Whitchurch school cookbook

Whitchurch Combined School

g n i k o Co y

a W h c r u h c t i h W the

Delicious recipes collected by the children, teachers, parents and friends of the school.

l family recipes, with very specia "... over 100 mouthwatering eary, The Duchess of York contributions from Dermot O'L nc." and super chef Raymond Bla

e m o c Wel r to ou k o o b k Coo

s t n e m e g d e l w o n Ack There are so many people without whom this book would have remained ‘half baked’. We’d like to thank all the children, their parents, the PTA and the teaching staff who have helped us fill this book with such delicious recipes, pictures and photos. Thanks especially to Mrs Crook for making the ‘photo shoot’ happen, Mr Bowskill (for his celebrity chef contact!) and Mrs Berridge for collecting and collating.

We also particularly want to thank the extraordinary group of parents and friends who volunteered their skills to this project and made it all possible; Ashley & Kerrie Raines, Haley Pearce of Walter Lilly Creative, Karla Coletta, Claire Steele, Matt Brown, Jenny Nimmo, Tanya Ward, Jackie Flitney, Claire Rose, Joanna Rose, John Mackenzie and of course a very special mention to Martyn Allen, who toiled away tirelessly to bring everything together and produce a book we can all be proud of.

A huge thank you goes to all our generous sponsors and special contributors, who have given us the support we needed to exceed our expectations. And finally, we thank YOU, the proud owner of “Cooking The Whitchurch Way” for being the essential ingredient. By buying this book you have helped ensure the children of Whitchurch Combined School get the very best education they deserve, continue to be inspired and have every opportunity to develop new and exciting skills.

Credits Design & Layout by Martyn Allen Photography by Ashley Raines Edited by Gay Wilmot-Smith, Karen Ricketts, Sarah Hague & Liz Brown Cookbook Committee; Martyn Allen, Annabella Rennison, Melanie Buckley & James Hague.

Printed & bound in Buckinghamshire by DigiPrint Graphics Limited, www.digiprintgraphics.co.uk

y p p a H ! g n i Cook

d r o w e For Hello and welcome to the first ever Whitchurch Combined School cookbook!

Over recent months there has been a lot of hard work put in by the parents who have planned and created this marvellous book to help raise funds to support cooking at our school.

The cooking and sharing of food is such an important way for children to have fun, socialise and develop important life skills. When it was announced that cookery was to become a requirement of the national curriculum, Whitchurch Combined School was faced with a huge task as we lacked the proper facilities. However, projects like this book, and your continued support, will enable us to purchase the new equipment that will allow our children to experience the enjoyment of cooking at school.

Once again I would like to say a huge “thank you� not only to everyone who kindly contributed recipes or pictures but also to the local business community who have so generously supported our efforts.

I hope you enjoy trying some of these wonderful recipes and that this fabulous book will take pride of place in your kitchens for years to come.

Happy cooking!

Jackie Jackie Crook Headteacher

k o o b r u o e How to us In each section of our book you will find delicious, tried and tested recipes. Each section is colour-coded and recipes suitable for vegetarians or those with specific dietary needs are flagged: V Vegetarian GF Gluten Free DF Dairy Free

V

GF

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Please check individual food labels for dietary advice.

Some of the recipes have been passed down the generations and hence are stated in imperial measures. Others are newer and are in metric. To stay true to the original recipe, the measures are set out as they were given. For anyone who needs it, opposite is a useful metric/imperial conversion table:

Dry measures

Liquid measures

Imperial

Metric

Imperial

Metric

1 oz 2 oz 3½ oz 4 oz 5 oz 7 oz 9 oz 11 oz 12 oz 1 lb 2 lb 2¼ lb

25g 50g 100g 125g 150g 200g 250g 300g 350g 450g 900g 1 kg

1 fl oz 2 fl oz 3 fl oz 4 fl oz 5 fl oz 6 fl oz 7 fl oz 8 fl oz 10 fl oz/½ pint 1 pint 1½ pints 1¾ pints

25 ml 50 ml 75 ml 120 ml 150 ml 175 ml 200 ml 250 ml 300 ml 600 ml 900 ml 1 litre

3 lb 6 oz

1.5 kg

3½ pints

2 litres

And to help you with oven temperature conversions: Centigrade

Fahrenheit

Gas Mark

Description

140°C

275°F

1

Very cool

150°C

300°F

2

Cool

160°C

325°F

3

Warm

180°C

350°F

4

Moderate

190°C

375°F

5

Fairly hot

200°C

400°F

6

Fairly hot

220°C

425°F

7

Hot

230°C

450°F

8

Very hot

240°C

475°F

9

Very hot

For those with Agas – you know your oven!

s t n e t n o C ht Bites

ters & Lig r ta S s u o tu p m u S

Mouth-watering

Mains

page 11-31

page 33-103

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page 105-139

A Good Bake

page 141-181

Too Good to Miss

page 183-195

sinesses

page 197-201

Perfect Pudding

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page 11

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& Light B rs te r ta S s u o tu p Sum Cullen Skink (Scottish Fish Soup) A Pair of Pear Salad Kilner Jar ‘Chovies Red Pepper Soup 24 Hour Salad Smoked Mackerel Pate Spinach Baked Eggs with Dill and Yogurt Butternut Squash Soup Crab, Avocado and Salmon Parcels Asparagus and Pastrami with Scrambled Eggs Jacket Potato Boats Welsh-Rarebit Muffins (Cheesy Muffins) Zucchini Slice So Yum Laksa Thai Sweet Potato Soup with Thai Pesto

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

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Cullen Skink (Scottish Fish Soup) Specially prepared for us by Isla St Clair, Scottish born traditional singer and TV presenter most notably as Larry Grayson’s co-host on the long running BBC show, The Generation Game.

“Some of my fisherfolk ancestors came from Cullen, in north east Scotland, near my mother's home town of Buckie. I spent much of my childhood living in that coastal area and Cullen Skink was on the menu at least twice weekly. I still love this delicious soup.”

Ingredients 1 large smoked haddock (weight around 1 kg) 2 large leeks, finely sliced 1 large onion, chopped 2 large potatoes, chopped 1½ litres whole milk Handful of chopped parsley Salt and pepper to taste 2 bay leaves

Method 1 Skin the smoked haddock.

2 Poach the smoked haddock in a large pan for a few minutes with the milk and bay leaves.

3 Remove the fish from the pan and keep to one side.

4 Add the leeks, onion and potatoes to the milk and cook gently until soft.

5 Remove the bay leaves and liquidise the milk mixture before returning to the pan.

6 Add the flaked smoked haddock and season with pepper. Beware of adding too much salt as the haddock is usually salty. Finally add the chopped parsley and serve.

7 Isla's tip: You can cook and serve the soup without liquidising the ingredients for a more traditional recipe. Whichever you choose it will be delicious.

Preparation will take around 30 minutes.

Serves 4 to 6

V

GF

ers & Light Bites

Sumptuous Start

A Pair Of Pear Salad Claire Steele and Xantippe “Incredibly simple, unerringly fab, I can't remember where it came from but it's a firm favourite in our family. If your children don't like blue cheese then you could leave it out altogether, or substitute with something else, or serve it anyway because they might get to like it!”

Ingredients Avocado pear, peeled, stoned and sliced Sweet pear (Comice for example), sliced Walnuts Green leaves (such as rocket, watercress etc) Blue cheese (e.g. Gorgonzola, Dolcelatte, St Agur) Olive oil Balsamic vinegar

Method 1 2 3 4

Choose lovely plates. Arrange the leaves upon them.

Alternate the slices of avocado and sweet pear – maybe six per plate.

Sprinkle a few walnuts and crumble some blue cheese over to taste.

Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a dressing.

page 17

page 18

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Kilner Jar ’Chovies Matt Brown, broadcaster and author, Joe and Sam “To be honest you don’t need a Kilner jar, just one with a tight fitting rubber seal. The ingredients should fill a half litre jar.

These anchovies are easy peasy and amazing as a starter on their own or with some slices of salami or prosciutto.”

Ingredients 1 or two cans anchovy fillets in oil 1 large clove of garlic 1 bunch parsley and/or basil ½ tsp of chilli flakes (a little more if you fancy) 50g fresh breadcrumbs 1½ tbsp cider vinegar (or wine vinegar of whatever colour you choose) 175 ml extra virgin olive oil A few twists of black pepper

Method 1 Finely chop the garlic, herbs and chilli flakes together.

2 Soak the breadcrumbs in the vinegar, squeeze and then chop into the herby, garlicky, chilli mix.

3 That’s it.

4 OK, well not quite. Then take your jar and start layering the ingredients. Start with a layer of the herb mixture, then on top of that put a layer of anchovies, season with a twist of pepper, then cover with oil. Then lay down some more herbs, then some anchovies, season with pepper, then top up with oil.

Repeat until all the ingredients have been used.

5 Make sure your final layer of anchovies is covered in oil and then shut the lid and pop in the fridge.

6 Serve up these beauties with some hunks of crusty bread and enjoy with a glass of Viognier or something Italian or whatever takes your fancy.

Makes a half litre jar full

ers & Light Bites

Sumptuous Start

Red Pepper Soup Mrs Carr “Delicious and easy.”

Ingredients 3 red peppers, chopped 1 medium onion 1 packet Boursin cheese Pinch of cayenne pepper 1½ pints chicken stock 1½oz butter 1 tsp granulated sugar Salt and pepper to taste

Method 1 2 3 4

Melt butter. Add all ingredients except cheese.

Bring to boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

Add cheese.

Blend and enjoy!

Serves 4 to 6

By Nicholas Wilmot-Smith

page 19

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24 hour Salad Ian Gould, Charlie and Jack

Ingredients Lettuce (can add watercress, any green salad leaves) Spring onions Frozen petit pois peas Jar of mayonnaise Small tomatoes Cheese Crunchy bacon

Method 1 2 3 4 5 6

Break up salad leaves and put in a bowl.

Chop onions and mix with salad leaves.

Place frozen peas on top of salad.

Cover peas with mayonnaise.

Place tomatoes in mayonnaise around side of dish.

Grate cheese into middle of dish and top with bacon.

By Charlie Gould

GF

ers & Light Bites

Sumptuous Start

Smoked Mackerel Pate Gay Wilmot-Smith and Nicholas “This is quick, easy and delicious. It’s a great starter. The boys also enjoyed it when I was weaning them onto solid food!”

Ingredients 200g Philadelphia cheese 1 packet smoked mackerel or kipper fillets Lemon juice to taste Black pepper (I have also used smoked pepper mackerel and left out the black pepper)

Method 1 Whiz all the ingredients together in a blender and serve on Melba toast.

2 To make Melba toast, take a piece of regular toast with crusts removed, slice it through the middle and grill the non-toasted side.

Serves 6

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Spinach Baked Eggs with Dill and Yoghurt Piers Ricketts, Cameron and Ben “Both delicious and virtuous being packed with protein and providing 2 of your 5 a day. Great for lunch or a light supper.�

Ingredients 450g spinach 1 tbsp olive oil 1 bunch salad onions, roughly chopped 150g baby plum tomatoes, halved 4 eggs 2 tbsp low fat natural yoghurt Few drops lemon juice Dash Tabasco 1 tbsp chopped dill

Method 1 Put the spinach in a large colander and pour over enough just-boiled water to wilt (you may need to do this in batches); refresh under cold water. Squeeze out excess water, then dry well on kitchen paper. Roughly chop and set aside.

2 Heat the oil over a medium heat in a medium frying pan. SautĂŠ the onions for 5 minutes, then turn up the heat, add the tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the spinach, season and stir everything together; cook for another 2 minutes.

3 Turn the heat to low. Using a spoon, make 4 holes in the spinach and crack in the eggs. Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes until the eggs are set.

Meanwhile, season the yoghurt and stir in the lemon juice. Uncover the pan, spoon over the yoghurt, splash with Tabasco and scatter over the dill. Serve immediately.

Serves 2

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ers & Light Bites

Sumptuous Start

page 23

Butternut Squash Soup Kerrie Raines, Amelia and Charles

Ingredients 500ml vegetable stock 750g butternut squash, cut into cubes 2 red onions, chopped 2 garlic cloves, halved 60ml live yoghurt ¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Method 1 Put the stock and 500ml of water into a pan and bring to the boil. Add the squash, onions and garlic and return to the boil. Reduce the heat slightly and cook for 15 minutes or until the squash is smooth.

2 Drain the vegetables in a colander, reserving the liquid. Purée the squash mixture until smooth, either in a blender or with a hand masher.

3 Return the squash purée to the pan and stir in enough reserved liquid to reach the preferred consistency. Season to taste with nutmeg and cracked black pepper.

4 Ladle the soup into bowls and pour some live yoghurt into each bowl to create a swirl pattern on the top. Sprinkle nutmeg, serve with fresh rye bread and enjoy!

Serves 4 to 6

page 24

Crab, Avocado and Salmon Parcels Annabella Rennison and Rose “This is a lovely light starter and not at all as rich as it might sound.”

Ingredients 325g fresh crabmeat (all white meat or two thirds white to brown) ½ a red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped Juice 1 lime 2 tbsp good quality mayonnaise 1 tbsp of chopped chives (optional) 325g smoked salmon slices 1½ ripe avocados, sliced and sprinkled with the remaining lime juice Lime wedges and mixed leaves to serve

Method 1 Line 6 ramekins with clingfilm.

2 Mix the crab, chilli, half the lime juice, mayo and chives (if using), and season.

Lay smoked salmon slices into the ramekins so they hang over the sides and cover the bottom without overlapping too much. Place some crab mix in each ramekin and top with avocado.

3 Fold the overlapping salmon over the top of the avocado; snip off excess.

Wrap the clingfilm over the top and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

4 To serve, remove the clingfilm from the top and invert the parcels on to plates. Serve with lime wedges and leaves.

Serves 6

V

ers & Light Bites

Sumptuous Start

page 25

Asparagus and Pastrami with Scrambled Eggs David Parker and Gemma “This is a quick all-in-one meal that is a good lunchtime filler. My daughter likes 7 or 8 asparagus tips, a couple of pastrami slices and a spoonful of scrambled eggs (but you can do more if you like!).”

Ingredients A bunch of asparagus Pastrami slices Eggs Bread

Method 1 Put some water on to boil in a kettle and put your steamer or pan on the hob.

Wash and trim the asparagus.

2 Place a small amount of the boiling water in the steamer, raise to a gentle simmer, add the asparagus and leave to steam for 6 or 7 minutes.

3 Crack your eggs into a bowl, add a splash of milk and a dash of pepper to taste and whisk.

4 At the end of the 6 to 7 minutes, remove the asparagus pan and put to one side. In a new pan, place the whisked eggs and heat gently to scramble. As they start to gel, get some toast on. When the eggs are done put to one side.

5 Remove the asparagus, lay out and coat with a small knob of butter or margarine and wrap with a couple of pastrami slices.

6 Butter the toast and serve with the egg and asparagus. If you’re going posh, substitute toast for brioche.

page 26

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Jacket Potato Boats Fiona Dowle, Sophie and Emily “My children love this as they enjoy sailing their boats on the plates! As a variant you can also use chopped ham and/or sweetcorn in the potato mash mixture.”

Ingredients 4 large baking potatoes 25g butter (approximately) 175g cheddar cheese, grated A pinch of cayenne pepper 150g whole milk Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method Scrub potatoes and score horizontally round their middles.

Bake at Gas Mark 8 or 230°C for 1 hour or until tender.

Cut around score marks and pull apart.

Scoop out potato flesh, mash well and add butter, milk, cayenne and salt and pepper pinches.

5 Pile the mixture back into the skins and brown under the grill.

6 Serve with a 'finger salad' of lettuce, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes and cucumber.

7 To make the jacket potato boats even more special I use cocktail sticks and make a sail out of an iceberg lettuce leaf, a slice of thinly cut cheddar or a slice of ham. You can also slice up the lettuce into thin strips to make the sea.

1 2 3 4

Serves 4

By Sophie and Emily Dowle

V

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Sumptuous Start

page 27

Welsh–Rarebit Muffins (Cheesy Muffins) Karen Walton and Josh “This is a great recipe for the kids to help out. Ask them to get everything ready - weighing scales, measuring jug, fork, 2 mixing bowls, 12 paper muffin cases, muffin tin, cheese grater, sharp knife, tablespoon, cooling rack.”

Ingredients 225g self-raising flour 50g plain flour 1tsp baking power ½ level tsp bicarbonate of soda ¼ tsp salt ½ level tsp mustard powder 100g strong cheese, half grated, half cubed 6 tbsp vegetable oil 150g Greek yoghurt 125ml milk 1 egg 1tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Method 1 Heat the oven to 200°C, Gas Mark 6.

2 Mix together the self-raising flour, plain flour, baking power, bicarbonate of soda, salt and mustard powder in a bowl.

3 In a separate bowl, mix the cheese, oil, yoghurt, milk, egg and Worcestershire sauce.

4 Combine all the ingredients and divide between the muffin cases in a muffin tin.

5 Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden. Remove and cool slightly on a rack.

Makes 12 muffins

page 28

Zucchini Slice Polly Wilmot and Archie "This is delicious eaten hot or cold and makes the perfect lunchbox or picnic treat."

Ingredients 375g grated zucchini (courgette) 1 onion, grated or finely chopped 3 rashers bacon, chopped 120ml oil/melted butter 100g wholemeal self-raising flour 200g mature cheddar cheese, grated 5 eggs Salt and pepper (to taste)

Method 1 2 3 4

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl or Magimix.

Pour mixture into a greased ovenproof dish.

Bake at 180°C until brown – approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

Serve hot or cold.

DF

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Sumptuous Start

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So Yum Laksa Martyn Allen and Ernest “This Laksa is just as delicious with chicken or prawns, but the minced pork makes it a cheap and easy mid-week meal to throw together quickly.�

Ingredients 1 onion 1-2 red chillies (or more if you like an extra kick!)

5cm piece ginger 2 cloves garlic 1 tbsp fresh chopped coriander 1 tsp sunflower oil 2 lemongrass stalks 400g minced pork 300ml chicken stock A good squirt of fish sauce 1 tsp brown sugar A good handful of baby leaf spinach 100g French beans 400ml coconut milk 1 lime Egg noodles (as much as you like) A handful of fresh coriander to serve

Method 1 In a pan, gently fry the sliced onion, finely chopped chillies, garlic and ginger in the oil for 2 minutes. In a separate pan simmer the French beans in water until cooked; drain, rinse under cold water and set to one side.

2 Finely chop and add the lemongrass, coriander and minced pork, fry for another 5 minutes, until the meat is browned. Then add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Pop in the fish sauce, brown sugar and simmer for 10 mins until the pork is cooked through. Add the spinach, a tin of coconut milk and the juice of one lime. Warm until the spinach wilts then add the cooked beans.

