Carrying on where I left off …

… in January and birthday gift ideas.

I said after the doorstep delivery of the birthday gift in January, where possible within current constraints, I'd continue to make stuff for gifts if they could be delivered safely.

It's my friend's birthday coming up soon and so I decided to bite the bullet and emailed her before I could change my mind … “I know I'm early but have an idea for your birthday. I wondered if you'd like me to cook a few treats which I could “doorstep” deliver? If it's a yes I can put together a couple of menus … let me know what you think”.

The same day a response … “That's such a lovely idea! What a lovely surprise and I look forward to seeing the menus”.

Here they are :

Menu 1

Individual Veggie Frittata with

a Balsamic Glaze

Arancini (stuffed with Taleggio cheese)

Alfredo Sauce

Tiramisu – a choice of lemon or orange -

no coffee at all!

OR

Menu 2

Cream Cheese & Cashew Nut Paté

with soda bread

Cheese, Potato and Onion pie

with coleslaw (using home-made mayo)

Flourless Chocolate Cake

with Raspberry Coulis

Watch this space!

The second “grown up” sauce …

… is Tarragon. This sauce uses cream and butter and is not as thick as the Calvados Cream Sauce since it's not made with a roux base. Its “grown up” element is Vermouth or dry white wine if you don't have Vermouth in your wine cellar! I use Noilly Prat as my Vermouth of choice – France's first and has been in existence since 1855.

For a pie filling that's a cut above and compliments the sauce, seal 600g diced chicken fillet together with two finely sliced leeks.

Here's the sauce recipe :

Tarragon Sauce

Serves 4

Bunch of spring onions, finely diced

1 tsp dried tarragon

Fresh tarragon – chopped – approx 2 tbsp

160ml/¼ pt/5 fl oz approx Vermouth or dry white wine

½ tsp of sea salt flakes or celery salt

240ml/8fl oz double cream

white pepper

drop of Rapeseed oil/Canola and a knob of butter

**optional variation – mash 2 cloves of roasted

garlic paste into a Knorr chicken stock pot

it's delicious – if you like garlic!

600g diced chicken fillet

2 finely sliced leeks

seal in a drop of rapeseed oil and

then set aside

Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan, add the onions and then dried tarragon. **Add the mashed garlic and stock paste at this stage. Add the Vermouth, let it bubble up, add salt, add the cream and fresh tarragon and finally white pepper. Add the sealed diced chicken fillet and the leeks and simmer gently for 20/25 minutes.

If you'd prefer a veggie version then substitute the diced chicken fillet with Quorn pieces – they take 12 minutes from frozen to cook, so you'll need to tweak the method. Seal the leeks with the onions and dried tarragon at the beginning of the recipe and then continue, simmering the sauce for 8 minutes, adding the Quorn pieces and cooking for the remaining 12 minutes.

Whether you choose chicken or Quorn your pie filling is ready to use when you are, all that remains is your lid of choice and you'll need 500g of pastry or cooked jacket potatoes from your stash.

Hints and tips

If you wanted the sauce a little thicker add a heaped teaspoon of slaked cornflour gradually to your sauce whilst at the simmering stage at the end of the recipe, to the thickness required.

“Slake” is to mix, in this instance cornflour, with cold water and then add it to a simmering sauce, gradually, to thicken it.

This sauce is versatile and in its original state makes a delicious drizzling sauce over chicken or any poultry and veggie alternatives of course.

Sauce ideas to suit everyone I hope, however, I should say that tarragon has an aniseed flavour so if you're not a fan this may not be for you.

Next – carrying on where I left off …

Grown up sauce ideas … with fillings too

Here are a couple of other sauces you might like – both “grown up” in that they include alcohol and the pie fillings to match. The first sauce uses the “roux” principle, the second does not.

First up, the filling. If you're using your slow cooker these days, you could create a pie filling using diced pork shoulder – sealing it and slow cooking until melt in the mouth tender. Slow cook 600g of diced pork shoulder for 4 hours - serves 4-6. You can use the stock from the slow cooked pork in the sauce recipe – make sure the stock is chilled. The slow cooking can be done ahead, to suit your timetable and then set aside and fridged until required.

