Foodlover - Spring 2022 - Issue 77

EDITOR Emma Dance editor@foodlovermagazine.com ADVERTISING MANAGER Zoe Thorner zoe@foodlovermagazine.com

Welcome FOODLOVERS! And just like that it’s spring! I don’t know about you, but I’m delighted that longer, sunnier days are on the horizon. Spring is also a brilliant season in foodie terms. After a winter of root veggies and comfort food, it’s time for some lighter, brighter flavours, and of course with Easter coming, there’s plenty of reasons to indulge in chocolate-y goodness! We’ve got some Easter ideas for you to try (p.12), including some twists on classic Easter bakes and some traditional Easter dishes from around Europe.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Pamela Evans, Palm Design PUBLISHED BY Ignyte Media

THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER® T: 01761409831 www.foodlovermagazine.com Whilst every care has been taken in compiling this publication FOODLOVER® shall not be made liable for any inaccuracies therein. The opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor.

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Of course, Mother’s Day is coming up soon too, and if you’re planning on cooking a roast dinner for the family to celebrate, then you’ll love our feature on how to do the perfect roast (p.20).

British Pie Week starts on March 7 and we’ve got some expert advice on perfecting your pastry, as well as some tasty recipes – turn to page 24 to take a look. The humble sandwich is celebrated during British Sandwich Week in May too, so we take a closer look at the science behind what makes a great sarnie on page 29.

So, you see, spring really is bursting with flavour!

Emma

Enjoy the issue!

Emma Dance, Editor

editor@foodlovermagazine.com

Contents

Cooking companion:

In season:

Foodie news and events from across the West Country.

Variations on traditional bakes, and inspiration from abroad.

Advice on prepping and cooking the tasty crustacean.

09 editor’s picks

18 roast with the most 34 take a leek

42 COMPETITIONS

24 eyes on the pies

Nail your pie cookery this British Pie Week.

Love local:

29 Super sandwiches

40 CHEF PROFILE

04 news and what’s on 12 Easter with a twist 32 feeling crabby Emma’s favourite foodie finds for spring.

Fabulous foodie prizes up for grabs, including tickets to the Royal Bath & West Show, a bundle of Fossil Drinks Co gin and chocolate and a hamper of Godminster cheese.

Treat your Mum to the perfect roast dinner this Mother’s Day.

The science behind sandwiches.

Spotlight on the humble leek.

Meet Siaka Touray from the St Tudy Inn in Bodmin.

NEWS

NEWS&WHAT’SON

REDUCING WASTE

The latest foodie happenings from across the West Country

BIG PLANS

DORSET

Sandbanks and Branksome Chine seafront is set to be transformed with an £8.7million new food and drink development.

Luke Davis, founder of Rockwater — a renowned bar and destination restaurant in Hove — is bringing the brand to the Dorset seaside. He said: “Following the excellent success of Rockwater Hove, we are proud to now announce the next phase of the Rockwater brand, Rockwater Sandbanks & Branksome. Covering two seafront sites — Branksome and Sandbanks cafés — the two venues will be linked through the concept of Rockwater Village. The new venues will completely change the way these seafronts operate, offering an elevated and community-driven hospitality experience.

“In keeping with Branksome and Sandbanks’ community-driven ethos, the venues will aim to serve as a new community hub to nurture the mental and physical well-being of all visitors. As my passion project, I want Rockwater Village to become the heart of the community, providing a go-to venue for lifestyle and wellness events which breaks the mould of the traditional hospitality venue that Brits might have become accustomed to.”

In Sandbanks, the new venue will sit on the world-famous peninsula. The site will be fully refurbished with the bar and restaurant featuring a central cocktail bar, ice cream parlour and beautiful terrace that will directly overlook the sea. It will also include more lifestyle offerings, including a beachside deck where the morning lifestyle programme, Rockwater Life will be run, and kiosks which will turn into Rockwater Shacks, selling takeaway food and drink, hot drinks and an eco-friendly beach retail range.

The Branksome site is a beautiful art deco-style former solarium that overlooks the stunning golden sands. The Branksome venue will be fully refurbished to feature a family-friendly, affordable restaurant on the ground floor and a venue with a large roof terrace and retractable roof, offering food and drink, entertainment — from comedy and music. Similarly, there too will be a beachside deck for Rockwater Life events, along with Rockwater Shacks selling food, drinks and merchandise.

Celebration Gin

CORNWALL

Cornwall-based Mainbrace, known for its rum, is now launching a new gin to celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee.

Mainbrace Cornish Dry Gin is made in a traditional copper pot still, made using the London Dry style with no added sugars, sweeteners, essences, or other additives.

The gin is made with Cornish water and local botanicals, namely lemon verbena harvested from St. Michaels Mount, and three different types of seaweed — kelp, dulse, and sea spaghetti — sourced from the Cornish Seaweed Company in Gweek. The gin has a unique taste, dominated by citrus notes, particularly lime, with secondary umami and slightly salty notes stemming from the seaweeds.

4 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

SOMERSET Selected Co-op stores across the South West are now selling food past its ‘best before’ date in a bid to help reduce food waste.

With the aim of keeping more food in the human food chain, Southern Co-op has expanded its Reducing Our Foodprint initiative with products being reduced to just 20p.

Simon Eastwood, Chief Operating Officer for Retail at Southern Co-op, said: “There are a large number of products that are still good enough to eat past their ‘best before’ date — many of us are already familiar with this in our home environment so this just takes it one step further.

“The first stage in the fight against food waste is to make sure there aren’t products reaching their best before date. But if they do, we will now be reducing them to 20p to try and keep them in the food chain and improve sustainability.”

The stores in Somerset which are now included in the Reducing our Foodprint initiative are The Co-operative Food stores in Banwell’s Knightcott Road; Bath’s Widcombe Hill; Bridgwater’s Stockmoor Drive; Burnham on Sea’s Berrow Road; Cotford St Luke’s Graham Way; Frome’s Nunney Road; Nailsea’s Hannah More Road; Norton Fitzwarren’s Morse Road; Taunton’s Wellington New Road; and Yeovil’s Mudford Road.

Fresh products will be sold up to two days after their ‘best before’ date and ambient products will be sold up to seven days after their ‘best before’ date.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises that products past their ‘best before’ date are safe to consume but may not be at the optimum quality intended by the producer.

NEWS

Green credentials

SOMERSET

Wyke Farms in Bruton has launched the world’s first carbon-neutral branded Cheddar.

Ivy’s Reserve Vintage Cheddar is the first Cheddar cheese in the world to be certified as carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust.

The cheese is named after Grandmother Ivy who, 100 years ago, was the first person to write down her recipe, which is now kept locked in a safe on the farm. The cheese remained a family secret for many years and was only available as a special gift for family and close friends at Christmas time, but demand for this very special Cheddar has grown and grown.

Rich Clothier, Managing Director, third generation family member at Wyke Farms and Ivy Clothier’s grandson, says: “This has been a 12-year journey for us. We started our 100 per cent Green strategy in 2010 when we made a commitment to energy independence and generating all of our gas and electric from renewables. Since then, we have invested in our knowledge base across this business and on farm driving environmental improvement year on year. Ivy’s Reserve is a world first and an industry shake-up.

This will continue to be our focus in the years ahead as we push for more net positive improvements.”

DEVON

Devon-based Sandford Orchards has launched a new collaboration with Darts Farm.

Katja Rosé a delicious, sparkling, skin contact rosé cider, crafted from the dessert apple Katja, with Rondo grapes from Darts Farm’s Pebblebed Vineyard.

Barny Butterfield, Chief Cidermaker at Sandford Orchards, said: “This has also an exciting opportunity for us to collaborate with our great friends at Darts Farm. The Rondo grapes used to create the wonderful pink tint to Katja Rosé were grown at Darts Farm’s Pebblebed Vineyard, just outside Exeter. We are delighted that we are now able to call Darts Farm our second home, with the recent unveiling of our new small batch cidery there.

Katja Rosé is the product of this fabulously dynamic partnership and a celebration of the coming together of Sandford Orchards’ cider and Darts Farm’s vineyard.”

Michael Dart, owner of Darts Farm, adds: “We are thrilled to have Barny Butterfield, founder of Sandford Orchards working alongside us. With a wealth of knowledge and expertise, we are looking forward to seeing him get creative; this is just the beginning!”

The Great Outdoors Lyme Bay Winery is now an official corporate supporter of the Devon Wildlife Trust.

The Devon winery will work together with Devon Wildlife Trust to help safeguard the wild beauty and natural environment of Devon by exploring collaborative initiatives over the coming months and years.

Sales & Marketing Director, Paul Sullivan, said. “We are thrilled to be working more closely with Devon Wildlife Trust. Here in Devon, where Lyme Bay Winery is based, we are fortunate to have two National Parks, wonderful and varied coastlines to the north and south, five AONBs, and some 58 nature reserves managed by Devon Wildlife Trust.

NEW EMPIRE

A new pub restaurant will be opening in the ground floor of Bath’s old Empire hotel this summer.

Pub chain Brunning and Price have taken over the space which used to house Garfunkel’s restaurant.

The Grade II-listed building was designed by the Bath City Architect Major Charles Edward Davis for the hotelier Alfred Holland and built from Bath Stone, on the site of the Athenaeum in 1901. In honour of Charles Edward Davis, the new eatery will be called The Architect.

Mary Willcock, Manager Director for Brunning and Price, said: “You’ll find us traditional in style, with wooden floors, bookcases, decent old furniture and lots of rugs and plants. This project will be a joy to work on as the building itself is crammed with history and character.

“Being foodies, our menu, which will be published on our website each morning, will be something of an eclectic mix, striking a balance

DEVON Image: Dave Chamberlain

A touch of sparkle

However, despite the vital work of their guardians, the natural environment and wildlife are under immense and growing threat here in Devon, as they are across the UK and globally.

“We want to help support Devon Wildlife Trust to ensure everyone and everything has a future to thrive in.”

BATH

of hearty pub classics, complemented by more exotic influences from around the world. It changes regularly and reflects the seasons but there’s always a mix of traditional British dishes alongside something a little different.

“We think simple things done well are often the best and we want to create a friendly atmosphere in attractive surroundings where locals, regulars and new customers can meet, eat, drink and relax. That for us, is what being a good pub in the heart of its community is all about.’’

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 5

NEWS

Celebrity Chefs arrive and food tent returns to the Royal Bath & West Show

SOMERSET

For many years, food lovers have been attracted to the Royal Bath & West Show to enjoy the delights to be found within the food tent. This year the Show’s food interest is even greater, with the introduction of ‘The Great British Kitchen’ and appearances by celebrity chefs.

