SEVILLE ORANGE MARMALADE

When once Christmas is behind us I always look forward to the second week in January when the new season Seville oranges appear in the shops. Well, this year I have had great difficulty in tracking them down and had to go to a neighbouring town to find some in a traditional greengrocers.  The best and tastiest marmalade needs Seville oranges to provide that bitter sweet taste. I always make a couple of batches to ensure that we have enough to last the year, with a few pots to give to family and friends.

Ingredients:

2 lb/ Seville Oranges

1 lemon

4 lb Granulated Sugar

4 pints water

Method:

Scrub the fruits to ensure they are really clean and remove the little stalk at the top

Cut them in half, horizontally, and squeeze out the juice and pips

Place a strainer over a bowl and pour the juice and pips into this.

Measure the water into a large preserving pan, stock pot or saucepan.

Add the strained juice.

Cut the peel into quarters and shred - finely or chunky - the choice is yours.

Add the shredded peel to the pan and leave overnight to soften.

The next day, place the pips in a piece of muslin or gauze and tie to the pan handle so the bag of pips just hangs in the pan.  This will release the pectin which aids setting. Bring the pan to a simmering point and simmer for 1-3 hours until the peel is really soft.

Take the pan off the heat.

Remove the bag of pips and squeeze out the gooey pectin using a saucer and a spoon.

Measure the sugar and add to the pan, stirring until dissolved.

Bring the pan back to the boil on a high heat and allow to bubble quickly until a set is obtained - about 20 minutes

Spoon a little onto a chilled saucer and place by the open window, it will wrinkle if a set is obtained.

Heat the clean jars in a low oven and pot the marmalade when cool enough to handle.

Cover with waxed discs and cellophane tops, cling film or lids.

Label and date.

Store in a cool dry place.

Enjoy with delicious home made bread, toast etc.  A real breakfast treat.

SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD

This is a traditional recipe for Christmas time. Scottish shortbread is made in one piece in a tin and cut into wedges after baking.

Ingredients

175 g butter
75 g caster sugar
175 g plain flour
75 g ground rice or fine semolina
Caster sugar for dusting

Method

Soften the butter and beat in the sugar followed by the flour and ground rice or semolina.
Keep working the ingredients together until they bind together.
Roll out into a circle
Place in a sandwich tin and crimp the edges
Prick all over with a fork
Mark out wedges
Cook in a moderate oven until lightly browned
When cooked, mark the surface again into wedges and when cool remove from the tin
They will crispen as they cool
Dust with caster sugar

Store in an airtight container

CHRISTMAS COOKIES

I am a bit behind with my blog.  Here is the recipe for my Christmas Cookies.

Ingredients

110g softened butter
50 g caster sugar
175 g plain flour
Few drops vanilla essence
Exra caster sugar to dust

Method

Cream the butter and beat in the sugar until light
Beat in the vanilla essence
Beat in the flour
Bring the mixture together to form a ball
Place on a worktop dusted with caster sugar
Roll lightly until about 3mm thick
Use fancy cutters to cut the biscuits
Place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment
Use the trimmings to make more biscuits
Bake in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes

Cool on a wire rack then dust with caster sugar.


Enjoy!

Store in an airtight container

BRAISED BRISKET OF BEEF - POT ROAST

Here is some real comfort food for a cold winter's day - Casserole of Braised Brisket of Beef.

You will need a rolled brisket of beef and a selection of root vegetables. I use onion, leek, carrot, parsnip, celery and swede and a couple of cloves of garlic.
Vegetable or beef stock.
Thyme and bay leaves.

Prepare the root vegetables and cut into fairly large chunks.

Place in the base of the casserole and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Lay the joint of brisket on top of the vegetables.

Add more seasoning, a sprig of fresh thyme and a couple of bay leaves.

Pour some hot stock into the casserole nearly to the top of the vegetables.
Bring to simmering point on the hob.

Cover with a sheet of foil and then the casserole lid.

Place in a moderate oven and cook for three hours until the meat is meltingly tender.

To Serve

Remove the meat and slice thickly.

