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.

SHORTCRUST PASTRY BAKES

I always make 1 lb of shortcrust pastry (A ratio of half fat to flour) at a time and use it to make various things.   Occasionally, I will only use half of it and freeze the remainder; it freezes extremely well.

 

Ingredients

1 lb S R Flour (plain is recommended in many recipes but I prefer the lighter pastry this makes)

Good pinch of salt

4 oz hard butter

4 oz lard

Cold water

Method 1

Put all the ingredients, except the water, into a food processor and blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Slowly add some cold water until the mixture binds.

Turn out onto a floured work top and make into a ball.

Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Method 2

Put the flour, salt and fats into a large bowl.

Using your fingertips gently rub the fats into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Add a little cold water and bring everything together using a knife.

Turn out and make into a ball and chill as above.

Today I made 18 mincepies, 1 quiche and a tray of bakewell slices with this amount of pastry. All of these recipes are delicious eaten fresh or they freeze well for the coming weeks. I will freeze half of the almond slices and a dozen mince pies.

Mince Pies

Roll out the pastry thinly and, using a cutter, cut out circles to fit bun/tart tins.

Put 1 teaspoon mincemeat into each pastry.

Use the remaining pastry to cut out lids for the mince pies.  I like to use a star cutter at this time of year.  If you choose to put a circle on top use a smaller cutter than

used  for the base and dampen the edges to make it stick to the base.

Bake at 200C for five minutes then reduce to 150C for approximately ten minutes.

Cool on a wire rack and then sieve icing over the top.

Serve warm with clotted cream or creme fraiche.

Delicious mincepies, fruity and spicy.  Enjoy!

Almond Bakewell Slices.

The recipe for these can be found on my July blog.

When cold cut into fingers or squares

Tip: Use a rolling pin to lift the pastry onto a baking tray or tin.

Roll the pastry over the rolling pin, hold it over the tin or baking tray and gently unroll. Easy!

Quiche.

Shortcrust Pastry

Cheddar and Double Gloucester Cheese

2 large free range eggs

Half fat creme fraiche

Little milk

Cayenne Pepper

This is a 'use up' quiche.

Use the remaining shortcrust pastry to line a sandwich tin.

Grate the cheeses and cover the pastry base generously.

In a bowl, mix the eggs, creme fraiche and a little milk until blended.

Pour the mixture over the cheese.

Sprinkle the surface with a little cayenne pepper.

Bake 200C for ten minutes then reduce to 150C until the quiche is well risen and golden on the top.

Leave to rest for ten minutes before cutting.

The cooked quiche

This freezes well, if cooled first.

FISH PLATTER STARTER

A simple starter can be made using smoked salmon, smoked mackerel and prawns set out on a platter for everyone to make their own selection. Place the prawns on a bed of salad in the centre of the platter, surrounded by lemon wedges. The smoked salmon and mackerel can be placed around this. Serve with gerkins, dill sauce and bread and butter.

I served this as a starter when my sister and her husband came for lunch.