‘The Great British Kitchen’ has a fully-functional demonstration kitchen on the stage and over the three days of the Show (2-4 June) it will be used by chefs with South West connections. Briony May Williams, semi-finalist in the 2018 series of The Great British Bake Off and now part of the presenting team of Channel 4’s Food Unwrapped will appear on 2nd June, whilst Dean Edwards, who appeared regularly on ITV’s Lorraine and This Morning, will visit on 3 June. Rounding off the demonstrations is the ‘Yorkshire Shepherdess’ Amanda Owen, who will be on stage on 4 June. The demonstrations will be free to attend and are bound to be popular, so make sure you get there early on the day to secure your seat!

The Food & Drink area will return to its Marquee, located next to the Pilton Tent. With lots of street food vendors around the outside of the Pilton Tent, this will be a must-visit area for food lovers.

The return of the food attractions you love, combined with celebrity chefs, means the Royal Bath & West Show is an event not to be missed in 2022.

‘Yorkshire Shepherdess’ Amanda Owen

WIN TTICOK TO THIS ETS SHOW, T YEAR’S UR PAGE 42N TO Briony May Williams

Dean Edwards

TICKETS TO THE ROYAL BATH & WEST SHOW ARE ON SALE NOW AT WWW.BATHANDWEST.COM/TICKETS

TAKING UP RESIDENCE

The Artist Residence in Bristol will be opening its restaurant and bar this Easter.

The restored Georgian townhouse and old boot factory opened as a boutique hotel in October after an extensive five-year renovation.

The bar, café and kitchen will be an extensive space across the entire ground floor of the building, with a coffee bar and lounge, intimate dining room peppered with eclectic artwork, plant-filled courtyard garden and a central bar with double-height glass ceiling and original factory steel beams.

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BRISTOL

NEWS

HOPYARD @ PROPYARD

14-15 April Two days of eats, drinks and beats will be coming to Bristol’s Propyard this April. Twelve of the city’s best breweries, including the likes of Arbor Ales, Bristol Beer Factory, Fierce & Noble, Good Chemistry, Left Handed Giant, Lost & Grounded, Moor Brewery, New Bristol Brewery, Newtown Brewing Co, Tapestry and Wiper & True, as well as a mystery wild card, will be joined by food traders, such as Pizzarova, Lokipoke and Jafra Kitchen and local DJs. Tickets include all your beer, and there are also “All you can eat and drink” tickets available too. propyard.co.uk

St Ives Food and Drink Festival

13-15 May Taking place on the iconic Porthminster Beach, the St Ives Food and Drink Festival promises culinary experts, attractions including chef demos and food workshops, and a wide variety of local beverages and food over three days. There will be a fantastic range of activities, music and entertainment which promises plenty of fun for all the family.

Crabfest

Image:s Norsworthy Photography

1 May One of South Devon’s most popular one-day food festivals, visitors to this celebration of all things ‘crab’ can expect a bustling street market, fantastic chef demonstrations and an action-packed programme of entertainment for the whole family. Best of all … it is run entirely in aid of charity!

A LUXURY FAMILY RUN FOODIE HIDEAWAY IN DEVON INFO@LEWTRENCHARD.CO.UK

01566 783 222

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 7

NEWS

DORSET

Gold Standard All Hallows’ Farmhouse cookery school in Dorset has won Gold in the Dorset Tourism Awards.

They beat off competition from hundreds of other top venues to scoop the award in the Experience Category.

Tourism businesses are invited to apply and be considered for this award then shortlisted before a visit takes place by mystery judges. Finally an expert panel meet to discuss who will receive these coveted accolades.

Judges praised All Hallows’ Farmhouse for their inventive cookery classes. Lisa Osman, owner of All Hallows’ Farmhouse, says: “We are totally overwhelmed to achieve Gold. The Experience Category was very strong indeed, with every finalist this year, having received an award in previous years.

Chair of the judges’ panel, Professor Peter Jones, commented: “Over the past two years, the tourism industry has experienced the very lows of lockdown and the highs of the demands for staycations, all in the same year! What this year’s judging has shown is how resilient, creative and innovative Dorset tourism businesses have been to survive. As this year’s winners have shown they are working exceptionally hard to overcome any setbacks and to showcase the excellence that Dorset tourism offers all of its visitors.”

THE HEAT IS ON

TEA TIME

Boston Tea Party has opened a new branch in Torquay.

The café chain, known for its all-day breakfasts, homemade cakes and speciality coffees, has taken up residence in a gradeII listed building on The Strand which was previously occupied

by Pizza Express.

In 2018, Boston Tea Party became the first chain in the UK to ban the use of single-use cups for environmental reasons, and it operates with the tagline “Making things better.”

CEO and co-owner, Sam Roberts, said: “We put the company purpose of making things better at the centre of everything we do, whether that’s recruiting the best team to work with, or choosing quality produce to make into breakfast.

“Never is this more important than when it comes to the planet. We’ve made a lot of positive changes within the business such as banning single use cups, clingfilm and milk bottles and helping others do the same, and we continue to try to do things in a better, greener way, wherever we can.

“We always have time for breakfast and a great cup of coffee, what you’ll also get is a bunch of people that care deeply about making a difference.”

DEVON

BRISTOL

Bristol-based Gingerbeard’s Preserves has won six awards in the first National Chilli Awards run by the Clifton Chilli Club.

Harry Calvert, director and founder of the company, says: “We were so chuffed when we saw our chilli-based products featuring in the list of winners. We were among some fantastic brands so we are feeling very proud of our achievement.

“Seeing our best-sellers like the Beer, Bacon and Chilli Jam, the Chipotle Ketchup and the Habanero Hot Sauce get recognition from industry experts, just reaffirms that we are making some awesome tasting preserves”.

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LIFESTYLE

EDITOR’S Picks Just a few of my favourite foodie finds for spring

Tasty escape

Somewhere that’s definitely on my “places to visit” list this spring is Boho Marché in Bath. With a “Med-meets-Morocco” vibe — think fantastic floral displays, the colours and textures of a Marrakech souk, geometric tiles from Andalucia and a hint of Parisian bistro.

With a menu bursting with the flavours of North Africa along with a sprinkling of Spanish specialities and French classics — I think it’s the perfect place for a bit of delicious escapism.

For more information go to bohomarche.com

Colour pop Nutter butter My favourite peanut butter makers, Freda’s in Cornwall, have come up with a new flavour that’s really tickling my tastebuds — peanut butter with black pepper and Cornish sea salt. It’s absolutely banging with cheese for a twist on a cheese sarnie or cheese and crackers, and is also really rather good swirled into some hummus and served with some crudités. A jar costs £4 and is available from fredas.co.uk.

How gorgeous is this new beetroot colourway from the kitchen gadget supremos at KitchenAid? I think the lush magenta-esque satin finish of this stand mixer would look so good in my kitchen, I’d never put it away! (And as well as being super-stylish it’s also superpractical thanks to its array of fixtures and fittings). In fact, I love it so much I might need to get the co-ordinating blender too...

No place like dome I’m seriously swooning over these new drop-dead gorgeous dining domes at Bishopstrow Hotel near Frome. Each dome is a cosy oasis with lanterns dripping from the ceilings, and your own dome host to cater to your every need. You’ll be treated to a chilled glass of Taittinger Champagne on arrival, then tuck into an exclusive sharing menu for lunch, dinner or afternoon tea. To find out more or book, go to bishopstrowhotel.com

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 9

ADVERTISING FEATURE

EASTER

gift guide

CORNWALL’S CHOCOLATE COVE

The Bountiful Hamper £37.50 www.cornwallschocolatecove.co.uk Bring on those involuntary gasps of wonder upon opening, and murmurs of pleasure upon tasting (vegan, raw, free from palm oil, soya, cane sugar and gluten). q

Giving Easter gifts isn’t always about buying 2 for 1 chocolate eggs at the supermarket! Check out our Easter Gift Guide for some inspirational and tasty ideas

LAKELAND

AS RAW AS

Orange Chocolate Vegan Easter Egg £15.50

Charbonnel et Walker Pink Marc de Champagne Truffle Eggs 200g £19.99

www.asrawas.com Discover the range of artisanal, dairy free Easter eggs in a range of flavours, each wrapped in home compostable packaging. q

www.lakeland.co.uk Decadent handmade egg-shaped truffles made with the finest milk chocolate and blended with Marc de Champagne. Presented in an attractive Easter gift box. Suitable for vegetarians. t

DORSET TREASURES

Spring Celebrations Tea Cup £36.95 www.dorsettreasures.co.uk This wicker teacup planter contains tea, hot chocolate, biscuits, chocolate brownie and box of delicious truffles celebrating Dorset produce.q

ADVERTISING FEATURE

MILES TEA AND COFFEE

Easter Hot Chocolate Gift Set £5.95

www.milesteaandcoffee.com An indulgent Easter gift, Miles Heavenly Hot Chocolate with a pack of mini marshmallows and mini chocolate Easter eggs. t

LAKELAND

4 Floral Egg Cup Buckets £6.99 www.lakeland.co.uk A lovely way to serve dippy eggs with a different floral design on each – daisy, primrose, cuckoo flower and red campion.

Ideal gift for the gardener in your life. p

DORSET GINGER

Famous Five Gift Box £15 www.dorsetginger.ltd The perfect Easter gift for ginger lovers. Each gift box contains 33cl bottles of five flavours. u

GINGERBEARD PRESERVES

Condiment Survival Box £25.00 – £49.99 www.gingerbeardspreserves.co.uk Get your condiments sorted with Gingerbeard Preserves.

Choice of boxes available with delicious delights. p

DELIMANN

Luxury Honey Bee Cream Tea £39.95 www.delimann.co.uk This Luxury Honey Bee Cream Tea is a real treat for a sweet tooth! A pot of Stones Clear Devon Honey and a delightful honey bee ceramic mug accompanies our traditional cream tea along with wholesome honey and oat biscuits and delicious milk chocolate covered honeycomb. q

WARRENS BAKERY

Sweet Moments Mixed Box £19.95 www.warrensbakery.co.uk A delicious assortment of indulgent chocolate brownies, buttery millionaire’s shortbread and tantalising tiffin, carefully wrapped and delivered through your letterbox. t

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 11

COOKING COMPANION

F

h t i w r e t Eas t s i w T a

Try something a little bit different this Easter, with dishes from Europe and some twists on tradition

ood plays an important part in our Easter celebrations, whether it’s Easter eggs, hot cross buns or Simnel cake, or just a good old roast dinner with the family (see our feature on cooking the perfect roast on page 20 for more on that). It’s the same in other Christian countries too, although some of the traditional food is a little bit different. Here, we take a look at some of the traditional Easter dishes eaten in other countries, and find some twists on some of our favourite Easter dishes.

SIMNEL CAKE

It is thought that the name “Simnel” comes from the Roman word “similia”, meaning fine flour. Simple Simnel bread has been made in England since as far back as the 11th century and has been described as being boiled as well as baked. It’s around the 17th century though that more elaborate versions of Simnel cakes started turning up in association with spring and Easter.