3 Cook the noodles to pack instructions and stir into the Laksa. Serve with fresh coriander and a squeeze of lime.

Serves 4

page 30

DF

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Thai Sweet Potato Soup with Thai Pesto Vanessa Swinson, Hogshaw Herbs Shop & CafĂŠ "We like this recipe in the cafĂŠ because it's easy to make, healthy and very tasty.

The soup is delicious on its own, but extra special with the pesto if you like Thai flavours. Once you have tried making this pesto, you can experiment making other pestos using herbs, nuts or seeds."

For the soup:

Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 500g sweet potato, chopped 1 red onion, diced 1 tbsp red curry paste 500ml vegetable stock 500ml coconut milk

Method 1 Cook the potato and red onion in the oil on a medium heat for 15-20 minutes with lid on but stirring frequently. When soft, add curry paste and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.

2 Add stock and coconut milk and bring to the boil.

3 Blend in a food processor until smooth.

For the pesto:

Ingredients 100g unsalted peanuts (can use sunflower seeds instead) 2 cloves garlic Grated ginger Green chillies Fresh coriander Fresh mint

ers & Light Bites

Sumptuous Start

page 31

Fresh basil 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp lime juice 1 tbsp soft brown sugar

Method 1 Blend up all the ingredients, altering the quantities of ginger and chilli to suit your taste, depending on how hot you like it.

2 Serve a few spoonfuls on top of the soup.

Serves 2

The Café sells breakfasts, morning coffees, light lunches and afternoon teas. We make all our own quiches, soups and cakes, using local produce where possible.

The Shop sells a range of food items such as preserves, salad dressings and our own free range eggs. We can also provide soups, quiche etc to take away.

Our Café and Shop opened at our farm in November 2012. We have a herb display area and are starting to plant up our raised beds.

Our Garden sells herbs for planting out and herbs in glazed or terracotta pots.

We can host parties and cookery demonstrations.

Opening: Mon–Closed, Tues-Fri 9:30am-5:00pm, Sat 9:00am-4:30pm, Sun 9:00am-4:00pm Location: Hogshaw Herbs, Hogshaw Road, Granborough From Granborough, turn into Hogshaw Road at The Crown Pub and continue for one mile to Hogshaw Herbs on the right hand side.

Contact: Tel 01296 326400 : sales@hogshaw-herbs.co.uk : www.hogshaw-herbs.co.uk

w o n Andr the t! fo even n i a m

page 33

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ains Contents

M Mouth-watering Dermot O’Leary’s Irish Stew

38

Cajun Chicken and Bacon Risotto

40

Feijao de Bowskill

41

Baked Macaroni

43

Spanish Chicken

44

Wonderful Whitchurch Wedges

47

Beef Olives with a Mustard and Herb Stuffing

48

Simon Rimmer’s Turkey Pie

50

Syrian Christian Curry with Crispy Garam Masala Potatoes

52

Roast Ham Hock, Leek and Roquefort Tart

54

Low Fat Spicy Dhansak

58

Bonfire Night Mince

59

Baked Pancakes with Spinach, Cream and Gruyère Cheese

60

Quinoa Salad

63

Shepherd’s Pie

64

Chicken Nuggets & Chips

65

Succulent Honey & Lemon Chicken

66

BBQ Chicken Tikka Tandoori

67

Prawn and Chorizo Penne Pasta

69

Hoggeston Sweet & Sour Pork

70

Slow-cooked Beef Stew

72

Jamie Oliver’s Five Hour Lamb

74

Mouth-watering

Mains

Pheasant Casserole with Thick Chorizo, Cream and Thyme

75

Indian Butter Chicken

76

Penne Pasta with Parma Ham

79

Bacon Risotto

80

Chicken and Chorizo Stew

82

Pork Chops with Sage

83

Annabel’s Tasty Lamb Burgers

85

Tender and Crisp Chicken Legs with Sweet Tomatoes

86

Pork with Creamy Mustard Sauce

87

Cheese and Onion Chicken

88

Butternut Squash and Chorizo Risotto

89

One Pot Chicken

90

Chicken, Leek and Parsley Pie

91

Sticky Sausages, Thyme and Apple Bake

92

Sausage Pasty with Quick Chilli Sauce

93

Cajun Rubbed Salmon Jambalaya

94

Prawn Curry with Coconut and Lemongrass

96

Salmon Risotto

99

Grandma Ruth’s Parsnips Molly Parkin

100

Gerald’s Ratatouille

101

Red Kidney Bean Casserole

102

page 37

page 38

Dermot O’Leary’s Irish Stew (In the name of the law)

Specially prepared for us by Dermot O’Leary (TV and Radio presenter, restaurateur and occasional angler).

“Hold on to your hats recipe fans! Here goes… This is a really simple dish that reminds me of my childhood, going back to Ireland for my holidays. My Grandmother O'Leary was able to keep a stew going for days, by just adding to it. It always tastes better the day after as the meat has had time to settle.

Traditional Irish stew is made with lamb but my family always did it with beef.

Always pick a steak with a bit of fat; like any slow cooked dish it benefits from having that marble of fat in the mix.”

Ingredients 1.2kg braising steak, cut into cubes Potatoes (more is always better, Irish thing), peeled 4 carrots 4 onions Salt and pepper Herbs (parsley, bay leaf, thyme) Beef stock (cubes are fine)

Mouth-watering

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page 39

Method 1 Brown the meat, then pop it in a saucepan that has seen some action (no rookies here) and cover with water and fresh stock. If using cubes, hang fire and pop them in later.

2 Simmer, and skim the foamy fat off the top with a slotted spoon.

3 Turn down the hob (and the lights), add the chopped carrots and onions, then season and add the herbs. Lastly, add the stock cubes and 3 quarters of the potatoes. Simmer for 1.5 hours. The potatoes will break up but DON'T freak out; this is good. Keep an eye on it between sips of a fine red. Don't let it dry out. If it does, the heat is too high and you just need to add some more water.

4 When you're 40 minutes away from eating pop in the rest of the potatoes until they are boiled.

5 Serve with crusty bread and a right bank Bordeaux or a southern Rhone.

Or any Merlot based new world wine. La de da! x Serves 6

“Traditional Irish stew is made with lamb, but my family always did it with beef. “

page 40

Cajun Chicken and Bacon Risotto Mrs Suzanne Lovell of Lovell Fuels “This recipe goes down very well with my husband after a busy day delivering oil. Especially with a good measure of Cajun spice!”

Ingredients 2 medium skinless chicken breasts (approx. 300g), cut into small chunks 250g Arborio risotto rice 1 tbsp butter 900ml chicken stock, e.g. Oxo / Knorr 8 medium rashers lean back bacon 3 heaped tbsp frozen garden peas 1 onion, finely chopped Cajun spice

Method 1 Sprinkle some Cajun spice onto the chicken and mix in to coat.

2 In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the rice and fry off until it starts to go golden.

3 Add the onion and chicken to the rice and cook for 2 minutes.

4 Add the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 12 minutes (uncovered).

5 Add the peas, then cook for a further 8 minutes.

6 While the rice is boiling away, grill the bacon until cooked, then chop up into small pieces. If the mixture becomes dry, taste the rice and if still hard, add a little water and continue to cook.

7 When the rice is done, it should be a lovely moist consistency – not watery, but not dry.

8 Add bacon and stir. Done!

Lovell Fuels Serves 3 to 4 Your local family-run fuel supplier, serving Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

Tel 01844 202777 Email sales@lovellfuels.co.uk Web www.lovellfuels.co.uk

DF

Mouth-watering

Mains

page 41

Feijao de Bowskill (Brazilian Bean Stew à la Mr Bowskill) Mr Bowskill “They say getting this right is a ‘trabalho de amor’ (labour of love). If you have time, prepare this up to 2 hours in advance and leave, after 45 minutes the flavours work even more magic. I then usually add a glug of red wine and reheat … delicious!! Don’t be afraid to experiment with the amount of garlic, chorizo or beef stock and don’t scrimp too much on the red wine – although I don’t recommend using your 1975 Châteauneuf du Pape. If you can’t import the ingredients, I’ve found that Morrisons and Waitrose do the best chorizo and black beans!”

Ingredients ½ of a chorizo ring 3 cloves garlic (or 5 if you like it), chopped Tin of BLACK beans (has to be black, don’t try and substitute!)

Beef stock (one of the new ‘jelly’ pot ones work best) Olive oil Red wine Bean can full of water

Method 1 Depending on preference, slice or dice half the chorizo ring (dicing reduces flavour in my opinion). If slicing, no more than 3 or 4mm as otherwise you don’t get many pieces in the bean stew! More chorizo can be added the next time you make this if you prefer.

2 In a frying pan, gently fry the chorizo in a glug of olive oil until the pieces are light brown in colour and the red chorizo oil is coming out. Now add the chopped garlic cloves.

3 Fry for 2 minutes. Open the red wine whilst doing this.

4 Add the tin (juice included) of beans to the pan, then fill the tin up with water and add to the pan.

5 Drink some red wine.

6 Pop the stock pot into the pan, along with a good glug of red wine.

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Method (continued) 7 Drink some more red wine.

8 Bring the ingredients to the boil and then reduce to a very low simmer.

9 Leave for 20 minutes.

10 Now check the ‘liquid level’. If it is runny then the heat needs to be turned up a little. If the consistency is thicker than mushy peas, then dilute with red wine. The aim is to have a thick consistency, not runny.

11 Keep on the (low) heat for a further 25 minutes – topping up the liquid levels as needed with alternate wine and water.

12 Have a quick drink of wine.

13 After 45 minutes, the consistency should be right and the beans can be served – be prepared though, it may need a little longer. These are best served with a good bit of steak (Picanha if you were in Brazil, which translates to “cap of rump”) and some rice.

14 Enjoy! (Maybe with a glass of wine Mr Bowskill?)

Serves 6

zie Photo: John Macken

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Baked Macaroni Mrs Anne Rizzo-Naudi “This recipe has been adapted from an old Maltese family recipe that originally used corned beef but works just as nicely as a vegetarian dish using aubergine instead of bacon.”

Ingredients 1 large onion, finely chopped 1 tbsp olive oil 1 packet bacon, chopped and/or 1 large aubergine chopped small 2 (to 3 tins, if cooking large amount of pasta) chopped tomatoes 3 tbsp tomato purée 1 level tsp granulated sugar 1 level tsp dried Italian mixed herbs Optional 1 vegetable stock cube 500g to 1kg penne pasta (depending on how many are eating and appetites) A couple of handfuls cheese grated parmesan/cheddar (either will do) 2 eggs, beaten

Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to 190°C, 375°F, Gas Mark 5.

2 Start by frying the onion in oil for 5 minutes, then add bacon for further 10 minutes and stir to ensure all bacon is cooked.

3 If using aubergine pre-cook in a pan of simmering water for 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain and add to the pan.

4 Next add tomatoes, tomato purée, sugar, dried herbs and seasoning. Add stock cube if using.

5 Allow to simmer, partially covered, for about 20 minutes.

6 Meanwhile cook pasta until just cooked (ie not soft but ‘al dente’). Drain pasta and combine with sauce.

7 Mix in the eggs and pour into high-sided 5cm baking dish (Pyrex or similar around 30cm x 25cm).

8 Top with a few handfuls of grated cheese and bake for 30 to 40 minutes (cover with foil if necessary).

9 Serve with extra grated cheese. Serves 6+

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Spanish Chicken Les and Sandra Hannon, M. Hannon Ltd. “A really tasty meal that’s very easy to make. Ideal for mid week family suppers or you can serve with special vegetables for a dinner party meal with friends!”

Ingredients 8 skinless and boneless chicken thighs 1 onion, peeled and chopped 1 red pepper, sliced 1 yellow pepper, sliced 1 clove of garlic, crushed 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (I usually blitz mine in a blender) 4 chorizo cooking sausages cut into 1cm slices 4 tbsp cooking oil

Method 1 Brown the chicken thighs in the oil then add the onions, peppers and garlic.

2 Fry gently for about 8 minutes or until slightly soft.

3 Add the tinned tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook gently for about 1 hour with a lid on, stirring occasionally.

4 Add the chopped chorizo and continue cooking without the lid until the sauce has reduced and thickened to a nice consistency.

5 Serve with rice or sautéed potatoes and vegetables.

Serves 4 to 6

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A friendly, family owned and run company, now in its third generation, priding ourselves on professional, quality work and an approachable attitude.

All types of building work undertaken, new builds, extensions, renovations, conversions, etc.

M Hannon Ltd. Tel 01296 641362 Email les@hannonbuilders.co.uk Web www.hannonbuilders.co.uk

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nzie Photo: John Macke

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Wonderful Whitchurch Wedges Guy Bond, Whitchurch Potatoes “Potatoes can be divided into two types: floury and waxy. Floury ones make good roast, chips and mash as they have a crisp outside with a soft middle such as the Wilja, Cabaret and Maris Piper varieties. Waxy ones are good for boiling and casseroles as they remain whole and do not break up so much such as Charlotte and Nicola. Remember to store your potatoes in the cool and dark or they will turn green in a few days and buy from Whitchurch Potatoes!”

Ingredients 1 large floury type potato per person 2 tbsp oil 1 tbsp mixed herbs Coarse sea salt

Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to a very high temperature (230°C, 450°F, Gas Mark 8).

2 Wash the potato. There is no need to peel as most of the goodness is found in the skin.

3 Cut into wedges, and add to a large bowl with the oil and mixed herbs.

Push around with your hands to incorporate the oil.

4 Turn out onto a baking tin and sprinkle on some salt.

5 Bake for about 30 minutes, give a little shake and finish off for another 10 minutes or so.

Whitchurch Potatoes Manor Farm, Buckingham Road, Whitchurch, Bucks HP22 4RB Tel: 01296 641936 Mob: 07976 729455

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Beef Olives with a Mustard and Herb Stuffing Andrew Lightbown, Curate of Whitchurch, in the Schorne team of parishes “This is quite a frugal dish, a slight variation on a stew, that will nonetheless satisfy four hearty appetites.”

Ingredients 1½ lbs topside of beef, cut into eight slices Seasoning 1 tbsp French mustard For the stuffing 8oz pork or beef sausages, skinned 2oz unsmoked bacon, chopped 1 onion, finely chopped 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs 2 tbsp brandy or dry sherry For the sauce 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 onion, sliced 1 carrot, sliced 2 celery sticks, sliced ¼ pint good red wine 2 tbsp tomato purée ¼ pint stock (if required)

Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3.

2 Place a slice of topside between two plastic bags, beat with a rolling pin to thin out the meat to the size of a side plate. Once all the topside is “bashed”, season with salt and pepper and spread one side with mustard. Set aside to rest while you prepare the stuffing.

3 Combine all stuffing ingredients, season well and spread onto the beef slices leaving a 1 cm margin all-round; roll up the loaded meat slices, tuck in the edges and secure with a toothpick or two!

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4 For the sauce, heat the oil in a flameproof casserole, add all the vegetables and brown over a steady heat stirring occasionally. Add the wine, stock and tomato purĂŠe.

5 Carefully place the beef parcels in the sauce, cover and cook in the oven for 1½ to 2 hours or until the meat is tender.

6 Thicken the sauce just before serving. Garnish with finely chopped parsley and serve with steamed cabbage and buttery mash!

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Simon Rimmer’s Turkey Pie “With bacon, spices and a water crust, this recipe is perfect for using up leftover turkey. A favourite at Christmas, it really is a feast of a pie!�

Ingredients 500g turkey cut into large chunks (can use cooked Christmas leftovers) 450g pork sausagemeat 225g cooked new potatoes, chopped 175g smoked bacon lardons 100g peas 1 tbsp capers 250g raw salmon, cut into big chunks 1 tsp ground smoked paprika Plenty of salt and ground white pepper Pinch of ground allspice 1 tbsp chopped rosemary 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce For the pastry 450g plain flour 50ml milk 50ml warm water 150g lard, chopped 1 yolk, beaten

Method 1 First, make the pastry. Sift the flour into a bowl and season well.

2 Warm the milk, water and lard until the lard has melted. Bring just to the boil and pour onto the flour mix. Stir well to combine, then turn onto a floured surface and knead for 3-4 minutes.

3 Roll the dough out then press into a pork pie tin (if it's difficult to roll, press straight into the tin), saving enough pastry for a lid.

4 To make the filling, place everything in a large bowl and mix well, then press into the pie tin.

5 Brush eggwash around the top, add the lid and crimp the edges to seal.

Cut a hole in the top of the lid and chill for 20 minutes.

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6 Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Brush with more eggwash, and bake for about 1½ hours.

7 Allow to cool completely, then serve with pickled walnuts or a really good chutney.

Serves 4-6

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Syrian Christian Curry with Crispy Garam Masala Potatoes Reverend David Meakin, Rector of Whitchurch, in the Schorne team of parishes.

“I was given membership of The Spicery as a Christmas present and this was one of their curries. They send the spices in packets without ever saying what the quantities are. So, this is my best guess, after a bit of experimentation. The aim is for a fragrant rather than a hot curry.”

Ingredients 8 chicken thighs, skin removed 500g new potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces 2 onions, 1 thinly sliced and 1 roughly chopped 2 cloves garlic 1 cinnamon quill 2 whole star anise 2 tsp brown mustard seeds 8 curry leaves 1tsp ground coriander ½ tsp chilli powder or one fresh green chilli, adjusted to taste 1 tsp turmeric 1 tsp cracked black pepper or a good grind from the mill 6 cardamoms, ground 1 tsp ground cumin ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp garam masala White wine vinegar 1 lime Vegetable oil

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Method 1 Fry the cinnamon quill, star anise, curry leaves and 1 tsp of the mustard seeds over a moderate heat until the seeds start to pop and jump around. Add the sliced onions and fry until melted and soft but without colouring.

2 Blend the ground coriander, chilli, turmeric, ½ tsp cracked black pepper, ground cardamom and ground cumin with 1 tsp salt and 2 tbsp of vinegar with the roughly chopped onion and garlic to make a smooth paste. You might need to add a little water.

3 Add the paste to the cooked onions; cook for about 10 minutes until all the water has evaporated and the paste is starting to brown and stick to the bottom of the pan. This part is really important and shouldn’t be rushed.

4 Add the chicken and 200ml of water, cover and cook for at least 20 minutes.

5 For the potatoes, heat 3 tbsp of oil and fry ½ tsp cracked black pepper, 1 tsp mustard seeds and the ground cinnamon until the seeds start to pop and jump around. Add the potatoes and stir to coat. Add 250 ml water and ½ tsp salt, cover and cook until the potatoes are just cooked through.

6 Remove the lids from the curry and the potatoes and cook for a further 20 minutes. The curry sauce should be rich and thick and the potatoes should be starting to fry in the oil and go nice and crispy.

7 To serve, remove the star anise and cinnamon quill from the curry. Sprinkle the potatoes with the garam masala and the juice of half a lime.

8 Serve with rice mixed with fresh coriander leaves and home made naan, chapatti or poppadoms. A pack of dates (stoned) heated with some chilli, cumin and cinnamon (say ½ tsp of each), a little water and maybe the remaining lime juice makes a really nice chutney to accompany the dish.

