Leek, Potato and Cheese Pasties

This simple little recipe makes around eight small pasties, which are great eaten hot or cold.

Ingredients

12oz Potato, cut into small cubes
1 pint Vegetable Stock
6 Baby Shallots, cut in quarters
Half a Leek, sliced
Knob of Butter or tablespoon of Olive Oil
4oz Mature Cheddar Cheese or Vegan Cheese Alternative
Pastry (shortcrust or puff both work well, I use ready-made Rough Puff)
Half teaspoon of Dried Oregano
Half teaspoon of Dried Sage
1 Egg, beaten for glazing (optional)

Method

Bring the stock to the boil and add the potatoes. Simmer until the potatoes are part cooked and just softening.

In a small frying pan heat the butter or oil, then add the leeks and shallots. Saute until they are soft, but not browning.

Once the potato is cooked strain off the liquid. Put it on to a plate to got cold. 

Take the shallot and leek off the heat and also allow to cool.

While they are cooling, flour your rolling surface and roll out your pastry. Sprinkle the pastry with the herbs and roll these into it as you go. The pastry need to be fairly thin to cook well, but not so thin they'll split when you assemble the pasties. This will largely depend on which type of pastry you're using.

Using an upturned saucer as a template, cut out as many circles as you can get from your pastry. I usually manage about eight from a pack of ready made puff pastry. If using shortcrust I would make my own pastry from scratch, but rough puff is where I draw the line!

Once your pastry is cut pop it to one side while you make the filling.

In a large mixing bowl combine the grated cheese, cold potato and leek mix from the frying pan. If you like herbs you can add a few to the mix, but remember there are already some in the pastry! Make sure you mix it all well.

Using a desert spoon pile some of the mixture in the centre of a pastry disc. You can mould it quite eaisily to make the process a little less messy and get more of the filling into each pasty.

Preheat your oven to 200C. Ovens vary a lot, so you may wish to fractionally lower or increase the heat.

Brush beaten egg around the edge and pinch together the top edge, followed by the seam either side. When you've got all your pasties assembled, place them on a baking tray and brush the tops with egg.

 

Place in your oven and cook for around 20 minutes. Check your oven often as you may need to move your pasties around if your oven, like mine, is a bit old and has hot spots! When they have gone golden brown and probably spewed out a little melted cheese they'll be done. Don't worry if they take a little more or less time. Just keep an eye on them and take them out when they look like this...

This basic recipe can be adapted to suit your own tastes. My mother makes a vegan version quite easily and you can even add different fillings. You could easily include mushrooms or onions. You could even use a little sweet potato or parsnip mash in place of some of the potato mix.

Pumpkin and Red Leicester Risotto

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic gloves, finely chopped

10 oz fresh pumpkin flesh, chopped or shredded

12oz arborio rice

4 fl oz white wine

2 pints vegetable stock (two stock cubes in boiling water is fine)

8 oz Red Leicester cheese, grated

Heat the oil and half the butter in a large saute pan. Add the onion and cook until they begin to soften. Add the garlic and pumpkin and cook to soften them too.

Add the rice and stir well to coat the rice in the oil. Pour in the white wine and allow to reduce before starting to add the stock. It is best added half a pint at a time and allow the liquid to reduce before adding another. It takes about 40 minutes before the rice will turn translucent and all the stock will be used up. Keep stirring regularly as you do not want it to stick to the pan.

When the risotto is creamy (not too liquid, but not a stodgy lump!) take it off the heat. If it is too dry add some boiling water and stir until it has started to be absorbed, taking it off the heat before it dries out again)

Add 2/3 of the grated cheese to the risotto and stir in so it just begins to melt and stir in remaining butter.

Add a little of the remaining cheese to the bottom of each serving dish. Spoon the risotto into each and use the remaining cheese on top just before serving. 

Serve as soon as possible so that the cheese is still melting when it is brought to table.

Mushroom Pie

This is a very simple mushroom dish which can be served with salad, steamed vegetable or with soup.