At Easter it’s topped with 11 marzipan balls to represent the 11 apostles of Christ, minus Judas. This recipe takes the flavours of a Simnel cake and puts them into a chocolate brownie.

CHOCOLATE SIMNEL BROWNIES SERVES 14

100g dried mixed fruits 1 tsp cinnamon ½ tsp nutmeg ½ tsp sea salt 50ml brandy (or orange juice) 110g butter (unsalted) 260g dark muscovado sugar, plus a little extra for sprinkling over the top 75g golden syrup 300g dark chocolate 4 medium free-range eggs 80g plain white flour 75g ready-to-roll marzipan

1 Soak the fruits in the brandy or orange juice with the spices and salt over night.

2 Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 3.

3 In a large saucepan, melt the butter, dark muscovado and syrup until smooth and glossy.

4 Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate, mixing until all the chocolate has fully melted.

12 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

5 Whisk the eggs lightly and add to the chocolate mixture stirring well. Now add the soaked fruits and flour.

6 Pour in to a parchment paper-lined baking tin, 18 x 28 x 3cm deep.

7 Grate the marzipan over the top of the brownie and finish with some dark muscovado sprinkled over the top. Bake for 20-30 minutes until it’s just beginning to set but is still soft in the middle.

8 Remove from the oven, cool completely then chill in the fridge overnight.

9 Turn out of the tin, peel off the paper then cut the edges from the brownie as these can become dry and over cooked.

10 Cut into squares. Serve at room temperature. The brownies will keep for 7 days in an airtight container.

Recipe by Paul Young for Baking Mad (bakingmad.com)

COOKING COMPANION

HOT CROSS BUNS

There’s perhaps no food quite so synonymous with Easter (except maybe, arguably, Easter eggs) as the hot cross bun. Traditionally flavoured with all spice and raisins, these days these yeasty treats are available in all manner of flavours, from Marmite to chocolate.

The history of the hot cross bun is long, supposedly dating back to Saxon times. Back then, of course, they didn’t have any Christian significance — Saxons ate buns marked with crosses in honour of Eostre, the goddess of spring or light. And it’s from the name Eostre that the word Easter is derived. It’s thought that Druids, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans all ate similar cakes or buns marked with deer or ox horns, or a cross signifying the four quarters of the moon in honour of Diana, Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon. You can even find remains of these buns in an ancient bakehouse in Pompeii, and these buns also get a mention in the Bible, when Jeremiah chastises Hebrew women for continuing to worship Diana by offering up said cakes.

Apparently not wanting to give up the delicious cakes, Christians adopted them, changing the symbolism of the cross to represent the crucifixion, and the spices to represent those used to embalm Jesus.

Instead of the traditional buns, this recipe puts the flavours of a hot cross bun, along with some orange and cranberry, into a loaf.

And of course, you could try experimenting with your own flavours too if you’re feeling creative!

1 tsp sunflower oil 2-3 tbsp cold water Juice of 2 oranges 2 tbsp marmalade

1 Grease a 2lb (900g) loaf tin with softened butter.

2 Sieve the flour, cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar and make a well in the centre. Place the yeast in a jug with the warm milk, stir until dissolved and bubbling. Add the milk, eggs and butter to the well and mix into a soft dough.

3 Lightly dust a clean work surface with a little flour or tip into the bowl of a free standing mixer with a dough hook and knead for 7 minutes until smooth and elastic.

4 Place into a lightly oiled mixing bowl and cover with cling film. Place in a warm place to rise for 1-2 hours until it’s doubled in size.

5 When time is up lightly flour a clean work surface. Tip the dough on to the surface and lightly knead. A few spoonfuls at a time sprinkle over the fruit and zest then knead and fold into the dough. When it’s all incorporated place

back in the oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Allow to rise for a further hour.

6 Divide the dough into 8 equal size balls (use a weighing scale to make sure they’re all the same size). Shape the balls into fat sausages.

Place the sausages side by side in the tin. Place the tin in a large sandwich bag and seal it.

Allow to rise in a warm place for 1 more hour.

7 Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C/Gas Mark 4.

8 Meanwhile, mix the plain flour, oil and cold water in a bowl to make a smooth paste. Spoon in to a small piping bag and snip off a small hole. Pipe a little cross on top of each of the hot cross buns. Place the tin in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and risen.

9 Place the juice and marmalade in a small pan and allow to bubble and thicken on a low heat.

When the loaf is ready, carefully and quickly turn it out of the tin and on to a cooling rack.

Brush over the glaze and leave to cool. Serve warm with salted butter. This loaf is best eaten on the day it’s made but will come back to a lovely soft loaf if warmed through in the oven the next day.

Recipe by by Clarence Court

TOP TIP: This loaf m akes great toast or as the base for a bread and butter pud ding.

HOT CROSS BUN LOAF SERVES 8

500g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting ½ tsp ground cinnamon ¼ tsp mixed spice A few gratings of whole nutmeg ¼ tsp fine salt 75g caster sugar 7g sachet dry yeast 170ml whole milk, gently warmed to hand heat 2 large Clarence Court Burford Browns eggs, beaten 80g unsalted butter, softened well, plus extra for greasing 80g sultanas 60g mixed peel 80g dried cranberries Zest of 2 oranges, finely grated 25g plain flour

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COOKING COMPANION

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COOKING COMPANION

SPECKLED EASTER CHOCOLATE CAKE

3 Remove a spoonful of buttercream and place

With chocolate and chicks this gorgeous, speckled cake will make a stunning Easter centrepiece!

Pop into piping bag with leaf tip.

SERVES 10-12

FOR THE SPONGE 250g plain flour 60g cocoa powder 1½ tsp baking powder 1tsp bicarbonate of soda 290g golden caster sugar 200ml vegetable oil 250ml buttermilk 2 tsp vanilla extract 3 large eggs, beaten

in a bowl with green food gel for the leaves.

4 Colour the remaining buttercream pastel pink.

5 Place one piece of sponge on a cake stand and spread over some pink coloured buttercream. Top with another layer, then cover the whole cake and use a large palette knife to make it nice and smooth.

FOR THE SPECKLED SPLATTER 1 Mix the cocoa powder and vanilla extract

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM 300g slightly salted butter 675g icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 4 tbsp milk Food gels (pink and green used here)

together in a small bowl and use a little brush

FOR THE SPECKLED SPLATTER 1 tsp cocoa powder 1tbsp vanilla extract

egg white until frothy and dry, then add the

FOR THE MERINGUE CHICKS 1 large egg white – approx. 40g 80g caster sugar Yellow food gel Edible pens

little yellow food gel and place in piping bag.

FOR THE CHOCOLATE NEST (OPTIONAL) 100g milk chocolate Balloon Grass tip and piping bag

feet onto the meringues with edible pens to

FOR THE SPONGE 1 Preheat oven to 180˚C/Gas Mark 3 and grease and line a 9” cake tin 2 Put flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and caster sugar in a bowl. Add oil, buttermilk, vanilla and eggs and mix well.

3 Pour mixture into cake tin and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Leave cake to cool.

to create little splatters all over the cake to make it look like a speckled egg shell.

FOR THE MERINGUE CHICKS 1 Heat oven to 100 degrees fan. In a mixer, whisk sugar a spoonful at a time until all sugar is used up and the meringue is thick and glossy. Add a

2 Snip the end and pipe small triangular shapes onto baking paper and bake for 30-35 minutes.

3 When dry, draw some eyes, a beak and some look like little chicks.

FOR THE CHOCOLATE NEST (OPTIONAL) 1 Melt milk chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.

2 Blow up a little balloon and balance it on a bowl.

3 Place the melted chocolate in a piping bag with grass nozzle and pipe roughly over the balloon.

4 Trim top if needed and slice cake in half.

4 Leave to set and place in the fridge.

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

5 Pop balloon and place next on top of cake,

1 Beat butter until light and fluffy then add half the icing sugar and beat well. Add remaining icing sugar, vanilla and milk and beat until smooth.

securing with a little chocolate icing.

2 Remove a spoonful of buttercream and place in a bowl with pink food gel for the flowers. Pop in piping bag with flower tip.

7 Slice and enjoy!

6 Pipe chocolate buttercream inside nest and top with meringue chicks, mini eggs.

Recipe by Tala (talacooking.com)

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ITALY

In Italy, a special bread is often made at Easter. It’s made in the shape of a wreath, which symbolises the crown of thorns worn

by Jesus. Often the dough is made from

ITALIAN STUFFED EASTER BREAD WITH BAKED EGGS SERVES 10-12

180ml warm water 28g active dry yeast 1 tbsp sugar 180ml milk 500g bread flour, plus more for dusting 1 tbsp sea salt 80ml olive oil 1 large egg 1 tsp water 4 eggs FOR THE PESTO Leaves and soft stems from 85g watercress, roughly chopped 5 garlic cloves, peeled and grated 150g grated Parmesan or other hard cheese

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three pieces plaited together to represent the Holy Trinity. The bread is often baked with coloured eggs directly in the dough, or white eggs that can be decorated after baking. The

Zest of one lemon 55g pine nuts, toasted 120ml extra virgin olive oil

1 In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the warm water, yeast and sugar and mix at low speed until just combined (about 30 seconds). Leave to stand for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is frothy.

eggs are added to represent rebirth and Jesus rising from the dead.

This recipe has a South West twist with the inclusion of Dorset-grown watercress.

4 Change the paddle attachment on the mixer over to the hook, ensuring that any dough is scraped off and put back into the bowl. Mix on low speed for about 1 minute, then increase the speed to medium and mix for about 5-6 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

2 Heat the milk in a saucepan set over a medium-low heat until tiny bubbles form at the edge of the pan. Do not allow to boil. Set aside and cool to room temperature.

5 Lightly oil a large mixing bowl and place the dough inside. Lightly oil a piece of clingfilm and use it to cover the dough, oiled side down.

Cover this with a clean cloth and set aside in a warm place to prove for around 1 hour, or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.

3 Once the milk has cooled, add it to the mixer along with the olive oil and salt. Mix at a low speed until just combined. Add the flour one quarter at a time, mixing after each addition on a medium-low speed. Ensure everything is combined.

6 Make the pesto by adding the watercress, garlic, cheese, lemon zest, and pine nuts to a processor. Pulse until everything is pureed, then blend continuously while adding the olive oil in a steady stream. Scrape down the sides with a spatula and then blend for another 30

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seconds to make sure everything is combined.

Set aside. (This can be done up to two days in advance but must be brought back up to room temperature before using.)

work surface until it spreads lengthwise to about 20 inches/50cm long. Cover with cling film and set aside while you repeat with the remaining dough and pesto.