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Roast Ham Hock, Leek and Roquefort Tart The Bell, Hardwick “Always a favourite when served at The Bell!”

Ingredients For the pastry: 6oz plain flour 3oz block margarine pinch of salt cold water For the filling: 1 thinly sliced leek 4oz Roquefort 6oz roast ham hock, pulled apart into strands 2oz butter 1oz plain flour 250ml milk for the béchamel sauce 4 whole eggs 2 egg yolks 100ml double cream 100ml milk salt and pepper 1oz grated mature cheddar 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

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Method To make the pastry: 1 Sift the flour together with a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Rub in the butter until you have a soft breadcrumb texture.

2 Add enough cold water to make the crumb mixture come together to form a firm dough and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

3 Roll out the pastry on a light floured surface and line a 22cm/8.5 inch well-buttered flan dish. Don't cut off the edges of the pastry yet. Chill again.

4 Pre-heat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.

5 Remove the pastry case from the fridge and line the base of the pastry with baking parchment and then fill it with baking beans. Place on a baking tray and bake blind for 20 minutes.

6 Remove the beans and parchment and return to the oven for another five minutes to cook the base.

To make the filling: 1 Make a béchamel sauce by melting the butter in a pan and stirring in the flour. Add the milk a little at a time stirring thoroughly to avoid lumps (the sauce should be quite thick).

2 Blanch the leek by plunging into boiling water for 5 seconds. Immediately remove, drain thoroughly and add to the béchamel.

3 Spread the leek mixture into the flan case and lay the pulled ham hock on top.

4 Sprinkle over the Roquefort.

5 Whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, double cream, salt and pepper and milk and pour into the pastry case, taking care not to over fill to avoid spillage.

6 Sprinkle the cheddar and the thyme over the top, place on a baking tray and cook for 30 to 40 minutes or until set.

7 Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

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The Bell at Hardwick Freehouse 17th Century dining pub, real ales, log fires, country garden and a warm welcome.

Tel: 01296 640005 Lower Road, Hardwick, Nr Aylesbury, Bucks, HP22 4DZ Email: claretring@thebellathardwick.co.uk www.thebellathardwick.co.uk

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By Alice Williams

By Sam Brown

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Low Fat Spicy Dhansak Chris Beadle and Daniel “My very own curry creation.�

Ingredients 100g red lentils (dry/rinsed) 500ml vegetable stock 3 tbsp lemon juice 3 heaped tsp sugar 2 tsp ground coriander 2 tbsp medium curry powder 1 tsp cumin seeds 1/2 tsp garam masala 1/2 tsp hot chilli powder 5 fenugreek seeds (optional, but aids thickening) 1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped 1 tsp crushed garlic 2 skinless and boned chicken breasts, diced

Method 1 2 3 4 5

Add everything to a saucepan, except the chicken.

Bring to boil.

Add diced chicken breast.

Simmer for 35 minutes.

Serve with rice, naan, mango chutney etc.

Serves 2 (or one very hungry man!)

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Bonfire Night Mince Emma Smewing and Darcey “This is great to warm up with after bonfire night fireworks!”

Ingredients ½ butternut squash 500g minced steak 1 onion, finely chopped 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp mild chilli powder 3 tsp smoked paprika 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 2 tbsp tomato purée 400g tin of chopped tomatoes Salt and pepper

Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to 190°C, 375°F, Gas Mark 5.

2 Cut the squash into quarters lengthways, remove the seeds and place on a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 45 mins.

(You’ll only need half a squash for this recipe you can use the other half to make a delicious soup by adding some vegetable stock and liquidising it).

3 Meanwhile, put the minced steak in a large frying pan and cook over a medium heat until browned. Drain any excess fat and then add the chopped onion and garlic and cook for 3 to 4 mins.

4 Add the cumin, coriander, chilli powder and paprika and cook for 1 to 2 mins.

5 Mix the Worcestershire sauce and the tomato purée with 200ml of hot water and add it to the frying pan. Add the tin of chopped tomatoes and season.

6 Turn the heat down and simmer until the squash has finished cooking. When the squash is cooked, allow it to cool a little and then peel and chop into 1cm squares. Add half of it to the mince. Allow the mince to simmer for a further 10 to 15 minutes so the squash can take up the flavour.

Serves 4

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Baked Pancakes with Spinach, Cream and Gruyère Cheese By kind permission of Raymond Blanc OBE, Chef Patron at Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons and one of the world’s most respected chefs. This recipe is published in Raymond Blanc’s book “Foolproof French Cookery”.

“A great warming dish for all seasons. After five years this dish remains the best seller at my Petit Blanc brasseries. Kids and grown-ups, it manages to please them all. It is a dish from my region, Franche-Comte rich in cream and melting Gruyère cheese. For the meat lovers you can ‘roll-up’ a fine slice of ham in each pancake. As ever the quality of the ingredients are the most important for the success of this dish.

Buy the best Gruyère cheese, as it is the main element of flavour. You can have the stuffed pancakes ready to be baked one day in advance and they will be just as good.”

Ingredients For the pancake mix 100g plain flour 2 eggs, organic/ free range 4 pinches salt 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground 200ml milk, full-fat 1 tbsp chives, chopped 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped 50g butter, unsalted, cooked to hazelnut brown stage 1 tbsp oil, non-scented for cooking the pancakes For the spinach and mushroom filling 40g butter, unsalted 300g spinach, washed, stalk removed, dried 2 pinches salt 2 pinches pepper, freshly ground, white 200g button mushrooms, fresh and tight, sliced 3mm thick 50g Gruyère cheese, the best quality, finely grated

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For the cream and cheese sauce: 400ml whipping cream 8 gratings of nutmeg 60g Gruyère, the best quality 2 pinches salt 1 pinch white pepper, freshly ground

Method 1 Making the pancake batter – tuck a cloth under a mixing bowl to make it more stable. Add the flour, make a well and crack in two eggs in the well.

Season with salt and pepper. Whisk the eggs, incorporating the flour little by little. Thin down with a little milk to ensure that you have a smooth batter.

Gradually pour in the milk whisking continuously. Add the chopped chives and parsley. Separately, heat the butter in a small pan until blonde and foaming. Pour this butter into the pancakes whisking all the time to incorporate it. The butter will give flavour and help prevent the pancakes from sticking. Reserve.

2 Making the spinach and mushroom filling – they need to be cooked in two separate pans. On high heat melt 20g of butter in a 20cm pan and throw in the spinach. Cook down the spinach at full heat stirring all the time for two minutes. Season with salt and pepper. With the back of the spoon squeeze the water out of the spinach. Reserve. On high heat in a separate pan heat the remaining 20g of butter and cook the mushrooms for two minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. Mix the mushrooms with the spinach and stir in the Gruyère. Reserve.

3 Cooking the pancakes – pre-heat the oven to 200°C. Have ready a spatula and a tray to place the pancakes on once cooked. Heat a frying pan 16 – 18cm diameter, or better a pancake pan on a medium heat, add a teaspoon of oil. Swirl oil around. The oil must be hot enough to sear and cook the pancakes. Too hot they will burn and not hot enough they will be beige and be cardboard like. Practice makes perfect..(just in case, emergency number, Raymond Blanc, 01844 277212!). Add just enough pancake batter to the hot pan so that when swirled the mix covers the surface. Cook for 15 – 20 seconds. Slide the spatula underneath and flip the pancake over. Cook for a further 15 – 20 seconds. Repeat until all the batter is used. Try to make them as thin as possible. The right thickness will give you 12 – 14 pancakes, six portions.

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Method continued 4 Filling the pancakes - spoon the filling into each pancake and roll tightly.

Reserve on a tray. This can be done one day in advance. Arrange all the rolled pancakes into a gratin dish (roughly 20 – 24cm diameter).

5 Making the sauce - bring the whipping cream to a rolling boil and add the nutmeg and the seasoning. Beware, as the Gruyère is already quite salty.

Pour the cream over the pancakes and finely grate the Gruyère cheese over the pancakes.

6 Cooking the dish – bake the pancakes in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.

The cheese will have ‘gratinated’, acquiring a golden brown crust. Serve the bubbling dish from oven to table.

Serves 4

Photo: Jean Cazals

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Quinoa Salad Rt Hon. John Bercow, Member of Parliament for Buckingham and Speaker of the House of Commons “I asked a friend to recommend a healthy meal to have before a game of tennis and quinoa was suggested as a good source of protein. I must confess, I didn’t know what quinoa was, let alone how to pronounce it! After a disappointing first attempt (quinoa with Tabasco is not an appetising combination), I was converted by this delicious salad. It makes a very tasty lunch and gives you energy to last the day.”

Ingredients 200g broccoli, cut into florets 120g peas, fresh or frozen 100g cucumber, cut into batons 100g feta cheese, crumbled 20g toasted seeds (sunflower and pumpkin) 1 large avocado, cut into chunks 30g quinoa Handful mint, roughly chopped Handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped For the dressing 2 tsp lemon juice 2 tsp cider vinegar 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp French mustard Pinch of salt and pepper

Method 1 Put the quinoa in a pan. Cover with cold water then let it simmer for about 15 minutes until the water has gone. Spread it on a plate to cool to room temperature.

2 Gently steam the broccoli and peas for about 5 minutes. Drain and run the vegetables under cold water to take the heat out and keep them crunchy.

3 Layer your salad, starting with the broccoli and ending with the herbs.

4 Finally, gently mix the salad with the dressing and eat immediately! Serves 2

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Shepherd’s Pie By kind permission of Sarah, Duchess of York "Here are my healthy takes on some classic dishes – Shepherd's Pie and Chicken Nuggets & Chips. All the satisfying flavour of comfort food without the calories!

You don't have to use a spiraliser but it does make vegetables more fun for you and the children with spirals, ribbons and vegetable spaghetti – much more interesting than boring old slices!"

Ingredients 1kg lamb mince 2 celery sticks, diced 1 red pepper, diced 2 big tomatoes, chopped 1 jar of freshly chopped tomatoes and basil Salt and pepper Thyme Bay leaves 500g pumpkin

Method 1 Fry off the celery and peppers in a little olive oil and a pinch of salt until soft.

2 Add in the mince and fry off until browned.

3 Add some thyme, salt and pepper to season then add in the jar of chopped tomatoes as well as the fresh tomatoes, followed by a few bay leaves.

4 Let the mix then bubble away on a very low heat for 2-3 hours stirring occasionally.

5 For the mash, roast chopped pumpkin for an hour at 180°C then blend in food processor. Season to taste.

6 Put mince in ovenproof dish then top with the pumpkin and cook in oven at 180°C for 40 minutes.

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Chicken Nuggets & Chips By kind permission of Sarah, Duchess of York

Ingredients 1 chicken breast, chopped Egg yolk, beaten 5 tbsp of oat bran Zest of 1 lemon Sage, chopped Rosemary, chopped ¼ pumpkin (butternut squash)

Method 1 Mix the oat bran with the herbs and lemon for the herb crust.

2 Dip the chopped chicken breast in the egg yolk and then the oat bran mix.

3 Place on a baking tray, squeeze with lemon juice and cook for 25 minutes at 180°C. When cooked squeeze over more lemon juice.

4 For the chips, cut up the pumpkin into chips and roast in a little olive oil and a pinch of salt for 40 to 50 minutes at 180°C. 5 Serve with spiralised courgette, cooked for around 3 minutes and steamed broccoli.

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Succulent Honey & Lemon Chicken Mrs Tiddy

Ingredients 3 juicy lemons 50g butter 3 tbsp clear honey Leaves from 4 rosemary sprigs 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 8 chicken pieces, such as thighs and drumsticks, with skin 750g potatoes, peeled and cut into smallish chunks Green salad, to serve

Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas Mark 6.

2 Squeeze the juice from 2 lemons into a small pan and heat with the butter, honey, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper until the butter melts and it smells fragrant.

3 Lay the chicken in a roasting tin but don’t pile it up or it won’t cook so well.

Add the potatoes and drizzle with lemon butter to coat evenly. Cut the third lemon into 8 wedges and tuck them in. This dish can be made up to 2 hours ahead up to this point.

4 Roast for 50 minutes to 1 hour until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are crisp and golden. Serve with a green salad.

Serves 4

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BBQ Chicken Tikka Tandoori Ashley Raines, Amelia and Charles “Here is my long standing summer family recipe that my Dad has made for as long as I can remember. It's great hot or cold, with rice and salad leaves, cucumber and tomatoes. It truly is very adaptable and goes with most things.”

Ingredients 4/6 skinless chicken breasts halved or quartered & scored lightly 3 tbsp Tikka mix powder (I’d probably add more- it’s down to personal taste) 3 tbsp Tandoori mix powder 3 tbsp white vinegar 3 tbsp vegetable oil 3 tbsp lemon juice 3 tbsp (or more as required to coat) Greek style set yoghurt

Method 1 Mix marinade ingredients together and then add chicken and mix well to coat.

2 Cover with cling film and marinade overnight in fridge or for at least a couple of hours.

3 BBQ and enjoy!

Serves 4 to 6

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The White Swan Serving great food and drink A special venue. Cosy, traditional pub With its part-thatched roof and original period features, The White Swan is a charming pub serving sumptuous fare. Low ceilings and open fires lend a feeling of cosy intimacy to the bar, while the recently refurbished dining room makes a special venue for lunch or dinner.

Tel: 01296 641228 10 High Street Whitchurch Aylesbury Buckinghamshire HP22 4 JT

Email: thewhiteswanwhitchurch@gmail.com

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Prawn and Chorizo Penne Pasta Michael Bowen, The White Swan, Whitchurch

Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 2 chorizo sausages, thinly sliced 1 red onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 400g dried penne pasta 625ml chicken stock 400g diced tomatoes 2 tsp finely chopped thyme 500g tiger prawns, peeled, tails still on Âź cup chopped parsley 1 red chilli, finely diced

Method 1 Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the chorizo, onion and chilli for 5 minutes until chorizo is golden and the onion/chilli is soft.

2 Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the pasta, stock, tomato and thyme and bring to the boil. This will infuse all the flavours together.

3 Reduce to medium-low heat. Cover and cook, stirring often, for 10 to 15 minutes or until liquid has reduced down and has thickened slightly.

4 Add the prawns and cook covered, still stirring often, for 5 minutes until the prawns curl and change colour.

5 Place into bowls and sprinkle parsley over the top to add that finishing touch.

Serves 4 to 6

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Hoggeston Sweet & Sour Pork Elaine Morris, Manor Farm, Hoggeston “This recipe is an old favourite of ours!”

Ingredients 450g diced pork (shoulder, fillet or belly) 1 tbsp oil 1 onion, peeled & diced 2 carrots, peeled & diced 1 green pepper, seeded & diced 50g mushrooms, sliced 300ml stock 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 pack/270g tin bean sprouts 1 tbsp corn flour For the marinade 1 tbsp sherry 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp vinegar 1-2 tbsp olive oil

Method 1 Mix marinade ingredients together in a bowl and add the pork. Stir well coating all the meat, cover and leave for at least 2 hours or overnight.

2 Heat the oil in a shallow pan and fry the vegetables until soft. Transfer the vegetables to a casserole dish.

3 Drain the pork (save the marinade) and fry in the pan with the remaining oil.

Once browned add to casserole.

4 Add saved marinade, stock and remaining soy sauce.

5 Cook for 1 hour, on 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. Then add bean sprouts.

6 Mix the corn flour with a little cold water and stir into casserole. Cook for a further 30 minutes, until thickened.

7 Serve with rice, green vegetables and a glass of cider! Serves 6

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Morris of Hoggeston

Traditional Pork, Beef and Lamb

Call George or Elaine at Manor Farm Hoggeston 01296 714239

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Slow-cooked Beef Stew Parrott Brothers Farm Shop, Whitchurch “This is the perfect casserole recipe and proof that, sometimes slow can be good.

And any recipe that cooks away while you put your feet up, has got to be a winner! It also contains 2 portions of your 5 a day.”

Ingredients 500g stewing beef, cut into bite sized chunks A knob of butter 2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped ½ a butternut squash, cut into big chunks 1 tbsp plain flour 2 bay leaves A few sprigs of thyme 400g tin of chopped tomatoes 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 beef stock cube

Method 1 Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

2 Find a large casserole dish with a lid and put it on a medium heat. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Add some butter to the casserole and fry the meat in batches until well browned. Then tip the beef onto a plate and place the casserole back on the heat.

3 Add the onions and carrots and cook until soft, then add the butternut squash, beef and flour and cook for a couple of minutes, until the flour has absorbed all the juices and has turned pale brown.

4 Add the bay leaves, thyme, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. Crumble in the stock cube and add 2 mugfuls of water (about 400ml).

5 Put the lid on and put the casserole into the oven for at least 1½ hours, until the beef is tender but to be honest this casserole could happily cook away for 3 hours if you wanted to leave it for longer. If you want to thicken the sauce then pop the stew on a high heat for about 5 minutes to reduce everything down.

6 Serve with a big scoop of mash and some tasty greens. Serves 4

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Home Produced Meat Pies, Cheeses and Olives Fruit and Vegetables Pickles and Preserves Milk, Bread and Eggs Frozen Produce Opening Times Monday - Closed Tuesday and Wednesday 8am-1pm, 2pm-5pm Thursday and Friday 8am-5pm Saturday 7.30am-1pm, Sunday - Closed Beechmoor Farm Cublington Road Whitchurch Aylesbury HP22 4LG Telephone: 01296 641 207 Email: parrottbros@parrott-bros.co.uk www.parrott-bros.co.uk

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Jamie Oliver’s Five Hour Lamb Claire Westbrook and Max “Here is my fave and easiest recipe thanks to Jamie Oliver.”

Ingredients 1 large leg of lamb Salt and freshly ground pepper Olive oil 6 rashers thick streaky bacon 3 red onions, peeled and quartered 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced 2 good handfuls of mixed fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, bay) 4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks 1 celeriac, peeled and cut into chunks (normally don't put this in!)

6 large carrots, scrubbed and halved 3 parsnips, scrubbed and halved 1 bottle (cheap!) white wine

Method 1 Pre-heat oven to 170°C. 2 In a deep-sided roasting tray or casserole dish, fry well-seasoned lamb in 2 tbsp olive oil until brown on all sides.

3 Add bacon, onion and garlic - fry for 3 more minutes.

4 Throw in the herbs, vegetables, wine and equivalent amount of water (I normally do ½ bottle of water- don't want to water it down too much!)

5 Bring to boil and cover tightly.

6 Bake for 5 hours! Give or take…

7 Use cooking liquor as gravy with some of the veg and some steamed greens.

Serves 6

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Pheasant Casserole with Thick Chorizo, Cream and Thyme Sarah Westacott and Ruby “This is a great recipe for pheasant. I get a bit bored of pheasant by the end of the shooting season and this is always a very welcome use of birds. If you can’t get hold of pheasant then replace with chicken.”

Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 350g chorizo cut into slices (8cm thick) 1 large onion peeled and cut into wedges 1 pheasant cut into portions, still on the bone Salt and ground black pepper 4 sprigs of thyme plus 1 tsp chopped thyme 150ml chicken stock 150ml double cream 4 tsp roux (made with 2 tsp butter and 2 tsp flour) (optional)

Method 1 Pre-heat oven to 150°C (300°F).

2 Heat oil in casserole dish on medium heat and then add chorizo and onion.

Cook for 3-5 minutes until onions are slightly golden and oil for chorizo starts to run. Remove chorizo and onion from the dish and set to one side.

3 Add pheasant to the dish and fry for 5 minutes until golden on both sides.

Season with salt and pepper. Drain excess oil from the pan then add onions and chorizo back into the dish with chopped thyme, thyme sprigs and stock.

4 Bring to a simmer on the stove, then place in the oven for 45 minutes or until the meat is tender.

5 When the casserole is cooked remove sprigs of thyme. Strain off cooking liquid back into a pan. Add cream to the cooking liquid. Bring to the boil and boil uncovered for 5 minutes until sauce has slightly thickened. Whisk in a little roux and bring to the boil if you like a thicker sauce.

6 Add thyme and season then pour back over the meat, onions and chorizo.

Serves 2 to 3

page 76

Indian Butter Chicken Vaishali Soste and Yash “This delicious, authentic Butter Chicken is a recreation of the one I had in a Punjabi Dhaba in Northern India (dhaba is a road-side restaurant which serves fresh hot home-made food). The concept lies in preparing the tandoori chicken first and then shredding the pieces and adding them to the sauce. With that in mind, the rest is easy. It takes around 15 minutes to prepare (plus marinating time) and 60 minutes to cook.�

Ingredients for the Tandoori Chicken 500g of chicken (breast/thighs, preferably organic), skin removed 1 tbsp of fresh, plain, thick yoghurt 1 tbsp of fresh ginger-garlic paste 1 tbsp of fresh lime juice 1 tbsp of any store-bought brand of 'Tandoori Masala' 1 tsp chilli powder 1 tsp turmeric powder 1 tbsp oil Salt to taste

Method 1 Mix all the spices and the lime juice in the oil and marinate the chicken for 4-5 hours (a few cuts in the chicken helps the process). Then rub the chicken with the yoghurt.

2 Grill or fry the chicken for about 15 minutes on each side. The chicken should be properly brown and needs to be done (keep the juices that have collected and add them to the sauce later).

3 Shred the chicken pieces off the bone and set aside.

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Ingredients for the sauce 2 medium onions, thinly sliced 3 tomatoes (choose nice red ones for the red sauce colour) 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste 1 tsp black cumin seeds, Shahjeera.

2-3 green cardamoms 2-3 peppercorns 1 tbsp heaped dried, fenugreek leaves (essential to flavour) 1 tbsp fennel seeds lightly roasted and coarsely ground (again essential) 1 tsp heaped Kashmiri Lal mirch - again for its colour.

1 tsp regular red chilli powder (adjust to the hotness you prefer) 1 tsp of garam masala 1 tbsp of coriander powder 1 tsp cumin powder ½ tsp of turmeric powder 10 cashews A pinch of nutmeg 1 tbsp tomato ketchup (this is the secret ingredient that restaurants don’t tell you about!)

Salt (but remember you have already used salt in the marinade) 2 tbsp salted butter 2 tbsp of fresh cream (more if you want the sauce to be milder) A squeeze of lemon juice, to taste Handful of fresh coriander leaves 2 tbsp vegetable/ sunflower oil

(continued overleaf)

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page 78

Indian Butter Chicken (continued) Method for the sauce 1 Get the oil heated in a pan and when it is hot, tip in the dry spices; cumin, pepper, cardamoms, and cashews.

2 Once these turn a fragrant brown, add the ginger-garlic paste.

3 Cook for a moment then add the onion slices.

4 Once the onions are translucent, add the garam masala powder then stir and add red chilli powder, Kashmiri powder, fennel seeds powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric, nutmeg and half of the chopped coriander leaves. Give a good stir.

5 Add in the tomatoes. Crush the fenugreek leaves in your palm and add them to the sauce. At this point also add the reserved chicken juices.

6 Add half a glass of water. Cover the lid and let everything cook together until the oil surfaces. The tomatoes need to be cooked really well.

7 Let the mixture cool down, pour it in the blender and blend it all to a creamy consistency.

8 Now in the same deep-bottomed pan, melt the butter and add the blended sauce and the ketchup. Bring to the boil.

9 Stir in the fresh cream. At this stage, test the salt and chilli seasoning and add the chicken.

10 Cover the lid and let everything slowly cook for another 15 minutes.

Garnish with some lemon juice, fresh cream and chopped coriander leaves.

11 Serve hot with Naan bread or some rice. Children love the creamy texture of this recipe and will always ask for more.

Serves 6

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page 79

Penne Pasta with Parma Ham Sarah Hague, Charlie and Olly “I have often made this Mary Berry dish for an evening supper with friends. It is so quick and easy! Serve with a green salad and chunks of bread. I sometimes adapt this to a more basic version for an impromptu evening meal, omitting the asparagus and using whatever mushrooms I can find in the fridge, along with a packet of prosciutto. ”

Ingredients 500g dried penne pasta Salt and freshly ground black pepper 225g asparagus tips 140g Serrano, Parma or Black Forest ham, snipped into pieces 450g small chestnut mushrooms, sliced 1 x 400ml carton crème fraiche About 50g Parmesan, grated A good handful of chopped fresh parsley

Method 1 Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water as directed on the packet until al dente. 3 minutes before the end of cooking, add the asparagus tips.

Drain and refresh in cold water, then set aside to drain.

2 Fry the ham until crisp. Remove half of the ham and keep warm.

3 Add the mushrooms to the pan and stir with the ham, then mix in the crème fraiche and half the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper (not too much salt since the ham is salty) and bring to the boil.

4 Return the cooked pasta and asparagus to the first large pan and add the contents of the frying pan. Stir well until piping hot.

5 Sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan, reserved ham and parsley.

Serve immediately.

Serves 6

page 80

Bacon Risotto Tors Firth and Riley “A quick and simple weekday meal that my very fussy son will eat!”

Ingredients 250g pack smoked bacon 1 onion, finely chopped 25g butter 300g risotto rice Large glass of white wine (optional) 1 tin cherry tomatoes 500ml chicken stock Handful of frozen peas Grated cheese for serving

Method Pre-heat oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mark 4).

Cut the bacon into pieces and fry in an ovenproof casserole dish until golden.

Stir in the onion and butter and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until soft.

Tip in the rice and mix well until it is coated.

Pour over the wine and cook for 2 minutes until absorbed (if using).

Add the tin of cherry tomatoes and the hot stock, then give the rice a quick stir.

7 Cover with a tightly fitting lid and bake for 15 minutes then add the frozen peas.

8 Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, the rice should be soft and will have absorbed most of the liquid.

9 Stir through a handful of grated cheese.

10 Serve topped with a little extra grated cheese.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Serves 2 adults and 2 children

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By Olly Hague

By Josh Walton

page 81

page 82

DF

Chicken and Chorizo Stew Graham Flitney and Ben

Ingredients 6 boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces 1 chorizo, sliced 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 peppers, sliced 1 tin of tomatoes, chopped 1 tin of baked beans 2 cloves of garlic Salt and pepper Chopped chives

Method 1 Put the chicken pieces into a large pan and fry.

2 Once browned, add onion and chorizo, lower the heat and fry gently until the onions are soft.

3 Add all remaining ingredients, except chives.

4 Simmer until beans are partially broken down and the sauce has thickened (approximately 25 minutes).

5 Stir in the chives just before serving. Best served with sautĂŠ potatoes but just as nice with rice or other potatoes.

Serves 2 adults and 2 children

GF

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page 83

Pork Chops with Sage Cathie Boyle, Lottie and Nathan

Ingredients 1kg floury potatoes, peeled and diced Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 thick pork chops, on the bone 24 fresh sage leaves 1 bulb of garlic 4 slices of Prosciutto 55g butter, finely diced 4 dried apricots, finely chopped Extra virgin olive oil 6 thick strips of pancetta or smoked bacon or a 200g packet of pancetta lardons

Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7. Put your potatoes into a pan of salted water and bring to the boil. Give them 3 or 4 minutes – you only want to par-cook them – then drain them and allow them to steam dry.

2 Lay your pork chops on a board and insert a small paring knife horizontally into the side of each chop to make a hidden pocket. Make sure the tip of your knife stays in the middle of the chop, as you don’t want to cut through the meat to either side. Be careful – watch your fingers!

3 Set aside 8 of the largest sage leaves. Add 8 more leaves to your food processor with a peeled and chopped clove of garlic, the prosciutto, butter, apricots and pinch of salt and pepper and give it a whiz. This is now a beautifully flavoured butter that can be divided between the pork chops and pushed into the pockets.

4 Dress the 8 large sage leaves that you set aside with a little oil and press one side of them into some flour. Press a leaf, flour side down, on to each side of the chop (so you have 2 leaves on each chop). Leave the chops on a plate, covered with cling film, to come to room temperature while you get your potatoes ready.

(continued overleaf)

page 84

Method (continued) 5 If you are using thick strips of pancetta, slice them into matchsticks as thick as a biro. Put them into a large roasting tray, with your potatoes, the remaining sage leaves and the whole unpeeled garlic cloves. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and put the tray into the pre-heated oven.

6 After 10 minutes, put a frying pan on the hob and get it very hot. Add a touch of olive oil, and put in your seasoned chops. Fry for 10 minutes, until golden and crisp on both sides, then remove the tray of potatoes from the oven – they should be nice and light golden by now – and place the chops on the top. Put the tray back into the oven for 10 – 15 minutes, depending on how thick the chops are, then remove the tray from the oven and serve.

Serves 4

DF

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page 85

Annabel's Tasty Lamb Burgers Tanya Ward, Amber and Brandon “This Annabel Karmel recipe is always a hit in our house. I make the burgers with lamb and the children demolish them!”

Ingredients 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped 450g lean minced beef or lamb 1 tbsp chopped parsley (optional) 1 beef stock cube, finely crumbled 1 apple, peeled and grated ½ of a lightly beaten egg 60g fresh breadcrumbs ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce Salt and pepper A little flour Vegetable oil for frying, or brushing a griddle pan

Method 1 Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and fry the onion for about 5 minutes or until softened.

2 In a mixing bowl, combine the sautéed onion together with all the other ingredients.

3 With floured hands, form into 10 burgers.

4 Fry the burgers in a little hot oil in a large shallow frying pan on a high heat to brown and seal, then lower the heat and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn them over and continue to cook for about 4 minutes.

5 Alternatively, brush a griddle pan with a little oil and, when hot, place 4 burgers on the griddle and cook for about 4 minutes on each side or until browned and cooked through.

6 Repeat with the remaining burgers.

Makes 10 burgers

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GF

Tender and Crisp Chicken Legs with Sweet Tomatoes Cathie Boyle, Lottie and Nathan

Ingredients 4 chicken legs, jointed Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper A big bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped 2 big handfuls of red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved, and ripe plum tomatoes, quartered.

1 whole bulb of garlic, broken up into cloves 1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped Olive oil 1x 410g tin of cannellini beans, drained or 2 handfuls of new potatoes, scrubbed (optional)

Method 1 Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

2 Season your chicken pieces all over and tuck them into a snug-fitting pan in one layer.

3 Throw in the basil leaves and stalks, and then chuck in your tomatoes.

4 Scatter the garlic cloves into the pan with the chopped chilli and drizzle over some olive oil.

5 Mix around a bit, pushing the tomatoes underneath.

6 Place in the oven for 1½ hours, turning the tomatoes halfway through, until the chicken skin is crisp and the meat falls off the bone.

7 If you fancy, you can add some drained cannellini beans or some sliced new potatoes to the pan and cook them with the chicken. Or you can serve chicken with some simple mashed potato. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins before serving. You could even make it part of a pasta dish by removing the chicken meat from the bone, shredding it and then throwing it into a bowl of linguine or spaghetti.

Serves 4

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page 87

Pork with Creamy Mustard Sauce Andrea Ward and Alexander

Ingredients 2 pork fillets (about 400g each) 5 tbsp Dijon mustard 25g butter 4 echalion shallots (banana shallots), quartered A few sprigs of thyme Salt and pepper Small pot of double cream - 280ml

Method 1 Pre-heat oven to 180째C. 2 Place the pork fillets in an ovenproof dish. Spread 3 tbsp of mustard over them.

3 Cut the shallots and place around the meat with thyme sprigs.

4 Add butter on top of the meat and add salt and pepper.

5 Place dish in the oven for 30 minutes and check the meat is cooked.

Keep warm on the side.

6 Scrape the sauce from the dish, put in a saucepan, and add 2 tbsp mustard and the cream.

7 Whisk it all and simmer for a few minutes.

8 Cut the pork, place on a warm dish and pour the sauce over.

9 Serve with potatoes and green vegetables.

Serves 4-6

page 88

Cheese and Onion Chicken Claire Cooke and Maisie

Ingredients 4 chicken breasts Chicken seasoning 4-6 spring onions, chopped 50-75g grated cheese 3 tbsp mayonnaise 2 packets of cheese and onions crisps, crushed

Method 1 2 3 4 5 6

Pre-heat your oven to 180째C (Gas Mark 4).

Put chicken breasts in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with chicken seasoning.

Mix mayonnaise, spring onions and grated cheese together in a bowl.

Spread the mayonnaise mixture over the chicken breasts.

Sprinkle crushed crisps on top.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

Serves 4

DF

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Butternut Squash and Chorizo Risotto Miss McCabe

Ingredients Olive oil or spray oil 1 large onion, diced 1 litre chicken stock 1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into bite size pieces.

150g chorizo, skin removed and diced 300g risotto rice

Method 1 Put a little oil into a large saucepan and fry the butternut squash over a medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until soft.

2 Add the onion and continue cooking for 5 minutes.

3 Add the chorizo and cook until the oil is released.

4 Add the rice and stir to coat with the oil.

5 Pour a ladle of stock into the pan and stir until all the liquid has been absorbed. Repeat this process until the rice is cooked, approximately 20 minutes.

6 Serve in bowls and enjoy!

Serves 4-6

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DF

One Pot Chicken Bec Jameson Evans and Olivia “Always a family favourite and so easy.”

Ingredients Olive oil 1 sprig rosemary 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled 4 large chicken legs 150g chorizo, cut into 5mm slices Juice of ½ lemon 250g cherry tomatoes, halved Half a teacup fresh basil leaves

Method 1 Heat oven to 200°C. Use a heavy casserole dish so the chicken is in a single layer.

2 Drizzle the olive oil and scatter garlic and rosemary and cover with the chicken. Add salt and pepper.

3 Tuck chorizo around the chicken. Squeeze over lemon juice and add a little more olive oil.

4 Roast for about 45 minutes, then add tomatoes and mix well to coat the chicken and tomatoes with the oil.

5 Cook for a further 15 minutes.

6 Scatter with basil and serve with pan juices.

Serves 4

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page 91

Chicken, Leek and Parsley Pie Polly Wilmot and Archie “This tried and tested recipe comes from my mother. Although one can use fresh chicken, it also works beautifully with leftover roast chicken.”

Ingredients A 2kg chicken 2 onions, peeled and quartered 1 carrot, peeled and cut up Bouquet garni Salt and peppercorns 75g butter 4 leeks, washed and cut into 1cm pieces 1tsp curry powder 50g plain flour 500ml milk 250ml chicken stock Ground pepper 2tbsp parsley, chopped 350g puff pastry Milk for glazing

Method 1 Put chicken in a saucepan and cover with water. Add 1 onion, carrot, bouquet garni, salt and peppercorns. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour.

2 Cool the chicken in the stock. Once cool, drain and strip the chicken and put in a pie dish.

3 Finely chop the remaining onion. Melt the butter, add the leeks and onion and cook gently for 10 minutes.

4 Stir in the curry powder and flour, cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer and then gradually stir in the milk and stock until it boils. Season and add parsley and then pour over the chicken and mix together.

5 Cover with the pastry and brush with the milk. Make a small slit in the pastry.

6 Bake at 220°C for 20 minutes then reduce to 180°C and cook for a further 20 minutes or until golden.

Serves 4 to 6

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DF

Sticky Sausages, Thyme and Apple Bake Andrea Warner and Oliver “A great dish for the whole family to enjoy!”

Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 500g new potatoes, thickly sliced 2 tbsp onion marmalade, bought or home-made (see Too Good To Miss) 2 eating apples, cored and cut into wedges 2 tbsp chopped thyme leaves or 2 tsp dried thyme 400g pork sausages 300ml chicken stock

Method 1 Pre-heat oven to 180°C (350°F/ Gas mark 4).

2 Heat oil in a roasting tin, add potatoes and fry until they start to brown (2 to 3 minutes). Remove from heat and stir through marmalade.

3 Add apples to the tin and toss with the thyme and season. Tuck sausages among the potatoes and apples and pour over stock until almost covered.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes until potatoes are tender and sausages cooked through (turn sausages a couple of times during cooking).

4 Tip - if you don't have any onion marmalade and don't want to do the homemade marmalade, you can cheat! Fry some sliced onions and add orange marmalade (1-2 tbsp). It tastes just as good!

Serves 4

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page 93

Sausage Pasty with Quick Chilli Sauce Mrs George

Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 1 chopped large onion 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1 tbsp tomato purée 800g sausage meat 250g tomato passata Chopped parsley 500g puff pastry 1 beaten egg

For the Quick Chilli Sauce 400g can of chopped tomatoes 100ml sweet chilli sauce Juice of 1 lime 1 tbsp light muscovado sugar 1 red chilli, deseeded

Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. 2 To make the sauce, put all the ingredients for the sauce in a pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Leave to cool.

3 Heat pan to medium heat. Add onion & garlic, cook for 5 mins until softened.

Increase heat, add sausage meat and cook until browned. Stir in the tomato purée and passata. Simmer for 5 minutes, remove from heat and then cool.

4 Blitz in the food processor with parsley until combined.

5 Roll out pastry into a rectangle, cut into 4. Divide the sausage meat between the two sections leaving a 2cm border. Brush the edges with water and place the other two pastry rectangles on top (making 2 12 x 25cm rectangles of pasty). Cover with beaten egg and bake for 25 minutes.

6 Serve with the chilli sauce. Serves 5 to 6

page 94

Cajun Rubbed Salmon Jambalaya Specially prepared for us by chef Simon Rimmer.

Simon is the host of Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch.

He has two restaurants, Greens in Didsbury, Manchester and EARLE in Hale, Cheshire.

Ingredients 4 150g salmon fillets

For the spice rub 2 tbsp smoked paprika 2 tsp salt 2 tbsp garlic powder 1 tbsp white pepper 1 tbsp onion powder 1 tbsp cayenne 1 tbsp dried oregano 1 tbsp dried thyme

For the Jambalaya 12 king prawns, deveined and cut in half 200g chopped spiced sausage (chorizo style or ideally Andouille), cooked 1 finely diced onion 1 diced green pepper 2 stalks chopped celery 3 bay leaves 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tbsp hot sauce 150g long grain rice 400ml chicken stock

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Method 1 Toss the salmon and shrimp in the spice rub.

