Allow three hours to make these hot cross buns include rising time. Makes 12 buns so well worth doubling up if like me, you'll eat four as soon as they come out of the oven.
Granola - a toasted muesli, nice with fresh fruit and yoghurt for a vegetarian breakfast, this is a very adaptable recipe using any grains, seeds and nuts that you fancy.
Ingredients
- 12 oz / 300g rolled oats, wheat flakes, rolled barley or any other rolled grains
- 4oz / 100g chopped hazelnuts, pecans, almonds or any other nuts
- 2oz/50g pumpkin, flax, sunflower seeds or seeds of your choice
- 2oz/50g desiccated coconut
- 4 fl oz Hill Farm rapeseed oil or sunflower oil
- 4 fl oz Suffolk honey
- 6oz/150g raisins or sultanas
Method
Preheat the oven to 130c/Gas 2 ( a cool setting)
Place the rolled oats in a bowl and mix in the nuts, seeds and coconut. ( not the raisins yet!) Stir well.
Warm the honey and oil together in a small pan and pour onto the dry mixture.
Coat all the nuts, oats, seeds etc in the honey and oil.
Spread the mixture onto a baking tin and place in the oven for 40 mins. You will need to move the granola around a little from time to time to ensure that it crisps all over.
Remove from the oven and mix in the raisins. Leave to cool and store in an airtight container. where it will keep for several weeks.
Vanilla and Orange Mascarpone Cheesecake with Rhubarb Compote
Written by Claire
Vanilla, Orange and Mascarpone Cheesecake
Makes a 7in/18cm cheesecake to serve 8
For the base
- 50g/2oz butter
- 175g/7oz digestive biscuits
- Half a tablespoon honey
Melt the butter and honey over a very low heat.
Crush the digestive biscuits and stir into the melted butter until well mixed.
Press the rubble-like mixture in a loose bottomed 7in/18cm tin and place in the fridge to chill.
For the cheesecake topping
- 200g/8oz cream cheese
- 200g/8oz mascarpone
- 75g/3oz caster sugar
- Rind and juice of 1 orange
- 200ml/8floz double cream ( whipped into soft peaks)
- 1 vanilla pod or a drop of vanilla essence
Beat the cream cheese, mascarpone, sugar, orange rind and juice together in a bowl.
Fold in the whipped cream and the seeds scraped from the vanilla pod. Mix well.
Spread the cheesecake mixture onto the biscuit base and chill.
Serve with the Roasted Rhubarb and Orange compote.
This recipe can be easily adapted - if you add lime or lemon to the mixture instead of orange, and it can be served in summer with a raspberry coulis.
Roasted rhubarb and orange compote
- 700g/1.5lb rhubarb
- 150g/5oz caster sugar
- Juice and zest of one orange
Wash and chop the rhubarb into 2in/5cm lengths and place in an ovenproof dish with the sugar, orange zest and juice.
Bake in a preheated oven 375F/190C Gas 5 for about 25 minutes or until soft. Stir gently to release the juices, trying not to lose the shape of the rhubarb. Cool and serve.
Wholemeal crunchy ginger shortbread - a shortbread type ginger biscuit to bake in a tray and that I couldn't resist with my cup of tea today. The wholemeal flour makes it healthy doesn't it?
Crespolini - pancakes stuffed with spinach and ricotta
Written by Claire
Crespolini
(Italian Spinach and Ricotta stuffed, vegetarian pancakes)
Make up a batch of pancakes, either plain or Buckwheat, using the pancake batter recipe
For the filling:
- 500g/1lb ( raw weight) of spinach leaves
- 500g/ 1lb Ricotta cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Steam the spinach until tender (microwaving in a cling filmed container works very well for spinach, don’t add water)
Drain any excess liquid from the spinach and add the Ricotta cheese, salt and pepper to taste, mix well.
Divide the mixture between the cooked pancakes and roll up. Place the pancakes in a single layer in an ovenproof dish.