7 Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick mat. Make an egg wash by whisking the egg and teaspoon of water together then set aside. Also prepare another large square of parchment to work on when you shape the bread.

9 Line up the rolled tubes on the prepared piece of parchment paper. Use a large sharp knife to make a lengthways slash in each roll, cutting a deep slit halfway down the depth of the tube. Be careful not to cut all the way through.

8 Lightly flour a work surface then turn out the proved dough and cut it into three equal pieces. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll out the first piece to a 12 inch/30cm square.

It should be about 3mm in thickness. Use a spatula to scoop a third of the pesto onto the dough and spread evenly, leaving a border uncovered on the edge closest to you. Brush this exposed border with egg wash, then begin to roll the dough into a tube from the furthest edge towards you as tightly as you can. Once you have rolled the dough fully into a tube, pinch the seam closed with your fingertips.

Gently roll the tube back and forth over the

10 Roughly measure the centre point of the tubes. Working towards you from the centre, plait the tubes together by crossing one of the outer tubes gently over the middle one. Then cross the other outer tube up and over the new middle one exactly as if you were braiding hair. Repeat, working your way down to the end so that half the tube is braided. Then turn the parchment around and plait the other side from the centre to the end. Carefully join up the ends so that the plaited dough forms a ring shape, then pinch firmly together to complete the circle. Use the parchment paper the dough is resting on to transfer the whole thing to your lined backing tray.

11 Make four equally spaced dents for the eggs in between the strips of the plait. Gently position the eggs one by one. Press them down carefully to avoid breaking them.

Lightly oil a piece of cling film then use this to cover the bread. Allow to prove for around 30 minutes.

12 Uncover the plaited loaf and brush well with the remainder of the egg wash. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and bake for an additional 45 minutes or until the bread is a warm brown colour. If you rap the bread gently on the bottom, it should sound quite hollow.

13 Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking tray. Then transfer to a cooling rack and allow to come down to room temperature before serving. Serve on a platter and slice at the table.

Recipe by watercress.co.uk

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GREECE

Tsoureki is the traditional Greek Easter bread. It’s soft and sweet — and not dissimilar to brioche or challah — but with its own distinctive flavour. This version, by MasterChef 2019 champion Irini Tzortzoglou includes chocolate. Irini says: “This tsoureki has all the ingredients that differentiate the tsoureki from all other breads of this type, and as the amounts make two tsourekia, one of them is also filled with a chocolate spread. I use slices from it to make a chocolate tsoureki bread and butter pudding, or in a trifle, but it is also delicious on its own with a cup of coffee. Masticha and mahleb are the two ingredients that make Greek tsoureki unique. You can buy masticha tears (the drops of the dried masticha resin) fairly easily and you grind these together with 1 tbsp of sugar in a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder. This tsoureki is not as sweet as we tend to eat it in Greece so if you have a sweet tooth add more sugar.”

EASTER TSOUREKI WITH CONDENSED MILK MASTICHA AND CHOCOLATE

Try more of Irini’s Greek cuisine from April 1 with The Cookaw ay recipe boxe s.

SERVES 8

150g condensed milk 150g caster sugar 2 eggs, beaten 75ml sunflower oil 100g butter, melted 50g fresh yeast 775-800g strong bread flour 1 tbsp vanilla extract ½ tsp ground cardamom ½ tsp masticha powder ½ tsp mahleb 1 orange, zest only 1 egg white for brushing 2-3 tbsp almond flakes FOR THE CHOCOLATE SPREAD 125g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) 50g butter 1 tbsp honey 7 finger biscuits, approx. 60g crushed with a rolling pin

1 In a medium sized pan, melt the sugar and condensed milk over a low heat, stirring continuously. Add the beaten eggs, sunflower oil, orange zest and vanilla extract and whisk to incorporate everything together. Leave to go tepid before using.

2 Put 200ml of tepid water into the bowl of your standing mixer and melt in the fresh yeast by whisking it thoroughly. Add the contents of the saucepan to the yeast and all the remaining ingredients apart from the flour, holding back a quarter of the butter to add at the end. Whisk to mix well.

3 Start adding the flour gradually, mixing continuously. You should aim for a dough that is soft and pliable, perhaps even a little sticky.

When the dough has been mixing for 10 minutes, add most of the reserved butter and hold a little back to grease your hands in order to handle the dough. Give the dough a couple of minutes more churning and using greased hands, take it out of the mixer bowl and place it in a clean, greased bowl. Cover with

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plastic wrap and a towel and leave somewhere warm to double in size. This stage, depending on the warmth of your environment, could take anything up to 2 hours.

four ropes. Place each plait onto a lined baking

4 When the dough is risen, transfer it onto a clean surface and punch the air out of it. Roll the dough into a long sausage shape and cut into two. Roll each piece out again and cut into four. Roll each quarter piece into a rope of approximately 30cm long. Use a rolling pin to flatten each rope out to about 8cm wide.

tsoureki spreading.

5 To make the chocolate spread, melt the chocolate in a bain marie. Add the butter and let it melt. Stir the honey into the chocolate and leave it to cool. Lastly, add the crushed finger biscuits and mix well.

6 Spoon the chocolate spread all along the middle of the eight flat pieces of dough. Fold one side of the dough to overlap the other so that the chocolate spread is totally wrapped by dough. Use the ropes to make 2 plaits, each with

dish, brush with a little water and leave to rise again. The ambient temperature should not be higher than 40˚C as this would lead to the 7 Preheat the oven to 170˚C/Gas Mark 3.

8 When the two tsourekia have risen, beat the egg white and use it to brush them with.

Sprinkle with almond flakes and bake for 40-50 minutes. The cooked tsourekia should feel light.

9 Leave the tsourekia to cool completely and wrap in plastic wrap and clean dry tea towels to keep soft and fluffy.

10 COOK’S TIP: Place a shallow tin with some boiling water on the bottom of the oven for even fluffier tsourekia.

Recipe by Irini Tzortzoglou (Instagram: @irinitzortzoglou)

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POLAND

Mazurek, also known as Mazurka is a delicious flat cake topped with a choice of almond or nut butters, dried fruits and chopped nuts or meringues. This version uses peanut butter and chocolate! The key is to keep this super flat as traditionally it is never thicker than 1 inch!

This moreish tart-looking cake is usually baked around Easter in Poland to enjoy a slice with friends and family. The use of rich ingredients traditionally marked the end of a period of abstinence over Lent. This recipe is perfect for cutting up into servings, ready to whip out and delight your guests over the long Easter weekend — it will not disappoint.

EASTER MAZUREK SERVES 8

FOR THE CAKE 225g plain white flour 125g butter (unsalted), cut into cubes 3 tbsp double cream 1 large, free-range egg, beaten FOR THE LAYERS White from 1 large, free-range egg 166g icing sugar

33g cocoa powder 83g almonds, ground 83g raisins 3 tbsp smooth peanut butter FOR THE TOPPING 100g milk chocolate 100g hazelnuts, chopped 100g almonds, flaked

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 and grease and line an 8 inch circular cake tin.

2 Mix together all of the cake ingredients then press firmly into the bottom of your cake tin.

3 Bake for 10-20 minutes until it starts to turn golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

4 Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then gradually whisk in the icing sugar until stiff.

5 Sieve in the cocoa powder, add the ground almonds and raisins and gently fold in.

6 Spoon the mixture on to the base and spread level. Bake for 20 minutes or until the mixture is set then cool the tin completely.

7 Beat the peanut butter to soften it before spreading over the cake. Chill for 30 minutes, or until the peanut butter has firmed.

8 To decorate, sprinkle the chopped nuts over the cake and melt the chocolate to drizzle as a finishing touch.

Recipe by Baking Mad (bakingmad.com)

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Roast with the most Treat your mum to the perfect roast dinner this Mother’s Day with these expert hints, tips and recipes Perhaps the ultimate in comfort food, there’s something very special about a roast dinner, isn’t there? It’s the ultimate meal for sharing with the family, and many of us will have memories of sitting around a table with loved ones tucking into a Sunday roast. Maybe that’s why it’s such a great meal for Mother’s Day! But getting it all right can be a little tricky. That’s why we’ve got some experts to share their top tips for making sure your roast dinner is the best it can possibly be!

FOR THE PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN

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Roast lamb Chef, sustainability advocate and 44 Foods Partner, James Strawbridge from Dorset, shares his hints and tips for cooking perfectly succulent rosemary and garlic infused lamb.

Low and slow is the order of the day when it comes to perfecting a leg of lamb. If you want soft, succulent meat, longer really is better, as it not only gives your meat time to tenderise in the oven, but it also gives it longer to take on the flavours of your chosen marinade.

To make sure your lamb is cooked to perfection without slicing into it, grab yourself a meat thermometer. For blush pink inside, the internal temperature straight out of the oven should be 55-60°C, for medium with a hint of pink, it should be 60-66°C and for well done, 67-71°C, though for the optimum juiciness, I’d always recommend enjoying your lamb pink!

SLOW COOKED LEG OF LAMB WITH GRAVY SERVES 6

2kg lamb leg, bone in For the rub 1 pack fresh rosemary 2 whole heads of garlic 2 tbsp olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper FOR THE GRAVY 50g plain flour 500ml beef stock

1 Remove the lamb from the fridge at least 1 hour before roasting.

2 Puree 2 garlic cloves and cut the remaining bulbs in half horizontally.

3 Chop 2 sprigs of rosemary for 2 tbsp of finely chopped needles. Mix the pureed garlic, chopped rosemary, olive oil and set aside.

4 Preheat the oven to 220°C/Gas Mark 8.

5 Place the halved garlic heads in a roasting pan, cut side up, and add the remaining rosemary in sprigs.

6 Turn the lamb leg over so the underside is facing you, add half the rub and cover the leg, then season with salt and pepper.

7 Add the leg the right side up, to the roasting pan on top of the garlic bulb halves and add the remaining rub over the leg, season with salt and pepper.

8 Roast the lamb for 20 mins then reduce the oven temp to 150°C/160°C fan/Gas Mark 4.

Roast for an hour.

9 Internal temp out of oven should be 55-60°C for medium rare (blush pink inside)/ 60-66°C for medium (hint of pink) and 67-71°C for well done (least juicy).

10 Transfer the lamb to a plate, cover with foil and rest for 30 minutes.

11 Make the gravy while the roasting pan is still hot. Remove the rosemary sprigs (should be around 5 tbsp of fat). If less, add butter, and if more, skim off.

12 Place roasting pan on hob over a medium heat. When the fat starts to bubble, add the flour and mix well to form a roux. Cook for 1 minute. Pour in ¾ of the beef stock and mix to dissolve the roux in. Squeeze out some of the garlic to add depth of flavour to the gravy.

13 Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring until it starts to thicken, adding more beef stock to achieve the desired consistency.

