Category Archives: Recipes

Coq au Vin Recipe

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Ingredients

  • 4 Chicken thighs on the bone (skin removed)
  • 4 Chicken drumsticks on the bone (skin removed)
  • 10 Shallots (peeled but whole not chopped)
  • 5 Garlic Cloves (peeled but not chopped)
  • 1 bottle of a good quality Cotes du Rhone Red Wine
  • 750 ml of good quality chicken stock
  • 500g Lardons
  • 225g Baby Button Chestnut Mushrooms (whole)
  • Olive Oil
  • Sprig Thyme
  • Sprig Rosemary
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 3-4 tsps of cornflour

Method

  1. In a thick bottomed casserole on top of the stove line the bottom with olive oil
  2. add the shallots and garlic and lardons fry until starting to just brown
  3. add the chicken pieces (no skins)
  4. fry until just starting to colour so no pink showing
  5. add mushrooms (whole)
  6. add chicken stock
  7. add whole bottle of wine
  8. add thyme
  9. add rosemary
  10. add bay leaves
  11. bring to boil
  12. simmer for 50 mins stirring from time to time.
  13. Taste for seasoning but I find it doesn’t need any salt as the lardons usually are salty enough. Add a small amount of salt if you think it needs it.
  14. in a cup mix 3-4 heaped teaspoons of cornflour with some cold water to a paste
  15. when throughly mixed pour into casserole and stir throughly so the sauce thickens up
  16. cook for a further 10 minutes
  17. Serve with Green Beans and Mashed Potato.
  18. Can be cooked the night before and then thoroughly reheated the next day for even more flavour.

Tiffin

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A delicious non-bake cake

Tiffin (this recipe is so old everything is measured in ounces)

  • 8oz digestive biscuits
  • 4oz butter
  • 3 level tablespoons golden syrup
  • 1oz drinking chocolate
  • 6oz cooking chocolate to top (but I always use more)
  • raisins – as many as you like

Method

  1. Line a 7”x8”x1” baking tin with greaseproof paper.
  2. Crush biscuits, add drinking chocolate and raisins.
  3. Melt the butter and syrup in a pan and pour over the biscuits. Mix well then place in tin and press down.
  4. Leave in fridge for about an hour.
  5. Melt cooking chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Pour over the mixture evenly.
  6. When set pull the tiffin out using the paper and cut to required size.

Thanks to Karen Bain for this recipe

Eggs in pots (oeufs en cocotte)

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Ingredients
150g/5½oz crème fraîche
salt and freshly ground black pepper
pinch nutmeg
handful of chopped dill
4 free-range eggs
To garnish
red lumpfish roe
small sprigs of dill

Preparation method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Season the crème fraîche with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.
Place a heaped tablespoon of crème fraîche in the bottom of a ramekin, followed by a little dill.
Crack an egg on top, add a second tablespoon of crème fraîche and sprinkle with a pinch each of salt, pepper and nutmeg. Repeat with three more ramekins.
Place the ramekins in a baking dish and pour enough lukewarm water into the dish to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the egg yolks are set to your liking.
If you like, finish each serving with a teaspoon of red lumpfish roe and a sprig or two of dill.

Recipe by Rachel Khoo

Lemon and Raspberry Madeleines

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For the madeleines
– 3 free-range eggs
– 130g/4½oz sugar
– 200g/7oz plain flour
– 10g/¼oz baking powder
– 1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest only
– 20g/¾oz honey
– 4 tbsp milk
– 200g/7oz butter, melted and cooled
– punnet of raspberries
– icing sugar, for dusting

For the lemon curd
– 1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest and juice only
– pinch of salt
– 40g/1½oz sugar
– 45g/1¾oz butter
– 2 free-range egg yolks

