Two Really Quick Delicious Pâtés

These are ideal for your Summer parties, they are quick and easy and keep well for a few days in the fridge, so make them the day before, they actually taste better when left for 24 hours.

Mushroom Pâté
A rich, slightly garlic flavoured pâté. If you prefer you can use light soft cheese and fry the mushrooms in a generous splash of mild olive oil.

Serves 6

20g butter
6 shallots, chopped
350g mushrooms, sliced
Salt to taste
1 garlic clove, grated
150g cream cheese
2 tbsp single cream
Black pepper to taste

Method
Heat the butter gently in a large frying pan and add the shallots. Fry until just soft.
Add the mushrooms and garlic and salt to taste and fry until most of the mushroom liquor has evaporated.
Place the mushroom mixture in a food processor with the cream cheese and cream and black pepper. Blend until smooth
Spoon into ramekins and wrap in cling film. Chill in the refrigerator until needed.

Stilton Cheese Pâté

This is my favourite, it is a luxurious pâté that although it is a strange colour it tastes wonderful. Use white Stilton for this recipe .

Serves 4

Ingredients

250g white Stilton

60g butter

4 tsp port

Pinch nutmeg

1/2 tsp English mustard

100g butter

Mash the cheese and 60g butter together in a bowl and mix in the port, nutmeg and mustard.

Spoon the mixture into ramekins or 1 larger dish.

Melt the 100g butter and pour over the cheese pâté.

No Roll Scones

No Roll Scones
I don't like rolling out scone dough, you seem to waste so much and the last few rollings never seem to rise as well as the first batch. This recipe also makes a softer spoonable dough, so they are much moister than traditional scones and they seem to be as good the day after baking.
So try these and get perfect round scones that are light and moist and delicious with home made jam and clotted cream. Ohh heaven!

Makes 12

320g self-raising flour
50g soft butter
80g soft brown sugar. Reduce this to 50g if you wish for a less sweet scones
80g raisins or other dried fruit, cherries are wonderful much better than glacé ones
200ml milk mixed with the juice of 1/2 lemon, as I never have buttermilk when I need it.

Preheat the oven to 200C/ gas mark 6.
Spray low calorie oil into each compartments of a 12 whole non-stick muffin tin. This really keeps the scones from sticking.
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl lift the sieve up so as to incorporate as much air as possible.
Stir in the sugar and fruit at the same time.l
Melt the butter in a small saucepan until just melted and pour into the centre of the flour mixture. Add the milk and combine with a knife to make a dough, making sure all the flour is mixed in from the bottom of the bowl. This will be very sticky, far too moist to roll.
Spoon a tablespoon of the dough into each muffin hole. Don't be tempted to press it down.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until deep golden brown and slightly springy to the touch.
Leave to cool for a as long as you can resist them.

Make them with half wholemeal and half white flour if you like. I do sometimes, but make sure you add 250ml milk as the wholemeal flour takes up more liquid.

Garlic and Anchovy Topped Haddock

Garlic and Anchovy Topped Haddock
I love the saltiness of anchovies combined with the garlic and a touch of tomato, it goes so well with the haddock.
This is wonderful served light with a salad or as a main course with new potatoes and green vegetables.

Serves 4

2 large slices of wholemeal bread
5 anchovy fillets, don't worry about draining the oil off them it will add to the flavour
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp tomato purée
6 black olives
2 tbsp olive oil
Black pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
4 haddock fillets about 180g-200g each

Preheat the oven to 200C/ gas mark 6 and oil a baking tray.
Whizz all the ingredients, except for the fish of course, in a food processor until finely chopped together. Stir and whizz again.
Place the fish fillets on the prepared baking sheet and spoon a quarter of the topping onto each pieces. Press down  gently with your hands.
Bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until the fish is cooked and the topping golden brown.

Easy Lemon Meringue Ice Cream

I love making good food to share, when it is as easy as this to make luxury ice-cream it is even better.
All other expensive makes of shop bought ice-cream pale into insignificance after tasting this. It is luscious, oh how I love that word. Make some of the lemon curd first to use this recipe, you will find it on my blog posted last week and also in our City Cottage magazine .

Lemon Meringue Ice Cream
I have tried using homemade meringues for this, but they have to be dried out for hours to withstand the freezing, so I find it better to used shop bought ones.
Use an electric mixer for this as it needs to be light and frothy to freeze well without ending up in a hard block.

395 g can condensed milk
410g can evaporated milk
180ml double cream
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 generous tbsp homemade lemon curd
2 ready made meringue nests

Place the evaporated milk in a large mixing bowl and use whisk with an electric hand mixer or in a food processor for about 30 seconds.
Pour in the condensed milk, double cream and lemon zest and and juice and whisk for 2 minutes until the mixture is frothy and the bubbles have got smaller.
Spoon the lemon curd into the mixture and use a knife to stir into the mixture, this way you will get big streaks of lemon curd rather than it mixing into the cream.
Put the meringue nests into a small food bag and crumble to your desired size.
Sprinkle into the mixture and gently stir in with the knife. Again don't do too much stirring.
Pour the mixture into a 1 litre lidded freezeable container.
Place in the freezer and leave for at least 4 hours before serving. When you are ready to serve the ice cream remove from the freezer about 10 minutes before to soften slightly.

Wonderful Nutty Buscuits

Pistachio Shortbread
This recipe is based on one I found in  Yotam Ottolenghi cookery book. I have adapted it to our taste, but I highly recommend you take a look at this wonderful book.

