Family food

This is my first go at remembering an old recipe

Ingredients

• 75g (3 oz) digestive biscuits, finely crushed
• 75g (3 oz) shortbread, finely crushed
• Or just have 6oz digestive
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted – not sure if this is unsalted – I think it might be
• 3 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar – I will try using 3 tbsp syrup

For the topping

• 1 (200g) tub cream cheese Philadelphia or Marscapone
• 5 tablespoons caster sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Zest of lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 120ml (4 fl oz) cream (double), whipped
• sliced fresh strawberries or other fruit to taste

• In a bowl, mix together digestive biscuit crumbs, shortbread crumbs, melted butter and 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar.
• Press biscuit mixture into an 18cm loose bottomed cake tin and place in refrigerator until ready for use.
• In another bowl, beat cream cheese, remaining sugar and lemon juice.
• Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture and spread over the biscuit base.

Happy days

This uses the same recipe as for bread and rolls and is for two 12″ pizzas

Preparation time, around 10 – 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1lb strong bread flour – we use Allinsons

1 packet of dried yeast

1/2 pint warm water

1/2 oz sugar

1/2 oz salt to taste (adjust as necessary)

1 tbsp olive/cooking  oil

Kenwood chef mixer (for easy mixing) or wooden spoon/hands

Follow the same procedure, but only rise the dough once.  After it rises, knock it back by hitting/squashing all the air out of the dough.

Divide it into 2/3

Roll out as thin as possible and put onto baking trays – round or square.  Use a fork to put some holes in the dough otherwise it will rise too much

Cook these for a bit until the dough gets a bit crispy but not too brown in a pre-heated oven – about 180 deg

Topping

1 tin chopped tomatoes

pinch of sugar

1 onion, chopped

Cook the onion until soft, add the tomatoes and sugar and blend with a hand blender or food processor

Spread thinly over the part-cooked base

Add your toppings and finish off in the oven until cooked

Delicious

This is from the River Cottage set of recipes

Makes about 6 litres

This recipe is a very simple one for making bread and seems to produce very consistent results.It requires the minimum of fuss and attention, so should suit busy people

Total make time – around 3 hours

Preparation time, around 10 – 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 lb strong bread flour – we use Allinsons

2 packets of dried yeast

1 pint warm water

1 oz sugar

3/4 – 1 oz salt to taste (adjust as necessary)

1-2 tbsp olive/cooking  oil

Kenwood chef mixer (for easy mixing)

Method

Stage 1

Pour 1 pint of warm water into mixing bowl

add 1 oz sugar and mix

put in 2 sachets of dried yeast and wait for 3-5 mins until it starts frothing

Add 2lb Strong bead flour, 3/4 – 1 oz salt and 1-2 tbsp olive/cooking oil

Mix until the dough comes off the side of the bowl.  Adjust mixture if too wet by adding a little more flour or in mixer mix slowly for 5 minutes or by hand knead together to make a dough ball

Stage 2 – rising

• Take the mixture out of the bowl with floured hands

• Turn out onto a floured surface
• knead by hand for a couple of minutes to shape
• use the heel of the hand and push away from you, stretching the dough
• Put back into the oiled mixing bowl and cover with tea towel
• keep warm for an hour or so – we use the oven on low and put it in there – use a cold baking tray or similar so the bowl doesn’t get burned on the racks
• it should rise lots – about 2 x its original size

Stage 3 – proving

• dividing up -take 1/2 of the mix for the loaf, 1/2 for rolls (makes about 6 but they only last a day or so) – or make 2 loaves
• flour your tins and put the dough in and bash it with your fist until pretty flat
• slash 3 marks on the top about 1/2 cm deep (optional)
• roll up some rolls to your preference of size (optional)
• let it rise again until it looks like the proper shape for a loaf and the rolls are round
• be gentle when it’s risen – don’t bang it or it will collapse, or allow it to cool down
• stick it in a pre-heated oven – about 180 deg for 30 minutes – less in a fan oven, perhaps 20-25 mins
• To get a really good bake, add some ice cubes in a tray at the bottom of the oven
• the rolls will cook a little quicker than the bread, so keep a lookout
• check it looks the right colour
• take it out
• tap the bottom – it should sound hollow, if not, back in for another 5 minutes out of the tins
• turn onto wire tray to cool