Method
1. Beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and frothy. Put the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl and add the lemon zest.
2. Mix the honey and milk with the cooled butter, then add to the eggs. In two batches, fold in the flour. Cover and leave to rest in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight.
3. Meanwhile, make the lemon curd. Put the lemon zest and juice, salt, sugar and butter into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar and butter have melted. Remove from the heat.
4. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl, then add to the pan and whisk vigorously. Return the pan to a low heat and whisk constantly as the curd starts to thicken. Don’t stop whisking or the eggs will curdle (if the curd starts to boil, take off the heat). Once the curd thickens and releases a bubble or two, remove from the heat and pass the curd through a sieve into a bowl. Place cling film in direct contact with the curd and refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
5. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Butter and flour a 12-shell madeleine tin. Put the lemon curd into a piping bag fitted with a small, pointed nozzle and place in the fridge.
6. Put a heaped tablespoon of batter into each madeleine shell and press a raspberry deep into the batter.
7. Bake for five minutes and turn the oven off for one minute (the madeleines will get their signature peaks), then turn the oven on to 160C/325F/Gas 3 and bake for a further five minutes. Transfer the madeleines to a wire rack and leave for a few minutes until cool enough to handle. Meanwhile, wash and dry the tin, then repeat the baking as for the first batch.
8. While the second batch is baking, pop the piping nozzle into the mound in each baked madeleine and squirt in a teaspoon’s worth of lemon curd. Repeat with the second batch, then dust with icing sugar and serve straightaway.

Recipe by Rachel Khoo

Recipe for North Staffordshire Oatcakes

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Ingredients

225g fine oatmeal
225g wholewheat or plain flour
1tsp salt
15g yeast
450ml warm milk
450ml warm water
1tsp sugar
Method

Mix the water and milk together.
Mix the salt to the flour and oatmeal in a large bowl.
Dissolve the yeast with a little warm liquid and add the sugar. Allow the mixture to become frothy.
Mix the dry ingredients with the yeast liquid to make a batter adding the remainder of the warm liquid.
Cover the batter with a clean cloth and leave in a warm place for about an hour.
Pour out enough batter on a well-greased griddle to make an oatcake of about 22cm. The surface will be covered in holes as it cooks.
Flip the oatcake after 2-3 minutes when the top side has a dry appearance and the underneath is a golden brown colour and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

TIP:

Try to use the heaviest frying pan available as this will keep the heat constant which is best for making oatcakes. Great served with fried bacon, mushrooms and cheese as a savoury snack or with butter and jam as a sweet treat.

Oatcakes can be frozen and a microwave is the ideal method of defrosting and reheating them.

History, Secrets and Health

I heard that soldiers returning from India in days gone by tried to duplicate the chapattis they had enjoyed but using local ingredients and the North Staffordshire Oatcake was born.

The exact recipe varies between oatcake shops and was for many years a closely guarded secret. There would be an oatcake shop on nearly every street corner years ago. Not just selling the oatcakes but also hot filled oatcakes. This was fast food prior to the Golden Arches and supersize me.

Being very much a regional dish – indeed, less than a county – oatcakes were always missed by ex-pats from the Potteries. There used to be a hotel in Leamington Spa that sent someone up to Stoke-on-Trent at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning to get supplies.

Being made with oatmeal, they are actually quite high in fibre but filling with melted cheese and fried bacon may reduce the health benefits somewhat.

Favourite

Place under the grill with thin slices of cheese on. When bubbling, add a generous amount of Branston pickle and roll up.

You can buy North Staffordshire oatcakes from some of the major supermarkets in the UK. For those poor souls in far off lands, this is how to make them.

How to make the perfect cup of tea

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  • Use Assam tea leaves (never a bag)
  • Use a clean, warm china or glass pot (never a metal pot as it taints the tea)
  • Add one teaspoonful of tea per cup plus one more teaspoon
  • Use freshly drawn water, boiled once only to retain as much oxygen as possible to bind with tea polyphenols
  • Avoid hard water (calcium ions) to prevent tea “scum”
  • Best flavour is achieved using a high temperature, but short time infusion
  • Stir the tea
  • Leave to brew for 3.5 to 4 minutes
  • Put a little cold milk (never hot milk or UHT Milk) into the cup
  • Add the tea to the milk using a strainer (never pour the milk onto the tea)
  • Add sugar if you like but only use white sugar and not too much
  • Drink tea at 60-65°C.

      • Thanks to the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

Sticky Toffee Pudding (The best ever)

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One of the best Sticky Toffee Puddings I’ve ever tasted. Once you’ve tried this, nothing else will come close.