For the Calvados Cream Sauce :

Calvados Cream Sauce

15g/¾ oz unsalted butter

15g/¾ oz plain flour

1 tsp garlic paste or 1 clove, crushed

glug (2 tbsp) of Calvados

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

200ml/7 fl oz stock

300ml/½ pint/10 fl oz double cream

salt and black pepper

Melt the butter, take the pan off the heat, add the flour and whisk. Return to the heat and cook out the flour for 2/3 mins, stirring continuously – add the garlic paste and mustard and then, on a high heat, add the Calvados and cook for 1-2 mins. Add the cold stock straight into the sauce and whisk until smooth, then cook on a low heat for 10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Add the cream and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Set aside to cool, then fridge.

You will need 500g of pastry for your lid of choice.

All that remains is for the sauce to be added to the pork and then placed in your casserole or pie dish, add your lid of choice, egg wash and then bake for 25 minutes in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 to cook the lid – the filling is pre-cooked. You may have leftover sauce which is great – serve in small jugs as extra “gravy”!

The second sauce coming up …

RVP – choose a sauce!

Before you do, a clarification – in “Bring on the pies” I mentioned a Velouté sauce and I should have given a full explanation.

A Velouté sauce is a savoury sauce using a roux and a light stock. It is known as one of the Mother Sauces – in other words a base sauce from which other “secondary” sauces are made – a Sauce Supreme is one of those, enriching a Velouté sauce, usually with chicken stock (you can use vegetable, as I would in this recipe) and double cream. It's a luxurious sauce, ideal served with chicken too. You won't be surprised to know that “velouté” translates to “velvet”!

Other examples of classical secondary sauces are “Saffron Sauce Supreme” or “Sauce Supreme with sherry and mushrooms”.

I'm sorry it wasn't clear in the original piece – now I've probably given you too much information!

Moving swiftly on, any of the sauces mentioned so far would be perfect with your veggies, it's personal taste. The curry sauce would be amazing and would definitely get my vote – for no other reason than it makes a change.

I'm repeating the Sauce Supreme recipe but this time making a larger quantity – there's a method to my madness – you'll use half the quantity to complete your veggie pie filling. The remainder is extra sauce to drizzle over the served pie – everyone loves gravy!

Sauce Supreme

500ml stock – vegetable or chicken

ideally cold

30g unsalted butter

30g plain flour

1 tsp Dijon mustard

400ml double cream

salt and black pepper

Melt the butter, take the pan off the heat, add the flour and whisk. Return to the heat and cook out the flour for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously making a roux sauce – do not walk away.

Tip your cold stock straight into the roux and whisk until smooth, then cook on a low heat for 30 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.

Add the mustard and the cream and simmer for 5 minutes then cool, cover and fridge.

You can make ahead and freeze the sauce if it's more convenient – it's every bit as good from the freezer.

An extra couple of “grown up” sauce ideas next … with fillings too

Choose a lid!

You could choose any of the pastry ideas covered in the Bring on the pies series but then I remembered that back in June 2019 I wrote about Cornish Pasties – if you're interested check out the Food History and Pasties labels where you'll get chapter and verse and a photo-guide too.

It was a voyage of discovery, hence this addition to the “lid” list.

For those who are used to making pastry, no matter how basic, what follows will seem an odd method. I promise you it works. Not only does it work I'd say it's the best result I've ever had.

Pasty pastry

This recipe will give you four eight inch (21cms) pasties

450g/1lb strong white bread flour

large pinch of salt

100g/4oz of margarine

100g/4oz lard

175ml/3^rd pint water

cling film

Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add 25g/1oz of lard and rub into the flour. Grate or slice the rest of the fats into the bowl and stir, using a round bladed knife. Pour all the water into the bowl and mix together with the knife. Keep the dough in the bowl and using your hand bring the dough together and knead using the heel of your hand. Tip the dough onto a sheet of cling film and use the film to bring the dough together in a fat circle. Wrap the dough twice in cling film, bag and fridge. Chill it for at least 30 minutes.

Before we go any further I can hear you - LARD! - what is she thinking. You don't have to use lard, for me and other vegetarians out there, use either Trex or Cookeen – panic over! The lard is part of the original recipe. I used unsalted butter instead of the margarine.

It doesn't matter if you fridge it to chill for 30 minutes and, surprise surprise, you get distracted and remember two hours later. It does not affect the end result.

