"...Come And Eat..."
These pages were first published as a booklet in celebration of the centenary, in 1997, of Mackintosh Evangelical Church, Mackintosh Place, Roath, Cardiff. Its aim was to foster the tradition of entertaining and it was produced recognising that many a lasting friendship and good conversation begins over a meal.
Church members and others who have experienced Mack hospitality at some time were asked if they would like to contribute some favorite recipes to a simple 'cook-book', the response is what you see, with recipes coming from far and wide. There are recipes to suit all tastes, from the simple to the elaborate, from the well-tried to the rashly 'experimental'. The name of the contributor is not given here so if the recipe doesn't turn out as you expect you cannot ask them for guidance - sorry! We trust that not too many mistakes have been added during the production of these pages, but there are no guarantees!
You've got the recipes, now follow His example and invite someone to "come and eat".
Starters
Desserts
Cakes and Pastries
Miscellaneous
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Starters
Artichoke And Spinach Dip
12 oz (marinaded if possible) artichoke hearts
10 oz frozen spinach
1 clove garlic (crushed)
4 oz sour cream
12 oz fresh mayonnaise
6 oz Parmesan cheese (grated)
Defrost spinach in microwave and drain well. Add to a mixing bowl. Drain artichoke hearts and chop finely. Add all remaining ingredients. Stir well. Reheat in microwave before serving.
"Great with crackers or chunks of bread"
Californian Prawn Cocktail
4 oz prawns
2 grapefruit
Shredded lettuce
3 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp Worcester sauce
2 tbsp tinned cream
Seasoning
Cut grapefruit in half, scoop out flesh. Cut out pithy segment dividers and leave to drain in strainer. Add prawns to grapefruit flesh. Make sauce by mixing mayonnaise, tomato purée, Worcester sauce and cream together. Season and add a little sugar if desired. (The sugar can be added to the grapefruit flesh). Put shredded lettuce in base of grapefruit shells. Place drained grapefruit and prawns on top and spoon the sauce over. Decorate with a cherry.
Celery Soup
2 pts water
1 pt milk
2 oz lean bacon/ham
1 oz butter
11/2 tbsp flour
1 large head of celery
2 onions
Salt/pepper
Cut bacon/ham into dice/cubes. Slice onions and celery. Melt butter in a stew pan. Fry vegetables without browning for 10 min. Add bacon, salt, pepper and water. Simmer for 30/40 min or until celery is tender. Strain, rub through a fine sieve and return to pan, add milk and bring to the boil. Mix flour with a little milk, stir and cook for 5-6 min. Season to taste and serve. Total time 1 hour. Serves 6.
Easy Tomato Soup
1 large onion
2 tins of tomatoes (or 2 cartons of Passata)
1/2 pint vegetable stock
1 clove of garlic
1 dsp of sugar
1 dsp of olive oil
Chop the onion and fry gently in olive oil until the onion starts to turn 'see- through'. Crush the clove of garlic and add to the onions. Add vegetable stock, sugar and tomatoes. Simmer for about 30 min. Serve with lots of fresh bread. Serves 4.
Egg and Spinach Rolls
2 eggs
1 tsp cornflour
1/2 tbsp water
1/2 lb spinach
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce.
MSG (monosodium glutamate)
Beat the eggs well. Scald the spinach lightly in boiling salted water and rinse it in cold water. Squeeze out the water and season the spinach with the soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Dissolve the corn starch in 1/2 tbsp water and mix it with the beaten egg, MSG, sugar and salt. Fry the beaten egg on one side only in a thick square pan. Place the scalded spinach on the egg sheet, roll it up and finish cooking. Make the other rolls in the same way. Place the rolls on a kitchen board and cut then diagonally with a sharp knife. Serve with soy sauce for dipping. Do not put too much spinach on the egg sheet, and the rolls will look prettier when cut.
Liver Pâté
6 rashers of streaky bacon
4 oz pork sausage meat
1/2 lb liver
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic
Salt and pepper
1 tsp anchovy essence
1/2 tsp Mace
1/2 tsp mixed herbs
1 egg
1 oz margarine
3 oz fresh white breadcrumbs
2 tbsp sherry or milk
Remove rind from bacon and press rashers flat with a knife. Line base and sides of a 1 lb loaf tin with rashers and press in firmly. Place sausage meat, onions, liver, garlic, seasoning, essence, mace and herbs in the liquidizer or food-processor and pulp - then place in a oven-proof bowl. Place remaining ingredients in liquidizer and pulp. Mix all ingredients together. Pour pâté into prepared tin and cover with double thickness of foil. Place bowl in a bain-maire (water bath). Bake in oven at 160oC (325oF or gas mark 3) for 2 hours. Cool pâté in tin. Turn out when cold, Serve with toast and salad garnish. Serves 10-16.
Miso Soup
Miso - a paste made from fermented soya beans, very salty.
Dashi - Japanese soup stock made from fish or seaweed, available as a
powder.
Tofu - soya bean curd, diced.
Wakame - seaweed for salad or soup, usually available dried - not the black
sheets type.
Vegetables: sliced or diced.
spring onions, leeks, onions, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin,
Daikon (a large long white radish), mange tout peas, Chinese leaves,
cabbage, bean sprout, mushrooms, spinach, aubergine.
Eggs - poached
(Note: Miso, Dashi, Tofu and Wakame are all available from the Chinese
supermarket in Cardiff). You can choose 2 or 3 kinds of ingredients from the list above as you like. Popular selections are shown as examples: Tofu, wakame and spring onions; Daikon and spring onions; Tofu and mange tout peas.