2 Add a tiny amount of oil to a frying pan and fry the salmon for 4 minutes each side, charring the spices.

3 Take another frying pan and gently fry the onion, pepper and celery for 3-4 minutes.

4 Add everything else, bar the shrimp and sausage, bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes until the rice is soft.

5 Add the shrimp and sausage and cook until the shrimp is done.

6 Serve with the salmon on top and extra hot sauce to heat and sour cream to cool.

Serves 4

Photo: John Mackenzie

page 96

DF

Prawn Curry with Coconut and Lemongrass Annabella Rennison and Rose “This is a Vietnamese curry recipe, really easy and very delicious, and takes notes from other cuisines including coconut milk from Thai cooking and the curry flavour from Indian.�

Ingredients 2 tbsp oil (light ones like groundnut are good) 1 large onion, finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 4 stalks lemongrass, pale ends finely chopped 450g king size prawns, peeled and de-veined, tails on 2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced 1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground 2 red hot chillis, very finely chopped (optional) Mini sweetcorn, chopped small and some aubergine, also chopped small (optional)

For the Sauce 2 tbsp curry powder 3-4 tbsp soy sauce (light soy sauce tastes best) 3 tbsp fish sauce 400ml (1 can) unsweetened coconut milk (light is fine)

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Method 1 In a large pan or wok, heat the oil over medium heat.

2 Add the onion and fry for a few minutes until softened and starting to turn golden, then add the garlic and lemongrass and, if using, the sweetcorn and aubergine, and cook for a few more minutes, stirring frequently.

3 Next add the ginger, pepper and chillis (if using), and then stir in the curry powder, soy sauce, fish sauce and coconut milk. Reduce heat to medium-low.

Cover the pan with a lid and let the mix simmer for about 10 minutes.

4 Remove the lid and simmer for a few more minutes until the sauce has thickened a little.

5 Then add the prawns and cook until they turn orange/white, about 5 minutes.

6 Serve over brown rice.

Serves 4

page 98

By Carys Coletta

By Alexander Ward

DF

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Salmon Risotto Karla Coletta, Kaden and Carys “This makes a quick and delicious tea for the kids.”

Ingredients 2 leeks, finely chopped 1 tbsp rapeseed oil 1 tsp turmeric/saffron 5oz basmati rice 2oz peas ¾ pint fish or veg stock 6oz salmon Salt and pepper

Method 1 2 3 4 5

Soften leek in oil, add turmeric and stir in.

Add rice - gently fry then add the stock and bring to the boil - then simmer.

Add salmon - it will break up, so stir in.

Add the peas.

Place in dish (oven proof ), cover with foil and place in the oven 220°C (Gas Mark 7) for 20 to 25 minutes until liquid absorbed and rice cooked.

Serves 2

page 99

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Grandma Ruth’s Parsnips Molly Parkin Karen Ricketts, Cameron and Ben “This delicious combo seems to be named after the deliciously flamboyant and outrageous writer, Molly Parkin. I've no idea why that should be, only that in our family it heralded the start of scrummy, comforting autumnal cooking and the compensation that brought for the loss of the long warm days of summer.”

Ingredients 1lb parsnips 1lb tomatoes (or tinned) 5 tbsp oil 3oz butter 3 level tbsp soft brown sugar Salt and black pepper 6oz grated Gruyère cheese ½ pint single cream 4 rounded tbsp fresh white breadcrumbs

Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas Mark 3).

2 Peel the parsnips, cut away and discard any hard central cores. Slice the parsnips thinly. Skin the tomatoes, remove seeds and cut into slices.

3 Heat the oil in a frying pan and lightly fry the parsnips for 4 minutes.

4 Grease a 2-pint casserole with half the butter and place a layer of parsnips over the base. Sprinkle with a little sugar, salt, pepper and add a little cream, before covering with a layer of tomatoes. Spread a little more cream and cheese over the tomatoes and repeat these layers until all the ingredients are used up, finishing off with cream and cheese.

5 Top with the breadcrumbs and dot with the remaining butter.

6 Cook the parsnip casserole for 40 minutes in the centre of the pre-heated oven.

7 Serve straight from the casserole.

Serves 6

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page 101

Gerald’s Ratatouille Rebecca Lusby, Verity and Coco “This is very popular with my family. We got it from our Irish friend Gerald, who taught Italian and was living in France at the time. Very cosmopolitan!�

Ingredients 1 medium onion, chopped into rings 2 peppers (1 red, 1 yellow), sliced 1 medium courgette, sliced 1 aubergine, diced 1 tin chopped tomatoes 1 bouquet garni Garlic, finely chopped (optional)

Method 1 Heat some olive oil in a large pan and slowly fry the onion rings.

2 Once the onions have started to soften add garlic (if using) then the peppers.

Again fry until they also start to go soft then add the courgette.

3 Fry slowly until beginning to soften and then add the aubergine.

4 Mix in the aubergine so it is fairly well coated in oil and then fry for another 5 minutes or so. (The aubergine absorbs quite a lot of oil so you have to make sure that there is quite a lot in at the beginning).

5 Add a tin of tomatoes and a bouquet garni and then let the whole lot simmer for half an hour.

Serves 4

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Red Kidney Bean Casserole Rebecca Lusby, Verity and Coco “Another family favourite. An ex-boyfriend of mine got the original recipe off a dried red kidney bean packet, but I am too disorganised and lazy to soak the beans overnight, so I use a tin. Really nice served with rice and parmesan (or grated cheddar).”

Ingredients 1 tin red kidney beans 1 large onion 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2-3tbsp oil 1 large red pepper, deseeded and chopped 4 celery stalks, chopped ¾ pint stock or water 8oz tomatoes, skinned and chopped 1 bay leaf 1 bouquet garni Salt and pepper 1 tbsp chopped parsley 1 tbsp cornflour Parmesan

Method 1 Sauté onions and garlic in the oil. Add pepper and celery, fry for 2 to 3 minutes.

2 Add stock, tomatoes, bay leaf, bouquet garni and beans.

3 Add seasoning and parsley.

4 Bring to the boil, then simmer, gently, for 45 minutes.

5 Blend cornflour with 2 to 3 tbsp water. Add to casserole and stir in gently.

6 Bring back to boil, then simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.

7 Serve hot with the grated parmesan.

Serves 4

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page 103

And ! s r e ft for a

page 105

Perfect puddings

The Shop stocks a wide range of everyday groceries, a huge range of delicious local food, and ingredients for home cooking, plus greetings cards and useful items.

Fresh bread, fruit and vegetables are delivered daily.

Fresh fish, direct from St Mawes, Cornwall, is delivered by noon on Thursdays.

Orders can be taken for most items. Contact the manager by phone or email for details.

Everyone welcome.

Opening hours: 7.00am - 7.00pm Mon-Fri 9.00 am -12.00 noon Sat-Sun

Tel 01296 670374 Email theshopmanager@northmarston.org

The Chiltern Brewery s historic courtyard inn at The King s Head, Aylesbury

Fine English Real Ales from our Brewery Guest Craft Beers, Ciders & Stouts Excellent Food & Wine Rooms available to hire for events and meetings All enjoyed in historic surroundings with a beautiful courtyard setting The King s Head, Market Square, Aylesbury, HP20 2RW T. 01296 718812 www.farmersbar.co.uk For regular Tweets please follow us on Twitter @kings_head

Perfect s g n i d d pu

Perfect Puddings

page 109

s Contents

Perfect Pudding

Grilled Peaches with Vanilla and Lavender

110

Treacle Tart

112

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Toffee Sauce

114

Dora’s Christmas Pudding

116

Quick Sticky Toffee Puddings

118

Gingercrunch & Meringue Bombes

119

Dairy Free Strawberry Ice-cream

120

Treacle Sponge Pudding

121

Nana Hardcastle’s Blitz Torte- Cinnamon Meringue Cake

122

Bread Pudding

124

Bananas in Rum

125

Chocolate Marquise

126

Passion Fruit Cream

127

Lemon Tart

128

Lemon Meringue Pie

129

Mary Berry’s Wonderful Apple Dessert Cake

130

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

132

Weedon Hedgerow Clafoutis

133

Raspberry Cream Pavlova

134

Anna’s Cheesy Cheesecake

136

Italian Ricotta Dessert

137

Poached Pear in White Wine with Saffron and Cardamom

138

Redcurrant Ice-cream

139

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GF

Grilled Peaches with Vanilla and Lavender Henri Le Worm “Waiting for a ripe peach is worth it! When the peaches are in season (July- Sept), they will be sweet and delicious & cheaper- a real benefit of seasonality. In fact, the success of this dish depends on the ripeness of the peaches whose flavour is enhanced by the agave syrup, a natural sugar substitute from a variety of cactus.

It is sweeter than sugar and has a much lower glucose index. You could also use honey instead of brown sugar. Peaches are a beautiful orange/ red colour because of the super nutrients they contain. When we eat peaches they top up our vitamin C levels, which helps to fight colds & infections.”

Ingredients 4 peaches, ripe, halved and destoned 20g unsalted butter 4 tsp brown sugar or 35ml of agave syrup 1 orange, squeezed, pips removed ½ vanilla pod, split lengthways 4 sprigs of lavender, optional

Method 1 Pre-heat your grill to a medium setting.

2 On a large baking dish, arrange the 8 peach halves cut side up.

3 Cover the peaches with the orange juice. Add a small knob of butter into each peach cavity along with ½ a teaspoon of brown sugar or just under a teaspoon of agave syrup.

4 Place the vanilla pod half in the baking dish. Do not scrape out the vanilla.

5 Grill for 6 minutes or until the peaches are bubbling and caramelised.

6 Remove from the grill and leave to cool for 1 minute.

7 For decoration, add a sprig of lavender on every other peach.

8 Place the peaches in a large serving bowl, drizzle any remaining juices over them and serve with a large pot of crème fraîche or vanilla ice-cream.

Serves 4

Perfect Puddings

Photo: Paula Finn

orm.com www.henrilew

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Treacle Tart John Slee, Chef Patron of The Five Elms “This is a recipe for my mum's treacle tart. Actually, it's my sister's who teaches Cordon Bleu but as she doubts I could even boil an egg I give credit to my mum, who was a fabulous cook and taught me loads…”

Ingredients Pastry for a 9 inch fluted flan tin: 250g 00 flour 125g unsalted butter 1 egg yolk Juice of a lemon 25g caster sugar For the filling (difficult to measure but roughly as follows) Half a small white loaf, de-crusted and turned to breadcrumbs The same volume of porridge oats Juice and grated rind of 2 lemons Big tin of golden syrup

Method 1 For the pastry, put all ingredients except lemon and egg in processor and turn to crumbs.

2 Add yolk and juice.

3 Add a little water if necessary until it forms a ball.

4 Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

5 Line the flan tin with the pastry.

6 For the filling, heat all in a pan gently until a mush.

7 Pour into the lined flan tin and bake on a tray in a hot oven for 35ish minutes or until golden.

8 It will keep in the fridge for a week and reheat very quickly in the microwave by the slice.

Perfect Puddings

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Sticky Toffee Pudding with Toffee Sauce Howard Gregory, The Pilgrim, North Marston “A popular pud on our menu. The great thing about this dish is that the sponge and sauce can be made well in advance. The sponge can even be frozen and both can be plated up and reheated in the microwave.”

Ingredients For the sticky toffee pudding 75g soft butter 175g dark brown demerara sugar 200g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting 1 tbsp golden syrup 2 tbsp black treacle 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 200g pitted dried dates 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda For the toffee sauce 100g dark soft sugar 100g butter 200ml double cream

Method 1 Pre-heat oven (200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6).

2 Grease a 23cm tin thoroughly with 25g butter, then dust inside of tin with flour.

3 Use a food mixer to blend the remaining butter and sugar together, slowly add golden syrup, treacle, eggs and vanilla extract, while continuing to mix.

Turn mixer down to a slow speed and then add flour. Once all ingredients are combined, turn off the mixer.

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4 Place the dates in a saucepan with 300ml water and bring to the boil. Purée the water and date mixture and add the bicarbonate of soda. While it is still hot, quickly add this mixture to the egg mix.

5 Once the egg mix is combined, pour into the prepared tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, just until the top is firm to the touch.

6 Remove the pudding from the oven and allow to cool. Turn out of the tin and cut into squares.

7 To make the toffee sauce melt the butter and sugar together in a small pan, add the cream and bring to the boil. Simmer for a few minutes until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.

8 To serve, re-heat the sponge in a microwave or heat for 5 minutes in the oven (180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4). Place onto a plate with lots of sauce on the top and a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you wish!

Serves 6 to 8

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Dora's Christmas Pudding Rebecca Lusby, Verity and Coco “This is my Grandmother’s recipe for Christmas pudding. When I was young, my mother used to make the puddings some time before Christmas and my brothers and I would each have a stir and make a wish. We also wrapped a few sixpence pieces (yes, I am that old) in greaseproof paper and added them to the puddings before cooking. The recipe is around 100 years old and its only instructions were “make up and cook as other Christmas puddings”! I have consulted several learned sources and think 2 x 2-pint pudding basins should be enough, or a 2-pint basin and 2 x 1-pint basins, as gifts to family. Of course, if one doesn’t have a family of Victorian proportions, one could always cut the ingredients down!”

Ingredients 4oz flour (self-raising or plain) 8oz soft breadcrumbs ½ tsp cinnamon ½ tsp nutmeg ½ tsp mace ½ tsp mixed spice 8oz brown sugar 6oz suet (or melted margarine) 4oz chopped glace cherries 4oz chopped dried apricots 4oz chopped dried prunes 6oz currants 12oz sultanas 1¼lb raisins 1 medium carrot, grated 1 large cooking apple, skin on, grated 4oz blanched almonds zest of 1 orange (juice optional) zest of 1 lemon (juice optional) 2 level tbsp golden syrup ½ pint beer (poor measure) 4 eggs 2 tbsp sweet sherry

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Method 1 Combine the dried fruit, raisins, currants and sultanas in a large bowl. Stir in the beer and sherry, orange and lemon juices and allow to soak overnight.

Next day (traditionally Stir-up Sunday), add the grated apple and carrot to the fruit.

2 Mix the sugar and suet (or melted margarine), add the citrus rinds and syrup and then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Fold in the flour, spices and a pinch of salt, and then add the fruit with all its soaking liquor. Mix well and add the breadcrumbs and nuts. This is the point to add the (cola-cleaned) “sixpences�, stirred in with a wish.

3 Put the mixture into greased pudding bowls. If you are not using the lidded type, put two large rectangles of greaseproof paper together with the same size of foil. Keeping them on top of each other, fold them over in the middle so that you have a pleat. Put the pleated cover on top of the pudding, folding it down at the sides, and tie it on tightly with string. Make a string handle and attach it at the sides as well so that you can easily lift the pudding. Trim the foil and greaseproof paper so there is about 4cm left below the level of the string.

The cover should not touch the water while steaming or you will end up with a soggy pudding.

4 Lower the pudding into a large pan of simmering water, to come one-third of the way up the side of the pudding basin. Cover the pan with a lid and steam the pudding for 8 hours. You will need to top up the pan with boiling water from time to time to make sure it does not boil dry. Once the pudding has steamed, lift it from the water. Remove the paper/foil cover and replace it with clean foil or cling film.

5 Keep the pudding somewhere cool and 'feed' it every few days with good slugs of whisky or rum (or both) until Christmas Day. The pudding cannot be eaten immediately as it would collapse and the flavours would not have matured. It really does need to be stored and rested then reheated on Christmas Day. 6 On the day of serving cover it in the same way as before, with paper and foil, and steam it again for about 2 hours or until warm all the way through.

7 Serve with cream or brandy butter, or both.

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Quick Sticky Toffee Puddings Jacqui Flitney and Ben

Ingredients 4 large chocolate muffins, crumbled 50g large sultanas Small knob of butter for greasing 50g light muscovado sugar 50g butter 75ml double cream Vanilla ice cream, to serve

Method 1 Heat oven to 200°C/180°C fan/Gas Mark 6.

2 Mix the muffins with the sultanas. Divide between 4 buttered ramekins or one baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 8 minutes until just warmed through.

3 Meanwhile, place the sugar, butter and cream in a small pan and gently heat together, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

4 Pour the sauce over the muffin mixture and serve warm with ice cream.

Serves 4 to 6

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Gingercrunch & Meringue Bombes Jacqui Flitney and Ben

Ingredients For the bombes 300ml double cream ½ vanilla pod 25g icing sugar 1 small orange, zested 2 meringue nests, crushed 25g gingernut biscuits, crumbled

For the orange sauce 350ml orange juice 100g caster sugar ½ vanilla pod 2 tsp cornflour Orange sorbet (to serve)

Method 1 Line 6 small ramekins or teacups with cling film, or use a silicone muffin mould if you have one.

2 Whip the cream in a large bowl until it just holds its shape. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and add them to the cream with the sugar, orange zest and meringues. Gently stir, then add the gingernut crumbs.

3 Divide among the prepared moulds or teacups and freeze for at least 2 hours.

4 To make the sauce, put the orange juice in a pan with the sugar and vanilla pod. Bring to the boil, then simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Put the cornflour into a small bowl with 2 tbsp orange juice mixture. Stir until smooth, then add to the pan. Simmer and stir until the liquid has thickened, discard the pod, then leave to cool. The sauce can be made 2 days in advance.

5 To serve, take the bombes out of the freezer and place in the fridge for 10 mins. Turn them onto a plate, drizzle with sauce, then place a small spoonful of orange sorbet next to them.

Serves 6

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GF

DF

Dairy Free Strawberry Ice Cream Erica Burgess and Adam

Ingredients 300g fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 165g granulated sugar 500ml soya single "cream" 他 tsp vanilla extract

Method 1 In a bowl, combine the strawberries with the lemon juice and 55g of the sugar.

Stir gently, and leave to stand in the juices for 2 hours.

2 Strain the strawberries, reserving the juices. Mash the strawberries.

3 Pour the "cream" and remaining 110g sugar in to a bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.

4 Stir in the reserved strawberry juice and vanilla. Cover and chill.

5 Pour the mixture in to the ice cream maker to churn.

6 After about 20 minutes add the mashed strawberries.

7 Mix for about another 5 minutes, or until desired ice cream consistency is reached.

8 Transfer to an airtight container and place in the freezer.

By Adam Burgess

Perfect Puddings

Treacle Sponge Pudding Jenny Nimmo and Layla

Ingredients 100g butter (plus extra for dish) 100g sugar 100g self raising flour 2 eggs ½ tsp vanilla essence Custard to serve

Method 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Butter baking dish and put syrup in the bottom.

Put the butter and sugar in a food processor (or bowl) and mix until pale.

Beat in the eggs one by one and then add the vanilla essence.