A tip – the recipe gives you four pasties from the batch of pastry. When you're ready to roll (sorry!) cut the pastry into four equal portions. At this stage you can please yourself – make two pasties and then wrap the remaining two separately in cling film, bag and freeze for another day.

Take the frozen pastry out of the freezer the night before you want it and fridge it.

It behaves impeccably – just as if freshly made.

I realise the recipe given is for individual pasties – just another option instead of a family sized pie. If you want a full size pastry lid for your RVP then use half the quantity and freeze the other for another day – plan ahead!

A final word on the RVP - there is a plan “b” if you don't want to do the extra veggie prep. You can buy casserole packs of veggies – usually around 1kg which would be perfect if you wanted a fast fix.

Now choose a sauce!

Deliberately creating leftovers …

for a Root Veggie Pie filling - “RVP”. The following recipe ticks more than one box. It makes use of the space in your oven when it's already on – for example if you're treating the family to a roast this weekend - you can prep a pie filling whilst you're at it!

The RVP began life as a vegetarian Christmas Dinner for me and I made it using veggies I loved.

Back to the roast – use whatever root veggies you love – the list is endless, celeriac, squash, leeks, swede, turnip – roast 900g approximately but it doesn't need to be exact. What does matter is that your veggies are of a similar size, they'll roast evenly and prevent a trip to the dentist!

I chose the parsnips, carrots and potatoes because I'm using them for the roast dinner, so all I'm doing is prepping extra of each.

Root Veggie Pie

Serves 4-6

300g/11oz carrots

300g/11oz parsnips

300g/11oz potatoes

top, tail, peel and then cut into a dice – 2.5cms/1” approximately

1 large onion, finely chopped

celery salt and black pepper

4 tbsps of rapeseed oil

large knob of butter, cut into 4

3 garlic cloves, peeled or 3 cloves already roasted

(optional)

a roasting tray or casserole dish if you prefer

measuring 33x23x5cms/13x9x2”

Tip all the veggies into the roasting tray, drizzle the rapeseed oil over the veggies, season well and then, using your hands, toss the veggies so that they are coated in the oil. Add the butter.

Pre-heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Roast the veggies (set your timer) for 20 minutes, turn and repeat. Use a paring knife to test, the knife should move through the veggies easily. If you meet resistance roast for a further 10/15 minutes and test again.

Set aside to cool, cover and fridge.

Next up – choose a lid!

Radio Recipes - 22nd March 2021

As promised here are the recipes and the bits and pieces mentioned during my chat with Bernie Keith, on his Radio Show, The Bernie Keith Show, BBC Radio Northampton on Monday 22^nd March, 2021 at 10.45am.

Eggs Benedict – but not as you know it

Here's a photo of the finished dish – if you'd like chapter

and verse on poaching an egg, check out the Egg label

Fast Fish Pie

Serves 4

2 large baking potatoes – stab carefully with a

paring knife, wrap in foil and bake for 1 hour at

180fan/200c/Gas 6 – already done!

Set aside to cool then slice thinly – skin on or

off – personal choice

500g of fresh fish, wrapped in foil and baked for

15 minutes

If you want to cook ahead you could bake your

fish for the last 15 minutes of your potato baking

time – don't forget to use your timer!

Cool the cooked fish and then place in a sealed

container ready to use

Your fish can be a mixture of whatever you choose – for example, mix smoked haddock or cod with salmon and prawns – it's whatever floats your boat – pardon the pun. If you're using cooked peeled prawns as part of your 500g of fish then don't add them until you're assembling your pie.

Next up the sauce for your fish :

Mornay Sauce

Serves 4-6

40g unsalted butter

40g plain flour

600ml of milk – I use semi skimmed

150g mature Cheddar cheese

(or a combination of Cheddar and Gruyere)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

salt and black pepper

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour. Cook gently for a minute, stirring and add the mustard – make sure you don't brown the mixture. Gradually add the milk whisking constantly and eventually bring to the boil, whisking until it's smooth and thick. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes, then add the cheese and season. I'd taste before you add salt – there's salt in the cheese – adjust accordingly. Your sauce should be a stiff consistency.

You can make the sauce ahead, fridge or freeze.

When you're ready to assemble, preheat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

You can use foil trays – 24x24cms to serve 4 or smaller if you want individual servings, otherwise a square casserole.