Boil 500 ml water in a sauce pan and add 2 tsp of Dashi. Add the choice of vegetables and cook until soft. Add Tofu, Wakame or poached eggs when you use these ingredients. Add 2 tbsp of Miso and stir well until it dissolves.
Simmer for a further 1 or 2 min. Serve hot together with other Japanese rice dishes.
Note: You can make it a rich dinner soup by adding fish or chicken as well as vegetables. Fish such as salmon or cod fillets or clams scallops and oysters etc. If you like chicken, drum sticks or wings are better than breasts and they should be cooked first over a low heat for at least 30 min to give a rich flavour to the soup. Then add the vegetables other ingredients and Miso at the end.
"Miso soup is a traditional Japanese soup which goes with any Japanese rice dish. Definitely the most popular soup in Japan and essential to a Japanese breakfast".
Salmon Mousse
1/4 pint double cream
16 oz tin of salmon (drained) preferably red
1 stick celery chopped
1 tbsp gelatin
3 tbsp water
1 tsp dried mustard
2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp vinegar
Dissolve gelatin in hot water, add mustard, sugar and vinegar. Mix together salmon and chopped celery. Mix all ingredients except cream together. Finally fold in double cream and put in wet mould to set. Turn out and decorate with cucumber and tomato.
Smoked Aubergine Curry (An exclusive Punjabi (Sikh) Dish)
2 large aubergines
1 large tin tomatoes
1 large onion
1-2 fresh chillies
1 tbsp fresh ginger
3-4 cloves fresh garlic
1 heaped tsp tumeric powder
1 heaped tsp Garam Masala
Salt to taste
Cooking oil
Fresh coriander (optional)
Place aubergines directly on medium gas flame one on each ring (keep checking aubergines regularly, turn over when skin is almost burn, should only take a few minutes. When skin on both sides is burnt they should be cooked, if you slide a knife in they should be completely soft). Chop onions, garlic and ginger, fry gently in cooking oil until slightly golden colour, then add spices and stir quickly and add tomatoes, stir and mash. Next add finely chopped up chillies and salt and stir, leave to simmer for a few minutes.
Place aubergines (one at a time) on a dinner plate, using a knife and fork cut in half then using a spoon scoop out the middle, this can be quite messy and difficult because you only need the flesh and because the skin is burnt it crumbles and bits get mixed up with the flesh, don't worry just pick out any big bits and add the rest to the simmering sauce, mix up and mash gently. Leave to simmer for a further minute then add chopped fresh coriander and it is ready to serve. Serves 4-6.
"Serving suggestions: This dish is best served with warm, generously buttered wholemeal or white pitta bread. Can be cooked in advance and stored in fridge for a couple of days. Luscious!!"
[Note Ed.: We left out the chillies and used broad leaved parsley instead of coriander and served it cold on savoury biscuits, also delicious!]
Tuna Fish Mousse
1 tin tuna fish (7 oz)
1 small tin Ideal or Spar full-cream evaporated milk
1 pkt gelatin (11.7 g)
1 1/2 teacup water
1 tbsp salad cream
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 drops Cochineal
Pineapple rings, glacé cherry and raisins for decoration.
Chill Ideal milk in fridge overnight. Put water in saucepan. Sprinkle on gelatin. Leave 5 min. Heat over very gentle heat until clear. Mix together tuna, salad cream, ketchup and cochineal until tuna is well broken up. Stir in gelatin. Whip chilled Ideal milk until thick. Fold in tuna mixture. Place in bowl or mould and leave to set in fridge. Turn out and serve on plate surrounded by pineapple rings cut in half. Place a spoonful of cream cheese in 1/2 hole and a raisin on top of the cheese. Place cherry on top of the mousse and decorate with raisins running from the cherry to the pineapple. The mousse will freeze. Put in freezer before turning out of mould or bowl. Serves 5-6 with accompanying salads.
Vichyssoise
3 large leeks
1 oz margarine
1 medium sized onion, peeled and sliced
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 pint vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
1/2 pint (280 ml) skimmed milk
Finely chopped parsley or chives to garnish.
Prepare the leeks (trim top and bottom and peel away the outer leaf. Slit the leeks lengthwise down one side cutting right into the centre. Hold the leeks under running cold water to wash any soil or grit from the leaves). Slice the leeks very thinly. Melt the margarine in a saucepan, add the leeks and sliced onion, cook until tender, add the potatoes and stock. Cover and heat for 10 minutes. Using a liquidizer or food processor, pureé the soup until smooth. Add the milk to soup and reheat very gently until almost boiling, serve immediately. [This soup is often served chilled - Ed.]
Wellies and Rubber Gloves Soup
This soup is really delicious but can only be made in the Spring. You will need to be wearing Wellington boots and rubber gloves to collect the main ingredient - stinging nettles!
450 g potatoes
50 g butter
900 ml vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons cream
Wash the nettles still wearing the rubber gloves of course (the Wellies can come off now!) shake off excess moisture and cook in a covered saucepan with only the moisture clinging to the leaves like you would for spinach. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until tender. Drain well.
Boil the potatoes (peeled of course, this is a gourmet recipe after all!) about 10 minutes and drain. To the nettles add the stock, boiled potatoes and butter, bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Cool slightly and purée in a blender. After blending return to a clean pan and add salt and pepper to taste. Pour into serving bowls and decorate with a swirl of cream just before serving. Once you've got the hang of it you can try variations, less potatoes but some spinach and other vegetables etc. etc. When the nettles are ready in Roath Park so is the wild garlic try some garlic flowers for decoration.
