Month: Apr 2021

Marzipan baked apples

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Apple and almond is such a delicious combination, a definite favourite of mine. This recipe combines them in a brilliantly quick and easy pudding for a chilly day. Serve with custard for maximum comfort.

  • 4 large eating apples, braeburn or similar – anything crisp and tart
  • 200g golden marzipan
  • 2 tsp unsalted butter
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  2. Use an apple corer to remove the core from each apple. If you can be bothered, you can carefully scoop the core out bit by bit with a sharp knife to leave a cm of apple in the bottom. I am not that patient so my holes go all the way through
  3. Run a sharp knife around the circumference of each apple, just going through the skin to leave it space to expand a bit without exploding
  4. Divide the marzipan into 4 pieces and roll each one between your fingers into a roughly cylindrical shape about the size of the removed cores
  5. Stuff the apples with the marzipan, pressing in with your fingertips until they’re as full as they can get
  6. Place them right side up into a snug-fitting foil-lined oven dish
  7. Pop a little blob of butter on the top of each one and a splash of water in the bottom of the dish
  8. Bake for around 30 mins until the apples are cooked all the way through
  9. Serve hot (but not so hot you burn your mouth on the marzipan!)

Chicken with sherry and new potatoes

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Comforting, delicate and delicious. Eat it with contented grunting noises and something green on the side. Feeds 2.

  • 4 chicken thighs
  • 2 tsp veg oil
  • 200g baby new potatoes, cut in half
  • 80g whole blanched almonds, toasted until deeply golden
  • 100ml fino sherry 
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Season the chicken and heat the oil in a thick-bottomed lidded pan over a medium heat
  2. Brown the chicken all over
  3. Add the potatoes and flip through the chickeny oil until they take on a bit of colour
  4. Throw in the almonds and sherry
  5. Stir in, bubbling and scraping the tasty brown off the bottom
  6. Add 100ml water, cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Turn the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 mins. Check the seasoning and serve.

Baked amaretti peaches

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Beautiful golden jewels of a dessert, soft and sweet as a kiss, and ever so simple to make.

  • 4 peaches
  • 30g unsalted butter, softened
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 75g amaretti biscuits, crumbled
  • 2 tbsp amaretto liqueur
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan (180C)
  2. Cut the peaches in half and remove the stones
  3. Place them all, cut side up, in a snug single layer in an ceramic ovenproof dish
  4. Beat together the butter and sugar
  5. Add the egg yolk and beat well, then tip in the crumbled amaretti and mix in to make a fairly stiff mixture
  6. Divide the mixture into 8 pieces, roll into balls and press each one into the centre of each peach half
  7. Sprinkle with amaretto and bake for 25 mins
  8. until the peaches are soft and the topping is golden

Serve warm with a drizzle of cream over the top

Lemongrass beef stir fry

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Fragrant, spicy stir fry. Serve with jasmine rice cooked with the lemongrass trimmings for an extra layer of flavour.

  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and grated with a microplane
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 red chillis, de-seeded and sliced
  • 300g rump steak, trimmed and thinly sliced
  • 100g baby corn, sliced in half lengthways
  • 1 carrot, sliced into skinny-thin batons
  • 1 tbsp tamarind paste
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • Juice of ½ lime
  • Handful coriander leaves
  1. Heat the oil in a wok until toasty hot
  2. Add lemongrass, garlic and chilli and stir, then add the beef and stir fry for 2 mins
  3. Turn heat to medium and add tamarind, sugar and fish sauce
  4. Stir in and add carrot and baby corns
  5. Cook, stirring, for 2 mins
  6. Add lime juice and fresh coriander and stir again before serving straight away

Roast cauliflower

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

The very nicest way to eat cauliflower, so tasty you may never eat it any other way ever again. It’s the very opposite of the watery mush you get if you boil it, this has caramelised, crisp edges and a yielding centre with not a hint of mush.

Vary the spicing depending on what you’re eating it with. Use it in a curry, tip over some cheese sauce, make cauli tacos or just eat it on its own. Spice suggestions below…

  • 1 whole cauliflower, outer leaves discarded and stem left intact
  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Large pinch garlic powder
  • Large pinch chilli flakes
  • Handful flaked almonds, toasted (optional)
  1. Pre-heat oven to 190C fan (210C)
  2. Cut the cauliflower into florets and keep any firm, pale green, inside leaves
  3. Mix your salt and spices into the oil, then toss the cauli and leaves in the oil until all lightly coated
  4. Tip onto a baking sheet and pop in the oven for 20 mins until the edges are brown and crisp, and the cauli is cooked
  5. Sprinkle with the toasted almonds

Moroccan – harissa paste (and leave out the chilli flakes), cumin seeds, squeeze of lemon juice

Mexican – onion powder, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, smoked paprika

Indian – coriander, turmeric, garam masala, mustard seeds

Red cabbage and coconut salad with honey chilli dressing

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Pretty pink salad, crunchy and toasty and flecked with green and orange. An unusual combination that works amazingly. Feeds 2.

