The ultimate …

… sticky toffee sauce.

If I have a favourite dessert combination it's warm with cold – i.e. a good ice cream with a warm sticky toffee sauce. I say warm since its temperature should be hot enough to begin melting the ice cream but not hot enough to burn the inside of your mouth!

It should be said that, as usual, you can buy such a ready-made product easily – usually in 260g jars (it may vary). Personally the recipe that follows is the most rewarding 15 minutes you'll ever spend – on a dessert element that is.

Here goes :

Sticky Toffee Sauce

110g/4oz unsalted butter

225g/8oz soft dark brown sugar

50g/2oz chopped stem ginger (optional)

10 fl oz double cream (heavy USA)

Heat the butter, sugar and ginger – gently. When dissolved add the cream.

Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring.

One batch of the recipe produces 540g of sauce, or, over two portions – one to fold through a batch of home-made vanilla ice cream – based on the ice cream recipe which is on the blog.

It freezes too!

This is an excellent recipe and I'd wager that you'll not be buying a ready-made version once you've sampled this one.

Hmm – another element you could add to the “muddle”?

Frazzled …

… dictionary definition “the state of being worn out”.

I get so carried away with making sure I've got enough food - cooked or otherwise, that I completely forget that you have to eat in the lead up to the holidays – whether it's Christmas or New Year.

It seems so unreasonable that you have to provide food when you're so stressed!

Last weekend friends were coming for supper and cards. I thought I'd got it covered and, to be fair I had, for the main – I just didn't give dessert a thought – eek!

Then I remembered I'd made a batch of Rocky Road, some of which I'd taken as a gift for my hairdresser. The previous weekend I'd made a batch of ice cream when other friends were visiting. Hmm, then I remembered the fruit compote I'd made for the Traffic Lights dessert. Then I remembered I'd a decent sized portion of chocolate pudding in the freezer.

Here's my “muddle” recipe – if you can call it that :

Choose a dish or bowl that's not too large

Warm the chocolate pudding, one large dessert spoon

in each bowl

One scoop of vanilla ice cream

3 or 4 pieces of Rocky Road

Drizzle with a small ladle of compote

Alternatively you could choose from your secret chocolate stash in place of the Rocky Road.

The photos to back up my “muddle” are coming shortly!

Stock the store cupboard ...

… especially from a dessert point of view. If I have visitors at the last minute I want to be able to offer them a dessert but I may not have the time to make one from scratch or even to pop out to buy one.

When I say “store cupboard” I include the freezer too. Top of my list is a batch of vanilla ice cream – it cannot fail.

Earlier this year I gave you three different versions of a “Hodgepodge”. If you'd like to have a look at each of the recipes, you'll find them on the blog Easter Emergencies A Hodgepodge, Hodgepodge – take 2 and Hodgepodge … again. The Compote Compilation will give you the recipe for Blueberry Compote.

You don't have to spend a fortune and you can make bits and pieces yourself if you feel inclined or, more to the point, if you have time – for example meringue kisses or either of the curds – lemon or orange.

Frozen raspberries and cherries are essentials for the freezer.

The added bonus with this “stock” is that if it isn't used over the holidays it'll still be there and not committed to the food waste mountain because it's out of date.

Add a bag of hazelnuts and almonds to your shopping list too.

Choose a secret location and stash a selection of favourite chocolate bar(s). Note to self – remember where you stashed them! Nowadays you can buy bite sized versions of your favourites – very useful fridged and then chopped or bashed in their wrapper to add to ice cream, add fruit of your choice and decorate with a sprinkle of nuts.

Dessert any one?!

Running out of steam?

Feeling a little frayed around the edges? To make matters worse you've more guests staying over for New Year and whilst you might be out for the evening and have the food covered you've still got to think about breakfast, or, in reality brunch, on New Year's Day.

The following recipe may appeal.