Open up your foiled fish and tip it into a large mixing bowl. Break the fish into chunks, gently, then season with black pepper.

If you're using cooked, peeled prawns, now is the time to add them – if you're using frozen prawns make sure they are properly defrosted in the fridge and discard any defrosting liquor.

There will be jelly from the cooked fish – discard or include – it's all flavour and will combine with the sauce you've made. If you've not used any smoked fish then you may want to add a sprinkle of salt. Add your Mornay sauce and fold to mix, gently.

Tip the mixture into your tray or casserole.

Add the sliced cooked potatoes, add a knob or two of butter and ground black pepper. If you're feeling really decadent then sprinkle grated Parmesan over the top.

Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with vibrant fresh veggies, preferably steamed or, dare I say, with a coleslaw or, if feeling really Northern, mushy peas!

A final word on fish.

Some may say it's extravagant to use cod loin in a fish pie – they'd be right. However if you're trying to convince your family to eat fish it would be a good idea to use a fish that doesn't have any bones. Using smoked fish with non-smoked gives a far less “fishy” taste. Shop smart if you can and a reminder that Aldi's range of fish – including cod and haddock loin too – is excellent and the best value. The trick here is the delicious strong cheese sauce. Tick, tick and tick!

Oh and by the way the Dijon mustard is optional but it does give an excellent zing so worth a try even if you're not a fan of mustard generally. It adds flavour without blowing your head off.

My final tip - each of the elements for this filling and the pie as a whole can be made ahead, all that remains is assembly, and whilst I probably shouldn't be advocating eating supper in front of Netflix all that's required is a deep bowl and a fork – delicious comfort food!

Here are a few photos :

Balsamic Onion Jam - 4 of everything!

4 medium brown onions, finely diced

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

4 tbsp soft dark brown sugar

1 garlic clove, finely chopped (optional)

1 tbsp unsalted butter – 15g-30g

as a guide my “tablespoon” was exactly that -

from the cutlery drawer

the large frying pan measures 29cms/11” in diameter

and is non-stick

Using a large frying pan, cook the onions in the butter over a medium/high heat, stirring constantly for 5-8 minutes until they are opaque. Add the vinegar and sugar. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently until the onions are cooked down to a jam-like consistency for 20-25 minutes. Do not cover the pan at any stage.

The recipe will give you 300g of jam.

Cool and place in a sealed container or a jar with a tightly fitting lid and keep in the fridge.

Here's a photo of the finished relish – ta dah!

Finally, a sweet treat – Chocolate Orange Fudge

Chocolate Orange Fudge

Takes 1½ hours/ make 50 pieces

400g dark or milk chocolate, broken into small

even sized pieces

25g butter

397 can condensed milk

2 tsps of Valencian Orange Extract

100g icing sugar

30g cocoa powder, sifted

Line a 20cm square shallow tin with baking parchment.

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. In a non-stick saucepan melt the butter and gently warm the condensed milk, then add the melted chocolate and mix until smooth, followed by the Orange Extract. Beat in the icing sugar until blended and smooth.

Put the mixture into the prepared tin, spread evenly into the corners, smooth over the top and place in the fridge to set for at least 1 hour. Remove and cut into small squares and dust with cocoa.

Hints and tips

Here's my tip – the recipe says “line a 20cm square shallow tin ...”. dip a teaspoon into the melted chocolate and place a tiny blob in each corner of the tin and then glue the parchment so that it stays put.

Here's another … make sure you sift the icing sugar otherwise you'll finish up with tiny white spots in the fudge.

And another … to remove the slab of fudge use an ordinary fish slice. Gently ease the slice along each edge of the tin and then tip it upside down. If the slab of fudge won't comply do not lose your temper just repeat with the slice and it will surrender!

Cut your fudge into squares – the size of the square is up to you. The recipe states you'll get 50. They'll be large. I cut the slab in half and then each half gave me 36 pieces approximately 2x2cms – a total of 74 pieces. My tin has curved corners so I straighten each edge so that all the squares are exactly that, no “curved squares” if you get my drift!

Place the squares of fudge onto kitchen roll to dust with cocoa and leave space between each square for even coverage. Use a tea strainer or a small sieve, tapping the edge gently to dust.

Here's a couple of photos :

I hope these ideas have helped and may be inspired some of your own!

Stay safe and well, x