The finale – dessert

I had to put on my thinking cap and consider the lactose intolerance.

Every now and again you strike it lucky and a dessert you've served in the recent past comes up trumps. At the end of last year I gave you “Sticky Toffee Orange”. The downside is that I couldn't serve the sticky toffee sauce, the upside – there's always an alternative!

My alternative was the sticky toffee loaf cake, fresh orange segments, an orange drizzle and a praline sprinkle.

If you'd like the recipe for the cake and a photo guide segmenting an orange check out Saturday 1 December 2018 Radio Recipes- 3rd December 2018 – How to segment an orange and Resourceful and creative desserts. Check out 13th December 2018 for the Praline recipe and a photo guide.

The orange drizzle is a piece of cake – sorry!

Orange Drizzle

200g icing sugar

250ml orange juice – no bits

Put the sugar and orange juice in a small saucepan and heat gently so that the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes.

All four elements I made ahead and all perfect for the lactose intolerant! I served my Dil her bowlful with Arla Lacto Free Cream suitable for whipping, cooking and pouring – suitable for vegetarians too.

My Dil loved it, particularly the cake which she could not believe contained dates. You can always tell how well your food is received when people remember what they've eaten. I received a message from my Dil after she had arrived home … here's a snippet “… the cake was ****** lovely … actually the past two days have been ****** lovely”.

If you want a gem of an addition to your treasure trove then may I suggest you make a sticky toffee loaf cake and freeze it, preferably in half, just in case you don't use a whole cake – very funny. Actually you can make and freeze the drizzle and praline too!

I think you'll be glad you did.

The main – step by step photo guide continued

the mould packed and covered with cling film

the moulds, packed and stacked

the timbale

a personal gravy boat – or should it be jus boat!

it was worth the effort

As for me – a stress free cook and very happy with a main course served with love and a smile. It went down a storm, as they say!

The final flourish – dessert – on its way.

The main – step by step photo guide

We have loads of photos to get through :

the lined dariole mould

the tamper – a great piece of kit!

the stripped lamb

the stripped lamb, finely chopped

the lined mould, packed with the lamb

More about the main

Before I continue with the lamb and the jus I have to decide what to serve with it. I have deliberately spread the “evening” meal beginning at 5pm with the starter. I have a dessert to serve too and so do not want too heavy a dish. Keep it simple – three elements, or four including the jus – roast potatoes and oven roasted lemon glazed carrots. The carrots are as easy as falling off a log! Peel and cut four carrots into small batons of a similar size and place on a large sheet of foil placed on a baking tray. Season with salt and black pepper, add a couple of knobs of unsalted butter and a glug or two of lemon juice. Wrap up tightly into a parcel and you're ready to roast.

Once again the joy of both these elements is that they can be prepped and part roasted ahead. If you roast your potatoes and carrots for 30 minutes either the day before or on the morning if you're around (I'm out for breakfast!) your entire main course will take 30 minutes to finish off and you'll be ready to serve.

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

Gently ease the cling filmed lamb out of the dariole moulds, peel off the cling film and place upside down in the shape of a tower on a baking tray. You'll have the tray of lamb timbales, a tray of foil wrapped carrots and a dish of roast potatoes – cook for the remaining 30 minutes.

The only item on your hob is the saucepan of jus you've removed and uncovered from the fridge, ready to warm through. Decide how you're serving – I recently treated myself to miniature gravy boats, very convenient for your guests.

Step by step photo guide up next.

The main … posh lamb!

This is a dish I first mentioned way back in 2016 under the label on the blog “Posh lamb”. At that time I used lamb shanks – this time around I'm using shoulder of lamb and there's a step by step photo guide too. The dish also uses the dariole moulds for a savoury dish.

As a guide – a shoulder weighing 1.8kg. I asked my butcher to cut the shoulder into four pieces – it's much easier to brown and then fit into the slow cooker. Seal and season (with salt and black pepper) the pieces of shoulder on all sides and then place into your slow cooker with lamb stock and garlic paste if you wish and cook for six hours.

Whilst your lamb is cooking prepare the dariole moulds. Using a pastry brush grease the inside of the moulds. How many dariole moulds you want to use depends on how many you're serving. Two timbales per person is filling but you may want three if you've large appetites to satisfy. To be safe I prepared nine – any leftovers can be frozen for another time. Line each greased mould with cling film ensuring you've an overlap.