BBB

(Bread and Butter Brunch)

Serves 8-10

French stick (225/250g) stale and sliced -

discard the heel ends

6 large eggs

200ml milk

200ml sour cream (or double will do – add a squirt

of lemon juice)

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

salt and black pepper

Bunch spring onions, finely chopped

100g mature cheddar, 175g Gruyere and

100g Red Leicester, grated and mixed together

Chopped chive to garnish

You will need a oven-proof serving dish approximately 24cm square – greased if not non-stick.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, mustard and salt & pepper. Stir in the spring onions.

Arrange half the bread in the dish, overlapping the slices to fit. Pour over half the egg mixture and sprinkle with two thirds of the grated cheese. Cover with the remaining bread, again overlapping the slices. Pour over the remaining egg mixture and gently press down to help the bread absorb the mixture. Sprinkle the top with the remaining grated cheese.

Cover with cling film and put in fridge over night.

The following morning take the BBB out of the fridge and uncover so that it can come to room temperature.

Pre-heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Bake for 40/50 minutes or until puffed and golden. Set your timer for 40 minutes and check.

Let it stand for 10 minutes to set the “custard” before serving. Garnish with chopped chives.

The good news is that you're prepping this dish the day before and all you have to do is remember to take it out of the fridge the following morning – I suppose it does depend on how sore your head is!

It's exactly what's required as part of a hangover cure – serve with whatever you want, bacon and sausage are the obvious candidates. The beauty of this dish is that on its own it's vegetarian so you've all the bases covered - that's that sorted!

Happy New Year!

Traffic Light photos

Here's the proof of the pudding …

The lemon pots

– just add raspberries

The compote

– a deep rich colour and it tastes as good as it looks – however you use it.

The assembly

– it's almost a shame to dig in – oh well someone has to.

Lots of choices to suit you – hope you find it useful.

Traffic Lights – Versions 2 and 3

OR, you can … omit the raspberries and make :

Cherry and Raspberry Compote

350g cherries, stoned – can use frozen

150g caster sugar

juice of 1 lemon

150g raspberries – can use frozen

4 tbsp water or juice from defrosted fruit

Pour the water into a pan and add the cherries, sugar and lemon juice. Place the on a medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Cook the cherries over a low heat for 5-10 minutes until they have released some juice but are not overcooked. If you are using frozen cherries you will have the fruit juices when defrosted – use this juice instead of the water.

Add the raspberries to the pan and cook for a further 1-2 minutes until they start to soften. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the mixture to cool, then chill it well before serving.

You can keep the compote as is or blitz in a processor and pass through a sieve – purely a matter of personal preference – some people aren't fond of raspberry pips.

The compote in itself is versatile – you can use it as a topping over vanilla ice cream, over breakfast cereal – great with granola!

Here we're using the compote as the next tier in the “Traffic Lights”.

For version 3 I'm using Amaretti biscuits – more available at this time of year they are delicious Italian biscuits, crush two per shot glass – approximately 23g – the size of the biscuits will vary.

Pour a layer of compote onto the lemon pot – after it has had time to set – complete with crushed Amaretti biscuits.

Photos next!

Traffic Lights …

… in reality the only similarity to traffic lights are the three tiers. A definite possibility for any New Year entertaining, since I'm sure by now you're wilting a little after all that hard work and deserve an easy recipe or three.

Another three versions,

Version 1 :

Lemon Pots

Makes 6 x 160ml glasses

600ml double cream

150g caster sugar

finely grated zest and juice of 3 lemons **

Raspberries to serve

small glass dishes or shot glasses

Heat the cream, sugar and lemon zest in a wide-based pan over a low heat until at simmering point. Stir continuously for about 3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly until lukewarm.

Mix the lemon juice with the cooled cream in the pan and stir.

Pour the lemon cream into the glasses – two thirds full - transfer to the fridge to set for a minimum of 2 hours. This is based on a shot glass of 160ml.

When set and ready to serve arrange the raspberries on top.