[NB. nettles are good as a vegetable on their own, served with a knob of butter]
Other Suggestions For Starters
Half grapefruit grilled with brown sugar;
Smoked salmon with sprigs of fresh dill and rosé peppercorns;
Sliced avocado with pink grapefruit flesh;
Smoked mackerel with cream of horseradish;
Taramasalata with poppy and sesame seed biscuits.
Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.
Remember to arrange attractively - "The first bite is with the eyes".
Main Courses
All Purpose Curry Sauce (Asian Method)
Chop onions. Heat oil, add onions and 1 tsp whole jeera seeds. Cook on low heat until onions are golden brown. Add few cloves of garlic and 1 piece (about 1 inch long) ginger (grated). Braise - add garam masala, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp haldi, 1/2 tsp jeera powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder and 1 tin tomatoes. Cook until oil comes to the top of sauce. Add meat or vegetables or prawns. Stir until meat browns, fry in sauce for ~15 min on medium heat stirring regularly. (If using vegetables cook only until tender). Add 1/2 pt -1 pt of boiling water depending on how thick you want the sauce. Leave to cook on low heat for 30-45 min, until the meat is cooked. Serve with rice or chapattis. Serves 4.
Caribbean Chicken
Fry joints in oil till brown on both sides Remove from pan. Fry chopped onion and garlic. Add stock, blend in tomato purée, sugar, vinegar, Worcester Sauce and mustard. Add sliced green pepper and herbs. Transfer all this plus chicken to casserole dish. Bake in medium oven for 2-21/2 hours. Serve with rice.
Cheese and Potato Hotpot
Lightly grease a medium-sized fireproof dish (about 1 litre capacity). Peel and cut the potatoes into slices about 5-6 mm thick (1/4 inch). Slice the onion thinly. Cut the cheese into 10 or 12 slices. Arrange a layer of potatoes in the dish lightly season, and cover with half the cheese slices. Add another layer of potato, lightly season, and cover with the remaining cheese slices. Pour the milk over the potato layers. Bake in a moderate hot oven (Gas Mark 5) for 11/2 hours Serves 2 or 3.
"This dish is similar to Potato Boulangère but is simpler to make, has cheaper ingredients and is easier to pronounce!"
Chicken a la Auntie Deirdre
4 chicken breasts
12 slices back bacon
Stuffing:
1 celery stick or carrot
2 oz no soak apricots
1 oz pumpkin seeds or small pine nuts
1 egg beaten
1 small onion
1 oz butter
3 oz white breadcrumbs
Grated rind small orange
Freshly chopped dill
Flatten chicken breasts. Be careful not to break the flesh.
Melt butter and fry finely chopped onion and celery for 8 mins and mix with breadcrumbs. Add snipped apricots to mixture with seeds, dill, and orange rind. Season and bind with egg to make stiff mixture. Divide mixture between breasts, 1/4" from edge Roll up each breast and tuck in ends.
Wrap bacon round chicken (1st rasher 1 way, 2nd other way) Secure with wooden cocktail sticks or string. Put in tin, brush with oil and cook for 35 mins at 190 degrees. Serve hot or slice when cold. Delicious!
Chicken with Tomatoes and Garam Masala
Heat the oil in a large, wide pot over a medium-high flame. When hot, put in the cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves and peppercorns. Stir once and then put in the onions, garlic and ginger. Stir this mixture around until the onion picks up brown specks. Now put in the tomatoes, chicken, salt and cayenne pepper. Stir and bring to the boil. Cover tightly, turn heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes or until chicken is tender. Stir a few times during this cooking period. Remove cover and turn up heat to medium. Sprinkle in the garam masala and cook, stirring gently, for about 5 minutes in order to reduce the liquid somewhat. Serve with plain rice.
NB the whole spices in this dish should not be eaten.
If you prefer to make your own garam masala rather than buy it ready made: Place 1 tbsp cardamom seeds, 2 inch cinnamon stick, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp whole cloves, 1 tsp black peppercorns and 1/4 nutmeg into a grinder and grind for about 40 seconds (or until spices are finely ground). Store in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid, away from heat and light. Serves 6.
Chicken Curry
Ingredients (to taste):
Fry chopped onions, garlic and ginger in oil, until golden-brown. Then add tomatoes, keep frying. Gradually add all the spices, chillies and salt. Stir and keep frying. Add chicken and keep frying. Slowly add water, depending on how thick or thin you would like it. Bring to the boil and simmer.
Chicken Breasts in Marsala
Slice each chicken breast into two thin pieces. Coat the chicken slices in flour into which some oregano, salt and pepper has been mixed. Shallow fry the pieces in olive oil until golden brown and cooked right through. Add the Marsala to the pan turn down the heat, cover and simmer gently. Thicken the sauce with extra flour if necessary before serving. Serve with spaghetti and vegetables such as courgettes and a side dish of grated carrot with garlic and olive oil and chicory. Serves 2-4
Chicken Teriyaki
Marinade A:
Mixture B:
Pierce chicken through skin to prevent shrinking when cooked. Put chicken in marinade A for 20-30 min. Heat oil in frying pan; dry off chicken and sauté - skin side down over medium heat. When browned turn, reduce heat and then cook covered for about 10 min. Remove chicken from pan, drain, pour remaining marinade into pan, add mixture B and bring to boil. Add chicken again to pan, cook until marinade is almost evaporated. Remove chicken from pan. Slice diagonally. Garnish with green peppers. Now it's ready to eat! Serves 2-3.
"Teriyaki's universal appeal has made it one of the most popular of Japanese dishes abroad, absolutely one of my favorites."
Variations
Teriyaki don: Fill large rice bowls half full of rice and put chicken on top. pour equal amounts of marinade all over the surface. Serve hot.
Teriyaki burger: You can make the most delicious burger from teriyaki chicken, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, buns and 1 tbsp mayonnaise.
