  Poor people, such a rotten time of year to be stuck at an airport! 

This year I was in charge of dessert for the big day.  Bro in Law is a huge fan of pavs and had asked for one months before Christmas so for him I made Mum's Pav smothered in freshly whipped cream and thoroughly doused in the contents of about 6 passionfruit Nigella style!

I also made this White Chocolate Tart.  I had attempted to be artistic and make it look like a snowflake using a holly leaf cutter and some white chocolate modelling paste.  If you look at it from a distance and screw your eyes up a wee but you can kind of see the effect!  It tasted pretty good though.  And it keeps well which is a bonus seeing as we didn't really get to the desserts or sweet treats until Boxing Day, we had a late lunch on Christmas Day and nobody could fit another ounce of food in after that!

White Chocolate Tart
Pastry
225g plain flour
100g butter
25g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp cold water
Custard
3 eggs
300ml double cream
50g caster sugar
150g white chocolate
1 x 250g tub mascarpone cheese
Icing sugar to serve

You will need to 28cm loose bottomed flan tin. Preheat the oven to 200C/ fan 180C. To make the pastry, whizz the flour and butter in a processor until it becomes breadcrumbs. Add sugar, egg yolk and water and whizz again until combined into a ball.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to about 5cm bigger than the tart tin. Line the tin, trim the edge and prick the base with a fork. Set aside to rest in the fridge.

Break the chocolate into a bowl and melt gently over a bowl of barely simmering water, stir occasionally until melted. Measure the eggs, cream and sugar into a bowl and whisk together until blended. Whisk in the melted chocolate and mascarpone until smooth with no lumps.

Line the pastry tin with baking paper and baking beans. Cook in preheated oven for about 10 mins. Remove the beans and paper and return the pastry shell to the oven at the same temp for a further 5 mins or until the pastry shell has dried out.

Pour the custard into the tart tin. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C/fan 160C fro about 20 mins until the filling is set. Once cooked set aside to cool, remove from the tin, dust with icing sugar and serve cold.

Serves 8
Country Kitchen, March 08

• Tart can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept in the fridge. Freezes well cooked.

I didn't use the pastry recipe above, as I already had a healthy amount of sweet shortcrust resting in the fridge for some mince pies so I used some of that instead.  Once it was 'decorated' I sprinkled some little gold stars over and to serve with both the pav and the tart I made some Vanilla and Raspberry Sauce.  The tart really benefited from another flavour to help cut through the richness of that chocolate custard ... and Bro in Law even introduced me to the perks of some leftover sauce on toast!!!

Mince Pies and Mulled Cider for Christmas Eve

It was the night before Christmas and all through the house wafted the warm scent of cider mixed with vanilla and anise ... OK OK, poetry is not my forte!

Today has been spent in the kitchen getting a head start on tomorrow's feast. I'm sure I'll be very thankful tomorrow but right now I'm exhausted! But I just wanted to share with you some of today's adventures in the kitchen.

Jamie Oliver's Filo and Puff Pastry Mince Pies - My Way!
1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry
1 packet filo pastry
Home made mincemeat (I used the Apple, Cherry and Hazelnut mincemeat for this)
Melted butter
Icing Sugar, for dusting

Heat the oven to 180C.

Roll puff pastry to roughly 3mm thick. Cover with a thin ish layer of mincemeat and then roll the pastry up along the long edge, swiss roll style. Trim the edges and then slice the roll into approx 2cm wide slices.

Use melted butter to layer 3-4 sheets of filo together. Use to line a shallow bun tin. Sit a slice of the puff pastry and mincemeat mixture into each bun cavity and then brush more melted butter around the edges of the filo.

Bake for 20 to 25 mins. When you are ready to eat these simply snap the filo sheets into mince pie portions and dust with icing sugar.

Makes 21

If you'd like to see Jamie's original recipe then head over to Ruth's blog for the full ingredient list and instructions.