** If you don't have fresh lemons you can use juice and omit the zest – 4 tbsp of juice is equivalent to one and a half lemons – 8 tbsp for this recipe.

OR, you can …

The humble homity – versions two and three

Alternatively you can make mini homity tarts using the same recipe, you'll get 18, 7.5cm “cases” - based on a 7cm bun tin. Roll out the pastry and cut out circles using a straight sided 7.5cm cutter. Ease them into them into the tin and place in the fridge to rest again.

The only “tweak” to the filling is I'd recommend passing the potato through a ricer before adding the remaining ingredients which will give you a finer consistency. I'd also suggest using an ice cream scoop – measuring 5cms in diameter – to fill the cases. Press the filling down gently to flatten and garnish and bake as per the original recipe.

Whether you're making the large pie or the individual cases you can make them ahead and freeze. Once you've lined the greased baking dish, freeze until required. Once lined, place the bun tin in the fridge for 30 minutes. Remove the tin and ease out the cases, bag and freeze until required.

In the unlikely event that you have any leftover – freeze in individual portions.

Either version of the homity is useful – serve the pie as part of your Boxing Day lunch, or as the centre piece of your buffet. The tarts are a great size for a canapé or serve as a starter warmed with antipasti or garnish with diced chorizo, fried – not forgetting a drizzle of the delicious oil.

Here are some helpful photos :

A useful standby me thinks.

Merry Christmas – we're going to continue with ideas – you've still got the New Year celebrations to come!

Homity photos

First up, the pastry case – then covered in a double layer of cling film and into the freezer, ready for use as and when.

Here's the baked pie – I'm sorry you can't smell its delicious aroma – bring it on!

Slice of pie anyone?

I can definitely confirm that this pastry is the most reliable I've ever used – I've used it for heaps of savoury tarts. It freezes well and does not deteriorate – you won't be sorry!

Three for the price of one – the humble homity

Here's the second of my “canapé” suggestions and this actually gives you three different versions.

Version 1 :

Homity Pie

Serves 12-16 depending on size of slice

Pastry case

200g plain wholemeal flour

100g unsalted butter

pinch of baking powder

ice cold water to bind

Rub the butter into the flour and baking powder until it resembles breadcrumbs, then gradually add a glug of water and use and round bladed knife to bring the pastry together.

You can use a processor to reach the breadcrumb stage if you prefer – I'd then tip the pastry into a mixing bowl and add the water by hand.

Rest the pastry in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Ahead of the game

Bake 6 large jacket potatoes, then cool, peel and dice finely

and place in a large mixing bowl

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500g onions, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic – finely chopped or roasted

paste

3 tbsp rapeseed oil

salt and black pepper

5 tbsp of freshly chopped parsley – 3 tbsp for the

filling and 2 for the topping – use less if you are

using dried

300g of grated cheese – I use a mixture of mature

cheddar, Gruyere and Red Leicester – 200g for the

filling and 100g for the topping

Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil, add to the potatoes and season with salt and black pepper. Add the cheese and parsley, mix thoroughly.

Roll out your pastry and line a greased baking dish measuring 24cms in diameter x 5cms deep.

Tip your potato mixture into the pastry case and pack it down tightly and flat – it will look as if you'll never get all the filling into the case – persevere – you will succeed.

Top with the remaining cheese and parsley.

Bake in a pre-heated oven – 170fan/190c/Gas 7 for 40 minutes – check after 20 minutes.

Photos on their way!

More kofta kit

Raita is another great favourite to serve as a dip and also as a side to curries – it's cooling and refreshing.

Here's my version, served with a creamy chicken curry (recipe coming soon).

Raita

Take half a large pot of plain yogurt - 250g. Add one teaspoon of ready-made mint sauce and stir well. Add salt and black pepper. If you'd like to add finely diced cucumber feel free but add it as you serve so it remains crisp.

P.s. Not perhaps an ideal time to mention healthy, but, you could use a low fat plain yogurt and try the with tandoori chicken and a crisp green salad – don't forget the mango chutney too.