Chilli Prawns with Ginger
Shell and de-vein the prawns and place in a shallow dish. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with half the wine. Set aside for 20 minutes. Beat the egg white with the cornflour and pour over the prawns, tossing well to ensure an even coating. Chop the chillies and ginger and crush the garlic. Heat the oil in a wok until it starts to smoke and deep-fry the prawns until golden, then remove, drain thoroughly and set aside. Pour off most of the oil, re-heat the wok and add the chilli, ginger and garlic. Stir-fry over a fairly high heat for 3 - 4 minutes, then add the soya sauce, vinegar, sugar and remaining wine and bring to the boil. Stir well, then lower the heat, replace the prawns and cook for a further 45 seconds.
CAUTION: "When stir-frying the chillies, make sure the kitchen is well ventilated, as it may cause the chef to choke and others in the house to cough!!!! Despite the caution, do try it, the results are delicious." Serves 4 - 6.
Chinese Chicken Breasts and Vegetables
Slice chicken breasts into pieces (about 1 cm x 1 cm x 4 cm). Add 1 teaspoon corn flour and 1 tablespoon sherry into a bowl with meat and mix together. Deep fry the meat in hot oil keep stirring the meat during the cooking. Take the meat out of the pan and drain. Slice the peppers into pieces of equal size to the chicken. Chop onion and ginger and fry then add peppers and continue for about 5 minutes. Add the fried meat and continue to fry for 1-2 minutes. Add soya sauce, salt, sugar and the rest of the sherry and black beans then add the meat and vegetables and fry for a further 2 minutes. All frying takes place with medium heat, stirring continually.
Chinese Tomatoes and Eggs
Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt. Cut onion and tomatoes into small pieces. Fry eggs in 4 tablespoon hot oil in a frying pan (or Wok) and then take them out. Fry onion in 2 tablespoon hot oil in a frying pan for 1 minute. Add tomatoes to the pan and fry them with the onion for 2 minutes. Add sugar and salt into the pan. Add the fried eggs and mix together with the onion and tomatoes. Important: All frying is done by the use of medium heat. Stirring the dish regularly during the course of frying. A simple and tasty accompaniment to other Chinese dishes. Serves 4.
Chunky Chicken Salad
Wash and remove fat from chicken. Add chicken to pot of cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 20 min until done. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Add all ingredients in a bowl and serve. "Tastes even better if kept in a refrigerator overnight."
Claire's Special Chilli
This chilli sounds disgusting but it's really very good - and the cheapest way I know of feeding eight people. So just close your eyes and keep opening those tins.
Chop the onion and fry in a big pan until soft in a little oil. If you're using fresh or dried chillies chop them and add them now. Add the corned beef and break it down a bit. Add the beans, chop the tomatoes (run a knife through them in the tin) and throw those in. Let the chilli cook slowly, uncovered, for about 3/4 hour, stirring often enough to stop it from sticking. It will have turned into a thick orange-red gloop. If you're using chilli sauce, now's the time to add it. Just add and taste alternately until it's as hot as you like it. (I prefer this method as it gives you better control over the final level of heat. Add the chilli sauce a little at a time unless it's your intention to blow everyone's ears off.) Add a good dollop of tomato ketchup/puree and a decent sized shake of Worcestershire sauce. Taste again and season if you think it needs it. You now have a wonderful appetising deep red chilli that would make any self- respecting Mexican faint in horror. Serve on rice or with taco shells and salad. You can freeze any leftovers - it is very good reheated.
This recipe has been known to serve eight hungry people and can be stretched to go even further. If Attila the Hun and his ravening hordes should descend on you for supper just add a handful of chopped vegetables per extra person. I usually use mushrooms, peppers and tinned sweetcorn but any vegetables will do - by the time they've cooked in the chilli no one will know what they started out as anyway.
Cold Sichuan Noodles
Cook noodles in boiling water according to instructions on the packet (about 3-5 min). Wash with cold water in a colander and leave to drain (30 min but covered to stop drying out) then mix with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil. Wash the bean sprouts and put into boiling water, boil for 2-3 min, drain and leave to cool. Squeeze the ginger in a garlic press and finely chop the garlic and mix all other sauce ingredients together. Mix the sauce with the cold noodles and bean sprouts and serve. This dish makes a good accompaniment to other Chinese dishes or goes down well at buffets. Serves 4.
Fish Curry Made With Yoghurt
Cut the fish into suitable portions and marinade in 1/2 the yoghurt for 1 hour, turning occasionally. Fry the onions until they begin to colour. Stir in the ginger vigorously, until some onions are turned to paste. Stir in the other spices/curry powder. Add the rest of the yoghurt. Bring the mixture to the boil. Add the fish and the marinade and stir. Cook slowly in a covered pan/wok until the fish is cooked. Serve with rice and mango chutney. Vegetarians can omit the fish and use the recipe as a sauce to go with stir fried vegetables and peeled lightly fried almonds. This is quick and cheap. It tastes authentic! Above all - be generous with all the ingredients!
Fish Head Curry
Wash the fish head under cold running water and pat dry. Slice the onions, quarter the tomatoes and finely chop the chillies, ginger and garlic. Mix the curry powder with a small quantity of cold water to form a smooth paste. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion, ginger and garlic for 2 - 3 minutes, then add the chillies and continue to cook for a further 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Next, add the curry paste and curry leaves, cover the pan and cook over a moderate heat for 2 minutes, then remove the lid and slowly pour in the tamarind water and coconut milk, stirring to blend thoroughly. When simmering, add the fish head and the tomatoes and season to taste with salt. Cook for 8 - 10 minutes over a moderate heat until the fish is completely cooked. Transfer the fish head to a serving plate and keep warm. Increase the heat under the pan and reduce the sauce by one quarter, then pour this over the fish and serve with plain rice.