14 Strain through a sieve and serve with the lamb.

Recipe by James Strawbridge for 44Foods (www.44foods.com)

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1

Roast beef Paul Berry, owner of the The Swan and Spelt in Bampton, has been dishing up meals and hospitality in the village for 15 years so knows a thing or two about making a great roast dinner. Here are his top tips for cooking a banging bit of beef!

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2 3

If you’re opting for a beef roast dinner, make sure you choose a good piece of meat with a bit of fat, which will add flavour. Rib, sirloin or topside of beef are good cuts for a roast dinner. It should be dark in colour as this means it has matured.

Seal the meat in a frying or roasting pan for a few minutes first as this helps keep all the juices in.

Depending on whether you like your beef rare, medium or well done, will depend on how long you cook it for.

Cook in a hot oven for 30 minutes at 220°C/Gas Mark 7 and then lower the temperature to 190°C/Gas Mark 5 for the remaining cooking time. If you want your beef rare, cook it for 11 minutes per lb/450g, 14 minutes for medium and 16 for well done.

4

You should baste the meat in its own juices to keep it lovely and moist and to prevent it from burning. You should do this every 15 to 20 minutes.

5

The most important thing you can do is to let the meat rest once it’s cooked. This allows it to finish cooking and the juices to redistribute through the meat.

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Roast pork

1

As co-owner of The Swan at Bampton, which was recently listed at number 25 in the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropub Awards, Paul Berry knows a thing or two about making a great roast pork.

Here are his tips:

Roast chicken

2

To get the best crackling, you should pat the skin dry with a paper towel, then evenly sprinkle sea salt over it and leave for 30 minutes in the fridge. The salt will draw out any moisture in the skin. Pat again with a paper towel to ensure it’s fully dry and then add salt, pepper and your chosen herbs to season.

When roasting the pork, make incisions in the meat and pop in slivers of garlic, rosemary and bay. You should also roast the joint in the same tin as your veggies, using them as a bed for the meat. Cook the pork at 230°C/Gas Mark 8 and after 15 minutes, turn the heat down to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and continue to cook for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Done right, a roast chicken can be a truly lovely thing.

To keep it succulent, take it out of the fridge an hour before you intend to start cooking it to bring it up to room temperature. (This can apply to any meat you are roasting).

Resting your bird for at least 15 minutes after you take it out of the oven is also key to making sure the meat stays juicy — and it will also make it easier to carve.

Don’t get too concerned with basting while it’s cooking. Although it can give good results, every time you open the oven you lose some heat which you don’t want to do.

Development chef from Maple, Canada,

Olivier Briault, has the following advice: “Pour water into the bottom of the roasting tin about 2cm deep. Cover with foil and roast for 1 hour at 180˚C/Gas Mark 4. Take the foil off, rub the chicken with a mix of maple syrup and melted butter and continue to roast for 30 minutes or until the skin is golden. Pour the juices into a jug and use in gravy.

“Another good way to add some flavour to a roast chicken is to mix some maple syrup, olive oil, whole grain mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl, then rub the chicken with this mix before cooking. You can also put some thyme into the chicken with a lemon cut in half.”

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EYES ON THE

PIES Pies might be the most quintessentially British dish there is. As a nation, we’re borderline obsessed by rich fillings encased in a flaky, buttery crust. In fact, the average Brit scoffs a whopping 2,160 pies over their lifetime. And for good reason, the pie is a magical piece of gastronomy, is there any other food capable of containing the equivalent of an entire meal (gravy included) which you can hold with ease in the palm of your hand?

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Someone who is passionate about pies is Chunk of Devon founder, Simon BryonEdmond. He says: “I get a bit fed up because pies so often get a bad press - people laugh and talk about pies making you fat. Funny how cupcakes never attract the same attention, even if they are packed with sugar, which really can make you fat.

“There is something extra special about a good pie — succulent chunks of meat bathed in rich naturally made gravies with rich ales and wines and wrapped in a sensational buttery pastry. What’s not to like? It’s also to do with the comfort-food thing. Pie and mash and peas — even the thought of it makes you feel good.

“I think people associate good times with pies. We sell huge numbers at sports events and other big occasions when people are out and about enjoying themselves. And you can eat a pie anywhere, can’t you? My first date

with my wife Suzi featured pie and chips — that’s what we ate in her old fashioned Mini on Kingsbridge quay. I’ll never forget it.”

But while we’ve adopted the pie as our quasi-national dish, the origins of the dish are actually Italian with the first example of meat filling enclosed in pastry having been traced back to ancient Rome.

And while the pastry is now an integral part of a pie (is it even a proper a pie if there’s no pastry on the bottom?), the crust was originally used as a sort of container to preserve the food and were discarded once the filling had been eaten.

Here at Foodlover though we’re definitely in favour of eating the pastry, and we’ve got some great advice on making sure your pastry and pie making is a success this British Pie Week.

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PUMPKIN AND PECAN PIE MAKES 1 PIE

FOR THE PUMPKIN PURÉE 350g pumpkin or squash oil, for tray FOR THE SWEET PASTRY 150g plain white flour 75g butter 25g caster sugar 3 egg yolks butter, for dish flour, for dusting FOR THE PUMPKIN PIE FILLING 75ml evaporated milk 50g sugar 2 tbsp maple syrup 1 egg 2 tsp mixed spice 1 tsp cinnamon FOR THE PECAN TOPPING 1 egg 2 tbsp maple syrup 125g pecan halves

FOR THE PUMPKIN PURÉE 1 Preheat the oven to 220˚C/Gas Mark 7 if roasting the pumpkin.

2 Chop the pumpkin into small pieces, put the pieces onto a lightly oiled oven tray and bake for 40 minutes until soft.

Or put the pumpkin pieces into a pan of water, simmer over a medium heat until soft and drain.

3 When cold enough to handle, remove and discard the pumpkin skin, and put the pulp into a food processor.

4 Pulse or mash the pumpkin into a smooth purée.

FOR THE SWEET PASTRY 1 Lower the oven temperature to 190°C/Gas Mark 5.

2 Rub some butter around the inside of a 20cm/8” tart or flan dish.

14 Lay a large piece of parchment paper over the raw pastry, making sure all the edges are covered.

15 Scatter ceramic baking beans (or rice or flour) over the parchment paper, spreading them all over the surface.

3 Measure the flour into a mixing bowl.

16 Bake for 10-12 minutes, remove from the oven and carefully lift the parchment paper and contents off the pastry.

4 Chop the butter into small cubes and add them to the bowl.

17 Return the pastry to the oven and cook for a further 4-5 minutes.

5 Using a fork or pastry blender to work the butter cubes and flour together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

FOR THE PUMPKIN PIE FILLING

6 Stir in the sugar.

7 Add the egg yolks and stir well.

8 Using your hands, gather the mix together to form a smooth ball of pastry dough.

9 Dust the work surface with flour, put the pastry in the middle and sprinkle it with more flour.

10 Roll out the pastry into a circle 5cm/2” larger than your dish and lift it into the dish OR simply press the pastry into the dish using your fingers.

11 Cut away any pastry that hangs over the edge of the dish.

12 Prick the pastry all over with a fork.

13 Chill the prepared pastry until required.

1 Put the milk, sugar, maple syrup, egg and mixed spice into a mixing bowl and beat together well.

2 Add this to the pumpkin in the food processor and pulse until smooth.

3 Pour the filling into the prepared pastry case.

4 Bake for 30–35 minutes.

FOR THE PECAN TOPPING 1 Break the egg into a mixing bowl, add the maple syrup and beat to combine.

2 Add the pecan halves and mix thoroughly.

3 Place the pecans onto the pie in a decorative pattern.

4 Drizzle any remaining liquid over the top.

5 Bake for 10 minutes.

6 Delicious served warm or chilled.

Recipe by Doves Farm (dovesfarm.co.uk)

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SAVOURY SHORTCRUST PASTRY MASTERCLASS The most traditional pastry for a pie is shortcrust.

Founder of the pie brand Higgidy, Camilla Stephens, shares her recipe for the ultimate shortcrust pastry.

Traditional shortcrust pastry is made up of two parts plain flour to one part fat, such as butter, plus a tiny amount of cold water. At Higgidy, we’ve had lots of practice making shortcrust pastry, so here is our trusted recipe, which is both delicious and easy to handle.

For the ultimate savoury flavour, we add cheese. This makes the pastry taste great and gives it a gorgeous golden colour when baked, but you can leave it out if you prefer a more traditional approach. To make a richer pastry, add a touch more butter and an egg yolk. The pastry can be made easily by hand or using a food processor.

MAKES 350g

200g plain flour, plus a little extra for dusting Generous pinch of salt 100g butter, well chilled and cut into 1cm cubes 30g Parmesan cheese, grated (optional) 1 egg yolk, beaten

6 Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before using.

About 3 tablespoons ice-cold water

How it’s done — by hand 1 Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.

2 Add the butter; lightly rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3 Add the Parmesan, if using, and rub again until the cheese is mixed in evenly.

4 Add the beaten egg yolk and measured ice-cold water and mix with a round-bladed knife until the mixture just comes together to form a dough.

Once you’ve mastered the basics of shortcrust pastry, you can experiment with adding extra flavours, such as nuts, herbs or seeds.

Stir in once the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, just before you add the egg yolk and water. Be aware that some additions, such as moist herbs or oily nuts, can make the pastry harder to handle. Try the following: A TABLESPOON OF FINELY CHOPPED FRESH HERBS — woody herbs such

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5 Turn the pastry out onto a lightly floured surface and knead very briefly into a ball. Try not to handle it too much at this stage, or the butter will get warm, and the pastry will become tricky to use and may turn out tough and chewy.

How it’s done — in a food processor Making shortcrust pastry in a food processor takes just minutes. Pulse the flour, salt, butter and cheese, if using, together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk beaten with the ice-cold water and pulse until the mixture just comes together to form a dough, adding a tiny bit more water if you think it’s needed. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

as thyme, rosemary and oregano work best.

Avoid wetter herbs like chives or parsley, and remember to remove any stalks before chopping.

some zing. Use your finest grater to achieve the best distribution through the pastry, and add the zest to the flour before rubbing in the butter.

A COUPLE OF TEASPOONS OF SEEDS, such as sesame, poppy, black onion (nigella) or caraway.

These add flavour and texture to the pastry.

40–50G FINELY CHOPPED WALNUTS, PECAN NUTS OR HAZELNUTS. You can add these to both savoury and sweet shortcrust pastry.

GRATED UNWAXED LEMON, LIME OR ORANGE ZEST, to give sweet shortcrust pastry

SPICES, such as a pinch of saffron threads, paprika or dried chilli flakes. These taste delicious and give the pastry a beautiful colour.

BAKE FOR SUCCESS Jordan Moore, Senior Chef at online recipe ordering service, Gousto, has shared some advice for pie making success!