And if you're not quite fed up with Mince Pies just yet then please try the next recipe - this afternoon was the first time I've ever made them but I've decided this is the best ever Mince Pie recipe, especially for the Vanilla and Rhubarb Mincemeat.

Mincemeat Custard Pies
300g ready made custard
375g ready rolled puff pastry
Homemade Mincemeat (Vanilla and Rhubarb - mmmm)
Icing Sugar, for dusting

Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C. Unroll the pastry, then cut out circles using a 7cm plain round cutter. Gather up the pastry trimmings, re-roll, then cut out more circles. You should get 16-18. Use to line a couple of bun tins.

Spoon a heaped tsp of the custard mix into each tart case, then top with a scant tsp of mincemeat. Bake for about 10 mins until puffy and golden. Cool briefly in the tin, then dust with icing sugar and serve slightly warm.

Makes 16-18 pies
Adapted from BBC Good Food Website

And the last recipe was made for my Hubby to welcome him home on Christmas Eve ;0)

Mulled Cider
2 litres good quality traditional cider (scrumpy)
6 cloves
3 star anise
1/4 nutmeg finely grated into the pan
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod, halved
juice of 1 orange
juice of 2 clementines
juice and seeds of 1 pomegranate
4-5 tbsp caster sugar (I've not added any)

Pour the cider into a large pan on a low heat and let it warm through for a few mins. Add all the spices and juices and turn the heat up. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer and leave to tick away for 5-8 mins. Taste and add sugar as you like - you don't want it sweet. Ladle into glasses or mugs and serve while warm.

Serves 15
Jamie Oliver Magazine - Dec 09 /Jan 10

Anti Mince Pies (AKA Nigella's Mini Apple Pies)

I know there will be a fair few of you out there who will consider me a pure heathen for making 'Anti Mince Pies'.  Sorry!  But ... and in my defence ... booze sodden candied peel just isn't my thing ... apples on the other hand are always my thing, especially when they are wrapped in pastry and come to me courtesy of Nigella!  So if any of the Anti Mince Pie brigade should come to call sometime in the next week or so then having a sneaky batch of these at the ready can only be a good thing!

Nigella's Mini Apple Pies
1 quantity sweet shortcrust pastry
1 large egg, mixed with 1 tbsp water, to glaze, optional
For the Filling
2 cox's apples (375g total weight)
1 tbsp caster sugar
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange plus 1 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp lemon juice
15g butter

Peel, core and finely chop the apple.  Put them into a saucepan with all of the other filling ingredients and cook over a medium heat with the lid on for 5 mins or until soft.

Transfer to a bowl and let the mixture cool.

Use the sweet shortcrust pastry to line the tins and fill them with a teaspoon of the apple mixture.  Use the same cutter to make lids with small stars cut from the centres.  Paint with glaze, if using, and bake in a 220C oven for 10-15 mins or until golden and bubbling.

Makes 36 mini pies or 24 regular pies
Taken from Nigella's Feast

For a bit of added 'yum' I also sprinkled the tops with some demerara sugar after painting the glaze on.

Chocolate Mince Pies

I'm on a never ending search for non traditional mince pies. There is nothing wrong with the traditional variety, except for the mixed peel! This version comes from Willlie Harcourt-Cooze's book and uses some of his cacao which has been sitting in my cupboard for far longer than I care to admit.

Unwrapping the cacao from its gold wrapping I was surprised by how wonderful the chocolate smelt (and tasted ... ahem), the typical chocolate smell reached me first and was then quickly followed by a fruity waft. Mmmmmmmm, lovely. This product maybe expensive but I am very impressed by the quality and will be purchasing more.