Ingredients:
For the Date Purée:
375g Stoned Dates
375ml Water

For the Toffee Sauce:
640ml Double Cream
340g Caster Sugar
130g Liquid Glucose
130g Unsalted Butter

For the Sponge:
130g Unsalted Butter (at room temp)
375g Soft Dark Brown Sugar
3 Medium Eggs Lightly Beaten

Sift these together:
450g Strong Flour
10g Baking Powder
3g Bicarbonate of Soda

First prepare the date purée. Simmer the dates in the water over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until they are soft and the water has almost evaporated. Process them in a blender until they are smooth.

Preheat the oven to 175°C – Gas Mark 4.

Now make the toffee sauce. Pour half the cream and the other toffee sauce ingredients into a thick-bottomed pan and mix well. Bring the sauce to the boil, stirring with a wooden spoon, and continue to boil until it is golden brown. Remove from the heat, allow it to cool slightly, then whisk in the remaining cream.

Grease and line a baking tin, measuring approximately 30x24x6cm deep, with greaseproof paper.

Now to make the sponge: In a food processor or mixer, cream the butter and sugar with the paddle on a medium speed until it is light and fluffy. Add the eggs slowly, taking care that the mixture does not separate. (If this does happen, add a little of the flour and continue mixing for a minute or so.) Then fold in the sifted flour mixture slowly until smooth. Finally, add the warm date purée and mix well.

Spread the mixture in the prepared tin and bake and bake for about 50-60 minutes or until the sponge is firm to the touch. Allow to cool – it can be left in the tin. Remove the sponge from the tin and trim the outside edges. Cut it horizontally into three, then reassemble it in the baking tin, spreading two- thirds of the sauce between the layers.

Once you have assembled the pudding, reheat it in the oven at 175°C – Gas Mark 4 for 15-20 minutes, then cut in into eight equal servings and top with the remaining toffee sauce. Serve Sticky Toffee Pudding with Ice Cream, soured cream or crème fraiche.

Thanks to The Ivy Restaurant in London for this recipe.

Steamed Ginger Sponge with Ginger Sauce

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Delicious warming pudding.
Serves 4

For the pudding:

4oz Butter
4oz Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
6oz Self Raising Flour
2oz Stem Ginger finely chopped
3 Tblspn Golden Syrup

For the Ginger Sauce:

1/2 Pint Full Cream Milk
1 Tblspn Fresh Ginger Grated
1oz Butter
1oz Plain Flour
2oz Caster Sugar

Butter a 1 and a half pint Pudding Basin.
Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs, adding one spoon of the flour with each egg.
Fold in the remaining flour and the chopped stem ginger.
Spoon in the syrup into the bottom of the basin, then the pudding mixture on top. Smooth the top.
Cover with a layer of greaseproof paper and tin foil and steam for 1 to 1 and a half hours.

While the pudding is steaming, make the sauce. Bring the milk gently to the boil with the grated ginger. Let the milk stand for at least 30 minutes to infuse, and then strain off the milk.
Melt the butter slowly and stir in the flour; cook gently for 2–3 minutes then add the milk gradually, stirring all the time.
Bring the sauce to the boil and simmer for at least 5 minutes, and stirring constantly. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

Turn the pudding out and serve with the sauce.

Thanks to my Mum for this family recipe.

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Marmite Spaghetti

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This is a very simple but extremely tasty pasta dish if you’re a fan of Marmite.

Thanks to Nigella

Ingredients.

13 oz (ounce) spaghetti (dried)
2 oz (ounce) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon(s) marmite or more to taste
1 sprinkling of parmesan cheese to serve

Method

Cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water, according to the packet instructions.
When the pasta is almost cooked, melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the Marmite and 1 tablespoon of the pasta water, mixing thoroughly to dissolve.  Reserve 1/2 a cup of pasta water; then drain the pasta and pour the Marmite mixture over the drained spaghetti, adding a little reserved pasta water to amalgamate if required. Serve with plenty of grated Parmesan cheese.
For vegetarians replace the Parmesan cheese with a vegetarian alternative.