Another culinary marriage made in heaven – the easy way.

The kit to go with the koftas

Have you ever wondered how they make the “onion salad” served with the poppadoms? I know that it varies from restaurant to restaurant but, many moons ago I was given a recipe which, to this day I've never committed to paper. It has to be said that it's quite hot and obviously you have to like onion.

Here goes :

2 medium onions, finely chopped -

weight 150g per onion approximately

salt and black pepper

2 tbsp fresh orange juice

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp tomato paste

pinch of chill powder

Place the onions in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Place the salad in sealed airtight containers and store in a cool place.

The secret to this salad is that you should not serve it for at least a day, preferably two after making it. It's important that the orange and lemon juice and the tomato paste are allowed to “mature” - leaving it to infuse takes away any harshness from the onion and the tomato paste.

This is a perfect accompaniment for the koftas but is equally as good with any curry.

Here it is :

If you are a lover of all things spicy then this onion salad is excellent with cold meats or, best of all, with a strong mature cheddar cheese.

Kofta canapés, meatballs and burgers …

… the photo guide

Use a foil tray with 2 tbsp plain flour – it enables you to roll around the koftas to coat with flour without having to “assist” them.

If you would prefer a larger version then use a dessert spoon of mixture, treated in exactly the same way, like these :

Finally, if you're in the mood for a burger – but one with Indian flavours, have a look at these :

These burgers are 110g or 4oz in old money.

The kit to serve with up next ...

Kofta canapés

How about a kofta for a canapé – these Indian meatballs are a real hit. As you'd expect from me they can be made ahead and frozen. Easy to spear on a cocktail fork or a cocktail stick. Serve with small bowls of sweet chilli sauce or raita or mango chutney or all three.

Kofta canapés

makes 25/30 ish

500g of minced lamb

*salt and black pepper

*2 cloves of garlic, crushed or 2 tsps of paste

*1 tsp of ground cumin

*1 tsp of ground coriander

*pinch of garam masala

*pinch of chilli powder

1 heaped tbsp of tomato paste

1 egg

sprinkle of plain flour

kitchen gloves or damp hands

Rapeseed oil for shallow frying

a foil tray 23cms x 23cms

Place the mince in a large mixing bowl then add the ingredients marked * and mix well. Add the tomato paste and the egg and combine. If you find the mixture too wet, then sprinkle a little plain flour into the mixture and fold in gently.

Using either gloves or damp hands your mixture should aim to be the size of a walnut (or 1 heaped teaspoon). Roll the mixture between your hands and when you've 8 or so heat the oil in a large frying pan. Seal the koftas on a low heat and carefully shake the pan to turn them – use tongs if you are accident prone!

At this stage you can continue to cook the koftas in the pan or you can transfer to an oven-proof dish and pop into a pre-heated oven 160fan/180c/Gas 4 for 15 minutes.

Alternatively let the koftas cool once sealed, transfer to freezer bags and freeze until required. Defrost and then place in a foil tray and warm in a pre-heated oven as above for 15 minutes.

Easy peasy and really tasty – photo guide next.

Make it easy on yourself!

I mentioned in Coming soon … that the advertising for all your festive food requirements was imminent and so it is. If you wish you can order the whole lot, from your Christmas Day lunch, through to your party food and desserts too.

Balance is the key. An example – if you've decided that you're going to buy “party food” then choose carefully, browse and browse again – better still arm yourself with a glass of wine, or tea or coffee if you must, flag whatever takes your fancy with a post it note. Leave it be and then return to it the following day – just to be sure.

Whatever your choices make sure they all cook for the same amount of time and at the same temperature – unless of course you want to be tearing backwards and forwards from the kitchen to your guests getting grumpier by the minute. Don't forget to set your timer – preferably a small version that hangs around your neck – it looks like a strange necklace I grant you – you'll be glad you wore it.