For the Béchamel sauce
- 600ml/1.5 pints milk
- 1 onion
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cloves
- 6 black peppercorns
- 50g/2oz butter
- 50g/2oz plain flour
- Pinch grated nutmeg (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 100g/4oz Parmesan Cheese
(for those of you in a real hurry, forget the onion, cloves, bay leaf and peppercorns and just go ahead making the sauce with the butter, flour and milk)
Impale the onion with the cloves and place in a saucepan with the bay leaves, peppercorns and milk.
Bring to a simmer and then leave to stand
Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour, cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes
Strain the milk into the flour and butter and stir well (a whisk is best to avoid lumps)
Cook for a few minutes and add the grated nutmeg if using.
Pour the sauce over the pancakes and sprinkle over the Parmesan cheese.
Bake in a preheated oven 190C/380C Gas 4 for 30 – 40 minutes, or microwave, and grill the top.
Flippin' good pancakes for breakfast this morning. We ate them simply with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinling of suger. Pancake batter recipe here.
Vanilla Cream Rice Pudding with Roasted Rhubarb Compote
Written by Claire
For the rhubarb compote - see above
For the creamed rice
300ml/10floz milk (full fat is best)
300ml/10floz double cream
1 vanilla pod
150g/6oz short grain pudding rice
150g/6oz caster sugar
Place the milk and cream in a saucepan or better still, a double boiler.
Split the vanilla pod length ways and scrape out the seeds and add the whole lot to the cream and milk.
Bring the milk mixture to a gentle simmer and add the rice and sugar.
Simmer gently, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes until the rice is soft and the liquid absorbed.
(Watch carefully to ensure that the rice and milk do not burn on the bottom of the pan. If you do not have a decent heavy based saucepan, it is suggested that you bake the rice pudding in the oven, although it will then have a darker colour and a skin on top, but still delicious!)
Remove the vanilla pod before serving the creamed rice with the rhubarb. Delicious hot or cold!
Parsnip Fritters - crispy and light vegetarian fritters suitable as a starter, light supper or as nibbles with drinks. Who can resist a plate of savoury fritters? This recipe is an original recipe created and served by me at The Chalice Restaurant in the 1980's.
What to give your valentine? Easy to make, just a little fiddly to put together. Go on! You love them really.
A delicious cream cheese dessert to serve with fruit, particularly summer berries. Named after the heart shaped moulds they are traditionally set in, although we had to order ours online and they didn't arrive until after we had made them in the biscuit moulds pictured above. You will need a piece of muslin to line the moulds, although if you don't want to turn the creams out, don't worry.
Ingredients
- 350 g cream cheese ( unsalted or sieved cottage cheese)
- 155g of icing sugar
- 600ml double cream
- 2tsps vanilla essence
- a little grated lemon rind ( half a teaspoon)
- vanilla seeds scraped from the pod
- Method
- Beat the cream cheese and icing sugar together until smooth. Whisk in the double cream, vanilla essence, lemon rind and vanilla seeds. The mixture should be of a thickish consistency which will need to be spooned into the moulds. If it is pourable it is still too runny, so whip for a little longer.
If you are lucky enough to have some proper moulds ( the ones with the draining holes in the bottom) then line them with damp muslin. If not use ramekins lined with muslin. Fill each mould and leave in the fridge, preferable overnight to allow any liquid to drain through the holes.
Turn out and serve with fresh fruit. Strawberries are traditionally served.
More...
A good side dish to go with pork and great as we approach the 'Hungry Gap' when veggies are less interesting. Baked red cabbage.
You can't beat a delicious blini topped with smoked salmon and creme fraiche to perk up a cold February evening. We'll be making these as a canapes tomorrow night for little party. Here is our recipe.
Spring Cabbage, Mushroom and Dill Cream Cheese Pie
Written by veggieplot
One of my favourite veggie pies uses cabbage. New seasons Sweetheart cabbage is best but white or Savoy will both work well. Use shortcrust pastry or buy ready rolled puff pastry. Sometimes I make pasties instead of a family size pie.
Ok, a blast from the past. A salmon mousse recipe, very 70's dinner party but also still good if you want to make an economical fish dish a day or two ahead for a party. I used to make these in a salmon shaped tin which is long gone; but I could buy back at great expense from a vintage cookware site.