As you know we had the missionaries over for supper the other night.  I made them a chicken pot pie and then we had mash with it, along with some salad and coleslaw.  Yes, I do feed them well. 

What a completely miserable yukky day!! It's windy and rainy and not nice at all. Not fit for man nor beast as the Toddster would say . . . a bit depressing wot!

Just the perfect day for a fruity pudding . . . served up all warm and stodgy from the oven.



This is one I found in the Good Granny Cookbook, by Jane Fearnley Wittingstall. This is a favourite book of mine. It's chock full of traditional, family friendly and delicious recipes. Our kind of food.



No pretention. Just plain and simple ingredients presented in a plain and simple way. Tried and true's of a Granny. Wholesome and delicious.



Just the kind of food for a rainy day. Comforting and tasty. This pudding apparently is a Devonshire favourite! That's probably why they recommend Clotted Cream to be served with it.



Mmmm . . . you can't beat a buttery pudding, filled with tart apples and sweet blackberries (my addition) topped with a healthy dollop of rich clotted cream. This was like a little ray of sunshine on a very cloudy and miserable day. It can rain any day it wants to if this is waiting at the end of it all! (ok, maybe not every day.)



*Apple and Blackberry In and Out*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Apparently this is a real favourite in Devon when made with just apples. I added Blackberries because they taste good, and they always look so pretty when paired with apples.

8 ounces self raising flour (2 cups)
4 ounces shredded beef suet (1/2 cup. You can use grated ice cold butter instead)
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
a large handful of blackberries
1/2 pint of milk (about 1 1/4 cups)

I was recently contacted by Flora Pro.activ and asked if I would like to participate in a special  Healthy Christmas recipe challenge.  It's no secret that Christmas is the time of year that we have a tendancy to over indulge . . . what with holiday celebrations and those special foods we like to treat ourselves to at this time.  Winter is a time of canoodling and wanting to stay warm indoors and wanting to indulge ourselves in comfort foods.  The challenge was to show that we can still enjoy delicious comfort foods whilst also taking pro-active steps to help lower your cholesterol and maintain a health heart, and . . .  with that view in mind, they sent me a lovely hamper filled with goodies that would help me to do just that.

 

It really was a  wonderful hamper containing every thing that I would need to  create the recipe included . . . a fab Jamie Oliver mortar and pestle, some delicious honey, preserved ginger, a Christmas Apron, a really nice wooden cutting board . . .



Some lovely baking apples, macadamia nuts, ginger, orange, a beautiful Le Creuset stoneware casserole dish . . . heart shaped of course.  (As was the cutting board)


A tub of Flora pro-active.  Flora pro.activ spread contains plant sterols. Plant sterols have been shown to lower blood cholesterol. High cholesterol is a risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease. Consuming 1.5-2.4g of plant sterols per day can lower cholesterol by 7-10% in 2-3 weeks when consumed as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle with sufficient fruit and vegetables.

The Recipe . . .  Baked Apples with Ginger and Orange.  



Cooking apples are very tart.  I had my doubts as to whether this recipe would be sweet enough.  Stuffed with chopped dates and stem ginger . . . which were the only sweet ingredients involved with the exeption of 2 TBS of liquid honey in the topping which you create to spread over top of the baked apples when they are done.



They turned out to be absolutely gorgeous!  The apple was delightfully fluffy and the dates and stem ginger stuffing gave them a lovely flavour  . . . 



The topping of honey, beaten together with some Flora Pro-activ and some finely grated orange zest and powdered gave it just a touch of richness, and a bit of spice that was like the gilding on a quite, quite delicious lily . . .

 

They were absoutely flippin moreisly tasty,  and . . . . if I had not known that they were healthy and low in fat and sugar for myself, I would not have believed it.  They made for some definitely luxuriously feeling eating . . .  truly festive in appearance and in taste.  Worthy of being called a comforting holiday indulgence, but truth be known . . .in eating these you were actually doing your heart a favour rather than a harm.  Who knew healthy eating could be so delicious?  I'm converted!



Blend together the Flora pro.activ, orange zest, ground ginger and honey.   When the apples are ready, spread this mixture over the top of each, dividing it equally and allowing it to melt over the apples.   Delicious!

Normally with something like this we would have been tempted to have some cream or some custard, but my custard loving hubster did not miss it at all, nor did he ask!    I loved that we were eating something healthy, and that I was doing the Toddster a favor to his cholesterol by feeding it to him.