A quantity of puff pastry

5oz butter

2 red onions, finely chopped

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1lb mixed fresh mushrooms (I use shitake, portobello, oyster and chestnut) chopped

Melt half the butter in a large saute pan and begin to cook the onions and garlic. Do not allow to brown, just soften.

Add the rest of the butter and the mushrooms. 

Cook over a low to medium heat to allow the mushrooms to cook thoroughly without cooking to quickly. About 25 minutes works for me. Once cooked set side to cool.

Roll out the pastry and use a small dinner plate s a template to make two circles.

Place on circle on a baking tray. Take your mushrooms and using a sieve gently squeeze out any excess liquid. Place mushrooms in the centre of the pastry circle. Brush around the edge with beaten egg and place the second pastry circle on top. Press the edges together and fold the bottom edge around the top one to form a decorating crust.

Pre-heat to 220C.

Using any spare pastry to make leaves and maybe a mushroom to stick on the top using beaten egg as glue. Brush the whole top with beaten egg and place in the oven for 45 minutes.

Sweet Pickled Onions

Although this recipe is for a quantity of pickled onions, but is equally good for pickled eggs and gherkins! Due to soaking time this needs to be made over two days.

2lb small pickling onions

3 dessert spoons of rock salt (I use Himalayan Pink Salt for everything)

Large bottle of Malt Vinegar (doesn't need to be an expensive or 'pickling' vinegar)

1 tsp dried chilli

1 tsp whole cloves

1 large or 2 small cinnamon sticks

1 inch chunk fresh ginger

2 tsp whole black peppercorns

3 heaped dessertspoons of dark brown sugar

Day One

Place unpeeled onions into a large saucepan or cauldron. Bring a kettle of water to the boil and pour over the onions. Allow to stand in the boiling water for two or three minutes, but no longer. (You don't want the onions to actually start cooking.)

Fill another large bowl with cold water and after the onions have soaked in the hot water for their three minutes use a slotted spoon to transfer them to the cold water. This is to allow them to cool a bit before you peel them.  You will notice that the boiled water has turned yellow and this used to be used as a natural dye! 

In another clean bowl place the salt and fill with fresh water. The water will dissolve as much of the salt as it needs, so don't worry if you still have salt crystals at the bottom of the bowl. Take the onions one at a time to peel, top and tail them. They can be put into the salt water and left at least 12 hours if not overnight.

Day Two

Put the vinegar into a saucepan with the sugar and spices. Bring to the boil, take of the heat and leave to cool some. 

Take your jars (sterilized with hot water or a sterilizing solution accordingly) and place near the sink. Place your salted onions into a sieve and rinse thoroughly under the tap. Drop straight into the jars, leaving a gap of about an inch from the top.

By now your vinegar should have cooled sufficiently not to crack the glass, but still take care with the hot liquid. I also advise you not to be tempted to sniff it as it an be quite potent! Using a ladle, scoop up the spiced vinegar and some of the pickling spices, then poor over the onions in their jars. I don't usually add all the spices as things like the cinnamon sticks can take up quite a lot of room, but certainly a few spoonfuls of the smaller ones and the odd slice of ginger make the finished piece look very appetizing and will continue to add flavour for a little while after. Once the last onion is covered you can seal the lid and leave on a shelf to mature. They are edible immediately, but left for a week they will be richer in taste.

Autumn Pear and Spiced Cranberry Relish

A great Autumn/Winter preserve. Especially good eaten with a cheese platter and oatcakes, maybe with a wee glass of Port ;-) 

Ingredients to make roughly four 250g jars

1 onion, finely chopped

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated

6 fl oz raspberry or cider vinegar

5 oz caster sugar

2 garlic cloves, sliced

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground allspice

1 small tsp dried chilli

11 oz dried cranberries

4 pears, cored and cubed, peel left on

Put all the ingredients except the pear in a non-reactive saucepan with a pinch of salt. Bring slowly to a simmer, stirring to make sure all the sugar has dissolved. Add the pear and continue cooking until the mixture has the consistency of thick jam.