Makes about 15

3-4 cardamom pods
200g butter, at room temperature
100g soft brown sugar
240g plain flour
25g ground almonds
60g pistachios, shelled
2 tbsp milk

Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and grind to a powder. Grind the pistachios until they are still fairly course. They are going to coat the outside of the biscuits.
Place the butter, sugar, flour, almonds and cardamom powder in a mixing bowl or food processor. Either mix with a hand mixed or whiz in the food processor until well combined.
Bring the dough together with your hands and form into a sausage shape about 5cm in diameter and about 32cm long.
Cut a piece of cling film large enough to hold the dough sausage with extra to seal the ends.
Sprinkle the pistachios evenly on the cling film.
Paint the upper half of the sausage with milk and roll into the pistachios.
Paint the other side with the milk and roll the sausage over so it is coated with the nuts.
Press gently with your hands to firm in the nuts.
Roll the sausage in the cling film and twist the ends to seal.
Place in the fridge for 30 minutes. This firms up the dough and makes it easier to cut.
Preheat the oven to 150C/ gas mark 2. Grease a large baking sheet.
Unwrap the dough and cut, using a serrated knife, into about 15 slices.
Place on the baking tray gently pressing down to flatten a little. Leave a small space between each one and bake for 15-20 minutes.

To vary
Omit the pistachios, almonds and cardamom pods and use 80g pecans. Grind 20g finely and add to the dough mixture before mixing. Grind the rest of the nuts and coat the outside as before.
Omit the pistachios and cardamom pods and add 25g dark chocolate chips to the dough mixture. Grind 60g hazelnuts coarsely and coat the outside as before.
Omit the pistachios and cardamom pods and add 30g chopped cherries and half teaspoon almond extract to the dough mixture. Roll in 60g of coarsely  ground almonds.

Sunday Lunch Idea

This is an easy recipe and a change from the usual roast. It means you can have a substantial lunch without having the oven on all day.


Pork Steak with Rich Tomato Sauce and Vegetable Savoury Rice

Serves 4

4 pork loin steaks

For the rice:
400g brown rice
1 good quality chicken stock cube or sufficient homemade to cover the rice with about 4cm extra
1 tbsp light olive oil
2 spring onions, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp hot curry powder, add more if you like a definite curry flavour
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 large red paper, chopped
 1 large courgette, diced
100g frozen green beans, defrosted

For the sauce:
1x 400g can chopped tomatoes
 1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp clear honey
Couple dashes Tabasco sauce
Salt and black pepper to taste

Place all the sauce ingredients in small saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.
Leave to simmer gently whilst you prepare the rice dish. After about 15 minutes remove from the heat.

For the rice:
Place the rice in a large sauce pan and cover with the stock. Bring to the boil then simmer gently for about 30 minutes until the rice is tender and has soaked up most of the stock. I find this is the best way to cook brown rice.
Meanwhile place the oil in a large frying pan or wok over and fry the two onions and garlic together until just soft but not brown.
Sprinkle over the spices, parsley and soy sauce and stir in the vegetables, fry gently until the is tender.
Add the rice to the vegetables and combine without stirring to vigorously as this will spoil the texture of the rice.
Keep the rice warm whilst you grill or fry the pork steaks until cooked.
Heat the sauce again if necessary very gently and serve poured over the steak with savoury rice on the side.

Honey Cakes

Try this easy cake, the wholemeal flour gives it a nutty flavour, add 50g raisins if you like it fruity. Fold them in with the flour.
A delicious honey rich cake that is a family treat, it can be topped with glacé icing if you wish.


Ingredients

Makes about 10 portions
80g butter
150ml honey
250g wholemeal self-raising flour
100g ground almonds
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tbsp milk

Method
Preheat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3 grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
Place the butter and honey together in a saucepan and heat gently until they melt together. Stir and pour into a large warm mixing bowl.
Beat in two tablespoons of the flour and keep beating for  2 minutes or use an electric whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy.
In a separate mixing bowl sieve the flour and spices together tipping in the wholemeal "bits"and stir in the almonds.
Beat the eggs into the honey mixture. Do this in two lots.
Gradually fold in the flour and almond mixture .
Add the milk and stir gently.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.
Bake for about 30 -40 minutes until well risen and springy to the touch.
Allow the cake to cool for about 20 minutes before removing from the tin and transferring to a cooling rack.
If you wish to ice it, do it now when cool.
Store in an airtight container.

Lemon Curd

The Ultimate Lemon Curd
I have always loved lemons and lemon curd was always and still is my favourite filling for cakes. When making it I usually use white or golden caster sugar, but my last batch for Christmas was made with light soft brown sugar. I shall always use this from now on, it is delicious, creamier and the lemon flavour is enhanced by the slightly caramel taste of the sugar. It is also much easier than you think. So long as you always keep the light low it takes about 10 minutes to make.
I usually make small amounts 2 x 350g jars approximately but it can be doubled very easily if you wish to make it for presents.

Ingredients
2 medium sized eggs and 1 extra yolk
2 large lemons, zested and juiced
115g butter, at room temperature
180g light soft brown sugar
1level teaspoon cornflour

Method
Put the eggs and yolk in a medium sized pan and whisk together.
Add all the other ingredients and place the pan over a very low heat, whisk gently with a balloon whisk.
When all the butter melts continue to stir with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula until it thickens.
Continue to stir for about 5 minutes and for another 30 seconds use the balloon whisk to gently mix the curd
Pour into sterile jars and screw on the lid straight away.

It will keep for 3-4weeks in a fridge or very cool dark place. Make sure you label the jars with the date and how to store if you are giving it away as a gift.
This can be made with other citrus fruit, oranges and limes are ideal. Use 1 1/2 medium oranges or 3 limes.

Try a dessertspoonful with porridge or rice pudding. It is also delicious on pancakes or with ice-cream. I make an ice cream with lemon curd and crushed meringues in the summer, it is my favourite ice-cream flavour. Watch out for the recipe I will post it here in the next few days!