A mid week rummage …

… in your freezer.

It's Wednesday and I've no idea what's for supper – not a clue. That's the trouble with this endlessly tedious “hamster wheel” of producing food. I'm off for a rummage in my freezer, in the faint hope that I'll find inspiration and, hopefully, a solution that will not involve too much work.

Five minutes later and I've the answer to all my problems and I give myself a pat on the back for all the occasions I've bagged and frozen leftover bits and pieces along the way – hurray!

I've pulled out a small bag – 145g approximately – of slow cooked gammon, which I'd frozen in chunks and ditto of slow cooked chicken, together with a box of sauce supreme. They are all out defrosting ready for assembly later. Now is the time I use my supply of baked jacket potatoes that are in my fridge.

No cooking required, unless you count sliding the “pie” into a pre-heated oven – that would be nit picking in my book!

Ingredients

Serves 2 generous portions

145/150g cooked gammon

145/150g cooked chicken

200g sauce supreme

1 large baked jacket potato, sliced thinly

skin on or off, whichever is preferred

50/75g grated cheese – mature cheddar or gruyere

to sprinkle over sliced potato topping

salt and black pepper

Mix your chicken and gammon in a medium size bowl. Add a drop of boiled water to the sauce and whisk to loosen, then fold into the gammon and chicken. Tip your filling into a small casserole or a foil tray measuring 20x11x5cms approximately. Add the sliced potatoes, salt and pepper and top with the grated cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 25 minutes or until golden.

Equal or exact amounts of, in this case the chicken and gammon, aren't important. Check out your fridge – you may find a leek lurking – or is it a lurking leek. Slice finely and soften in a small saucepan with a glug of rapeseed oil.

The moral of the rummage … 

Speaking of apple sauce …

… reminds me of the recipe that I'd used previously when wanting a foolproof sauce.

There's a book by Elizabeth David – An Omelette and a Glass of Wine (if you don't have it in your collection you might want to consider a purchase). This book is a collection of various articles, one of which is called “Big Bad Bramleys” and refers to Eliza Acton and her recipe for apple purée – here comes another book recommendation - Eliza Acton – Modern Cookery for private families – to give perspective Ms. Acton's book was first published in 1845!

Here's that recipe, with modern oven temperatures of course.

Eliza Acton's apple sauce

Pre-heat oven to 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

Grease a glass dish with butter.

This sauce is so easy – the only emphasis is on the preparation of the apples. All the peel and core must be removed. There are no amounts here, you can cook as much sauce, or purée if you prefer, as you desire – it freezes well.

Peel, core and slice your apple – if you can slice them a similar size, so much the better, they will cook more evenly.

Place your apples in your dish and cover with a lid or foil – NO WATER, SUGAR OR ANYTHING ELSE.

Bake for 20/30 minutes. Check after 20. The apples should be soft. Here's the satisfying bit – whisk the apples until they begin to break up, sprinkle with caster sugar plus a generous knob of unsalted butter, whisk again – enjoy.

This would appear to be almost identical to the previous recipe – the only difference being the inclusion of 2 tbsp of water and made on the hob instead of in the oven. Having made both versions the hob method is quicker - the quality of the sauce is great using either.

Another post script – if you subscribe to the “chicken soup” cure for all ills, then this is the sweet alternative!

The roast photos!

Here's the stuffing :

Here's the “roast” plate :

Whatever else you serve is entirely up to you – I opted for sprouts and cauliflower cheese – you can never have enough veggies.

I was tempted to serve “parrots” too – a firm favourite in our house - that's a combination of parsnips and carrots mashed, with a generous knob of butter and loads of black pepper – but since I'd already decided on the roast parsnips drizzled with maple syrup I thought I may have gone over the top – just a smidge!

Bits to go with … continued

The stuffing – my favourite!

Do whatever suits your time – make your own crumb mixture or use a packet and “zhuzh”. I like to zhuzh stuff and make it my own.

As a basic guide :

190g crumbs – your own or a packet of sage & onion

add 400ml boiling water together with a large knob of butter

salt and black pepper

allow the mixture to stand, then fold in 2 tbsp of that apple

sauce you've just made

1 medium onion, finely chopped and

softened with a drop of rapeseed oil and a small

knob of butter

1 small leek, finely chopped softened as the onion

Use a dessert spoon of mixture to give a consistent measure to form the balls which will give you 9 with everything plus 4 without onion.

Pre-heat oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 and bake for 30 minutes

The stuffing can be made ahead.

Here's the dilemma, shape into balls or make like a “meatloaf” which can then be sliced.

Personally I like balls – another advantage is that if you have guests who don't like onion it's easier to make up however many are required with the basic mixture and the apple and/or the leek and then add the softened onion to the remainder and everyone's happy.

If you'd prefer the “meatloaf” route you could use a cake liner in a loaf tin so that you finish up with the “meatloaf” shaped stuffing. Use a 1lb loaf tin with the appropriate liner and pack the mixture evenly. Bake as above.

You'll notice that the cooking time is 30 minutes – again – which fits in perfectly with your “pull it all together” plan to serve your roast.