Add flour and continue to mix.

Scrape into dish on top of the syrup.

Bake in a pre-heated oven on 180°C for 20 to 30 minutes.

Serve with warm or cold custard (or ice cream or even both!).

Serves 4

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Nana Hardcastle’s Blitz Torte Cinnamon Meringue Cake Sarah Hardcastle and Zac “Blitz Torte or Lightning Cake is a German cake, that we believe is named because it can be made with lightning speed, especially given the magnificent end result! This is because the meringue and cake are baked together in the same tins at the same time and then sandwiched to create the multi-layered effect.”

Ingredients 5oz butter (or Stork) 5oz caster sugar 4 egg yolks 4oz plain flour 1oz cornflour 2 level tsp baking powder 1 heaped tsp cinnamon 8 tbsp single cream ½ tsp vanilla extract For the topping: 4 egg whites 8oz caster sugar ½ tsp vanilla extract For the garnish: ½ pint whipped cream 2 tbsp of icing sugar 1 tsp cinnamon (can also add sliced banana and chopped pecan nuts)

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Method 1 Heat oven initially to 170°C (325°F, Gas Mark 2, fan oven 150°C).

2 Cream butter and add sugar bit by bit whisking until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating until well mixed.

3 Combine flour, cornflour, baking powder and cinnamon and stir into the butter mixture alternately with cream to which you have added the vanilla extract.

4 Spread mixture evenly between two spring sided tins - one 9” and the other 8.5”.

5 For the topping, beat egg whites until stiff, then beat in sugar and vanilla extract gradually until mixture is thick and glossy.

6 Spread topping evenly over the torte mixture and bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes. Turn up the oven temperature to 175°C (350°F, Gas Mark 3, fan oven 155°C) for the final 30 minutes.

7 Cool then carefully remove cakes from tins.

8 Just before serving, place the large torte on a serving dish meringue side down, cover with whipped cream add top layer of torte with meringue side up and dust lightly with powdered cinnamon and icing sugar.

9 Freezes well.

Serves 12

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Bread Pudding Wendy Williams and Finlay “Great for using up those stale left over bits of bread and an ideal lunch box sweet treat.”

Ingredients 8 slices bread white or brown - toast thickness 300ml milk 350g mixed fruit - any 50g chopped peel or add more mixed fruit 1 apple, grated or chopped into small pieces 75g soft brown sugar 75g self-raising flour 2 eggs 2 rounded tbsp marmalade Juice ½ lemon 1 level tsp cinnamon 100g butter or margarine

Method 1 Soak bread in milk.

2 Heat oven to 300°F/150°C/Gas Mark 3. Grease tin 28cm x 17.5cm.

3 Add fruit, peel, apple, sugar, flour, eggs, lemon and cinnamon and roll up sleeves and mix with hands.

4 Melt butter in a saucepan and add half to mixture. Mix. 5 Turn out into greased pan and drizzle remaining butter on top. Put in oven for 1½ hours but check after one hour – a skewer will come out clean when it’s cooked.

6 Serve hot as a pudding with custard or sprinkled with icing sugar, cold as a cake.

Perfect Puddings

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Bananas in Rum Mrs Crook, Headteacher “An easy dessert – the only type I know! This dessert can be assembled really quickly at the end of a meal and tastes great served with rich vanilla ice-cream.”

Ingredients 4 large bananas 4 tbsp of rum 4 tbsp of orange juice 2oz finely crushed ginger biscuits 1½oz soft brown sugar Crème fraîche or cream to serve

Method 1 Slice the bananas into diagonal disks and arrange in the bottom of a microwavable dish.

2 Mix together the rum and orange juice and pour over the bananas.

3 Mix together the ginger biscuit crumbs and soft brown sugar and sprinkle over the top of the bananas.

4 Ingredients for steps 2 and 3 can be prepared in advance.

5 Heat in the microwave for a few minutes until the bananas soften.

6 Drizzle some crème fraîche or cream on the top just before serving.

Serves 4 to 6

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Chocolate Marquise Mrs Berridge

Ingredients 300g dark chocolate (70% cocoa) 150g unsalted butter, softened 150g caster sugar 6 tbsp cocoa powder 6 eggs 450ml double cream 300g box wafer thin mints

Method 1 Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Place a little water in a saucepan and place the bowl on top (make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom). Put on a gentle heat and warm the water until the chocolate has melted. Take off the heat and allow to cool a little.

2 Meanwhile, place the butter and half the sugar into another large bowl.

Using a table top mixer or electric hand whisk, beat until the mixture is really light and creamy, then beat in the cocoa powder.

3 Separate the eggs (the whites can be frozen for another time) and put the yolks in a third bowl. Tip in the remaining sugar, then beat together until pale and creamy. To check if it’s ready, make a figure of eight shape in the mixture with the beater – it should hold its shape for a moment. In a fourth bowl, whip the cream until thickened with soft peaks.

4 Pour the melted chocolate into the butter mixture, and carefully stir through until it is well combined. Gently fold in the egg mixture. When this is all mixed through add the whipped cream. Now line a 6.5 x 22cm (loaf tin) with 3 layers of cling film leaving at least 10cm overhanging.

5 Spoon the chocolate into a layer to cover the bottom of the tin. Then do a layer of wafer thin mints (break to fit around edges). Another layer of chocolate mixture and continue as before until you have 4 layers finishing with the chocolate layer on top.

6 Fold over the cling film and chill overnight or up to 2 days.

7 Just before serving place in freezer for 10 minutes to make it easier to slice. If you like when you take cling film off smooth over with a warm knife. Serves 8+

GF

Perfect Puddings

Passion Fruit Cream Tors Firth

Ingredients 1 egg yolk 2 tbsp caster sugar 1 tbsp Cointreau Squeeze lemon juice 3 passion fruit 150ml double cream

Method 1 Whisk the yolk and sugar until light and fluffy and doubled in size - about 3 minutes.

2 Beat in the Cointreau, lemon and the flesh of 2 passion fruit.

3 Softly whip the cream until it just holds some shape.

4 Chill 2 dessert glasses.

5 Gently fold the egg mix into the double cream, having first given the eggs another brisk whisk.

6 Spoon the cream into the glasses and top them with the seeds from the remaining passion fruit and an extra drizzle of Cointreau.

Serves 2

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Lemon Tart Karen Smethurst and Sarah

Ingredients 150g plain flour 30g icing sugar 100g melted butter 1 tbsp cold water 100g caster sugar 3 large eggs 125ml double cream Grated rind and juice of 3 lemons Lemon slices to garnish

Method 1 Mix together the flour, butter, icing sugar and water into a dough. Press the dough into base and side of 8-inch metal pie dish.

2 Prick with a fork several times and bake blind at 190째C for 20 minutes.

3 Reduce oven temperature to 150째C and remove pastry case from oven.

4 Put caster sugar, eggs, cream, lemon juice and rind into bowl.

Whisk until blended.

5 Pour into pastry case.

6 Return to oven for 35 to 40 minutes until custard is firm.

7 Arrange lemon slices on top. Sprinkle with sugar and place under pre-heated grill for 3 minutes to brown.

By Sarah Smethurst

Perfect Puddings

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Lemon Meringue Pie Mrs Grace “This is delicious with ice cream or cream - or both!”

Ingredients 6oz plain flour 1½oz lard 1½oz margarine 2 egg yolks 2 heaped tbsp sugar 2 heaped tbsp cornflour (or plain flour) 5 tbsp cold water 2 lemons 3 egg whites 3 tbsp caster sugar

Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (400°F, Gas Mark 6) for a quick hot pie or if you wish to serve cold, warm the oven to a lower heat.

2 Prepare and cook the pastry flan case, using the first three ingredients.

3 Mix the egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and water in a bowl.

4 Boil together a ¼ pint of water and 1oz of margarine.

5 Combine the egg yolk mixture with the water/margarine mixture and cook this gently for 3 minutes.

6 Add grated rind and juice of lemons and spread into flan case.

7 Whip up the egg whites very stiffly. Whisk in 1 tbsp of caster sugar. Whip up again. Stir in 2 tbsp of caster sugar.

8 Pile into lemon filling and fork into peaks.

9 Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 200°C for a hot pie. If you want to serve the pie cold, cook it slowly on a lower heat for 30 minutes and allow to cool.

page 130

Mary Berry’s Wonderful Apple Dessert Cake Mrs Grimditch

Ingredients 225g self-raising flour 1 level tsp baking powder 225g caster sugar 2 eggs ½ tsp almond extract 150g butter, melted 350g cooking apples, peeled and cored 25g flaked almonds

Method 1 Lightly grease a deep 20cm (8 in) loose-bottomed cake tin.

2 For a conventional oven, pre-heat the oven to 160°C (325°F, Gas Mark 3).

3 Measure the flour, baking powder, sugar, eggs, almond extract and melted butter into a bowl, mix well until blended, then beat for a minute. Spread half this mixture into the tin. Thickly slice the apples and lay on top of the mixture in the tin, piling mostly towards the centre.

4 Using 2 dessertspoons, roughly spoon the remaining mixture over the apples.

This is an awkward thing to do, but just make sure that the mixture covers the centre well as it will spread out in the oven. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.

5 Aga instructions: With the grid shelf on the floor of the Roasting Oven and the cold plain shelf on the second set of runners, cook the cake for about 20 mins or until pale golden brown, watching carefully. Transfer the plain shelf (which is very hot!) to the middle of the Simmering Oven and then lift the cake very carefully on to this and bake for a further 30-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.

6 Or: Bake on the grid shelf on the lowest set of runners in the Baking Oven for about one and a quarter hours until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. If the cake is getting too brown, protect with the cold plain shelf hung above the cake.

Perfect Puddings

7 Conventional oven: Cook in the pre-heated oven for 1½ hours until golden and shrinking away from the sides of the tin.

8 To prepare ahead: Best served warm but can be made the day before.

9 To freeze: Once cooked and cold, wrap and freeze. Use within 3 months.

Thaw for 6 hours if time allows.

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Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Janet Unwin and Charlotte

Ingredients Topping 50g softened butter 50g light soft brown sugar 7 pineapple rings in syrup Cake 100g softened butter 100g golden caster sugar 100g self-raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 eggs

Method 1 Heat oven to 180째C (Gas Mark 4/ fan oven 160째C).

2 For the topping start by beating the butter and sugar until creamy.

3 Spread over the base and a quarter of the way up the sides of a 20-21 cm round cake tin.

4 Arrange pineapple rings on top.

5 For the cake, place ingredients in a bowl with 2 tbsp of pineapple syrup.

Use an electric whisk to beat to a soft consistency.

6 Spoon into the tin on top of the pineapple, smooth out so it's level.

7 Bake for around 35 minutes.

8 Leave to stand for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a plate. Serve with ice cream.

Serves 6

Perfect Puddings

Weedon Hedgerow Clafoutis Liz Brown, Joe and Sam “This is a Brown family favourite. Must be something to do with the fluffy, custardy texture of the pud and the fact that it’s quick to rustle up. I like using blackberries picked from all the brambles in Weedon but it’s just as delicious with cherries and plums.”

Ingredients 250g blackberries 1 tbsp icing sugar 50g ground almonds 35g plain flour 100g caster sugar ½ tsp vanilla extract 2 eggs 2 egg yolks 250ml double cream

Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

2 Coat the berries in the icing sugar and soak them in water for 10 minutes, drain and set aside.

3 Mix the ground almonds, flour, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, yolks and cream together until smooth.

4 Put the fruits in a greased baking dish just big enough to hold them in one layer, and pour the mixture on top.

5 Bake for 20-25 minutes until gorgeously golden on top. Best served warm with a dollop of ice cream.

Serves 4

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GF

Raspberry Cream Pavlova Ellen Aubrey - 4Beauty, Whitchurch “I cook my pavlova in an Aga which does the job perfectly though it will be just as successful in a conventional oven. Either way, it always goes down very well!”

Ingredients 3 egg whites 175g caster sugar 1 tsp vinegar 1 level tsp cornflour For the filling 300ml whipping cream, whipped 225g fresh raspberries

Method 1 Whisk egg whites until they are stiff, then continue to whisk whilst adding the caster sugar, a teaspoon at a time. Blend the vinegar and cornflour together and whisk into the egg whites.

2 Spread the mixture out onto silicone paper making a neat circular shape and building up the sides so they are higher than the centre.

3 To bake in an Aga, place the pavlova base in the bottom of the roasting oven on the grid shelf for 3-4 minutes until lightly coloured. Transfer it to the simmering oven for 1 to 1½ hours, until firm but gooey in the centre.

4 In a conventional oven, cook the base at 150°C for 1¼ hours; do not open the oven doors whilst cooking. Turn off the oven and leave to cool with the door shut for at least 30 minutes or even overnight.

5 Peel away the silicone paper and place on a serving stand or plate. Fold together the whipped cream and raspberries and pile into the centre. Leave to stand in the fridge for about an hour before serving.

Serves 6 to 8

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page 136

Anna’s Cheeky Cheesecake Francesca Bateman and Anna “I can only recommend that you close your eyes to the ingredients in this - it is a very rock and roll cheesecake. Anna is Queen of Biscuit Bashing and we always try to add a few berries for fibre content.”

Ingredients For the base 5oz Nice biscuits 2oz caster sugar 3oz melted butter For the filling 3x 40oz packets Philadelphia cheese 2 beaten eggs 4½oz caster sugar 1tsp vanilla essence 1tsp lemon juice For the top ½ pt sour cream ½oz caster sugar ¼ tsp vanilla essence

Method 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Crush the Nice biscuits, mix with caster sugar and melted butter.

Press into loaf tin lined with foil.

Beat Philadelphia cheese until creamy.

Add egg, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice; mix together and pour on top of base.

Bake for 30 minutes at 180°C. Remove from oven, pour topping over and put back in oven for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool over night for a minimum of 6 hours.

Serves 6 to 8 (depending on your level of greed!)

Perfect Puddings

GF

page 137

Italian Ricotta Dessert Specially prepared for us by Isla St Clair

Ingredients 500g ricotta cheese 250ml whipping cream 50g caster sugar 300g fresh raspberries (or strawberries if you prefer) 4 tbsp sweet Marsala (optional) Strips of thinly pared orange rind to decorate (optional)

Method 1 Press the ricotta through a sieve into a bowl. If using Marsala pour 2 tablespoons into the bowl and mix with the ricotta.

2 Pour the cream and sugar into another bowl and whip until the cream is standing in soft peaks.

3 Fold the whipped cream into the ricotta.

4 Spoon either into individual dessert bowls or one large serving bowl and top with the raspberries.

5 Sprinkle the raspberries with the remaining Marsala. Dust the top with caster sugar. Decorate with strips of pared orange rind and serve.

6 Isla's tip: Ideally this rich creamy dessert should be chilled for an hour.

Take out of the fridge 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 4

page 138

GF

Poached Pear in White Wine with Saffron and Cardamom Claire Steele and Xantippe “From Yotam Ottolenghi's Jerusalem, it's definitely the cardamom that gives this its deliciousness (and the white wine and sugar!). Simple to prepare and heavenly in the mouth.”

Ingredients 500 ml white wine Juice of one lemon 150g caster sugar 15-20 cardamom pods lightly crushed ½ tsp saffron threads 4 firm pears, peeled Crème fraîche to serve

Method 1 Pour wine and lemon juice into a large saucepan and add sugar, cardamom and saffron.

2 Bring to a light simmer and place the peeled pears inside. Make sure they are immersed in the liquid (add water if necessary).

3 Cover the surface with a disc of greaseproof paper and simmer, turning the pears occasionally, until they are cooked through but not mushy (about 20 minutes). When a knife goes in smoothly the pears are ready.

4 Remove the pears and transfer to serving dishes. Increase the heat and reduce the liquid by about two thirds or until thick and syrupy. Pour over pears and leave to cool.

5 Serve cold or at room temperature, with crème fraîche.

Serves 4

Perfect Puddings

GF

Redcurrant Ice-cream Louise Davis Catering

Ingredients 1lb redcurrants 6oz white sugar ½ pint of cream

Method 1 2 3 4

Gently heat the redcurrants with a little water until the berries are soft.

Put through a sieve, add sugar and dissolve in the juice.

Add cream when cool.

Freeze, beating occasionally as it freezes if not using an ice cream machine.

LOUISE

DAVIS CATERING

\

Quality home cooked food for all occasions.

Tel 01296 641179

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t a e r t n o Go ! f l e s r u o y

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A Good Bake

A Good Bake

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tents

A Good Bake Con

The Famous Recipe for the Queen Mother’s Favourite Cake

146

Chocolate Cake

148

Nanny Smith’s Cup of Tea Fruit Cake

149

The Perfect Banana Loaf

150

Chocolate Chip Cookies

151

Victoria Sandwich Cake

152

Coffee and Walnut Cake

154

Wicked Welsh Cakes

156

Lemon and Chilli Citrus Drizzle Cake

157

Crispy Marshmallows Squares

159

Dairy and Egg Free Chocolate Cupcakes

161

Italian Uncooked Chocolate Cake

163

Nana Hardcastle’s Chocolate Roulade

164

Banana Muffins

166

Blueberry Muffins

168

Chocolate Crumble Cake

169

Mrs Blackman’s Tea Loaf

170

Chocolate Brownies

171

Gingerbread (Men) Teddies

172

Toffee Squares

173

Gooey White Chocolate Cookies

174

Two Teatime Treats

176

Akeley Wood School Lemon and Ginger Tea Bread

178

Millionaire’s Shortbread

180

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The Famous Recipe for the Queen Mother’s Favourite Cake Juliet Blayney and Jonty

Ingredients For the cake 8oz chopped dates 6floz boiling water 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 8oz caster sugar 8oz butter, softened 10oz plain flour 1tsp baking powder 2oz walnuts, chopped 1tsp vanilla essence For the sauce 5 tbsp soft brown sugar 2 tbsp double cream 2 tbsp butter

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Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to 180째C (350째F, Gas Mark 4). Use a 9x12 inch (23x30cm) tin and line and grease the base.

2 Place the dates in a bowl and pour over the boiling water. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda. Leave to stand for at least 30 minutes.

3 Mix together butter and sugar, egg, flour, baking powder, walnuts and vanilla essence in a large mixing bowl, then beat for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.

4 Stir in the date mixture, then spoon into the prepared tin.

5 Bake for 35-40 mins.

6 Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out.

7 For the topping, place all ingredients in a heavy-based saucepan. Slowly bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Boil for 3 minutes.

8 Spread the topping on the cake and sprinkle with the nuts.

Serves 4

By Jonty Blayney

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Chocolate cake Sarah Hesford and Thomas, Charlotte and Katie “This is a fantastic chocolate cake recipe that is really simple to make.�

Ingredients 150g self-raising flour 175g caster sugar 175g soft margarine 75g drinking chocolate 3 large eggs 3 tbsp boiling water For the icing 60g butter 250g icing sugar 1 tbsp cocoa powder 3 tbsp hot milk 2 drops vanilla essence Some chocolate shavings

Method 1 Pre-heat oven to 160°C/Gas Mark 3.

