Parsnip and Chestnut puree

Staying with a Christmassy theme, here's another recipe that has gone down very well and is a great alternative to mash.  Beware though, although parsnips have less carb than potato, they're not much less so if you're watching the carbs small portions are in order.  Also, as there's both butter and cream in this too, it's only for special occasions!

Ingredients
4 good size parsnips
100g chestnuts
20g butter
Double cream to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Peel and cut the parsnips into 1-2cm square by 4cm strips (it doesn't really matter as you're just boiling them) then put them into a pan of boiling slightly salted water and cook until nice and soft.

Drain and add them to the food processor with all of the chestnuts and the butter.  Blend until you have a nice puree adding some double cream to get the right consistency.  Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then leave aside.  Just before serving, heat through in the microwave for a couple of minutes on full to bring it back to piping hot.

Brussles tops with chestnut

Here's a nice seasonal dish, I've cooked this several times now and everyone loves it.  It's easy to do and most greengrocers will do Brussels tops.  Supermarkets will probably do them, I've no idea.

Ingredients
3 good sized Brussels tops
6 chestnuts shelled and peeled
A good knob of butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Take the leaves off all the Brussels tops and cut out the hard centre stalk.  when you get to the middle you'll come across what looks like a large loose leaved sprout, set this aside for later.  When you've cut out the stalks, bundle the leaves together and then slice across into 2-3mm strips.  Do the same with the large sprout, cutting cross the top to about half way down.  Put the shreds into a colander and wash well, then leave to drain.

Chop the chestnuts into small dice (use the vacuum packed ones that are already cooked, otherwise you'll need to bake or boil them for 5 mins or so until softened through).  Add a generous knob of butter to a frying pan (not too much or it gets too oily) and once this has melted, throw all the ingredients into the plan and stir fry for about 30 seconds to a minute depending on taste.

Serve as a side dish with anything you fancy, it's  great way to get the greens up and boost your iron levels.

Linguine with bacon, mushroom and truffle

I saw a recipe for something similar and promptly forgot where it was, so I made this up, not sure if it's close to the original or not.  However, it turned out better than I expected and so here's the recipe, hope you enjoy it...

Ingredients
2 rashers smoked back bacon
1 onion
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
4 or 5 dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 300ml boiling water for 30 mins
125g white button mushrooms
125g chestnut mushrooms
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
Salt and pepper to tasteA dash of double cream to taste
Enough Linguine for 2 people
1-2 teaspoons of sliced preserved truffle plus their oil (optional)
3 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

Method
First, chop the bacon into roughly 5mm cubes, add this to a non stick pan and saute over a medium to low heat to release the oil and brown the bacon. 

While this is cooking, peel and finely slice the onion, then add the olive oil and onion to the pan, stir well and saute.  Peel and finely slice the garlic, add to the pan, cover and saute/steam over a low heat. 

While the onion and garlic is cooking, wash and dry the mushrooms, trim the stems and slice.  Once the mushrooms are prepared, add them to the pan with a little of the porcini mushroom soaking juice and cook uncovered over a high heat until the mushrooms have lost their moisture (about 5 mins). 

Put the linguine on to boil (I boil mine for 12 mins). Add the rest of the porcini soaking water, chop the re hydrated porcini mushrooms and add them to the pan with the mustard.  Stir well and reduce to a thick sauce.

Taste and adjust the seasoning to suite.  Add a dash of double cream (not too much, 1-2 tablespoons should be fine), recheck the seasoning.  Add the chopped parsley and stir.

To serve, place a layer of linguine in a large bowl and put the mushroom sauce on top.  Finish with a few slices of truffle if you're using it.

Mashed butter beans

Got this recipe from the Hairy Bikers and although I have changed it slightly it's a delicious low card version of mashed potato and dead east too, highly recommended!

Ingredients
A dash of olive oil
1 small red onion2 medium garlic cloves

1 400g can butter beans
5 large sage leaves chopped

A dash of double cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Heat the oil in a frying pan that will hold the onions and butter beans comfortably.  Peel and chop the red onion and crush the garlic while the oil heats, then add them to the pan and fry over a medium heat until softened and starting to brown slightly.  Drain and add the butter beans, add the sage leaves and the double cream and stir well to heat through.  Mash them lightly with a potato masher, adjust the seasoning to taste and serve.