Sterilize your jars.

Spoon the hot relish into still hot jars and seal. Leave to cool.

They will keep in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months. Once opened, relish is best eaten within 2 months.

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Tomato and Stilton Soup

As always, remember that the smaller you chop your ingredients the quicker they will cook! Keep chunks to less than 1/2 inch whenever possible. With the exclusion of the cheese garnish you could easily make this a vegan dish.

Ingredients

2oz butter

2 tbsp rape seed oil

2 medium onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 lb tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1 400g tin (= 14oz) of plum tomatoes

1 1/2 pints of water

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 pint red wine

4oz Stilton cheese, crumbled

Heat the butter and oil in a good size saucepan and over a gentle heat soften the onion, garlic and celery. Add the carrots and the fresh tomatoes. Cook on for a further 10 minutes and occasionally give it a stir to avoid sticking and cool spots. 

Add the canned tomatoes and boiling water, followed by the tomato puree, sugar oregano and wine. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to allow the soup to simmer for up to an hour while the vegetables cook. Once they are soft and cooked through take the soup off the heat and allow to cool some. 

Transfer soup to a blender and whiz until the texture is smooth and lump free. (If you do not have a blender you can push it through a sieve by hand). 

Pour the soup back into the pan and re-heat before serving. Pour into bowls and garnish with the crumbled Stilton cheese.  

Vegetarian Lasagne

I'm not fond of vegetable lasagne, so this one is made with a vegetarian mince. 

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 pack of frozen vegetarian mince (vary quantity depending on how many you're serving and how big your dish is - if you make too much the leftover cooked mince can be used to make a wee shepherd's pie!)

Dark soy sauce

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

1 vegetable stock cube

3 tablespoons of olive oil

Lasagne sheets

1 jar of white lasagne sauce (you could make it, but I like ready made!)

Handful of grated cheddar

A little olive oil for drizzling

Heat the three tablespoons of olive oil in a deep frying pan or heavy bottomed pan over a fairly high temperature. Add the chopped carrot and onion and cook until soft. When softened add the garlic.

Add the mince (frozen is ok) and a little more olive oil. Add the tomato puree and mix in the pan. Shake in a generous splash of soy sauce.

Put the stock cube in a jug and add about half a pint of boiling water. Add to the pan a little at a time. You don't want the mince swimming, but enough for it to soak up while its cooking. Turn down to a simmer and allow the mince to absorb the liquid.

When all the liquid has been absorbed and the mince looks cooked it is ready for the baking dish. Using up about half the mince, spoon a neat layer into the base of a fairly big baking dish and lightly press down. Cover with a layer of lasagne sheets and add a little under half a jar of the white sauce, spreading neatly to cover the lasagne sheets.

Add the rest of the mince and repeat the lasagne sheet stage. Empty the rest of the white sauce over the top, ensuring it is evenly over the lasagne sheets and make sure that they cannot be seen. Sprinkle over the grated cheese and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Pre-heat an oven to 180C and place the lasagne in for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on your oven's efficiency. When cooked the cheese should be just browning and bubbling. To check the middle pop a knife through the centre and make sure the lasagne sheets are soft and easy to cut.

Serve as soon as possible.

Medieval Sweet Onion Tart

Ingredients

Pastry for a 12 inch quiche tin

8oz onions or shallots, finely sliced

2oz butter

1/2 pint double cream

pinch of saffron

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

pinch each of ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon

2 tsp sugar

Method

Roll out pastry and line a twelve inch quiche tin. Bake blind at 190 C for 15 minutes. Leave to cool. 

Fry the onions/shallots in the butter until caramelized. In a separate pan, bring the double cream to the boil, take off the heat and add the saffron. Leave to infuse for five minutes.

In a clean bowl whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, spices and sugar. Add the onions/shallots, then the cream and stir together. 

Pour into the cooled pastry case and bake at 190 C for 30 minutes or so until set.