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

If you want to make larger quantities – use a 3lb mix

3 lb flour

3 sachets yeast

11/2 pts warm water

1 – 1 1/2 oz salt

3 tbsp oil

Cook the pears in a little butter and sugar till coloured

175g butter – whisk until lighter coloured

add 150g castor sugar and 4 eggs one at a time

then fold in carefully

50g ground almonds

220g self-raising flour

140ml soured cream

nutmeg, vanilla, zest of lemon

180 mk4

Ingredients
For the strawberry jam
350g/12oz strawberries, quartered
150g/5oz caster sugar
½ lemon, zest and juice only
For the jam-roly poly
275/10oz self-raising flour 
40g/1½oz caster sugar
110g/4oz shredded suet 
1 lemon, zest only
125-150ml/4½-5fl oz water
For the custard
4 free-range egg yolks
40g/1½oz caster sugar
150ml/5fl oz milk
150ml/5fl oz double cream
1 vanilla pod
Method
1. For the strawberry jam, heat a small frying pan until hot, then add the strawberries and cook for one minute. Add the sugar and lemon zest and juice and cook for 3-4 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has thickened slightly.
2. Remove half of the mixture from the pan, place into a blender and blend to a purée. 
3. Return the purée to the pan with the remaining cooked strawberries, mix well and cook for a further 3-5 minutes until thick. Remove from the heat and cool.
4. Place the flour, sugar and suet into a bowl and mix thoroughly.
5. Make a well in the centre of the mixture then gradually add enough water to make a soft dough. Knead lightly until smooth. 
6. Turn onto a floured surface and roll out to an oblong about 1cm/½in thick. Spread the jam out on the pastry leaving a 2.5cm/1in border.
7. Roll up from the long side into a pinwheel. Place the roly-poly into a loaf tin and cover with aluminium foil, sealing tightly.
8. Place a plate into the bottom of a large pan of water, place the loaf tin on top and fill the pan two-thirds full of water (do not allow the water to reach the top of the tin) and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce the heat and steam for one hour. While the roly-poly is steaming, preheat the oven to 200C/390F/Gas 6.
9. Remove the pudding from the tin and place on a baking tray in the preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes, or until browned.
10. For the custard, place the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until well blended.
11. Combine the milk, cream and vanilla pod in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer for one minute.
12. Pour the milk onto the egg mixture and whisk in. Return the mixture to the saucepan and heat slowly, until the custard has thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon. Remove and discard the vanilla pod. 
13. To serve, cut the roly-poly into thick slices and serve with the custard and any extra jam.

Just to remind myself, we had this for lunch at Leeds Castle

It was a puff pastry base, thin and well cooked abourt 30 cm x 10 cm

the topping was simply goats cheese, brie and small slices of quartered apple grilled

We think the puff pastry was part cooked and then the topping added and grilled

Just yummeee!

Having made this with feta, it was a bit bland.  So make sure it’s proper goats cheese – normally sold in a round, or perhaps use stilton.  We also thought adding cooked red onion

A really easy tart for one or two

ingredients

1. circle of puff pastry or puff pastry to roll out – around 4-6″ – use a plate if it’s easier to cut round
2. braeburn apple
3. unsalted butter
4. golden castor sugar
5. icing sugar
6. blowtorch

Method

1. puff pastry circle around 4-6″
2. prick with fork so it doesn’t rise too much
3. if you can’t get these, roll out some frozen puff pastry very thin – about 3-5mm
4. core and peel 1-2 braeburn apples
5. slice using a mandolin or thinly – end on end so they have a hole in
6. arrange round the pastry neatly with overlaps
7. put 2 in the middle
8. leave a small circle in the middle
9. brush with unsalted butter
10. sprinkle sugar over the top
11. cook at 190 for about 20 mins I think
12. when cool, add icing sugar and blowtorch to colour
13. add good quality ice-cream in the middle

Ingredients

Pastry

1. butter
2. flour
3. lemon zest
4. milk

Filling

1. grated chocloate
2. raisin
3. sultana
4. currants
5. nutmeg
6. cinnamon
7. brown sugar
8. rum, brandy
9. 3 coxes apples grated
10. apricots

Ingredients

1. Plain flour
2. 2 eggs
3. salt
4. castor sugar
5. Nuts if you like
6. Milk to bind

Filling

1. cacoa – use mix of dark and milk chocolate
2. cream
3. 2 eggs

Method

1. Roll out the pastry thinly to fit a shallow tin
2. Grease the tin with butter, add flour and shake off excess
3. Put pastry in tin and press to shape of tin
4. Cut to fit
5. Use a fork to prick the base
6. Blind bake the tart case – add dried peas or similar – 10 mins at 350
7. Cook for a while in oven
8. Take out and cool
9. pour in chocolate mix
10. Back into oven for a bit