  • ¼ red cabbage, chopped into small 1cm-ish pieces
  • 1 small carrot, peeled and grated
  • 30g desiccated coconut
  • Small handful coriander, chopped
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2 tbsp veg oil or rapeseed oil
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • ½ tsp salt
  1. Toast the coconut in a dry pan until it smells amazing and turns golden around the edges
  2. Tip it in a bowl and add the cabbage, carrot and coriander
  3. Mix the honey (warmed to liquid with 10 secs in the microwave if it’s set), vinegar, oil, salt and chilli together and then tip the dressing over the salad
  4. Mix well and serve straight away

Thai red curry paste

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Incredibly fragrant, punchy, deeply spicy and complex, this is the base for a brilliant red curry. The recipe makes enough for several curries, just store the leftovers in the fridge.

  • 1½ tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • ¼ tsp black peppercorns
  • 4 red birdseye chillis (vary depending on how spicy you like it)
  • 2 big red chillis, de-seeded
  • 2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed
  • 1 tbsp coriander stalks
  • 2 inch piece galangal, peeled
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 shallot
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1½ tsp shrimp paste
  1. Heat small frying pan
  2. Add coriander seeds and toast for 1 min
  3. Add the cumin and peppercorns and toast for a further min until they’re all fragrant
  4. Grind the whole spices in a spice grinder
  5. Roughly chop the chillis, lemongrass, coriander stalks, garlic and shallot
  6. Then puree everything together in a blender with the ground spices, lime zest, salt, shrimp paste and a little water to a paste

Seal in an airtight jar (which you may never be able to use for anything else ever again due to the lingering smell – but it’s totally worth it) and store in the fridge.

Green risotto

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Beautifully green. Creamy and fresh, this makes a gorgeous spring supper. Feeds 2 with leftovers. Makes marvellous arancini if you don’t scoff it all in one go.

  • 100g frozen peas
  • 100g spinach
  • Small handful fresh mint leaves – around 10
  • 3 tbsp creme fraiche or sour cream (use the leftovers to make these cookies!)
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 5 spring onions, chopped
  • 150g risotto rice
  • 75ml white wine
  • Salt and pepper
  • 50g parmesan, finely grated
  1. Put the peas into a bowl and the spinach and mint in a sieve on top. Pour through the sieve into the peas and leave the peas in the hot water for a couple of mins to defrost
  2. Drain the peas and put them, the spinach and the mint into a mini food processor. Whizz them up with the creme fraiche into a thick green paste
  3. In a saucepan, heat the stock to a simmer
  4. In another pan on a medium heat, pour in the oil and then cook the spring onions for a minute or so until soft
  5. Stir in the rice and cook for a moment until the rice crackles and the edges go translucent
  6. Season well then pour in the wine and stir until absorbed
  7. Add a ladleful of stock and stir in until the liquid disappears – keep adding stock and don’t stop stirring!
  8. The rice will take about 20 mins to cook – it should be soft with a tiny bite and the texture should be marvellously creamy and not at all chalky
  9. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the parmesan and green paste
  10. Check the seasoning and serve steaming with a fresh drift of parmesan on top

Lemon sour cream cookies

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

I don’t know about you, but I never finish off a tub of sour cream. This is the perfect buttery, lemony way to use up the leftovers.

  • 250g plain flour
  • ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Pinch salt
  • 60g unsalted butter, cold from the fridge
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 170g caster sugar
  • 120g sour cream
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • Zest of 2 lemons
  1. Mix flour, bicarb and salt in large bowl
  2. Grate in the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy (takes about 5 mins)
  4. Beat in the sour cream, lemon juice and zest
  5. Then stir in the flour mixture until just combined
  6. Bring together to a soft dough, then wrap the ball in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 mins
  7. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  8. Pinch and gently roll walnut-sized pieces, spacing them out on a lined lined baking tray
  9. Bake for 12-15 mins until lightly browned round the edges
  10. Cool on a rack and try not to eat all of them at once, but save some for your mum

Korean pork stir fry

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Spicy, savoury, tangy, complex and a deeply satisfying rust red in colour.

  • 1 pork fillet, trimmed and cut into thin slices
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 red pepper, finely sliced
  • 5 spring onions, sliced
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp gochujang chilli paste
  • 2 tbsp shaosing rice wine
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
  • ¼ tsp ground black pepper
  1. Mix all ingredients except the veg oil, red pepper and spring onion and leave pork to marinade for an hour
  2. In a wok, heat the oil until smoking
  3. Remove the pork from the marinade with a slotted spoon and stir fry for 5 mins until caramelized and brown
  4. Add the peppers and spring onions, and cook for a further 2 mins
  5. Pour leftover marinade over and cook for a minute or so until bubbling and shiny

Serve with coconut rice, sprinkled with fresh coriander leaves and toasted sesame seeds