Chocolate Mince Pies

For the Pastry

280g plain flour

25g ground almonds

175g unsalted butter

85g golden caster sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

1 egg yolk

3 tbsp whole milk

For the Mincemeat

50g cacao, finely grated

3 apples, such as russet or cox, grated

100g semi dried apricots, roughly chopped

100g sultanas

100g raisins

100g currants

1 tbsp each light brown and dark brown muscovado sugar

1 tsp each ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg and mixed spice

Zest of juice of 2 lemons or oranges

5 tbsp rum or calvados or Grand Marnier

5 tbsp cognac

2 tbsp olive oil

Icing sugar, to finish

Prepare the pastry by putting the flour and almonds into a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until it looks like very fine breadcrumbs. Sprinkle in the sugar and add the lemon zest, egg yolk and milk and pulse until the mixture starts to clump together. Tip the pastry mixture on to a board and gently squeeze until it comes together into a ball - add water if it feels dry. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 30 mins.

Preheat the oven to 190C (fan). Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a few millimeters. Using a 7cm cutter, cut out 24 discs and use to line two 12 hole bun tins. Gather up and roll out the pastry again and use a 6cm cutter for the lids.

To make the mincemeat, first mix the cacao and apple in a large bowl. Blitz the dried fruit together in a food processor and add to the bowl. Add all the other ingredients except the icing sugar and stir well. Spoon 1-2 teaspoonfuls into each pastry case, dampen the edge of the pastry bottom with water and sit a smaller pastry disc on top. Pierce each lid to allow steam to escape and bake for 12-15 mins until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar.

Note: This makes more mincemeat than you need but the leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to a couple of weeks.

Makes 24 and lots of leftover mincemeat

From 'Willie's Chocolate Factory Cookbook' by Willie Harcourt-Cooze

If you like a boozy mince pie then this is the recipe for you. Apart from the colour of the mincemeat though the chocolate flavour is lost with all the Grand Marnier and Cognac. The pastry is wonderful though, especially with the lemon zest in it so I'll be making that again. The mincemeat? Maybe ...

Chicken Pie

Hubby and I are very certainly back on the old calorie counting regime [sigh]. My motivation levels are quite low this time round, chocolate just tastes so good! But if I want to fit into my lovely floaty aqua dress for a friends wedding in September (I know! Ages away - plenty of time to loose those [few] extra pounds right?) then I guess I had better start now, especially as Easter is just around the corner and all those yummy chocolate recipes are going to come oozing out of the woodwork to tempt me off my virtuous path!

If I didn't tell you this was a weight watchers recipe I'm guessing you'd never know!

Chicken Pie

Low fat cooking spray

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

3 x 150g skinless chicken fillets, cut into 2cm strips

250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced thickly

1 garlic clove, crushed

400ml chicken stock (made from a cube is fine!)

2 tsp cornflour

2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh tarragon (I couldn't lay my hands on any so I used a good sprinkling of dried mixed herbs instead - worked pretty well too!)

175g broccoli, cut into small florets

250g ready rolled puff pastry

2 tsp milk

Heat a large frying pan and mist with low fat spray. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 5 mins, adding a little water if it looks like sticking. Add the chicken and cook for 3 mins before adding the mushrooms. Saute the mixture for a further 5 mins until the juices from the mushrooms have been released and evaporated. Stir in the garlic and stock and simmer gently for 5 mins. Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C.

Blend the cornflour with 1 tbsp water and add to the pan with the tarragon, stirring continuously until thickened. Remove from the heat and season to taste. Stir in the broccoli and spoon into a 1.2 litre pie dish. Set aside to cool for 5 mins.

Roll out the pastry a little more thinly to fit the top of the pie dish. Trim the edges and use the trimmings to stick round the rim of the dish. Brush the trimmings with a little of the milk and carefully lay the pastry over the top. Knock together the pastry edges to seal the pie. Make 3 small slashes in the top and brush with the remaining milk. Place on a baking tray and bake for 20 mins, or until the pastry is golden and puffed up. Serve hot.