The vegetables can be served with the meat and some boiled potatoes.

Use the juices in the casserole as a sauce.

Delicious! Enjoy!

ICING THE CHRISTMAS CAKE

I made two Christmas cakes a couple of months ago and wrapped them well to mature. You will see that I gave the recipe in my blog for the golden jewelled cake.  I also made a traditional dark cake.  Visitors always enjoy a slice of home made cake.

After the almond icing had been applied and left overnight I prepared the Royal Icing to cover the cake.  I prefer to make my own icing to the ready rolled icing available in the supermarket. It is simple to make and only needs a few ingredients.

Ingredients

400g/1 lb Icing sugar
2 Egg whites
Few drops of Glycerine

Method

Sieve the icing if it is lumpy.
Lightly whisk the egg whites.
Add the icing to the egg white and continue to beat until it is shiny.
Add a few drops of glycerine - this keeps the icing more pliable and prevents it hardening too much.

It is now ready to use.

I dampen the top of the almond paste very lightly with a pastry brush dipped in cooled boiled water.  This helps the icing to stick to it.

Use a palette knife to spread the icing over the top and sides (if you have almond pasted the sides). Smooth out carefully if you wish to pipe a decoration.  Otherwise rough it with the knife to create a snow scene.  Add any decorative items e.g. snowman, star, etc.
Leave to dry and then cover.

Tip. If the icing is too stiff to spread smoothly, dip the palette knife in a jug of boiling water.  Shake off the excess water before using. You should achieve a nice smooth finish.

ALMOND ICING FOR THE CHRISTMAS CAKE

Now is the time to make the almond icing for the Christmas Cake I made some weeks ago.

Ingredients

100g/4 oz Icing Sugar
100g/4 oz Caster Sugar
200g/8 oz Ground Almonds
Few drops Vanilla essence
Few drops Almond essence
One Free range egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Optional: 1 teaspoon orange flower water

Method

Sieve the sugars and add the ground almonds, mixing well.
Add the beaten eggs and flavourings and mix to a soft paste.
Knead the paste until it is quite smooth.
If it is not to be used immediately wrap in cling film to prevent it drying out.

How to use

Unwrap your stored Christmas cake and brush the surface and sides with beaten egg white or sieved melted apricot jam.

The matured cake

Dust the worktop with sieved icing sugar and roll out the almond icing into a large circle.

Use your rolling pin to pick up the paste by rolling it over the pin.
Hold it above the cake and  gently unroll,  covering the top and down the sides.

Lightly roll the top to make the icing stick and press the sides to make it adhere to the cake. 

 I use a clean jam jar to roll around the outside, this ensures that the paste sticks and air bubbles are removed.
Leave to dry overnight before covering with Royal Icing.

LEEK AND POTATO SOUP

It is a crisp, winter morning with beautiful sunshine. Just the sort of day for a warming bowl of soup.

I popped out into my garden and pulled four lovely leeks and one carrot. Using these and other stored ingredients from my garden - potatoes, onion and garlic - I prepared them to make the soup.

  We had a lovely free range chicken on Sunday, I had boiled up the carcass to make delicious chicken stock, and had this strained and in a bowl in the fridge.  I always keep some celeriac in the fridge at this time of year to add to soups.

Ingredients

Leeks

Potatoes

Onion

Garlic

One carrot

Piece celeriac or stick of celery (optional)

Salt, freshly ground pepper and freshly ground nutmeg

Chicken stock (Knorr stock cubes are good if you haven't fresh stock)

Cooking oil and butter

Method

Trim the leeks, keeping some of the green, wash well and chop into chunks.

Prepare all the vegetables and cut into chunks, the potatoes can be quartered.

Put a little cooking oil and a knob of butter into a large saucepan with a lid. When it has heated, add the vegetables, except the potatoes, and allow to sweat with the lid on the pan - do not have the heat too high.

When the vegetables are transparent and lightly cooked add the potatoes, stock and seasoning and simmer until cooked.

Puree the vegetables with a hand blender or liquidiser.

Check for seasoning and serve.

Delicious! Enjoy.