In many Western kitchens the fish head is used only for stock, or indeed may be wastefully discarded, yet here is to found some of the tastiest meat on the fish. So even though fish fillets could be substituted by the unadventurous for a similar result, the recipe is highly recommended in its original form. Serves 4 - 6.
Gougère de Volaille
Boil water and marg, remove from heat, add flour to hot liquid and beat rapidly to form a smooth dry mixture. Add beaten eggs to make a soft dough. Add cheese, salt, pepper and mustard. Melt butter in frying pan, fry onion, mushrooms or peppers. Add cornflour and stock, bring to the boil, season well. Add herbs and meat. Spoon most of the pastry mixture into an open ovenproof dish lining the base and sides. Fill with the meat and sauce, partially cover the edge of the filling with the rest of the pastry and cover the centre with grated cheese and breadcrumbs, decorated with slices of tomato. Bake Gas mark 6, 200oC for 30-40 min. This recipe can equally well be made with cooked ham, turkey or unsmoked bacon.
Korean Spring Chicken Stew
Cut the chicken into smallish pieces, mix with the salted shrimp, garlic, ginger juice, spring onion, sesame oil and salt and black pepper and let stand. Fry the seasoned chicken lightly in a pan. Pour in enough water to cover the chicken and simmer on a low but steady heat. Cut the round onion, hot red peppers, hot green peppers into 1/4 inch square pieces. When the chicken broth has almost evaporated add the onion and peppers and stir fry briefly.
Lamb Bolognese
Dice all vegetables and garlic and fry for a few minutes, add meat and stir until browned, add herbs and seasoning, add spaghetti sauce. Put into slow oven for 1 hr, the longer it cooks the more the flavours blend. Serve with fresh tagliatelle and mixed green salad (packet is fine especially one with French dressing). Sprinkle on grated parmesan cheese.
This same mixture makes a very good lasagna. Just add white sauce (see under 'Miscellaneous') i.e. layer sheets of lasagna with meat then white sauce (about 3 layers) then top with grated cheese. Cook in a medium oven about 45 min.
Mackintosh Plaice!
Cut plaice (or salmon) into pieces, brush with melted butter and grill for 2- 3 min until sealed. Put into individual pie dishes. Fry onion and mushroom in a little butter salt, pepper and garlic. Put a layer onto the fish, cover with white sauce then a layer of potato. Put in hot oven until heated through and fish is cooked. Sprinkle cheese on top if liked and brown under the grill. Serve with vegetables tossed in hot butter a cooked to taste
Melon and Basil Salad
Put the pasta to cook (Do not overcook it. The salad is horrible with mushy pasta) Dice the melon into a large salad bowl after removing the skin and seeds. Strip the basil leaves off the stalks and chop finely. Add to the melon Once the pasta is cooked, run it under the tap to cool it down then add it to the melon and basil. Give it a dash of olive oil, be generous! ("Be generous! You've got this far. It would be a shame to spoil it by being calorie conscious!") Toss it all. Fry the lardons or bacon, don't fry Parma ham! Add the meat progressively, tossing the salad as you go to avoid it clumping together too much. Add the lemon juice to taste. Add salt to taste (Is the meat salty? Did you put salt in the pasta water? If so be careful not to over salt.) Add more basil at the end if you feel it needs it.
"I saw a bowl of this salad in a Cavaillon delicatessen window. I studied it for a few minutes, then went home and tried to copy it. The results have been appreciated".
Mini Quiches
Roll out pastry thinly. Cut pastry into circles large enough to line the pattie, muffin or fairy cake tin you are using. (I use a 2 3/4 inch cutter). Cut bacon into small bits, chop onions, skin and chop mushrooms. Fry all three separately. Whisk eggs with a fork, add milk, pepper and salt, give a final mix with a whisk. Grate the cheese. Put into each small uncooked pastry case, a little onion, mushroom and cheese. Pour in milk/egg mixture to the top of the pastry case. Cook at 425oF for about 15-20 min. They rise and look soufflé-like, deflating when taken out of the oven. Serve as a savoury. "Moorish!"
Mushroom Puff Pasties
Roll out the thawed pastry until they are 6 mm (1/4 inch) thick and cut each into four 15 cm (6 in) squares. Reserve a little pastry for decoration. Cover the pastry and set aside in a cool place to rest. Make the filling by gently frying the onion, carrot and potato in the oil for 5 min, then add the mushrooms, soy sauce, ketchup, sherry, thyme and seasoning. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms and vegetables have softened and feel quite tender. Cool. Divide the filling between the eight squares, placing it to one side across the diagonal. Brush the pastry edges with beaten egg then fold over into triangles and press well to seal. Crimp each pastie edge. From the extra pastry cut out shapes to decorate the pasties. Glaze with beaten egg. Set on baking sheets and cook at 200oC (400oF Gas Mark 6) for 15-20 min until golden brown and crisp.
Onion Tart
Peel and chop the onions and fry in 20 g of the butter for 15 minutes at a low heat, covering the pan. Add the pieces of bacon after 10 minutes. Make a Béchamel (white sauce) [See "Miscellaneous"] with the remaining 30 g butter, 30 g flour and 1/4 litre milk - the sauce will be thick. Add the onions and bacon to the completed sauce. Roll out the pastry to 2 mm thick. Place in a tart dish and prick with a fork. Put the onion and bacon sauce in the pastry case. Cook in a hot oven (220oC) for 40-50 minutes, but reduce the heat after 20 minutes. Serves 4.