* To freeze the pie, cool the filling at the end of step 2, then top with the pastry. Cover and freeze. Defrost overnight in the fridge before brushing with milk. Bake for 30-40 mins, covering the top if it gets too brown.

Serves 4

Irresistible Mag - Spring 2010

This was really nice. we' ll be having this again very soon. In fact its so nice that I would even make it for the next time we have company over, although I think I'll make them in individual pie dishes, there is something a bit more extravagant about a whole pie all to yourself!

A Mincemeat and Apple Tart for First Footing

Let me start this first second post for 2011 by saying that I've never been a fan of New Year, I guess I could be called the "Christmas-Bah-Humbug" equivalent for Hogmanay .  I don't know why but its just never really floated my boat at all (note to self:  this is the Eeyore coming out in me, really must try harder to be more like Tigger).  You'll find no posts wrapping up 2010 and none containing my New Year resolutions either ... although I dare say that the resolutions I do manage to adhere to will trickle through at some point! 

And as if any of this weren't bad enough then there are the traditions!  Over here there are many traditions that can be followed at this time of the year, one of them is called the First Footing.  First Footing is when somebody calls on the household ~ preferably a tall and dark male, women allegedly bring bad luck (!!!!) and the male needed to be tall and dark as this is the polar opposite of vikings who were invading the country at the time this tradition dates back to.  Traditionally the tall, dark male would call unexpectedly carrying a bottle, a lump of coal, some shortbread and a silver coin. 

According to this tradition, my Father In Law lucked out when we went to visit yesterday!  I am tall and dark but very definitely a female, I did bring food but it was in the shape of this Mincemeat and Apple Tart and not shortbread, there was no booze except for that in the mincemeat, no lump of coal either (the man has brand spanking new gas central heating system after all!) but the tart was still warm from the oven and no silver coin either, although the tart was carried in on a silver tray.  Do you think the tradition will be fooled?

This recipe comes from Nigel Slater's latest book Tender Volume II which Santa very kindly left behind for me on Christmas Day.  He left me quite a few cook books actually (must have been that Rum and Raisin Pudding lol), but this was the only book I managed to smuggle in my overnight bag as we hurried off to Sis In Laws for Christmas.  As soon as I saw this recipe I immediately thought of the two large bottles of Rhubarb and Vanilla Mincemeat sitting in the fridge, rhubarb and apple is a match made in heaven so I knew I had to give it a try!

A Tart Of Mincemeat and Apples
400g cooking apples
2 heaped tbsp caster sugar
500g puff pastry
400g mincemeat
Beaten egg

Peel the apples, core them and cut them into small, thin slices.  Put into a wet saucepan with the sugar and leave to simmer gently till the sugar has melted and the apples are tender but not quite collapsed.  Set the oven at 200C.

Cut the pastry in half and roll out each piece to measure 36 x 16cm.  Place one half on a non stick baking sheet, or one lined with baking paper, then place the mincemeat in a wide line down the centre of the pastry, leaving a margin around the rim.  Place the apples on top (any juice should be left in the pan), then brush the edges of the pastry with some of the beaten egg.  Lay the second piece of pastry on top, pressing the edges firmly to seal.  Trim any ragged edges, crimp them with a fork, then decorate with any trimmings of pastry.  Brush with more of the beaten egg, cut 4 or 5 small slits in the top of the pastry and bake for 20-25 mins, until golden and crisp.  Serve warm with cream.

Serves 6
Taken from Tender, Volume II

Nigel never fails, this was delicious!  We had it without cream (cause I forgot to pack any!) and it was still lovely, the Rhubarb and Vanilla mincemeat worked a treat.  This one is being filed away for future use ... and in some perverse way I've managed to stick to one of my resolutions before the first firework is even lit ... the cook books will once again be getting more of a work out this year (as will my backside)!

And now my Grinch like ranting is done all that is left is to wish you all a very happy New Year!  I hope 2011 sends all your hopes and dreams your way ;0)