Dolce de leche

Over the summer we went to the Benington Lordship chilli festival and while I was buying chillies, Suzanne was offered a "salted caramel with chilli".  Well, it went down a storm and looking at the recipe it was effectively dolce de leche, a south American sweet caramel made by evaporating milk until it becomes thick and gooey.  I've looked on line and the only recipes I've found use either whole milk or evaporated milk.  The first time I tried it I used whole milk, and while it was good, it was a little grainy from having to reduce it too much and it lacked the buttery flavour of the chill version.  So, second time around I've made it using double cream and butter - not very healthy but at least you don't have much of it!

Here's my recipe if you dare try it!  I don't tend to eat it (except occasionally when I have a low blood glucose) but it's had Suzanne's taste test and she reckons "it's delicious", so I'm happy.  This recipe should make about half of a full size Kilner jar so you may wish to adjust the ingredients!

Ingredients
600ml double cream
250ml caster sugar (yes, that's ml, not g)
a pinch of bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
125g butter


Method
Put all the ingredients except the butter into a large saucepan and bring to the boil.  When it's close to boiling, reduce the heat to low to medium and keep it boiling at a high simmer.  Be really careful for the first 30 mins or so as the boiling mixture will tend to go over the top of the pan very easily if you don't stir it or heat it too high.  You'll need to stir this very frequently at this stage and don't take your eyes off the pan or you'll need to clean your cooker!

Keeping the heat on low, reduce the mix until the colour is slightly lighter than milk chocolate and the mixture has thickened.  Now turn the heat off and add the butter, stirring until it has melted and is incorporated into the caramel.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a sterilised Kilner jar, cover and leave to cool before refrigerating it.  It will last almost indefinitely and you can use it on ice cream, cakes and puddings as a sauce, or just help yourself out of the jar if you wish.

Apple and Cinnamon cake

Yet another way of using up all those apples from the harvest.  We've still used less than a big bowlful after 2 dishes and that only scratches the surface of the crop.  Ah well, this cake is nicked from a Mary Berry recipe and altered to suit my taste by using larger quantities, large chunks of apple and replacing her almond essence with cinnamon and it's going down extremely well - and quickly!

Ingredients
750g self raising flour
750g golden caster sugar
375g butter, melted
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
5 eggs
800g apples
Flaked almonds to top it off

Method
Pre heat the oven to 160C.  Lightly butter a 9inch (22.5cm) springform baking tin.  Add all the ingredients except the apples and the flaked almonds to a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer until well combined.

Peels the apples and cut them into large slices leaving the cores behind.  Next, take half of the cake mixture and add it to the springform tin.  Next, layer the apples evenly across the tin, leaving a small space at the side.  Add the rest of the cake mixture over the top of the apples and make sure all the apples are covered.  Smooth the top of the cake as much as you can then scatter the almonds over.

Bake in the middle of the oven for around 2 hours until a skewer placed in the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Serve warm or cold, with or without tea or coffee, it's delicious whichever way you like.

Tarte tatin

It's September and we have plenty of apples on our tree.  What better way to use these than to make the classic French Tarte tatin?  This worked really well, in Suzanne's words "Seriously good tarte tatin. Looks like I'll have to get the step-ladder out!"

Ingredients
7 medium apples - I used ours, they're closest to Coxes Orange Pippin
200g white caster sugar
50g butter
pinch of salt
1 packet of ready-made, ready-rolled puff pastry

Method
Peel, halve and core the apples, then cut them into largish slices (I got 6 slices per apple). 

Put the sugar into a 20cm deep sided non stick baking pan (ours is the double skinned variety, this probably helps with the caramelization) with 50ml water and stir to wet the sugar evenly, then cook over a high to medium heat until golden.  This takes some time and you have to be careful not to burn the caramel.  I adjusted the heat quite a bit and also moved fro one burner to another to make sure there was an even caremelization.  Also, take it off the heat slightly before it's done and stir it as it will continue to cook.

Stir in the butter, and a pinch of salt and combine well, then carefully arrange the apples pieces in the pan, round-side down to fill as much of the pan as possible.  Remember, the caramel will be seriously hot so be careful.

Put the apples and caramel back back on the heat and cook for 5 more minutes, then take off the heat and allow to cool to warm..

Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Cut out a circle slightly larger than your pan, then put the pastry on top of the pan and tuck in the edges around the fruit. Bake for about 30 minutes until the pastry is golden, then remove from the oven.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then place a plate, slightly larger than the pan, on top and then, very carefully, using oven gloves, invert the tart on to the plate.  This is best done quickly, trust me!

Best served with crème fraîche.