2 Put all of the ingredients into an electric mixer bowl and mix for approximately 2 minutes.

3 Pour mixture into two greased and lined 18-20cm cake tins and bake in the centre of the oven for 45-60 minutes until well risen and firm.

4 For the icing, melt the butter in a pan and blend in cocoa powder. Stir in the remaining ingredients. The icing should be thick and smooth.

5 Spread half of the icing between the two halves as a filling and half on top of the cake.

6 Sprinkle the top with chocolate shavings.

Serves 10

A Good Bake

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Nanny Smith’s Cup of Tea Fruit Cake Claire Rose and Hayley “You can cook this in a small oblong loaf tin too … it’s lovely in slices with butter on it .. a bit like Malt loaf but not as sweet. Just remember to cover it with baking paper or greaseproof paper.”

Ingredients ½lb self-raising flour ½lb currants or raisins 1 tbsp of sugar Pinch of salt 1 tsp of ground mixed spice 4oz margarine 1 cup of black tea 1 egg 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method 1 Heat the oven to 180°C. 2 Put all of the dry mixture into a mixing bowl.

3 Melt margarine in a pan on the hob, add the black tea and currants/raisins and stir on a low heat for 1 minute. Then leave to cool (until lukewarm).

4 Put the mixture from the pan into the bowl and add the egg. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon and then put the mixture into a 7 inch round tin with a piece of greaseproof paper over the top of the tin.

5 Cook for 1 hour.

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The Perfect Banana Loaf Annie Powell and William “This is an absolutely scrumptious cake that gets wolfed down by all the kiddies in minutes, even the fussy ones!”

Ingredients 270g soft light brown sugar 2 eggs 200g peeled bananas, mashed 280g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground ginger 140g unsalted butter, melted

Method 1 Grease a 23x13cm loaf tin and dust with flour. Pre-heat the oven to 170°C/ 325°F/Gas Mark 3.

2 Put the sugar and eggs in a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat until well incorporated.

Beat in the mashed bananas.

3 Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and ginger to the sugar mixture. Mix it thoroughly until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the egg mixture. Pour in the melted butter and beat until all the ingredients are well mixed.

4 Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth over with a palette knife. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 1 hour or until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool slightly in the tin before turning out to a wire cooling rack to cool completely, although it is rather delicious warm!

A Good Bake

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Chocolate Chip Cookies Esther Smith, Ben and Mollie “A favourite in the Smith household!”

Ingredients Unsalted butter for greasing 175g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 125g soft margarine 85g light muscovado sugar 55g caster sugar ½ tsp vanilla or orange essence 1 egg 125g plain chocolate chips

Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5. Lightly grease two baking trays.

2 Place all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat until well combined.

3 Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared baking trays, spacing them well apart to allow for spreading during cooking.

4 Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown.

5 Using a palette knife, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Victoria Sandwich Cake Victoria and Emma Curtis-Smith, Curtis-Smith Cleaning Services “This is a very simple recipe that can be adapted accordingly with the addition of lemon, coffee, nuts, chocolate or fruit. It can be made as a large celebration cake or smaller ones. Experiment and see what your family and friends prefer!”

Ingredients For the cake 175g butter, softened 175g caster sugar 3 medium eggs 175g self-raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 2 tbsp milk For the butter cream filling 75g butter, softened 150g sifted icing sugar 1 to 2 tbsp milk

Method 1 Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. 2 Grease 2 sandwich tins of 15cm diameter and line the bottom with baking paper.

3 Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

4 Add the eggs and beat well.

5 Fold in the baking powder and flour.

6 Mix in the milk to loosen the mixture slightly.

7 Divide evenly between the two tins, smooth the top and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until risen.

8 Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

9 Make some butter cream by beating together the butter, sifted icing sugar and milk.

10 Once completely cool, spread with raspberry jam and the butter cream and sandwich together.

Curtis-Smith

Professional & Reliable Service

Victoria 07716 740722

CLEANING SERVICES

Emma 07716 737723

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Coffee and Walnut Cake Joanna Rose “I started making this cake for the Weedon Schoolroom Café, adapted from one of my grandmother’s recipes – a real star baker. It’s become a great favourite there and at home – if there’s any left for me to bring back! Daughter Cathy requested it for her 20th birthday cake, so I increased the quantities to make a 3-layer version, adding icing on the sides and piped decoration. It went down a storm with her university flatmates.”

Ingredients For a 2-layer 20cm cake: 225g soft butter/spread 225g golden caster sugar 225g self-raising flour 4 large eggs 1 heaped tsp instant coffee 50g chopped walnuts For the coffee butter icing: 75g soft butter/spread 200g icing sugar, sifted 1 heaped teaspoon instant coffee, dissolved in about 2 teaspoons hot water and allowed to cool A dash of milk

Method 1 Make sure the butter and eggs come to room temperature before you start baking.

2 Dissolve the instant coffee in 2 teaspoons of hot water and allow to cool.

3 Cream together the butter and sugar until soft and light. A mixer is great for this. Gradually beat in the eggs, not too quickly or the mixture will curdle (add a little flour if this threatens).

4 Add the coffee liquid.

5 Sift the flour a couple of times before folding into the mixture gently and carefully; then add the chopped walnuts and stir to combine.

A Good Bake

Method continued 6 Divide the mixture between two 20cm greased and lined sandwich tins. Bake just above the centre of a moderately hot oven (180-190째C/350-375째F/Gas Mark 4-5) for about 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Turn out to cool.

7 Beat together the ingredients for the butter icing until light and fluffy. Top and fill the cake with the icing and decorate with walnut halves.

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Wicked Welsh Cakes Lowri Breed and Betty

Ingredients 1lb self raising flour ½ lb butter ½ lb caster sugar 4-6oz currants 2 eggs Milk to mix

Method 1 Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.

2 Roll out mixture and cut rounds using a 2 inch cutter.

3 Bake on a hot stone, skillet or heavy based pan on the hob, over a moderate to high heat. Cook both sides until golden brown.

4 Leave to cool and sprinkle with caster sugar if desired.

By Betty Breed

A Good Bake

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Lemon and Chilli Citrus Drizzle Cake Mr Bowskill “This cake doesn’t necessarily look great but it more than makes up for it in taste and in the words of Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry never substitute style over substance and taste. Enjoy!”

Ingredients For the cake 200g softened butter 200g caster sugar 200g self-raising flour 4 eggs 2 tbsp chilli citrus jam (or something similar) Zest and juice of 2 lemons For the lemon chilli drizzle 100g icing sugar Juice of lemon 1 or 2 tbsp of chilli citrus jam (to your own taste)

Method 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Pre-heat oven to 160°C (140°C for a fan oven/Gas Mark 3).

Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin (around 28cm long and 7cm deep or similar size).

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Whisk in the eggs 1 at a time.

Whisk in the lemon juice, zest and jam.

Fold in the flour, carefully so as not to knock out the air.

Transfer to the loaf tin.

Bake in the oven for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Hint: I always check the loaf after about half an hour and then test with a skewer after about 45 minutes. Every oven is different so you’ll have to judge this yourself, but the cake is done when the skewer comes out with just a few crumbs attached to it – and your mouth is watering!

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Method continued 10 For the lemon, chilli citrus drizzle, just combine all the ingredients and mix well.

Poke a skewer into the top of the cake and pour over the drizzle while the cake is still warm. Resist temptation and leave the cake to cool completely before removing from the loaf tin, or it will collapse.

A Good Bake

GF

Crispy Marshmallows Squares Amanda Barber and Lindsay

Ingredients 50g butter 200g marshmallows 150g Rice Krispies

Method 1 2 3 4 5

Melt butter in a large saucepan.

Add the marshmallows stirring all the time until melted.

Stir in the Rice Krispies until all are covered.

Press into a square tin approximately 23 x 23cm.

Cut into 16 squares once cold.

By Lindsay Barber

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By Charlotte Unwin

By Anna Bateman

DF

A Good Bake

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Dairy and Egg Free Chocolate Cupcakes Erica Burgess and Adam “Thanks to Rachel Allen for providing a cupcake recipe which I'm actually able to bake for my dairy and egg allergic child. To him a chocolate cupcake's a chocolate cupcake!”

Ingredients For the cakes 1 tbsp white wine vinegar 275 ml soya milk 75 ml sunflower oil 1 tsp vanilla extract 185g self-raising flour 40g cocoa ¾ tsp baking powder ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda ¼ tsp salt 200g caster sugar For the icing 65g stork "perfect for pastry" vegetable fat 175g icing sugar, sifted Pinch of salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 tsp cocoa

Method 1 2 3 4

Pre-heat oven to 180°C or Gas Mark 4.

Line the bun tray with around 12 to 16 paper cases.

In a bowl mix together the vinegar, soya milk, sunflower oil and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Once the dry ingredients are sifted, mix in the sugar.

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Method continued Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and whisk to combine.

Divide the batter between the paper cases, filling each 他 full.

Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until springy to touch.

Allow to cool in the tray for 5 minutes and then remove from the tray and place on a wire rack to cool.

9 Using a palette knife, spread icing over each cupcake.

5 6 7 8

Makes 12 to 16 cupcakes

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Italian Uncooked Chocolate Cake Gay Wilmot-Smith and Nicholas “I used to make this recipe as a child and I think it is probably the first recipe I ever made. Now that I make it for my family, I usually double all the ingredients... just greedy!�

Ingredients 150g butter 1 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp golden syrup 2 tbsp cocoa powder 250g digestive biscuits, finely crushed 25g ground almonds 2 tsp coffee essence (I often substitute this with strong instant coffee) 75g plain chocolate

Method 1 Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.

2 Place the syrup in a saucepan and warm gently over a low heat. Remove from the heat and add the cocoa, biscuit crumbs, almonds and coffee essence.

Allow to cool and stir into the creamed mixture.

3 Press the mixture into a shallow greased foil tray (approximately 20cm sq.).

4 To freeze: cover, seal and freeze.

5 To serve: unwrap and thaw at room temperature for 2-3 hours. Melt the chocolate, pour evenly over the surface of the cake and leave to set. Cut into squares to serve.

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GF

Nana Hardcastle's Chocolate Roulade Sarah Hardcastle and Zac

Ingredients 175g good quality chocolate 175g caster sugar 6 eggs separated To finish, 300ml double cream and icing sugar

Method 1 Pre-heat oven to 180째C, 160째C fan, Gas Mark 4.

2 Lightly grease a 13" x 9" Swiss roll tin and line with baking paper, pushing it into the corners.

3 Break the chocolate into a bowl and stand it over a pan of hot water. The bowl must not touch the water. Place the pan on a low heat until the chocolate melts and then cool. It is important that the chocolate does not get too hot.

4 Put the egg yolks into a large bowl and whisk with an electric whisk on a high speed, gradually adding the sugar and keep whisking until the mixture is light and creamy.

5 Add the cooled chocolate and stir until everything is evenly blended.

6 In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks but not dry (i.e. do not over beat).

7 Stir in a large spoonful of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, mix gently then fold in the remaining egg whites.

8 Spread evenly in the prepared tin, bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes until firm.

9 Remove the cake from the oven and leave in the tin. Cover with a dry tea towel until cold.

10 Whip the cream until it is just stiff and dust a large piece of greaseproof paper with icing sugar.

11 Turn out the roulade onto the paper then peel off the lining paper that it was cooked on.

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12 Spread evenly in the prepared tin, bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes until firm.

13 Spread with the cream. Beginning at that short edge, roll up very tightly, using the paper it is lying on to help. Do not worry when the roulade cracks a bit, a good one should.

14 Dust with more icing sugar to serve. You can serve it with some alcohol or icing sugar in the cream if preferred.

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Banana Muffins Penny Lowe, Jellybeans & Jellybabies “After a busy session of action songs - tickling and giggling, bouncing and jumping, singing and dancing, we might feel like something to eat and perhaps a banana muffin might be a tasty treat?

Bananas truly are a super-food and there are so many benefits of eating them: they promote sleep and are a mild laxative; they are anti-fungal and a natural antibiotic; they contain pectin which helps ulcers, lowers cholesterol and removes toxic metals from the body; they contain potassium, tryptophan, vitamin C, beta-carotene, vitamin K and vitamin B6.”

Ingredients 8oz self raising flour 5oz caster sugar 4oz margarine 2 eggs well beaten 2 ripe mashed bananas

Method 1 2 3 4 5

Cream the margarine and sugar together.

Add eggs and mashed bananas.

Then add the sieved flour and mix well.

Spoon the mixture into 12 muffin cases.

Bake in a moderate oven Gas Mark 3-4, electric oven 350-375oF, for 25 mins.

Penny Lowe, Jellybeans and Jellybabies Action songs & percussion for babies, toddlers & preschool children Tel 01296 612488

JELLYBEANS & JELLYBABIES

Email penny.lowe@btinternet.com

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Blueberry Muffins Sarah Hague, Charlie and Olly “A good healthy treat - always popular for the school lunch box! I have adapted this from Delia's original version.”

Ingredients 5oz plain flour ½ level tbsp baking powder 1 size 2 egg 1½oz caster sugar 4floz milk 2oz butter, melted and slightly cooled ½ tsp vanilla extract 4oz blueberries

Method 1 Start by sifting the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Then in a separate bowl mix together the egg, sugar, milk, melted butter and vanilla extract.

2 Now return the dry ingredients to the sieve and sift them straight on to the egg mixture.

3 Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ones - very quickly. The mixture will be very uneven and lumpy.

4 Fold in the blueberries - again, quickly.

5 Spoon the mix into muffin cups or greased tin.

6 Bake in the oven on 200°C / 400°F for 20 - 30 minutes depending on size of muffins.

Makes 6 to 9 depending on size of tin

A Good Bake

Chocolate Crumble Cake Jenny Day and Alice

Ingredients ½Ib digestive biscuits 4oz butter 2oz sugar 2 tbsp golden syrup 2 tbsp cocoa powder

Method 1 Grease a loose-bottom 16cm tin.

2 Break biscuits into crumbs.

3 Melt butter, add sugar, syrup and cocoa then mix well. Add crushed biscuits and press into tin.

4 Leave to set.

By Charlie Hague

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Mrs Blackman's Tea Loaf Mrs Blackman

Ingredients 10oz mixed dried fruit 2oz soft brown sugar 1 eating apple 10oz self-raising flour 1 egg ½ pint cold tea Clear honey to glaze

Method 1 Heat oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mark 4).

2 Line and grease a 2lb loaf tin.

3 Put dried fruit, sugar and apple into a bowl and pour tea over the mix. Cover and leave for at least 6 hours or overnight.

4 Add beaten egg and sieved flour. Stir well, adding air as you stir.

5 Put the mixture into your lined and greased loaf tin and bake on the top shelf of the oven for between 50 minutes to 1 hour.

6 Warm honey and brush over the top when the cake is cool.

7 Serve cold with butter on each slice.

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Chocolate Brownies Karen Smethurst and Sarah

Ingredients 200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped 175g unsalted butter 325g caster sugar 130g plain flour 3 eggs Icing sugar to decorate

Method 1 Line a 33 cm x 23 x 5 cm baking tray with greaseproof paper.

2 Pre-heat oven to 170째C (325째F, Gas Mark 3).

3 Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.

4 Leave until melted and smooth. Remove from heat.

5 Add sugar and flour and finally eggs. Mix until smooth and thick.

6 Put in baking tray and bake in pre-heated oven for 30 to 35 minutes until flaky on top but soft in the middle.

page 172

Gingerbread (Men) Teddies Andrea Warner and Oliver

Ingredients 350g plain flour 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon 125g soft brown sugar 1 egg 4 tbsp golden syrup Icing, sprinkles to decorate

Method 1 Pre-heat oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mark 4).

2 Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon into a processor. Add butter and blend until it looks like breadcrumbs (alternatively, rub butter in with fingers). Add sugar.

3 Lightly beat egg and syrup. Add to flour mix until it clumps together. Knead dough lightly until smooth. Wrap with cling film and place in fridge for 15 mins.

4 Roll out dough to ½cm thickness on a light floured surface.

5 Cut out using biscuit cutters, place on a lined baking tray.

6 Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden. Leave on a tray for 10 minutes then move to a wire rack.

7 When cool decorate with icing.

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Toffee Squares Anita Williams and Alice

Ingredients For the cake 150g pitted soft dates 125ml cold water 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 150g butter 150g light muscovado sugar 2 medium eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 175g self-raising flour For the toffee sauce 75g butter 150g light brown sugar 150ml single cream (or use bought toffee sauce if preferred)

Method 1 Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 28cm x 18cm tin.

2 Place chopped dates in a pan with water. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat and add bicarbonate of soda. Mixture will fizz. Leave to cool.

3 Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk in eggs and vanilla extract.

4 Using metal spoon, fold in flour and then date mixture. Pour mixture into tin and place in oven for 25-30 minutes or until risen.

5 Allow the cake to cool in tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

When cold, cut into pieces and top with sauce.

6 To make the sauce, bring the butter, sugar and cream to the boil and cook for 3 minutes until thickened. Allow to cool.

page 174

Gooey White Chocolate Cookies Mike, Head Chef at The Cook & Fillet Restaurant and Farm Shop, Kingswood “These go perfectly with a good cup of tea.”

Ingredients 100g soft butter 100g demerara sugar 100g soft brown sugar 1 egg 170g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder Pinch of salt 150g white chocolate, broken into pieces

Method 1 Pre-heat your oven to 190°C. 2 Mix together the butter, sugar and pinch of flour.

3 When it’s all well blended add the rest of the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until smooth. Then add the chocolate chunks.

4 Roll the mix into 1 inch balls using the palms of your hands. Place the balls on a greased baking tray, leaving plenty of space between each one. These cookies love to spread.

5 Cook in the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes.

6 Then enjoy!

A Good Bake

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Welcome to the Cook & Fillet, a warm and friendly destination pub restaurant with good, local food at its heart. We're located in rural Buckinghamshire and a visit is not complete without seeing what our beautiful farm shop has to offer...

THE RESTAURANT

OUR ETHOS

Whether visiting for a light lunch, a business meeting, a casual dinner or a formal celebration, the Cook & Fillet is a destination pub with a focus on serving great quality food without pretension, a place to eat, drink and relax in comfort and style.

There’s no grand philosophy here, we just do what’s right: source great quality ingredients because we know that with great ingredients comes unrivalled flavour.

Mon-Thurs 9:00am - 9:00pm Fri-Sat 9:00am - 9:30pm Sun 9:00am - 08:00pm

Our beef is from suckler herds and raised with their family herd on green pastures. Our pork is from a farm in Lincolnshire where it is farm assured and slowly reared to very high standards. And the lamb we buy develops a great natural flavour and doesn’t fatten too quickly.

*Breakfast is served from 9:00am - 11:00am every day and lunch is served till 5.30pm

And our eggs are from farms where the chickens are allowed to roam freely outdoors.

It’s not rocket science!