Check out the ordinary supermarket deals. You'll find that they'll have good offers – another example or two – a selection of antipasti and smoked salmon. Great on two counts - they don't take up space and they should have good dates – don't forget to check.

Consider buying part-baked baguettes. They do not need to be frozen so don't take up valuable space in your freezer, once again check the dates.

It doesn't take long to bake a Camembert to go with the freshly baked baguettes. Note to self, make sure it's in a stapled container not glued – it will not be pretty and you'll be very cross!

Assemble your own prawn cocktail shots. If you've not got shot glasses I might even go so far as to suggest you invest – you don't have to spend a fortune and I've found them so useful for all sorts of stuff, from making individual puds to the prawn cocktail. You could even use them for alcohol too!

Here's what my most useful versions look like :

A shot glass if for all year round, not just for Christmas.

Next up is a canapé that can actually be a meatball or a burger too!

Pull up a chair …

… time we had a chat.

Before we go any further here are a few hints and tips to help you with the forthcoming festivities.

Don't wait until Christmas Eve to try out a new recipe – you'll be devastated if the jewel in your Christmas crown fails. If you want to serve something new, road test it.

How do you shop? If you are a fan of on line shopping remember those three little words – “book your slot” – early.

It's the little things that guests ask for that tend to get forgotten. I can't help but think of an obvious example – do you have sauce for the bacon sandwiches?

Which brings me to … who doesn't love a list?! If you aren't a list maker and you've a houseful of guests due you might want to consider giving it a shot. A list will help you get organised and I should add that there'll be more than one. Check the pantry and/or your store cupboard – buy the non-perishable bits and pieces now. There'll be a list of stuff you need to order – bear in mind it will have to be collected too. There'll be another list of stuff you can't get until the last minute – fresh fruit and veggies, salad stuff.

I plan my menus and then make my shopping list(s) from the plan. It's not set in stone but it sure helps.

I'm not going to give you chapter and verse about a traditional Christmas lunch or anything else for that matter. I'm just going to throw around some ideas for a canapé or two, followed by a recipe that would be great for Boxing Day brunch or lunch and suggestions for easy desserts that can be assembled from ingredients that are to hand from your pantry or your freezer.

Lets get on.

Coming soon …

… and I'm sorry I can't put this off any longer if I'm to help in some small way to prevent you having a major meltdown then we have to talk about the Christmas holidays.

Lets bounce a few thoughts and ideas around and try and make your life as stress free as is possible.

First things first - do you have a freezer the size of a shed – if you do then please disregard what follows! You need to think carefully about how you're going to stock it which begs the question how full is it now?

I'm sure you know what's coming next – now is the time to clear out your freezer. It's no good going out and snapping up all manner of goodies and then have to climb on top of it all, ramming it in the freezer to make it fit!

Own up to all the stuff that has dropped to the bottom – the bargain that you couldn't live without and seemed like such a good idea at the time and has now gone to that freezer burn waste heap. Rest assured I'm not casting aspersions – I dread to think what's at the bottom of mine.

I cannot tell you how virtuous you'll feel once you've done the job, not to mention stress free to the point of horizontal when re-filling it.

You need to clear the space ready for the bombardment of adverts for party food and offers that you cannot afford to miss. We are drawn in to spending an absolute fortune because it looks fabulous. Similarly every supermarket already has a food catalogue so you can sit in the comfort of your own home and order all your festive food.

Party pooper I am not and I'm not suggesting you spend the week before and the entire holiday tied to the kitchen completely frazzled. I'm just suggesting that you give it some thought.

I make no apology for repeating myself. Every family has their own traditions and favourites and it matters not, in my experience how old the kids are – 5 to 25, there are certain dishes and treats that are important, nostalgic and stand the test of time so hold hard before you rush out and spend a fortune on fancy dancin' stuff because you think they'll be bored.

Revolutionary I know but you could ask your family what they most look forward to eating.