Create a pie shield to protect burning edges It’s really easy for the edges of your pie crust to get too brown (or burnt) whilst your pie filling bakes. Creating a pie shield with a large piece of foil will help protect those delicate borders.

Simply cut a circle of foil to resemble a ring donut and fit it around the edge of the pie dish to cover just the crust, leaving the filling free to bake. Remember to remove the foil during the last 15 minutes of baking, or until the edges are golden brown. Using a glass pie pan also reduces the risk of over-baking as it heats more gently.

Eliminate the soggy crust A great hack we love to prevent a soggy crust is to brush the pastry on the base of the pie a beaten egg before adding the filling.

Adding a sprinkling of flour over the bottom layer of pastry also helps to form a layer and prevent a soggy crust. Another method is to partially bake your shortcrust pastry base for 20 minutes, using baking beans to prevent it rising and keep it even. Remember, assembled pies should only be refrigerated for a few hours before baking, otherwise the trapped moisture creates a soggy crust.

Keep the butter cold An oldie-but-goodie tip is using cold butter when making pie pastry. It doesn’t hurt to pop your pie plate and mixing bowl in the freezer to chill before working. This all helps to keep the butter from melting inside the crust, allowing you to make the pastry nice and flaky.

Flaky crusts Adding a few tablespoons of ice-cold water to the pastry at a time is a good way to ensure you have the flakiest crust possible. Going slowly, adding more if needed, is a good way to judge it. For the flakiest crust, you want to add as little water as possible.

A touch of cornflour for fruit pies If you’re making a delicious fruit pie for dessert, try adding a teaspoon or two of cornflour to your filling. Cornflour is a natural thickener, which helps juicier fruit pies set and slice more easily. gousto.co.uk

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RAISED PORK PIE WITH HOT WATER PASTRY MAKES 1

FOR THE HOT WATER PASTRY 300g plain white flour Pinch of salt 1 egg 150ml water

3 Measure the water into a saucepan, add the lard and put over a medium heat.

4 As soon as the pan comes to the boil, remove it from the heat.

5 Pour the hot liquid into the flour mixture while stirring.

TO MAKE THE PIE 1 Pre heat the oven to 170˚C/Gas Mark 3.

2 Rub butter generously around the base and sides of a 15cm/6” round, loose bottom, deep cake tin or insert a baking liner.

6 Using your hands gather the mix together to form a soft and smooth ball of dough.

3 Take two thirds of the pastry and press it into the bottom and sides of the dish.

½ tsp salt

7 Cover and leave for 20 minutes.

¼ tsp mace

4 Tip the pie filling into the pastry lined tin and smooth the top.

FOR THE FILLING

100g lard Butter, for tin FOR THE PORK PIE FILLING 1 tsp chopped sage

¼ tsp ground pepper 1 tsp lemon rind, grated 300g minced pork 200g pork sausage meat 200g bacon cubes

FOR THE HOT WATER PASTRY 1 Put the flour and salt into a bowl and stir to combine.

2 Break the egg into the middle of the flour. Beat the egg, in the bowl, combining it with the flour until it is dispersed through the flour.

1 Measure the sage, salt, mace and ground pepper into a small bowl and stir to combine.

2 Finely grate the lemon rind into the bowl and stir to make the seasoning mix.

3 Put the pork mince, sausage meat and chopped bacon into a mixing bowl and mix together well.

4 Stir in the seasoning mix.

5 Moisten the pastry rim with water.

6 Lightly dust the work surface with flour, put the remaining dough in the middle and sprinkle it with more flour.

7 Roll the pastry into a 15cm/6” circle.

the pastry and remove the small pastry circle. This will allow steam to escape during cooking.

10 Transfer the pastry circle over the filled pie, inverting it so the moistened side is down.

11 Press, pinch or crimp together the outside edges using your fingers or the flat prongs of a fork.

12 Brush the remaining beaten egg over the top of the pie.

13 Place the pie on an oven tray and bake for 70-80 minutes until golden.

14 Allow the pie to cool completely in the tin.

15 Carefully push and lift the cold pie out of the tin.

8 Brush a little water around the circumference of the pastry circle.

16 Wrap the pie and refrigerate.

Best eaten within 3-4 days.

9 Press a 3cm/1¼” cookie cutter or egg cup into the centre of

Recipe by Doves Farm (dovesfarm.co.uk)

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 27

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COOKING COMPANION

- sandwich course -

Sandwiches are a lunchtime staple, but did you know there’s a science behind building the perfect sandwich? We take a closer look ahead of British Sandwich Week which begins on May 22.

T

he humble sandwich. Quick, convenient and tasty, thousands upon tens of thousands of us munch on sandwiches every day. But how much care do we put into creating our lunchtime bite? Probably not as much as we should, if research is anything to go on.

Experts at the University of Leeds studied the science behind what stops sandwiches from going soggy, and the optimum way to build them for a satisfying mouthful of all the fillings in one bite. And the trick is in the construction.

Professor Alan Mackie, Head of the Food and Nutrition School, at the University of Leeds, says: “There are three main areas of consideration — the bread, the spread and the filling. The trick is to place both pieces of bread side by side, then spread, place primary fillers on each slice, and finally add salad in the middle and place them together - rather than building your sandwich from the bottom up.”

So, for example, place cheese on one half, ham, or other protein on the other, and the salad and wet ingredients need to go in the middle. The scientists say doing it this way reduces ‘the sog’.

Symmetrical sandwiches also ‘stop the sog’. Dr Sally Moore, Lecturer and Registered Dietitian, also of University of Leeds, added: “The way to stop ‘the sog’, is to keep the moist ingredients away from the bread. People tend to construct their sandwiches vertically by buttering one layer of bread, then adding the layers of fillings, whether that is cheese, meat, or another protein, then putting salad on top, and finishing with another slice of bread as a lid.

“In most cases, the salad or greens are the wettest ingredients, but adding lots is going to help you achieve your 5-a-day fruit and vegetables where a lot of the moisture will be.

So, we’d definitely recommend constructing sandwiches in a more symmetrical way. Butter two slices of bread, add half of the filling to each slice and then put the salad in the middle.

“Create a moisture shield with butter, mayo, mustard, hummus or whatever spreadable condiment you fancy to create a barrier between the wet ingredients and fillings, and the bread. Remember to spread right to the edges to create the seal to combat the moisture.

“Also, use your loaf to choose your loaf – the sog is more likely with sliced white bread so

go for sourdough, wholegrain or brown, all of which will bring a firm texture, a sturdy sandwich, as well as health benefits.”

In agreeance that the bread chosen is key, is Registered Nutritionist and spokesperson for Bath’s Bertinet Bakery Sourdough, Jenna Hope, who said: “The fibre and fermentation process in sourdough is central to its gut health benefits and as a nation, we are not getting enough fibre. In the UK, just 13 per cent of men and 4 per cent of women are reaching the recommendations for fibre of 30g per day. So, I would suggest using this specialist week to try sourdough, up your fibre and construct some great sandwiches.”

So, this British Sandwich Week, celebrate the great British butty and follow the science to get the basics right so you can take pride in your creation. Make your sandwich instantly instagrammable and boost your five a day intake with colourful ingredients – spinach, radish, peppers, shredded red cabbage and carrots add a pop of colour and bring texture and taste for butty bliss.

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 29

COOKING COMPANION

- A winning combination Did you know that there are awards for the best sandwiches? Affectionately known as the ‘Sammies’, they take place every year during sandwich week.

Last year, Edd Molloy from Chandos Deli in Exeter was named as winner in the Danish Crown Pre-Cooked Bacon category of the Sandwich & Food to Go Designer of the Year competition.

The exact recipe for his winning creation is still a secret, but here are the basics if you want to try recreating it at home.

CRISPY EGGS & BACON 70g Danish Crown — pre-cooked bacon 15g homemade brown sauce 50g ‘Crispy Panko Runny Egg’ 10g beef tomato 5g pea shoots 1 brioche bun

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENT INFO Crispy Panko Runny Egg — panko-coated and deep-fried soft boiled egg.

Homemade brown sauce — dates, tomatoes, apples, onion, garlic, orange juice, apple juice, malt vinegar, ginger, cloves, star anise, fennel, coriander seeds, salt, pepper, red chilli, tamarind paste, brown sugar, water.

ASSEMBLY ORDER Bottom bun, homemade brown sauce, slice of beef tomato, bacon, crispy egg, pea shoots, brown sauce, top bun.

Up your sandwich game Here are eight tips to create the perfect sandwich that will stay crisp and fresh until you are ready to enjoy it, whether that be at your place of work, at a picnic, or on-the-go.

Layering is key — plan your layers so they are in the right order.

Make sure your butter is spreadable and not too much or at room temperature — and spread right to the edges evenly.

30 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

Fold your meat rather than lie it flat.

Dry your greens — if using salad leaves, pat them dry with kitchen paper.

If you’re taking your sandwich to work or on a picnic, store the sliced, wet ingredients separately (e.g., tomatoes, cucumber, pickles) and add them in when you’re ready to eat it .

Mix it up — don’t eat the same sandwich every day — mix it up so your lunch is a treat and adds excitement to your day.

Use up leftovers as fillings to avoid food waste.

Eat mindfully — switch off the TV, put your phone away, sit in a comfortable chair, and savour every bite!

IN SEASON

Feeling crabby The sweet, tasty meat from this hard-shelled crustacean never fails to make a memorable meal

T

here are thousands of crab varieties out there in the oceans, but in the UK there’s one in particular that makes it onto the menu, and that’s the European Brown.

And this is the one that you’ll find caught on the West Country coast.

Like most varieties, it’s delicious, surrendering a dense, sweet white meat from the claws and a softer, richer, more intense flavoured meat from under its distinctive “pie crust” shell.

Crabs are available all year round, but they’re best in the summer, coming into season properly from around April to September. They might be a bit trickier to find in the height of summer though as the male cocks (which are particularly prized because of their bigger claws) seek out cooler, deeper waters.

You can buy crabs alive and kill and cook them yourself, although this is only recommended if you really know what you’re doing to ensure a humane dispatch. Perhaps a better, kinder option is to get the fishmonger to do it for you — but you will need to cook him straight away as the quality of the flesh deteriorates fast.

Once cooked, getting to the succulent flesh can be a bit of a tricky business. Remove the claws by twisting and pulling them away from the body. Twist apart the sections and carefully break the claws with the end of a heavy knife — try to just crack them rather than shatter them — then pull out the meat (a lobster pick might be helpful here).

Next, hold the shell firmly, then push out the body section with your thumbs. Chuck away the 10 grey “dead men’s fingers” which are tough and indigestible.

Scoop the brown meat from under the shell. Don’t worry if it looks a little sloppy and unappetising - it’s perfectly normal – but you can add some fine fresh breadcrumbs if you want to firm it up a bit.