OPENING TIMES

The Cook & Fillet Kingswood, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP18 0QJ

Telephone 01296 770318 Email cookandfillet@oakmaninns.co.uk Check out our website, www.cookandfillet.co.uk, like us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/thecookandfillet or follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/cookandfillet to keep up with all our latest news and offers.

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Two Teatime Treats Cublington Nursery School “Cooking is always great fun with our children and we do try to make healthy creations. Here are two of our favourite recipes.”

Oat Biscuits Ingredients 250g plain flour 250g porridge oats 250g butter 150g sugar A pinch of salt

Method 1 2 3 4

Pre-heat oven to 150°C. Mix ingredients together to form a dough.

Roll to ½ cm thick.

Bake until firm (about 45 minutes).

Chocolate Date Cookies Ingredients 125g butter 125g brown sugar 175g flour 1½ tsp baking powder 25g cocoa powder 175g dates, finely chopped 1 egg, beaten

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Method 1 Pre-heat oven to 170째C/ Gas Mark 3.

2 Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.

3 Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together. Fold into the butter mixture.

4 Knead in the dates and enough beaten egg to make a slightly sticky dough.

5 Spoon tablespoons of the dough, spaced apart, onto a well-greased baking sheet. Put into the pre-heated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned and firm to the touch.

CUBLINGTON NURSERY SCHOOL

A safe and stimulating environment for building confidence and independence for children aged 2-5 years.

Contact Tel: 07761 114038 Web: www.cublingtonnursery.webs.com Email: cublington.nursery@hotmail.co.uk Village Hall, Wing Road, Cublington, Bucks LU7 0LF

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Akeley Wood School Lemon and Ginger Tea Bread Akeley Wood Senior School, Buckingham “This delicious tea loaf is offered to pupils, busy with after school clubs and activities and keeps them going until supper time.”

Ingredients 1 cup of cold lemon and ginger tea 8 oz mixed dried fruit 8 oz self-raising flour 4 oz caster sugar 1 large beaten egg 2 tbsp orange marmalade 7oz icing sugar

Method 1 Grease a 1.5lb (675g) loaf tin.

2 Pre-heat oven to 180°C or Gas Mark 4.

3 Place the fruit into a small bowl and pour the cold tea over the top. Soak overnight if possible, or until the fruit swells.

4 In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, egg and marmalade.

5 Pour in the fruit and any tea left in the bowl. Stir thoroughly.

6 Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour.

7 Tip the icing sugar into a bowl, add a little water and mix well to form a paste.

Gradually add more water until the icing is just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

8 Drizzle or spread the icing over the top of the tea loaf.

Serves 6 to 8

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Whatever your child s hidden genius You ll see it flourish at Akeley Wood At Akeley Wood School we know how to ignite the imagination of young minds.

We succeed in being both challenging and supportive, providing academic excellence alongside a wealth of extra-curricular opportunities.

Pupils’ academic progress is closely monitored, targets set, and levels of attainment constantly reviewed.

Graduates of Akeley Wood feel comfortable in their own skin, making for a successful future.

AKELEY WOOD SCHOOL NURSERY

JUNIOR

SENIOR

SIXTH FORM

w w w. a k e l e y w o o d s c h o o l . c o . u k Nursery & Junior School (12 months – 11 years) Wicken Park Wicken Milton Keynes MK19 6DA Senior School (11 years – 13 years) Tile House Mansion Lillingstone Dayrell MK18 5AN Senior School & Sixth Form (13 years – 18 years) Akeley Wood Buckingham MK18 5AE For the Junior School, please contact the Admissions Registrar on 01908 555 803 or email joanne.cross@akeleywoodschool.co.uk

Scholarships awarded to pupils with particular talents in Academia, Music, Art and Sport.

For the Senior School, please contact the Admissions Registrar on 01280 812 000 or email admissions@akeleywoodschool.co.uk Akeley Wood School is part of the Cognita Group of Schools

page 180

Millionaire's Shortbread Sarah Hague, Charlie and Olly “This is a huge family favourite and over past decades had been used to cheer up homesick boarders, boxed up as a thank you to teachers at Christmas time and generally kept us all going!�

Ingredients Shortbread 4oz margarine 5oz self raising flour 2oz caster sugar

Filling 4oz margarine 4oz caster sugar 218g condensed milk 2 tbs golden syrup

Method 1 To make the shortbread cream the margarine and sugar, fold in the flour and press firmly into a greased tin (about 26 x 20cm).

2 Bake in a preheated oven (170 degrees C) for about 15 minutes or until firm to touch. Do not allow to burn.

3 To make the filling, melt all ingredients together in a saucepan.

4 Bring to the boil slowly and then boil until tacky. I usually boil for under 5 minutes, but it depends how chewy you like your caramel to be - I prefer it to be softer.

5 Spread over the shortbread base and allow to cool.

6 Melt dark chocolate and pour over the cooled caramel. I usually use around 4oz. If you wish, decorate with chocolate sprinkles whilst still soft.

7 Allow to cool and then cut into pieces.

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And ! y l l a ямБn

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Laptop & Computer Repairs - IT Support - Server Support - Tutoring g Virus Removal - Wireless Security - Software - Lan Networking king - Wireless Wireless hone RRepairs epairs Networking - Data Recovery - Website Design - SEO Services - IPhone

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www.the-itcrew.co.uk www.the-itcrew.co.uk Magical Journeys Writing holidays in Turkey, Morocco, India and Scotland Inspirational writing retreats and workshops offering unique opportunities to have fun and release the storyteller in you. No previous writing experience necessary, just an open mind and a notebook.

Two hour weekly workshops are held in Wingrave and Aylesbury - email clairesteele@hotmail.co.uk www.facebook.com/magicalwritingjourneys Our hotel in Turkey

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d o o G o o T to Miss

Too Good to Miss

ontents

C Too Good to Miss Pesto Pasta

188

Chocolate Oranges

189

Breakfast on the Move

190

Egg in Toast

191

Onion Marmalade

192

Mrs Molloy’s Stone Age Bread

193

Very Easy Tomato Sauce for Pasta

194

Nora’s Buckingham Clanger

195

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Pesto Pasta Brian and Alison Murray, Tierney and Finn “This is very easy... most people do not make their own pesto because they think they have to use a pestle and mortar. (This possibly stems from a Roman superstition that basil was a 'noble' plant - basil means 'kingly' - which could not be cut with base metals. That's my theory anyway).�

Ingredients Fresh basil - 1 large pot plant, sold in most supermarkets 200g parmesan cheese, coarsely chopped 100g pine nuts 100ml olive oil To taste: garlic and seasoning

Method 1 It helps to water the basil an hour or so before picking. Take the leaves off and wash gently in water - you should have a couple of generous handfuls. Gently pat dry with a tea towel.

2 Bung all the ingredients into a food processor with a chopping blade and mix to a paste (which is all 'pesto' means in Italian). Add more olive oil if necessary.

3 Amounts are approximate: the paste should be a medium shade of green, if not it needs more basil; if it's too dry it needs more olive oil.

4 When adding to pasta (gluten free if required), use about a dessertspoon for each person eating but be careful, it will be stronger than many supermarket imitations.

5 If you want, you can sterilise a jam jar (plus lid) in the oven, let it cool and add the remaining mixture. Adding a layer of olive oil on top keeps air off it and like this, it should last a few weeks.

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Chocolate Oranges Gay Wilmot-Smith and Nicholas “This is my mother-in-law’s recipe. At Christmas time she always has some on the sideboard that are regularly stolen by young and old! Delicious.�

Ingredients Clementines or satsumas Chocolate

Method 1 Peel the clementines or satsumas and break into segments. Melt the chocolate, quantities enough to cover each segment. Dip the clementine segments into the chocolate and ensure each piece is completely covered.

2 Place each chocolate covered segment onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and leave to set. They make great after dinner chocolates.

page 190

Breakfast on the Move Kerrie Raines, Amelia and Charles “Replacing your regular breakfast with this delicious smoothie will not only cut out the fat and artificial sugar, but will also supply the body with a huge dollop of goodness.�

Ingredients 1 handful fresh strawberries 1 handful fresh raspberries 150g low fat live yoghurt 150g soya milk 50g muesli A small handful ice cubes

Method 1 Place all the ingredients in the blender.

2 Blend - enjoy!

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Egg in Toast Annabella Rennison and Rose “My children love this either for breakfast or as a simple tea. It’s amazing how cutting a simple shape out of bread can make a very basic dish so appealing.

It also makes a healthier alternative to eggy bread with maple syrup!”

Ingredients 1 slice of bread per child (this works well with any type of bread) 1 egg per child A small lump of butter and a tablespoon or so of sunflower or other very light oil Any type of pastry cutter (I usually use a heart shape)

Method 1 Use the pastry cutter to cut out a shape in the middle of the slice of bread.

Cut off the crusts if your child doesn’t like them. Heat the butter and oil on a medium heat in a frying pan and when it’s hot put the slice of bread into the pan together with the shape cut out from the bread, and let them cook until they go a little brown.

2 Flip them over and break an egg into the hole in the middle. Cook for about 3-4 minutes (depending on whether your child likes their yolk runny or hard) then scoop it out carefully with a spatula and serve it with the toasted shape on the side to use instead of the traditional “soldier”.

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Onion Marmalade Andrea Warner and Oliver “This is perfect with cheese, can be used in the Sticky Sausages, Thyme and Apple Bake recipe in Mouthwatering Mains or given as a gift. It keeps well in the fridge in a sterilised jar for months!”

Ingredients 25g butter 675g onions, peeled and thinly sliced 150g caster sugar 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground black pepper 100ml sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar 250ml full bodied red wine 2 tbsp crème de cassis (optional)

Method 1 Melt butter in a pan, add onions, sugar, salt and pepper.

2 Stir, then cover and cook for 30 minutes over a gentle heat. Stir from time to time to prevent sticking.

3 Remove lid. Add vinegar, wine and crème de cassis if using.

4 Cook uncovered for another 30 minutes, stirring now and then until it thickens.

5 Pour into sterilised jars and cover while hot.

By Ben Ricketts

Too Good to Miss

page 193

Mrs Molloy’s Stone Age Bread Mrs Molloy “Here is Stone Age Bread made in four easy steps (and a sprinkling of 21st Century magic). Not that I was around at the time but I do know a thing or two about it…”

Ingredients 500g granary, strong whole-wheat or white bread flour (I used granary) 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast 1 tsp salt 2 tbsp olive/sunflower oil 1 tbsp clear honey or brown sugar

Method 1 Tip the flour, yeast and salt into a large bowl and mix together with your hands. Stir 300ml hand-hot water with the oil and honey, then stir into the dry ingredients to make a soft dough.

2 Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, until the dough no longer feels sticky, sprinkling with a little more flour if you need it.

3 Oil the loaf tin and put the dough in the tin, pressing it in evenly. Put in a large plastic food bag and leave to rise for 1 hour, until the dough has risen to fill the tin and it no longer springs back when you press it with your finger.

4 Heat oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas Mark 6. Make several slashes across the top of the loaf with a sharp knife, then bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the loaf is risen and golden. Tip it out onto a cooling rack and tap the base of the bread to check it is cooked. It should sound hollow. Leave to cool and enjoy.

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Very Easy Tomato Sauce For Pasta Mrs Anne Rizzo-Naudi “An old Maltese family recipe! This sauce is even better if you add a couple of handfuls of cooked peas to it, also flaked tuna is good too. It's much better than bought sauces and so easy to make with store cupboard ingredients.”

Ingredients 1 tin plum tomatoes, chopped 1 fat clove garlic 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp tomato purée ½ tsp granulated sugar Chopped fresh basil or big pinch of dried Italian herbs

Method 1 Heat oil in heavy based medium sized saucepan.

2 Add crushed chopped garlic and cook for just a minute, don't over cook or it will taste bitter.

3 Tip in the tinned tomatoes, purée, sugar and if you are using them, the dried herbs.

4 Stir well and season with salt and black pepper.

5 Simmer, very gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes, but after 10 is fine.

6 Next mash sauce with a potato masher until as fine as you like it.

7 Lastly stir in any fresh basil and serve on pasta (gluten free if required).

8 If the sauce is too thick you can add a little water from the pasta to loosen it.

Serves 2 to 3

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Nora’s Buckingham Clanger Andrew Lightbown, Curate of Whitchurch in the Schorne team of parishes.

“This recipe comes from a family friend, Nora. Nora says ‘my mother used to make this for us when we were children growing up in 1930s Thornborough.

She used to make it for me occasionally even after I was married and had moved to Buckingham. I now sometimes make this for my grandson, although it’s rather fiddly to prepare, he loves it!’”

Ingredients 8oz self-raising flour 4oz shredded suet 8oz lean back bacon, unsmoked, finely chopped 2 onions, finely chopped A little cold water

Method 1 Mix the flour and sift together with a little cold water to make a soft but not sticky dough. Roll out into a circle.

2 Put chopped onion and bacon into the centre of the pastry. Bring the edges together and crimp them to make a good seal.

3 Wrap in greaseproof paper and a nice white cloth. Tie with string like a parcel.

4 Lower into a pan of boiling water and simmer gently for three hours.

e r e h t s y a w !

Al s u d e e n u o if y

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Directory of local s e s s e n i s u b

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Directory of local businesses Home & Garden Services AP Cleaning Services Carpet and upholstery cleaners Andy Parry 173 Sowler Road, Aylesbury, Bucks HP19 7QR 01296 392658 077855 45878 andypazza@hotmail.com AWK Architectural Services Planning, building regulations and construction advice and services Alasdair King 07862283148 al@awkarchitecturalservices.co.uk Bucks Home Improvements - 'The Honest Builder' Steve Hunt 07980 655515 huntsteve22@yahoo.co.uk C. D. Roberts Interior & exterior decorating 0780 386 5968 01296 641483 Complete Chimney Services Full brush & vacuum sweeping, installation of wood burning stoves, Hetas registered, fully insured.

01296 614178 07774 140403 completechimneyservices.co.uk

l businesses

Directory of loca

Gardening and Odd Jobs Steve Messenger 01296 670921 07745 567876 Graft and Design Hand drawn bespoke pictures personalised with your choice of words. Ideal gift.

Cathie 01296 640941 07881 492489 cathiesgraftanddesign@gmail.com GRN Electrical Domestic, Agricultural & Equestrian Electrical Services Graham Newland 07715 670614 info@grnelectrical.co.uk www.grnelectrical.co.uk JDH Fencing Specialist service. All types of fencing and gates supplied and fitted.

01296 682 328 07760 153120 John Collins Electrical Electrical installations and electrical appliance repairs 01280 814909 john@johncollinselectrical.co.uk Kerrie's Floristry kerrie@me.com www.kerrieraines.co.uk Lifestyle-Construction.co.uk Specialists in the building industry Anthony Lincoln 07885 255 733 info@lifestyle-construction.co.uk Muriel Knowles Made to measure curtains, blinds & soft furnishings.

01296 655239 mjknowles@tiscali.co.uk

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Directory of local businesses Home & Garden Services (continued) Oven Wizards Professional oven valet service including Agas.

Mark Rudman 01844 238075 markrudman@ovenwizards.com www.ovenwizards.com The Press Gang Ironing and dry cleaning service 01844 353775 Tree & Gardening Services All tree & hedge work undertaken. Free estimates & friendly advice.

01296 682328 (evening) 07786 615249 (daytime)

Lifestyle and Leisure Ashley Raines Professional photographer a.raines@me.com www.ashleyraines.co.uk Country Frame Picture framing Paul Body Mount Pleasant Farm, Dunton Road, Stewkley, Leighton Buzzard, Beds LU7 0LU 01525 240163 07771 508805 Countryframe@gmail.com www.countryframe.co.uk

Drew's Hair and Beauty l businesses Directory of loca Hairdresser Shelia Drew Symth 62 High Street, Whitchurch, Nr Aylesbury, Bucks HP22 4JS 01296 641896 Dunsmore Dentsaway Car body repairs. Full body shop and mobile service. Bumper scuffs and dent removal. Free estimates.

07768 616880 01494 728572 Lucy Clunie Animal portrait artist - oils and pencil 01296 682106 peter@pclunie.fsnet.co.uk Single Vehicle Movements For all vehicle movements local and long distance.

John Hardcastle 08455 438078 www.singlevehicle.co.uk Thame Piano Lessons Piano teachers for ALL ages, needs and abilities Matt Baker 07944 535900 matt@thamepianolessons.co.uk thamepianolessons.co.uk Thrive Personal Training Personal trainer Tara Eastmead 07872 449019 tara@thrive-pt.co.uk www.thrive-pt.co.uk Vass Tech Your local independent Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda specialist garage Contact Russ or Rob 01296 641429 info@vass-tech.co.uk www.vass-tech.co.uk Walter Lilly Creative Professional photographer Haley Pearce 07789 376540 Haley@walterlillycreative.co.uk

page 201

BUCKS ELECTRICIAN Based in Whitchurch

Extra sockets and light fittings Kitchen and bathroom electrics Security and outdoor lighting Re-wiring and extensions Fuse board upgrades

Competitive rates Part P registered with ELECSA TrustMark registered All work guaranteed Reliable and efficient service

No job too small all enquiries welcome Contact Brian Marshall for a free, no-obligation quote

07545 370836 01296 641231 brian@bucks-electrician.co.uk

www.bucks-electrician.co.uk

“The Friendly Whitchurch Petrol Station & Store” No. 5 High Street, Whitchurch, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP22 4JU

Tel: 01296 641086 Opening times:

Monday to Saturday 6.00am to 10.00pm Sunday 6.00am to 9.00pm

For serv service ice and repair of

OIL OI LF FIRED IRED BOI BOILERS LERS & RS OIL OI LF FIRED IRED COOKE COOKERS * Prompt Prompt personal personal attention attention *Competitive *Competitive rrates ates *OFTEC *OFTEC rregistered egistered nk gauges gauges fitted fitted tank **Oil Oil ta

Re Registered g is te r e d Tec Technician hnician

Tel: Tel: 01296 730 670 Mobile: Mo bile: 07979 645 472

Do you own a 4x4?

Why not let us look after it for you…

Delivery/ collection or loan car free of charge

Servicing MOTs Repairs Parts, Tyres Diagnostics and more

Up to 50% cheaper than a main dealer

John Dennis has over 20 years of Land Rover experience.

In 2000 he opened his own establishment to service & repair Land Rover’s, including all makes of 4x4’s. We are conveniently located on the A413 between Aylesbury & Whitchurch. At John Dennis 4x4 we pride ourselves on our friendly unique approach and the personal touch which reflects in our high level of repeat business.

LAND ROVER SPECIALISTS

t: 01296 640750 m: 07768 173131 www.johndennis4x4.co.uk www.4x4vehiclehire.co.uk

We know our onions

Town & Country Property Sales and Lettings Visit michaelgraham.co.uk or call our Aylesbury ofďŹ ce on 01296 336227 for a free market appraisal

All proceeds in aid of Whitchurch Combined School.

Whitchurch School Association registered charity No.1130047