[Katie says this is the favorite recipe of her French husband!]
Pork Fricassée
Cut pork into thin strips and fry in oil and butter mixture with chopped onion and garlic until sealed. Add sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle on about 2 3 tbsp plain flour and stir until absorbed. Add about 1/4 - 1/2 pt milk depending on how much meat you have used and stir until dissolved, (not too thin). Add carton of sour cream and adjust with water to get the sauce consistency as you like it. Cook in slow oven for 1 - 11/2 hours until meat is very tender, stirring occasionally. Serve with either Basmati rice or mashed potatoes, vegetables or green salad. This recipe can also be made with beef.
Prawns In Curry Sauce (Western Method)
Peel and chop 1 onion. Heat oil in saucepan, add onion, cover pan and fry over low heat for 2-3 min until onions are soft, not brown. Stir in curry powder and fry gently for a few minutes. Blend in flour and cook 2-3 min. Gradually add stock, stir until sauce thickens and comes to the boil. Add pureé, chutney, lemon juice and simmer for 5 min, then strain sauce through sieve. Rinse prawns in cold water and drain dry. Peel and chop last onion. Heat butter in frying pan and fry until soft and add prawns. Blend in the curry sauce and bring mixture to the boil. Stir in cream and remove from the heat. Arrange prawns in sauce within a ring of boiled rice. Alternatively serve with chapattis. Serves 4.
Quick Pizza
Roll pastry into 8 in flan tin. Wash and slice tomatoes, mushrooms, onion and pepper. Put in a large bowl, add grated cheese and a few good shakes of chilli pepper, mix well. Brush pastry base with oil and press filling mixture in base well. Cook in centre of oven at 220oC (Gas Mark 7) for 25-35 minutes.
Quick Sweet and Sour Chicken
Cut each chicken breast into 5 or 6 chunks, flour and seal in hot olive oil in a frying pan. Drain off any fat and add the tomatoes, ratatouille and sweet and sour sauce. Simmer thoroughly for 40-50 min. Ensure the chicken is cooked through thoroughly before serving with rice (about 2 oz per person) Serves 6-8.
Recipe for Disguising the Flavour of Goat
This recipe disguises the flavour of goat!
In a large pan, with just enough boiling water to cover the bottom dump your vegetables and stock cube. When tender add leftover goat, chopped up, and the herbs spices and salt. Stew for 1 hour. Add raw grated potatoes and or more tomato juice if required. Serve over spaghetti or noodles.
Romanian Dill Stew - Mâncarica de Marar
Cut the meat into 1 inch cubes. Boil in 2 cups of water, covered at medium heat until soft. Cut the onion as fine as you can and fry in two tablespoons of oil until golden, mixing it all the time (10-15 min). Don't brown it. Add the onion to the meat and boil them together, with a little salt, for another 10 min at medium heat. Let it stand until it stops boiling, then add the dill very finely cut. The dill will preserve its flavour if it is not boiled. Add the lemon. Serve with fresh slices of bread, dipping the bread into the delicious sauce.
Salmon and Egg Pie
Boil eggs. Cut up onion finely and fry gently with butter or oil. Stir in flour add milk, salt and pepper. When mixture thickens cook for a few minutes. Remove from pan to cool, then add contents of tin of salmon and the eggs cut into small pieces. Grease 12 inch x 10 inch baking sheet. Roll out puff pastry thinly, use half to line the baking sheet and put mixture on this leaving a margin around the edge which you damp with milk. Lay over the top and press together around the edges. This top pastry cover should have diagonal cuts in two rows along it. Brush with egg milk or just milk to glaze. Bake for 20 min or so at 400oF (200oC or Gas Mark 6).Serve hot or cold. Serves 6-8.
Salsa Chicken
Wash chicken and place in an glass or metal pan. Cook chicken for 15 minutes on each side. Put 2 oz salsa and then sprinkle 2 oz grated cheese per piece of chicken. Cook until cheese is melted. For a low fat version use low fat cheese, it's just as tasty.
Sausage Plait
Pre-heat the oven to 200oC. Heat oil in pan and fry onions. Add chopped apples and cook for 3-4 minutes. Mix with bread crumbs, mustard, parsley and sausage-meat - season well. Roll pastry into a rectangle. Place mixture in the middle of the pastry. Cut diagonal strips in the puff pastry. Damp the pastry with some water - fold down both ends to seal the plait and then put the strips across the mixture - first from left then right - then left etc. Brush with beaten egg and cook until golden brown - approx. 40 minutes. Serves about 6.
"Variations - try adding mushrooms and peppers! We enjoy this plait served with potato, veg. And gravy - but can be served cold with salad."
Sesame Plaice
Melt butter, fold fish fillets in half, add to the pan, cover and cook over a low heat for 3-5 min each side. Add chopped spring onions, lemon juice and sesame seeds, salt and pepper. Cook for a further min. Serve with courgettes fried in olive oil, mange tout peas with pasta, mashed potatoes or Italian bread.
Suffolk Pheasant
The best way to get hold of pheasant is to have a father who shoots them and will slip you a couple. Failing that, buy a brace from the market (a brace being one male and one female). Pheasant is a gamey meat with far more taste than any chicken or turkey you are ever likely to have, just watch out for the lead shot - it's a bit like finding stones in the rice.