To get the white meat, cut the body section in half (try not to shatter the cartilage as it will be difficult to remove later) and carefully remove.

Finally, pick through all the meat carefully to remove any stray bits of shell.

If all that seems a bit of a faff though, the easiest option is to buy your crab ready cooked and dressed.

Crab is a wonderfully versatile (and healthy) ingredient It’s good eaten hot or cold, in pasta or crab cakes, soups, salads and soufflés. Like most seafood, it pairs well with cream, lemon and butter, and is a fine platefellow for a spot of chilli.

FOODLOVER FAVE For fresh West Country crab, you can’t get much better than the stuff from Dorset Shellfish. It’s a real family business — owned by Caroline Drever, who runs the business with daughter Stef — they believe in providing quality shellfish and fish caught from her partner, Graham’s boat Marauder WH22 and other day boats working out of Weymouth.

Their shop at the Maritime Business Centre in Portland is open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 1pm so make sure to pop along (or call the day before to preorder) to nab yourself some top-quality seafood. www.dorset-shellfish.co.uk

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 31

IN SEASON

CRAB AND WATERCRESS TART SERVES 8

500g plain flour plus extra for dusting Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 lemons, finely zested 250g unsalted butter, cold and cubed + 1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon ice cold water 6 Clarence Court Leghorn White eggs 6 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced 50ml whole milk 200ml double cream 70g watercress, chopped (a few sprigs saved for garnish) 250g picked, white crab meat 1 fresh red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped A handful of pea shoots to garnish Nyetimber’s Classic Cuvee Multi-Vintage, to serve

1 Place the plain flour in a large bowl with a good pinch of salt and pepper and the zest of 1 lemon. Mix well, then add the cold, cubed butter. Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until flakes have formed.

32 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

2 Separate 2 eggs. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of ice cold water. Use a dinner knife to incorporate the flour into the liquid and form a rough ball of dough. Use your hands to pat it into a disc.

Cover in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

3 Once the pastry has chilled, lightly dust a clean work surface with flour. Roll out the pastry to 3mm thickness. Take 8x8cm loose bottomed tart tins and line with the pastry, allowing a little overhang. Prick the bases a few times with a fork and allow the pastry to chill in the fridge again for 30 minutes.

4 Meanwhile, place a small frying pan on a low heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and melt. Add the sliced spring onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until just softened. Tip into a bowl and place to one side.

5 Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C/Gas Mark 4.

6 Remove the pastry cases from the fridge and place on a baking sheet. Line each with parchment paper and fill with baking beans or

rice and blind bake for 10 minutes.

7 Meanwhile, whisk the remaining egg white a little. Remove the baking beans and parchment, brush the inside of the cases with egg white then return the pastry case to the oven for a further 5 minutes until lightly golden.

Once baked, trim the excess pastry off with a Y-shaped peeler.

8 Whisk the remaining eggs in a large mixing bowl with a good pinch of salt, pepper and a few gratings of lemon zest. Pour in the milk, cream, cooked spring onion and the chopped watercress then whisk again. Evenly distribute half the crab meat between the cases. Pour or ladle the mixture into the tart cases.

9 Place the tarts in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until set and golden.

10 Serve warm or cold topped with the remaining crab, watercress sprigs, remaining lemon zest, pea shoots and chopped chilli.

Recipe by Nyetimber and Clarence Court (www.clarencecourt.co.uk)

IN SEASON

BROWN CRAB AND AVOCADO TOSTADA SERVES 2

170g of white meat from a brown crab 1 small red onion, sliced into thin rings Juice of 2 limes, plus wedges to serve Pinch caster sugar 2 spring onions, finely sliced 1 medium red chilli, deseeded and chopped 1 really ripe avocado, peeled, stoned and chopped 1 small garlic clove, crushed 2 corn tortillas Cooking spray oil 2 handfuls mixed salad leaves

1 Preheat the grill to medium-high. Put the onion in a bowl and cover with half the lime juice, the sugar and a pinch of salt. Set aside to soften.

2 Mix the crab meat with the spring onions and half the chilli. Season with black pepper and set aside.

3 Mash the avocado with the remaining lime juice, garlic and season, then stir in the rest of the chilli.

4 Spray each tortilla with oil, then place under the grill for a few minutes until crisp and golden. Put the toasted tortillas on 2 plates and top with the salad leaves, mashed avocado and crab meat.

Drain the onion and add to the top, then serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.

Recipe by Love Seafood (loveseafood.co.uk)

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 33

IN SEASON

Take a leek...

Make the most of this versatile allium

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here’s a lot to be said for the humble leek. Treated gently, they can be one of the most versatile veggies in the greengrocer’s. Cooked right, (we’d recommend cooking slowly over a low heat with lots of butter) the leek becomes soft and sweet, making it perfect for all manner of dishes. Don’t be fooled though, for while the cooked leek is mild and accommodating, in its raw state it’s harsh and almost inedible.

And when prepping it, you’ll need to make sure that you’ve removed any dirt or sand that’s worked its way between the leaves by washing thoroughly under running water.

Choosing a good specimen is easy though. Look for fresh, white roots and bright green. It’s the white and light green parts that you’ll be using (the tougher, woody stalks have

34 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

very little use, other than perhaps to wrap round some herbs for a bouquet garni).

There are plenty of delicious ways to use a leek. It makes a good base (along with the likes of carrots, onions and celery) for soups and stews, and is perfect in all kinds of hearty, warming fayre, A leek and potato soup is, of course, a classic, but it’s brilliant in stews, bakes and gratins galore. Try adding some soft, sweet leeks to cheese on toast or, if you’re feeling a bit fancier, then leeks are also rather good in a soufflé too.

Leeks are best mates with things like ham, bacon and cheese — their aromatic sweetness providing the perfect foil for saltier flavours — and they also make happy platefellows with seafood like prawns, scallops, salmon, mackerel and white fish.

LEEK AND SMOKED CHEESE MACARONI Using wholewheat macaroni and including leeks makes this easy pasta bake a little more nutritious and interesting than traditional macaroni, but just as comforting. Smoked Cheddar and leeks are a good combination of sharp and sweet, but you can play

around with the type of cheese — a piquant blue cheese also works (although might be less popular with children).

SERVES 1

100g wholewheat macaroni Olive oil 100g leeks, shredded 10g butter 10g flour ½ tsp Dijon mustard 200ml milk

IN SEASON

50g smoked Cheddar, grated, and a little extra for topping 1 tbsp breadcrumbs (optional) salt and pepper

1 Preheat oven to 200°C/ Gas Mark 6. Boil the pasta in salted water for 8 minutes. Drain and toss in a little olive oil.

2 Meanwhile, gently cook the leeks in butter for 8 minutes. Add the flour to the leeks and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in the mustard.

Gradually stir in the milk. Add the cheese and heat gently, stirring, to thicken the sauce.

Season to taste.

3 Transfer to a small baking dish and sprinkle over a little more cheese and breadcrumbs if using. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden.

Recipe by Riverford (www.riverford.co.uk)

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FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 35

LITTLE COOKS

er t as E E ts a e tr

Baking these tasty treats will keep you busy during the Easter holidays!

aster is a brilliant time to get creative in the kitchen. For a start, loads of Easter recipes are full of yummy chocolate, but not only that, Easter animals like chicks, lambs and bunnies are super cute and it’s really fun to try and make them part of the design of your Easter bakes.

Easter cakes and biscuits are also brilliant to give as presents instead of an Easter egg.

And because you made them, they’ll be even more special! Here are a few recipes for you to try…

3 Next, using the melted chocolate again, stick on one milk chocolate button either side of the egg to form the wings.

4 Rotate the chick 90 degrees and stick another milk chocolate button towards the bottom to form a tail.

5 Rotating back 90 degrees again, stick on two white chocolate buttons, roughly level with the wings to create the eyes.

EASTER CHOCOLATE CHICKS Baby chicks, eggs, and chocolate – this recipe takes all three and combines them into these hugely characterful little guys.

Aren’t they fun? Once you’ve got the hang of one, you can just keep making until you’ve got a complete set of chicks. If you’re feeling creative, each chick could have an orange button crest, a chocolate button top hat, or anything else you fancy.

SERVES 5

5 chocolate eggs 1 pack of orange chocolate buttons (from the baking aisle) 6 squares of milk chocolate

36 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

2 packs of white chocolate buttons 2 packs of milk chocolate buttons 1 black writing icing pen

6 Next, use a sharp knife to cut an orange button into a triangle shape (this is a job for a grown up) and then stick that just below the white buttons to form the beak.

1 Place two orange buttons side by side on an up-turned bowl with a flat base. Heat the milk chocolate in a small container in the microwave until it has just melted, then dot a small amount at the top where the buttons meet.

7 To make the pupils, squeeze a blob of writing icing into the centre of each white chocolate button, then pat them with a slightly wet finger to flatten.

2 Stand the chocolate egg on top of your chocolate blob, pointy end up and hold it in place gently until it can stand up on its own.

It should take 15-20 seconds. If it takes longer, your chocolate ‘glue’ is too hot, so stop for a few minutes until it has thickened.

8 Allow the chick to set completely for a few minutes, then turn the bowl the right way up and run a splash of warm water into it while gently pulling on the chick from underneath. It should release within a few seconds.

Recipe by AO at Home (ao.com)

LITTLE COOKS

EASTER CHICK AND BUNNY CUPCAKES MAKES 12

FOR THE CUPCAKES 230g plain flour 20g cocoa powder 230g golden caster sugar ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda 100g chocolate chips 2 medium eggs 160ml cold coffee 1tsp vanilla bean paste 160ml buttermilk 140ml vegetable oil 12 mini cream eggs (foil removed, frozen) FOR THE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM 150g unsalted butter 270g icing sugar 2tbsp milk 90g chocolate chips FOR THE MERINGUE BUNNY & CHICKS 1 large egg white (approx 40g) 80g caster sugar Yellow food gel Edible pens TO DECORATE Mini eggs

FOR THE MERINGUE RABBIT AND CHICKS

FOR THE CUPCAKES

1 Heat oven to 120˚C/Gas Mark ½ and line a baking tray with baking parchment.

1 Preheat oven to 180˚C/Gas Mark 3 and fill a cupcake tin with 12 paper cases.

2 In a mixer, whisk egg white until frothy and dry, then add the sugar a spoonful at a time, until all sugar is used up and the meringue is thick and glossy and you can’t feel sugar when you rub a little mixture between your fingers.

2 Place flour, cocoa, sugar and bicarb in a large bowl and mix together creating a well in the centre. Add eggs, coffee, vanilla, buttermilk and vegetable oil to a jug and gently whisk.

3 Place half the meringue mixture into a piping bag with a round nozzle, and pipe a large flat circle, with two smaller ones towards the bottom. Use a damp finger to flatten the peaks.

