Summer Recipes

FOOD It’s Summer! Picnic or BBQ?

Here are some summer treats for you to enjoy this summer! Please send in if you try out the recipes, and send in a photo of the bake if it works! I would love to hear how it tasted!

Chocolate Pavlova

– serves 8-10 (but keeps for a bit so you don’t have to eat it all in one go.)

Ingredients Base

6 egg whites 300g caster sugar 3 tablespoons (tbs) of coco powder sieved 1 teaspoon of red wine or balsamic vinegar 50g dark chocolate, finely chopped

Topping

500ml double cream 300g raspberries 2-3 tbs coarsely grated dark chocolate To

Method

1. Preheat oven 180/gas mark 4 & line your baking tray with parchment 2. Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks 3. Keep whisking and at the sugar one spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny

4. Sprinkle the cocoa and vinegar and chopped chocolate 5. Gently fold (using either a spatula or metal spoon in a figure of eight movement) until everything is thoroughly mixed in 6. Mound onto the baking sheet in a fat circle (approx. 23cm diameter) 7. Place in the oven and immediately turn down temperature to 150 degrees/gas mark 2 and

cook for about 1 hour to 1hr 15mins. 8. When it’s ready it should be crispy around the edges and on the sides and be dry on top. When you prod the centre you should feel some squidginess beneath your fingers.

Turn off the oven and open the oven door slightly and let the meringue disc cool completely 9. When its completely cooled (otherwise your cream will melt into the meringue), whisk the cream till thick but soft 10. Add to the top of the base and scatter over the raspberries. Finally, add the grated chocolate.

Potato Salad

– great cold or hot

Ingredients

10-12 potatoes (new or old) 3 hard-boiled eggs 2 sticks of celery 6 spring onions 8 rounded tablespoons of mayonnaise 2 rounded tablespoons of finely chopped parsley Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Baking tin = 18cm x 23

1. Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water until cooked but only just 2. When they are cool enough to touch, peel the skin off them and cut into neat chunks 3. Shell the hard-boiled eggs and chop into pieces 4. Wash the sticks of celery and slice into very thin pieces 5. Slice the spring onion into very thin pieces 6. Mix all together with the mayonnaise and parsley and place into serving bowl 7. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Enjoy!

Summer Quiche

Here’s how to do the pastry if you are feeling adventurous. (You can always buy the pastry if you want to save time)

Ingredients

170g plain flour (strong approaching bread flour) Large pinch of salt 80g good quality cold unsalted butter 1 egg yolk (you’ll have plenty from the pavlova) 80 ml of cold water

Method

1. Put the flour, salt, and butter into a food processor for 5-8 seconds 2. If you are doing it by hand mix flour salt and cut the butter into pieces and rub together with fingertips 3. Create a well in the mixture and pour 1/3 of the water in and mix together quickly with a fork (add more water if you need it)

FOOD

4. Gather mixture with your hands (make sure your hands are cold) but don’t knead it; just make sure it isn’t too dry or sticky. The less you handle the pastry the lighter it will be! 5. Wrap in cling film and put in fridge for any thing from 30 mins to 8 hours (you can freeze it for later) 6. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and grease a 28cm quiche tin with butter 7. Take the dough out of the fridge & roll it out dusting with flour so it doesn’t get stuck 8. When it reaches the thickness of about 4mm put into the tin. Don’t stretch it and add a little extra as it will shrink 9. Bake the quiche pastry adding in a weight (anything such as foil filled with beans) and bake for 25-30 mins. The pastry should be dry and just turning golden

For the mixture:

500ml of single cream 4 eggs 1 egg yolk Pinch of salt

1. Mix the single cream, eggs, and egg yolk together and add a pinch of salt and pepper with some grated nutmeg 2. Add your own ingredients such as bacon pre -cooked veg sundried tomatoes. But if you are using ingredients like leeks, it is best to line the pastry with them and then the cream mixture to make sure that everything is evenly spread 3. Place back into the oven and cook until the mixture becomes form and doesn’t wobble, usually for about half an hour.