Clean the body cavities of the pheasants. Chop the onion and lemon in half and place half of each inside each bird. Lay the bacon over the breasts to keep them moist. Put the birds in a covered roasting dish and add around 1/2 pint of water. If you want your gravy to have a little more zing you can pour in some sherry or port as well. Preheat the oven to 175 oC. Depending on weight the birds will take between 40 minutes and an hour. Over-cooking doesn't hurt too much, you just get a drier texture to the meat. The birds need to stand for a few minutes before being carved, which gives time to make a nice gravy out of the juices in the pan. Those worried about their figures can skim the oil off the juices. Crumble in one chicken stock cube and add one teaspoon of corn flower (pre-mixed with cold water). Make up to the required volume with water from the vegetables - usually some combination of sprouts, peas and carrots, then bring to the boil to thicken a little. The gravy should be quite thin and so get soaked up into the fried breadcrumbs. Pheasant is traditionally served with thin cut chips, bread sauce and fried breadcrumbs (see "Miscellaneous"), swapping the chips for roast or mashed potatoes won't hurt though. At our house we always used to have a slice or two of breast meat and a leg each, Sunday lunch was one of the few times you could pick up your dinner and eat with your fingers. This way you leave one bird's breast intact. It makes a really tasty sandwich filling, or it can be served cold with bubble and squeak and apple chutney. Serves 4.
Sausage Plait
Pre-heat the oven to 200oC. Heat oil in pan and fry onions, add chopped apples and cook for 3-4 minutes. Mix with bread crumbs, mustard, parsley and sausage meat - season well. Roll pastry into a rectangle and place mixture in the middle leaving a generous margin all round. Make diagonal cuts in the margin of the pastry. Damp the pastry and fold down both ends to seal the plait and then put strips across the mixture first from left then right etc. making the plait. Brush with beaten egg and cook until golden brown - approx. 40 minutes. Serves about 6.
"Variations - try adding mushrooms and peppers! We enjoy this plait served with potato, veg. and gravy - but can be served cold with salad."
Poacher's Plait
Make the puff pastry as per recipe. Into a basin put sausage-meat, chopped bacon, salt, pepper and sage. Add chopped onion and mushrooms, mix well together. Roll pastry out into an oblong, place filling in the centre and proceed to plait as in recipe above. Brush finished with beaten egg and bake in a hot oven, 220oC (gas Mark 7) for about 10 minutes. After about 10 minutes turn oven to 200oC (Gas Mark 6) for a further 45 minutes.
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Cook the spaghetti until it is firm (al dente) in slightly salted water then drain. At the same time fry the bacon then cut into small strips. Beat the eggs and pour over the spaghetti, add the bacon and return to a low heat mixing all the time until the egg coating the spaghetti is lightly scrambled. Add the cream and freshly ground pepper, stir and serve. A very simple classic Italian dish. Serve with a light salad and some black olives. Serves 2.
Steak Upside Down Pie
Filling:
Topping:
Chop vegetables and fry in dripping until soft. Add stock and minced beef, stir until a smooth mixture, season well. Cook for 15 min only in an uncovered pan, stir from time to time. Meanwhile prepare the topping. Sieve flour with seasoning, rub in fat and grated cheese, bind with egg and milk to make a soft dough. Form into 7-8 inch round. Put meat mixture into an oven proof dish, top with the dough. Bake in the centre of oven gas mark 4-5 for 40-50 min or until pastry is cooked. When cooked, turn upside down and serve with creamed carrots and sauté potatoes. Serves 4 - 6.
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Marinade:
1) Remove fat from chicken, rinse, wipe dry and cut into pieces. Tender with back of chopping knife. Put into marinade and leave for half an hour or longer
2) Add 1/2 beaten egg into the marinaded chicken. Dust with some flour and deep fry in hot oil until golden. Drain and dish up.
3) Heat 1 tablespoon of oil, sauté the shallots then remove from pan. Put in all the chopped peppers and stir fry. Splash wine and stir in seasoning. Thicken with some cornflour water. Pour the sauce onto the fried chicken. Serves 2.
Vegetable Mix
Vegetables e.g. courgettes, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, sliced potatoes, green pepper, broccoli florets. Melt butter - put veg. in pan in this order, onions, potatoes, green pepper, courgettes, broccoli florets, sliced mushrooms. Between each veg. allow 1/2 minute approx. This vegetable dish can accompany most meals.
Desserts
Apple Meringue
1 pkt frozen short crust pastry
Bramley cooking apples (do not put any sugar in the apples!)
3 egg whites
6 oz white sugar
Unthaw and roll out pastry. Line a pie dish - prick and partly cook in very hot oven. Reduce heat. Peel core and cook apples in a pan with a few spoonfuls of water - watch they don't burn! Whip egg whites until very stiff and add sugar. Into part cooked pastry case put very hot apple, top with meringue mixture making sure it is touching the pastry all round. Return to oven to cook on low to medium heat for about 3/4 hour. Watch meringue doesn't burn.
Black Forest Trifle (1)
1 chocolate Swiss roll
1 black cherry jelly
1 tin black cherries (pitted)
Custard powder
Sugar
Milk
Cream
Chocolate flakes (8)
Keep juice from cherries to add to jelly when making up. Put slices of Swiss roll at the bottom of a dish, then put cherries on top of the sponge. Pour on jelly and leave to set. Make one pint of custard and pour over jelly when cold. Decorated with whipped cream and add small flakes of chocolate (8). Serves 8.
Black Forest Trifle (2)
1 chocolate sponge or Swiss roll
1 tin cherry pie filling
1 chocolate instant pudding
Juice from any tinned fruit
Hundreds and thousands or something similar for decoration
Whipped cream (optional)
Slice 1/2 the chocolate sponge in a bowl. Pour some juice over to soften. Empty pie filling over the sponge. Slice rest of the sponge on top of filling. Put rest of the juice over the top. Make up instant pudding and pour over the sponge. Decorate when the instant pudding has set. Serve with whipped cream if desired but this dessert is quite rich and can stand alone without the addition of cream.
