The breakfast pie

If you like bacon and egg, with a slice of fried bread, and perhaps black pudding, cooked in such a way that the whole thing is not only gorgeous, but healthy too. Use a ring to form the basis of the pie, and cut a base from a piece of bread along with some strips to make the side wall of the pie. Brush the bread with oil – this becomes the fried bread portion of the pie as well as the outer casing. The base obviously fits in the bottom of the ring, which should be greased, the slices are squeezed in around the edge to make the walls. I find basic white sliced bread ideal for this, but there is no reason why you cannot use home made or wholemeal or gluten free or whatever is your favourite bread! The filling is whatever you want, really. For me this involves a slice of black pudding to reinforce the base, then bacon on top of this. If you like your bacon crispy, grill it first, then cut into small pieces and place in the pie. You can put beans in the pie, tomatoes, mushrooms, sliced sausage almost anything you like really. (Actually, if you simply make the casing, bake it and then let it cool, you can make a mean pate filled parcel that is completely amazing as a starter.) You need to make a little foil cover for your pie because the next step can be disappointing of cooked too fiercely. Bake for fifteen minutes and then break an egg into the top of the pie. To keep the egg from going too hard, use the foil covering you made earlier, and bake for a further five minutes, or however long it takes to cook your egg as you like it.

Brie recipes

We make Brie cheese here at home and it is reasonably simple to do. These recipes are inspired by the French monks who first made the remarkable cheese some 1400 years ago.

Brie Muffins

200g self-raising flour

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp dried parsley or 1 tbsp chopped fresh

80ml milk

3 eggs

4 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed oil

80g Brie, chopped

1.    Place 8 muffin cases in a muffin tin and preheat the oven to 190C/ gas mark 6.

2.    Sift the flour, salt, pepper and mustard together into a mixing bowl.

3.    Stir in the herbs.

4.    In a separate bowl or jug whisk the milk, eggs and oil together until frothy.

5.    Pour this into the flour and fold in until combined.

6.    Stir in the Brie.

7.    Pour the batter into the muffin cases, filling them about 3/4 full.

8.    Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and well risen.

9.    Serve warm.

Brie Pasties

500g puff pastry

200g Brie

8 tsp of your favourite sweet chutney

1.    Oil a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 200C/ gas mark 6.

2.    Divide the pastry into two equal pieces and roll out to form two identical rectangles.

3.    Cut each into 4 equal pieces.

4.    Place 4 on a baking sheet.

5.    Slice the Brie into 8 and put two pieces on each piece of pastry. Put two teaspoons of chutney on top.

6.    Dampen the edges of the pastry and place the second pieces on top, sealing the edges well.

7.    Bake for about 20 minutes until well risen and golden.

8.    Serve warm with salad leaves.

Cheesy Toad in the hole

This is a very filling and warming dish, easy on the purse but incredibly tasty.

You will need:

 

180g plain flour

2 eggs

600ml milk

8 thick sausages

Lard for greasing

100g mature cheddar, grated

Salt and  pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.

2. Sift the flour and seasoning to taste into a mixing bowl.

3. Blend in the eggs and whisk the milk in gradually. When all the milk and flour are smoothly mixed together carry on whisking until small bubbles appear on the surface of the mixture.

4. Heat frying pan containing a little oil and fry the sausages until lightly brown all over.

5. Gease fairly thickly a deep roasting tin and place in the oven to heat. Cut each sausage in half lengthways and place in the hot roasting pan.

6. Stir half the cheese into the prepared batter and pour over the sausages quickly.

7. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the whole dish and bake immediately for about 25 minutes or unil well risen and golden brown.

Mincemeat Chelsea Buns

If you have half a jar of mince meat left over in your cupboard, don’t make any more pies, try this recipe instead. These are delicious served hot or cold. Makes about 8-10 buns










1 tsp dried yeast
½ tsp sugar
120ml warm milk
30g butter, melted
300g strong flour
½ tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
About 5 tbsp mincemeat
2 tbsp clear honey

 1.Mix the dried yeast with the sugar and warm milk. Leave in a warm place to froth up .This should take about 10-15 minutes.
2.Sieve the flour and salt together into a mixing bowl and stir in the yeast mixture, melted butter and beaten egg. Stir everything together well.
3.Use your hands to knead the mixture, add a dusting of flour if the mixture becomes too sticky. Carry on kneading for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth.
4.Cover the dough and allow to prove for 30-40 minutes until it has doubled in size.
5.Flour a work surface and roll the dough out to a rectangle measuring about 34cm by 26cm. 6.Spread the mincemeat evenly over the surface of the dough.
7.Start with the longest edge and roll up the dough carefully into a long sausage shape with the open edge underneath.
8.Preheat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7 and grease a baking sheet.
9.Cut the roll into 8-10 slices and put them flat down onto the baking sheet, close together.
10.Leave to prove for 20-30 minutes.
11.Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Brush the tops of the hot buns with the honey.

Easy fruit cake

This is a first for us here on Mrs Peacock Makes it! We recorded a whole series of recipes for a local radio station and you can find them here, each week.

Bramley Apple Jam

This is made without any added pectin and the lemon juice is to give the fruit a lighter colour and to stop any initial browning. This is a wonderful Winter preserve for general use or in pies and tarts and as an accompaniment to roast pork and goose. The added cinnamon is optional, it adds a warm spicy taste that is ideal for seasonal Winter  eating. the apples aren't peeled but if you don't want it in your finished jam, peel the apples and put it in the muslin bag with the cores. The peel and cores contain a high level of pectin so are required to help set the jam.

Makes 5kg/10lb

3kg/6lb Bramley apples

3kg/6lb sugar

4 tablespoons lemon juice

1 litre/ 2 pints water

1 level teaspoon cinnamon

Method

1.Have a bowl of fresh cold water from the amount in the recipe containing the lemon juice ready to hold the apples.

2.Do not peel the apples, halve and core them and reserve the cores. Slice and dice them very thinly and put in the water and lemon juice. Put the cores in a muslin bag.

3.Put the prepared apples,the water they were in and the muslin bag containing the cores in the pan.

4.Simmer until the apples begin to pulp.  Add the sugar and cinnamon if you wish and dissolve, stirring gently.

5.Boil rapidly and test for setting point after 5 minutes.

6.Allow jam to cool a little then ladle into jars.

This should keep for up to a year un-opened.