Take the lamb out of the slow cooker and set aside in a large dish – I used a foil version – to cool. Using a knife and fork, strip the shoulder and place on a sheet of foil. Discard the remaining bones and bits.

At this point wrap the stripped lamb in foil and fridge it. When time permits chop your lamb finely. Next up is a very useful piece of kit – a wooden pastry tamper, aka a pastry pusher – its actual use is to form tart shells with the large end and for mini baking tins for canapés or bite sized pies with the small end. In this instance it's the perfect tool to press the lamb tightly into the mould, you'll probably need to fill and press twice, so that each mould is two thirds full. When the moulds are full cover with the overlapped cling film. Return the moulds to the fridge and stack in twos.

Now for the Redcurrant and Port jus :

227g jar of redcurrant jelly

200ml of Port

Melt the jelly in a pan over a gentle heat, add the port and bring to the boil, uncovered for 10-12 minutes until syrupy. Leave to cool then cover and fridge until ready for use. You can freeze the jus ahead if you prefer, it will keep for a month. Defrost it at room temperature and re-heat to serve.

All prepped ahead and ready when I am!

Here's how it went

Silence is always a good sign, followed by a “wow” - then Dil said “would it be allowed – can I drink the sauce – it's too good to leave?” backed up swiftly by everyone else! It may not be etiquette but, “my house, my rules” - yes, of course!

I first used the Marsala sauce with Another idea … for a starter, supper or dinner party and Surf and Turf continued in December 2018. I used frozen scallops (200g) and frozen cooked king prawns (250g) both from Waitrose. The scallops were smaller than average (Queen scallops) and so were perfect for my dish.

Defrost both in separate covered boxes in the fridge. My only task before we left to go out for breakfast!

Note to self – add the Marsala sauce to your “Recipe Reservoir” - it's excellent!

Here's a photo of the dish and the pastry fork – the dish measures 19cmsx11.5cmsx3.5cms (7¼x4½x1¼”)

Here's Rose – after her shower and relaxing!

Four clean dishes and forks, main course next, but not until 7.30ish.

Another milestone birthday!

Have you ever noticed how milestone birthdays and big celebrations always seem to come in the same year. Whilst my recent birthday was not a biggie the next one was - H's eldest Son's 50^th and so we decided to push the boat out. They were coming to stay for a couple of days so a good opportunity for the four of us to celebrate.

What follows gives ideas for a slightly different way of celebrating and the emphasis is on the word “day”.

I know that the fashion seems to be big “secret” parties for family and friends people haven't seen for decades - it's whatever floats your own boat. Here's an understated, different approach.

I planned the food I wanted to serve and did as much prep as I could before they arrived.

The day began with breakfast out at Bill's. If you're not familiar, check out bills-website.co.uk for their menu and locations. What I like about this establishment is nothing appears to be a problem. Our Dil (daughter-in-law) is lactose intolerant – on arrival we were asked immediately for any dietary requirements and very quickly Dil was given a complete menu – the same as ours but obviously modified to suit – one big fat tick!

A delicious breakfast had by all, the guys went home to pick up Rose our dog and headed out for a walk – it was a beautiful day and you could have been forgiven for thinking it was Spring and not the middle of February! You will not be surprised to discover that we girls went off for a spot of retail therapy – it would be rude not to take the opportunity.

Fast forward, a great walk and successful shopping trip then a relaxing afternoon with the guys watching “petrol-head” stuff of their choice and we girls catching up big style.

I served an aperitif of choice at 5pm but no nibbles. I decided that I'd serve a starter that was easy to eat but above all quick and easy to cook. Scallops, sealed quickly on both sides on a high heat using a glug of rapeseed oil and a knob of butter with salt and pepper, then set aside on a baking tray in a warm oven whilst I repeated the exercise with king prawns and asparagus tips that I'd blanched – and added both to the baking tray.

Next, add 100g of good chicken stock to the juices in the pan to de-glaze – it should sizzle, then add 3 tbsp of Marsala followed by 30g of unsalted butter and stir for 1-2 minutes, until it thickens. Serve in practical sized dishes that have sides and make sure your servings are equal but not too big, garnish with a generous drizzle of the Marsala sauce. I served the starter with pastry forks – sounds odd but they are the perfect size to spear the scallops, prawns and asparagus.

Would you like to know how it went?