These form the rabbit’s body and feet. Switch the nozzle to a small star and pipe a small star on top, this will be the tail.

4 Add a little yellow food gel to the remaining meringue mixture.

5 Place meringue in a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle and pipe small triangular shapes onto baking paper, a few with one smaller triangle on top to create larger chicks and bake for 30-35 minutes or until dry to touch.

Leave to cool.

6 When cool, draw some eyes, a beak and some feet onto the meringues with edible pens to look like little chicks and rabbits.

3 Pour wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry, mix well then fold in chocolate chips.

4 Fill paper cases half way, and place a cream egg in each centre. Top with remaining batter and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Pop on wire rack to cool.

FOR THE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM 1 Place chocolate chips in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and gently heat until melted.

Leave to cool.

2 Beat butter until light and fluffy, then add icing sugar in two additions and beat until fully incorporated.

3 Add milk and mix well.

4 Mix in melted chocolate and place into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.

5 Pipe a large swirl on top of each cupcake, top with meringues and mini eggs.

Recipe by Tala (talacooking.com)

ON THE COVER FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 37

LITTLE COOKS

EASTER BISCUIT DECORATING Biscuits are perfect for gifting as you can batch bake plenty in one go and have enough to give to lots of different people.

MAKES 15-20

FOR THE BISCUITS 100g sugar 200g butter/baking margarine 300g plain flour ½ tsp salt 1tsp vanilla paste/essence 2 tbsp milk FOR THE ICING 600g (approx.) Icing sugar Food colouring (yellow, pink, orange) 200g butter Zest of 1 lemon 2 tbsp cocoa powder A few drops of orange extract Chocolate eggs, to decorate Dessicated coconut, to decorate Chocolate buttons, to decorate Edible eyes, to decorate

1 Line two baking trays with baking parchment 2 Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

3 Add flour and salt and mix together until very dry and crumbly.

4 Mix in the vanilla and milk until you have a stiff dough.

5 Dust your work surface lightly with four and roll out the dough to a thickness of about 5mm.

6 Cut circles with a round cutter.

7 Gather the scraps into a ball, re-roll and repeat the cutting process 8 Arrange the biscuits on a lined baking tray, allowing a little space between each one.

9 Chill for 10 minutes while you set the oven to 160˚C/Gas Mark 3.

10 When the oven reaches temperature, bake the biscuits for 14-16 minutes until they are golden brown.

11 Allow the biscuits to cool on the trays while you get started on the icing.

12 Make up a batch of piping icing using 200g icing sugar and about 4 tbsp water added gradually. Tip: piping icing should have the consistency of toothpaste.

13 Split the icing into 6 bowls leaving two white and colouring two yellow, one pink and one orange. You’ll only need a small amount of pink and orange so be sure to add more for the white and the yellow.

38 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

14 Fit your piping bags with a writing tip piping nozzle (you might need to ask a grown-up to help you do this) and pipe around the edges of your biscuits; white for the bunnies (and the smaller bunny feet) and yellow for the chicks.

15 Leave the icing to set for 5 minutes, then add a tbsp more water to your second bowls of white and yellow icing to create a flooding consistency that is thick but runs off a spoon. Pour the icing into new piping bags and fill the centre of the biscuits pushing the icing to the edges gently until it’s fully covered. Place the biscuits onto a lined baking tray and put into an oven at 100˚C/ Gas Mark ¼ for 1 hour to let them set.

16 For the lamb and the nest biscuits, make up a batch of buttercream using 200g butter and 400g icing sugar. Split the buttercream between two bowls and add lemon zest to flavour your white buttercream and add 2 tbsp of cocoa powder and orange extract to make chocolate orange buttercream for your nests.

17 Fit one piping bag with a closed star piping

nozzle and fill it with the lemon buttercream, and another with a grass piping nozzle and fill it with the chocolate orange buttercream.

18 For the lamb’s, pipe buttercream stars all over the biscuit then top with a chocolate button and edible eyes, followed by a quarter of a chocolate button either side for the ears. For the nests, pipe continually around the biscuits, building the chocolate orange buttercream up to form a nest. Fill the nest with chocolate eggs.

19 When the chicks and bunnies are set, decorate the chicks with some edible eyes then fit a piping bag with a small star nozzle and pipe on the beak and the feet with the orange buttercream.

20 For the bunnies, attach the bunny feet to the bottom of the circle and then pipe on the bunny paws with the pink icing and add a bunny tail with the remaining lemon buttercream. Finish the fluffy tail off with a sprinkle of desiccated coconut.

COOKING COMPANION

Cookbook Corner HEAVENLY FEASTS AND BURNT OFFERINGS £12.99 The book is available by emailing haldonviews@gmail.com Heavenly Feasts and Burnt Offerings has been created by the people of St Andrew’s Church in Kenn near Clevedon and includes 200 recipes from well-known public figures, senior clergy, politicians, as well as dishes from people in the parish.

The project started during lockdown as a way of raising funds for the church.

Members of the PCC (Parochial Church Council) wrote to celebrities including the Rev. Richard Coles, Joanna Lumley, Prue Leith and even HRH The Duchess of Cambridge asking for their favourite recipe along with a funny story or happy memory. The result is more than 250 pages of beautifully printed and bound recipes, jokes, photographs and artwork.

Joanna Lumley said: “Heavenly Feasts and Burnt Offerings is far more than a cookery book: It’s like being in a room filled with talkative friends in aprons showing you how to do dishes: But it’s peppered with pictures, quotes and aphorisms and is irresistible from the very first page.”

THE CANNY COOK

EAT, SHARE, LOVE

by Phil Vickery £14.99, Octopus

By Kalpna Woolf £22, Meze Publishing

Nutritious and convenient, canned and frozen food can be used for a wide range of value-for money recipes. Phil Vickery has never been one to compromise on flavour, but he always looks for ways to save money and make the process of cooking easier. In The Canny Cook, he shows you not only how to spend and waste less, but also how to cook fast, fuss-free, good-for-you meals that are bursting with flavour — all from canned and frozen food.

From vegan and vegetarian dishes, to pasta, meat and fish, desserts and healthy snacks, Phil’s creative and inspiring recipes are perfect for anyone looking to feed a family using everyday supermarket ingredients, as well as anyone wanting to contribute to their 5-a-day (frozen berries are a perfect addition to your morning cereal) or to save time in the kitchen (swapping dried pulses for canned varieties means there’s no need to soak).

Eat, Share, Love is a resonant book for our time featuring mouth-watering dishes from the UK’s myriad food cuisines, many of which are less familiar and includes dishes such as berberespiced Eritrean stews, fragrant Iranian saffron rice, fresh Sudanese salads, celebratory sweet pancakes made at Holi, Somali Lamb Huuris, Polish Easter cake and Bosnian Breskvice — little peach shaped cakes made for special occasions.

Every dish is accompanied by the personal story behind it, revealing touching tales of love, family, friendship, happiness, loss, kindness, laughter and much more. From romance blossoming over a tantalising Persian ghormeh sabzi to foraging in hedgerows for elderflowers to make Grandma’s delicious cordial and gathering with family and friends to make Moldovan cheese dumplings.

Kalpna Woolf is an award-winning food writer, entrepreneur, charity campaigner and founder of 91 Ways, the Bristol initiative which seeks to bring diverse communities together using the power of food to share stories and break down barriers.

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 39

LOVE LOCAL

a course for catering, which meant I had two career options. The course I was doing at the time was going to take me five years to complete, as I had to do it part time, so I could work alongside it, but by the time I would have graduated, I was already a sous chef.

I realised whilst completing an accounting internship that I wasn’t interested in an office job and working with data, and in the kitchen there is more interaction with people, so I told my tutor I was going to be a chef. I fell in love with what I was doing whilst on that catering course.

What do you like most about your job?

Every day the feedback I get from the customers just makes my day. It’s the thing I love most about my job, coming to work, cooking some good food and walking through the restaurant to see how people are enjoying the meal I have served them. Every day is a different day in the kitchen and that’s the exciting part.

What do you like about working in Cornwall?

I used to come down to Cornwall on holidays with my family, and we thought this would be a dream place to bring the kids up. The best thing about living here is the work/life balance, going to the beaches, and all the locally produced food straight from the sea or land onto the plate for customers.

Nice and spice We meet Siaka Touray, head chef of the recently reopened St Tudy Inn in Bodmin

Hi Siaka! Can you tell us a little bit about your career to date?

I started my career at the fifth floor of Harvey Nichols back in 1994. I was there for about 10 years and during that time I progressed from chef trainee to head chef, before leaving in 2005. I then moved down to the Riverside (The Riverside bar and restaurant) to see what else I could do. From there, I then worked in various places in London, and moved down to Cornwall in 2014. My first job here was at The Godolphin Arms, and I’ve also had positions at Rick Stein and the Eden Project. Now I’m here, at St Tudy Inn. When did you know that you wanted to become a chef?

After finishing my A levels, I moved to this country and joined Harvey Nichols. At the time I was a self-financed student studying accounting and finance, so was working in the kitchen at Harvey Nichols as a catering assistant, helping them with salad prep to pay for my course. Then the head chef one day just called me and said he saw potential in me, and was prepared to sponsor me on

40 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

Are there any ingredients you particularly enjoy working with? Why those?

I particularly enjoy working with spices and getting the best flavours out of them. I tend to play a lot with them and like all kinds, they don’t need to be hot. I enjoy bringing the aroma out in a simple spice, for example a coriander seed, which really enhances a dish.

Any particular local produce or suppliers you recommend?

I get my fish from Matthew Stevens but buy it directly from Newlyn fish market, which is very good. In terms of a bakery, I think Da Bara Bakery is a really good one as well, although at the minute, I am making my own bread in house. My butcher, Brian Etherington is also great.

LOVE LOCAL

Do you have a signature dish?

That’s a difficult question. I just love cooking amazing food, especially seafood, which Cornwall is fantastic for. If I had to choose, it would be lobster thermidore.

What can we expect from dining at St Tudy Inn? We really try to keep it simple and just cook good food, well. I want them to have a great experience with the flavours and the simplicity of the food.

Anything we MUST try?

The pork belly, braised in marmalade and Szechuan pepper, is a winner. The nduja scotch egg is also really fabulous.

How often do you change the menu?

Well, as we’ve only just opened we haven’t changed the menu yet, but my plan is to make it seasonal and change it at least four times a year. There will also always be a special available, which changes weekly. I’m thinking about putting on a curry night every Wednesday as well, with three curry options, a fiery dish, a mild dish, and a creamy one, which will include a vegan option. sttudyinn.co.uk

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 41

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TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE OF WINNING THESE FANTASTIC PRIZES, visit www.foodlovermagazine.com/competitions and enter your details by May 1 2022. GOOD LUCK! 42 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

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