The dumpling dilemma …

… with or without suet. Personal taste really – dumplings made with suet have more texture to them. If you prefer light and fluffy then probably without suet would be better for you. If you've never sampled this delicacy then the only way is to make them both ways and decide for yourself.

Suet Dumplings

100g self raising flour

50g vegetable suet

pinch of salt

60ml of ice cold water

A generous pinch of dried mixed herbs - optional

Mix the flour, suet and salt with the water – you want to achieve a firm dough with some give.

Divide into eight and shape into balls.

Place on top of your casserole or soup, simmer for 20 minutes. Ensure that the casserole or saucepan has a tight fitting lid.

Dumplings sans suet

140g cold unsalted butter

250g self raising flour

salt and black pepper

150ml cold water

Generous pinch of mixed herbs – optional

Back to basics – rub the butter into the flour – aka the rubbing in method – until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the herbs and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Add the cold water and mix quickly to form a dough. Dust your hands with flour and divide the dough into twelve and form into balls.

Add to the top of your casserole, soup or stew and bake for 20 minutes, as above.

You might think this is a lot of fuss about nothing – I suppose you have to be a certain age – give them a try, see for yourself!

The Soup – Part II

The beauty of the 3C soup is that you can add almost anything :

parsnips would give a sweetness

sweet potato – ditto

roasted butternut squash – ditto again

It doesn't have to be a vegetable soup – you could add leftover pieces of chicken or gammon. I always think marrow fat peas work well in soups but I think they are like Marmite – you either love them or hate them. If you're not a lover of chick peas, try butter beans or cannellini beans – both have a natural creamy texture. As with the chick peas, rinse them and then add to the soup. With butter beans you tend to get the outer shell from the bean - personally I'd take a minute or three to remove them – so much nicer in the finished soup.

Lets not forget the cherry on the top – or in this case the dumpling on the top! Hurray for vegetable suet - one of the best comfort foods ever and I for one am really pleased that eventually the “meat free” fraternity were considered.

Soup and dumplings are definitely in my top ten for Autumn/Winter comfort. Quick and easy to make, economical too. If you are the sort of person who doesn't mind eating the same lunch or supper two/three days on the run then this is for you. If you're not then I can confirm that the soup freezes very well. Have a look at my favourite soup “dish”. A really useful, nay colourful piece of kit. Freeze your soup in the mugs, clip the seals and it's ready to use from your freezer.

  

Instant portable lunch to take to the office or anywhere for that matter!

The Soup

I know there are gazillions of soup recipes out there – this is one of my absolute favourites. It's versatile too since you can chuck in whatever you like and make it your own.

Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea Soup

“3C” soup

500g Charlotte potatoes, peeled and diced

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 stockpots – vegetable in my case but

chicken if you prefer

1 litre of water

1 tsp mild curry powder

1 heaped tsp ground coriander

salt and black pepper

Drop of rapeseed oil

1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed

Using a large saucepan, soften the onion and carrot in a drop of rapeseed oil for approximately 5 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally. Add the curry powder, coriander and black pepper and cook the spices with the onion and carrot for 2 minutes so that the flavours are released.

Add the stockpots plus 500ml of the water and simmer until the pots have melted.

Add the diced potatoes and the remaining 500ml of water. Bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes until the carrot and potatoes are cooked. Taste, then add salt to personal taste.

Set aside to cool.

Place 3 ladles of soup in a liquidiser/food processor and blitz until thick. Add this back into your soup and stir well – check that the soup is a consistency that suits your preference. If it's too thin, repeat the ladles as above. Add the chick peas, heat and serve.

By blitzing the ladles of soup – you are using the potatoes as a thickening agent and so no artificial thickening is required. You are left with a soup that has visible, chunky vegetables and of course the chick peas.

Note to self – don't be tempted to put the potatoes in with the carrots and onions when softening in the oil. The natural starch that is released from the potatoes means that they will cement themselves to the bottom of your saucepan – not a pretty sight – not to mention the wrecked soup.