Bread and Butter Pudding
11/2 - 2 slices of buttered bread
2 tablespoons dried fruit
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 oz granulated sugar
1/2 pint very creamy milk
Vanilla essence and ground cinnamon
Cut off the crusts from the buttered bread and cut into fingers. Layer in shallow dish, butter side up. Sprinkle with dried fruit as you go. Beat the eggs with sugar, add milk and vanilla essence. Strain on to bread, sprinkle with ground cinnamon and leave to stand for 30 min. Heat oven to 180oC. Place pudding into roasting dish of hot water, cook for approximately 45 min or until custard is set and the top is light brown and crusty. As an alternative you can use dried apricots cut small with brown sugar, instead of the sultanas.
Chocolate Roulade
6 oz plain chocolate
5 eggs
6 oz castor sugar
3 tbsp water
Melt the chocolate in a basin over hot water. Separate the eggs and beat the yolks with the castor sugar. Add 3 tbsp hot water to the melted chocolate. Add chocolate to yolks and sugar then beat up egg whites and fold together. Put in a 13 inch x 9 inch baking tray lined with greased greaseproof paper. Bake in a moderate oven 160oC fan oven for 45-50 min. Cover with greaseproof paper and damp tea towel overnight. When ready to serve, dust a sheet of greaseproof paper with icing sugar and turn out roulade. Trim the edges, cover with whipped cream and roll up. Dust with icing sugar and serve.
Chocolate Sorbet
This is a recipe everyone should know. It's lifted from a Gary Rhodes recipe book. It's very rich, completely delicious and, as every knows, sorbet is very low in calories...
1 oz / 25g cocoa
15 fl oz / 450 ml water
5 oz / 150g plain chocolate
5 oz / 150g caster sugar
Simmer the cocoa in the water for 5 min. Chop the chocolate and mix with the sugar. Pour the water mix over the chocolate and sugar and stir in. When cool, churn in an ice cream maker until thickened then freeze. If you haven't got an ice cream maker, fear not. Pour the cold mixture into a shallow container and freeze, taking it out of the freezer and beating it well every hour to break up the ice crystals until it's nicely thickened. Then leave it to freeze completely. Gary Rhodes says this recipe serves four. Hah! It might just about serve four very polite people with restrained appetites. My advice is to make double so you've got enough for seconds.
Chocolate Truffle Loaf
7 oz plain chocolate
6 oz block creamed coconut
4 oz unsalted butter
6 slices pineapple, drained and chopped or 1 tin of crushed pineapple
10 oz ginger biscuit, ground
Line 2 lb loaf tin with foil Melt chocolate, coconut and butter together, stir. Stir in the fruit, then biscuits. Pour into tin and chill for 24 hours. Store in fridge and serve in thin slices.
"Can be frozen, It's very rich so do slice thinly. For special occasions serve with whipped cream".
Chris and Mary's Dessert
450 g plain yoghurt
10 fluid oz whipping cream
Small tin apricots
Dark Muscavado sugar (enough to sprinkle over surface)
Whip cream and fold into yoghurt. Strain apricots and place in large bowl (keep 3 or 4 for decoration). Pour in yoghurt and cream mixture and leave to stand in fridge for 1 hour. Sprinkle sugar liberally over top and decorate with apricots. Put in fridge for further hour. Serves 8 - 10 people.
Clafouti (or French Rugby Dessert!)
100 g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
100 g sugar
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/2 pint double cream
500 g black cherries (or 2 tins drained)
20 g butter
Sieve flour, baking powder and mix in salt and sugar. Make well in centre of mixture and mix in beaten eggs and cream. Blend together to form a smooth mixture. Add cherries. Butter an oven-proof dish, pour in mixture and dot with butter. Bake for 45 min at 180oC. Serve hot or cold.
[Shirley Lewis writes: ... "When two of my sons were on a Rugby trip to France with their school they were hosted with different families. They both came home however with a copy of the same recipe given to them by their respective hosts, as they had both enjoyed so much the dessert which had been served to them whilst staying there. We now call it the French Rugby Dessert. It isn't guaranteed to improve your French (or your Rugby) but I know you will enjoy the dessert."]
Daffodil Pudding
2 x 13 oz tins crushed pineapple
1 pineapple jelly (pint size)
Small tin evaporated milk
Strain pineapple and dissolve jelly in 1/4 pint of pineapple juice. Divide this into two. Make one half of this jelly-in-juice up to 1/2 pint with rest of pineapple juice, adding some water if necessary. Pour into dish and leave to set. Meanwhile keep other half of jelly-in-juice in warm place to stop it setting. When jelly-in-juice in dish is set, whisk pineapple into remaining half of j-i-j. Whisk evaporated milk until light and frothy into pineapple and jelly mixture. Pour over set jelly in dish and leave to set in fridge. Serve with cream or crème fraîche, according to taste. Best eaten the same day. Serves about 6.
"NB. It is essential to make this on St David's Day in order to get the authentic daffodil flavour".
Impossible Pie
1/2 cup of plain flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup of coconut
1/4 cup of margarine
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of milk
4 eggs
Place all the ingredients in to a blender at one time and blend until mixed together. Pour into a buttered 10 inch pie dish. Bake in a 180oC (Gas Mark 4) preheated oven for 1 hour. When cooked the crust will be at the bottom the custard in the middle and the coconut on the top.
"Impossible Pie" that's what it's called! As I flipped through my new cookbook, naturally I just had to stop and read this recipe, it did seem impossible or at least highly unlikely. All I had to do was toss 9 ingredients into the blender, give it a whirl, place it in the oven for 60 minutes a