The Only Soup Recipe You'll Ever Need!

Well, that title may not appeal to everyone, but for me it is true. This is the ONLY soup recipe I ever use! Using basic quantities, you can make a creamy soup, using whatever vegetables you have to hand. It doesn't matter what you put in, so long as the overall weight to fluid ratio is about right. It doesn't really matter if you use slightly more or less vegetables to fluid, as it just means your overall soup will be thicker or thinner, which is largely down to personal taste anyway. It freezes well, so you can make up a cauldron full and have some on hand for lazy days.

Ingredients

16oz diced vegetables (It doesn't matter how much of each, or what selection use use) I use potato, sweet potato, leek, onion, cauliflower, parsnip and brocolli. Generally speaking, the more parsnip use put in the sweeter it will be; the more potato and cauliflower the creamier it will be. I like to have a good variety if I have it. This is especially useful for using up all those veg that are starting to get a bit rubbery in the bottom of the fridge :-)

2 vegetable stock cubes dissolved in 2 pints of boiling water (I use Tesco Value ones, 10p for 10 cubes!)

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried sage

Olive Oil

Make sure you weigh the diced vegetables, not the natural weight and remember that the smaller you dice, the quicker your vegetables will cook.

Put the vegetables into a large saucepan and add enough olive oil to  lightly coat the vegetables (usually a couple of tablespoons). Turn up the heat and sear the vegetables without burning. Once all the vegetables are coated and have had a go at the bottom of the pan, add the boiling stock water. Add the herbs. Give the pan a stir and bring to the boil, then simmer with the lid on until the vegetables are cooked through.

Pour the vegetables and the cooking liquid into a blender and blitz until smooth. Return to the pan and reheat if necessary. This can be cooked in advance and left in the pan for re-heating later.

Serve with bread.

If you make too much then leave it to cool and freeze.

Recipe: Imam bayildi (Fainting Imam) * Sweetly Spiced Aubergine *

There are many recipes out there for this dish and this is as it should be because its a fabulous meal! But none of the other variations I've tried have been as good as this one - the first and best one I ever came across. I can't remember where I first found it - I've had it since I took cookery class at school. Being vegetarian I always caused my tutor some problems - not 'fitting in' with the rest of the class. That, however, was my blessing as I was allowed to browse the recipe books having a go at anything I liked! Although I never much liked aubergines (egg plants to my American friends) I was intrigued by the story of this one. The legend that the Imam fainted with delight when it was brought before him. In fact there are many variations of the legend, but whatever the truth it doesn't change the fact that this dish IS worth a mild swoon at the very least!
Ingredients


6 tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 Onions, very finely chopped
4 small Aubergines/Egg Plants - cut into lengthwise halves
Juice of half a Lemon
4 tinned Plum Tomatoes, finely chopped
2 ounces Sultanas
2 teaspoons Ground Mixed Spice
2 teaspoons Sugar
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed or very finely chopped
2 Bay Leaves
Parsley to Garnish

Method

Gently cook the onion in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until soft and just coloured.

While keeping an eye on that, carefully scoop out most of the flesh from the aubergines. Leave enough flesh in the shell to ensure that you don't accidentally break the skin. The mixture will be served in these, so think about the condition of the fruit while you are scooping! Cut the flesh into small pieces and sprinkle with lemon juice.

Brush inside the aubergine shells with olive oil, arrange in a baking tin and cook in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees centigrade.

Add the chopped aubergine to the onions with the tomatoes, saultanas, mixed spice, sugar, garlic and bay leaves. Cook (covered) over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it has the consistency of chutney.

It is at this point you realise where the legend may have come from! The smell while it is simmering is divine!

Remove the shells from the oven when cooked and fill with the mixture. Garnish with the parsley. Traditionally this dish is to be served cold, but I enjoy it just as much - if not more - while still warm.

This dish is so very easy to make, but the great bit is that it smells and looks so much more complicated! Happy cooking!