Ps. I always make more than I need. There is nothing quite like a sandwich filled with pork (for the meat eaters) and stuffing with coleslaw – not forgetting the mayo. A good source of protein for the veggies is the deli style Quorn wafer thin slices if you like that sort of thing - it ticks the box for sandwiches. An idea that you might want to bear in mind when planning your “C” shopping list – can't bring myself to mention the word, it's too early!

The bits to go with …

Despite the fact that I don't eat meat I've always loved a roast – why - I love all the bits and pieces that go with the meat.

In this particular case apple sauce – there are some food “marriages” you just don't mess with and roast pork and apple sauce is one of them. There is nothing finer than an apple sauce packed with flavour – try this recipe – you won't be disappointed.

Apple Sauce

400g Bramley apples

Juice of half a lemon

2 tbsp water

1½ tbsp caster sugar

a knob of butter and a sprinkle of salt

Peel and dice the apples. Place in a small pan with the lemon juice, 2 tbsp water and the caster sugar. Heat gently until the apples are really soft, then help them along by squashing them with the back of a spoon. When you are satisfied with the consistency add the butter, stir until melted and then add salt to taste.

I know that periodically I mention delicious. Magazine, (sorry – no pun intended) this is another example of what this publication does well – easy, practical recipes.

Those who follow the blog (and thank you) will know that I'm not a food snob and don't believe in “arm twisting” to make your own. There are many great products out there but some come at a hefty price. You don't have to put yourself under pressure – try making stuff when you have the time and then freeze – in this case, the apple sauce. If I thought there wasn't much difference I would say so. If you make this sauce I suspect, and hope, that you'll never buy a jar again.

I made the apple sauce the day before the “roast” - one job less and if anything it tastes even better.

Definitely worth a shot!

A rapid roast – the parsnips and potatoes

All the “Ps”!

In the morning pre-heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas6.

Peel the parsnips and the potatoes and parboil, they should be of a similar size so they'll cook evenly. Note to self – cook extra! There are no specific numbers – you know how many you'll need to serve as part of the roast, plus the extras. Parboil the parsnips first for 2/3 minutes. Lift them out of the water and place them in a foil tray (or roasting tin) pre-heated with a glug of rapeseed oil. Season with salt and black pepper. Place them in the oven for 15 minutes – set your timer. Turn the parsnips and repeat.

Add the potatoes to the same water and repeat. Drain the potatoes and add 1 tbsp of semolina and shake well. Season with salt and black pepper, then place in a foil tray or roasting tin with a glug of rapeseed oil – pre-heated and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Turn the potatoes and repeat.

Remove both the parsnips and potatoes after 30 minutes, cover and set aside to cool.

The story so far … you've got rid of all the labour intensive prep, not to mention all the muck and rubbish that goes with it and your kitchen is now a stress free zone.

You've halved the time you need to return to the kitchen later in the day.

To prove my point :

30 minutes to rest the pork

30 minutes to cook your crackling (optional)

meat juices thickened in the slow cooker and can

then be left to its own devices until serving

Whilst the pork is resting, return your parsnips (try

adding a drizzle of maple syrup) and your potatoes to the

oven for a final 30 minutes roasting

In other words, prep the boring stuff in the morning, then you can get on with your day and you only need 30 minutes to pull it all together before your guests arrive.

Whatever else you decide to serve with your roast is personal – a couple of compulsory bits – in my opinion – coming next.

Time for an aperitif!

A rapid roast!

Sunday lunch is a moveable feast – not just served at lunchtime – recently ours was 6.30pm. If you're not careful you seem to finish up in the kitchen faffing and messing around all day.

Your prep is the same whenever you are serving so, here's my basic menu and my take on the quickest and easiest way to produce it :

“roast” pork

crackling

“gravy” from the pork

apple sauce

sage and onion stuffing with apple

roast parsnips with maple syrup

roast potatoes

Instead of “roasting” a joint use your slow cooker and cook a piece of boneless shoulder – pulled pork if you like but not shredded finely. It takes 8 hours and the beauty of it is that once it's in the slow cooker it needs no attention until you remove it 8 hours later. Once removed wrap the shoulder in foil and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. You are left with delicious juices and all that's required is to add slaked cornflour to the meat juices and whisk.

If you are a lover of crackling then ask your butcher to remove the skin from the shoulder, you can cook it in a preheated hot oven later in the day.

Slow cooked shoulder of pork

Serves 4-6

1.5kg boneless shoulder of pork

(skin and rind removed for crackling – optional)

2 tsp sea salt flakes

2 tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

100ml good quality apple juice

1 tbsp cornflour, mixed with 1 tbsp water

As mentioned above, ask your butcher to remove the skin and rind, and leave flat (in other words discard any string), dry with kitchen roll. Mix the salt, sugar and paprika and rub half of it over the pork.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown on all sides. Place the pork in your slow cooker, pour over the apple juice and cover with lid. Cook on low for 8/9 hours.

Remove the pork, wrap in foil and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Whilst the pork is relaxing add the cornflour (mixed with the water) to the sauce in the slow cooker. You can also add the remainder of the seasoning if you want extra zing in your “gravy”. Each time you pass the slow cooker give it a stir.

Pull your pork with two forks into large pieces – do not shred.

Ps. If you wanted another entry for your culinary dictionary, “slaked” means the mixing of a thickening agent – in this case cornflour – with water. Hey - you never know when this may come in handy!