If you would like to take on the Flora Pro-activ challenge hop on over to their recipe page where you can find this recipe plus many more for you to enjoy!  (They have some truly lovely recipes, so DO check it out!)

Here are some easy to follow top tips  from Tanya Footman, the resident nutritionist at Flora pro.activ to help you maintain a healthy lifestyle.

1. Opt for healthy snacks:  Why not make up your own mix of seeds, nuts and dried fruit for healthy snacking at your fingertips. Or to get in the festive spirit, try roasting nuts for that delicious Christmas aroma.
2. Choose the right meats:  Opt for fish and poultry over fatty meat products.  Or try replacing fatty meats with beans, lentils, fish, and poultry without skin or lean meat.  Turkey is a great lean meat packed with flavour.
3. Get active:  Even every day activities can be turned into moderate exercise.  All that extra housework during the festive period is a great way to keep fit.  Small changes such as taking the stairs instead of the escalator and even hand washing your can can make a difference.
4. Plant Sterols:  Plant sterols are found at low levels in every day foods like vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, grain products, fruit and vegetables.  But to get a significan cholesterol lowering effect include foods with added plant sterols like Flora pro.activ in your diet.
5. Salt:  Eat no more than six grams of salt a day.  Experiment with herbs and spices instead and avoid salty snacks like crisps.  

Many thanks to Sarah and the people at Flora Pro.activ for sending me this lovely hamper and challenging me to get a bit healthier with my holiday cooking!

 

Risotto doesn't always have to be a savory dish.  It can just as easily be a sweet and delious type of  pudding.  Something like this Vanilla Risotto here today.  People can be a little put off and afraid of making risotto . . .fearing that it is a bit too complicate or time consuming, but it really isn't.



It does require constant attention however, but so long as you stay with it and do what the recipe says, you will always be rewarded at the end with something quite silky and delicious, with just a tiny bit of bite.



This risotto is not overly sweet . . . the only sweetening being a bit of honey . . . it's nicely flavoured with vanilla . . . and just a hint of ground cinnamon and ground cardamom.  Warm sweet spices that go so well with both vanilla and pears . . .

 

Oh yes . . . the pears.  Oven roasted until just tender and then peeled . . . the oven roasting bringing out their natural sweetness.   Tender and sweet, sitting in an ocean of that delicious vanilla risotto.  Impressive.  Simple.  Delicious.  What more could a person ask for?



Melt the butter in a medium saucepan.  Once it begins to foam add the rice.   Cook, stirring to toast the rice for several minutes.  Add the Orange Liqueur.  Let the rice absorb it.  Begin to add the heated milk/cream mixture, a small ladle full at a time, allowing the rice to absorb most of the milk before adding another ladle full until most of the milk is absorbed and the rice is slightly al dente with a creamy sauce. (You may need additional milk)  This will take about 25 minutes.    Add the honey into it towards the end of the cooking time, along with a pinch each of cardamon and cinnamon.  Taste and adjust as necessary, adding additional honey if need be.


Peel your pears and place one into each of four dessert dishes.  Spoon the  risotto around the pears.  Drizzle with some warm honey and dust with a bit of cinnamon.  Serve immediately.

I am rather fond of cherries . . . when we lived down South in Kent, during cherry season the roads and byways were filled with local sellers plying their wares . . . fresh English cherries, served up warm in paper bags.   I could never get my fill.  Half of each bag purchased always disappeared in the car on the way home . . . as if by magic.



Normally I would only eat these tasty little babies in season . . . I am a lover of seasonal eating, because usually these types of things really only taste wonderful when they are in season . . . the way they were meant to be eaten.   But when I received the latest and last installment of the  Ultimate Cookbook from the Sunday Times, I couldn't resist one final foray into cherry-indulgence for the year.   The Cherry Clafoutis recipe by Gordon Ramsay (from his book, Sunday Lunch) was screaming my name and I just had to make it.



Over the past three weeks, and finishing this week, The Sunday Times has been  publishing a pull out Ultimate Cookbook as part of the Incredible Edibles Food Series, dedicated to food and dining.   This final week's focus is on the Dinner Party,  and you can get your copy of The Sunday Times Ultimate Cookbook:  Dinner party this weekend, on Sunday the 8th of December, featuring a wonderful variety of the finest and most delicious Dinner Party recipes brought to you by a great ensemble of celebrity chefs and restaurants from  here in the UK.



I love Dinner Parties.  They are the perfect opportunity for you to really bring your culinary and entertaining skills to the forefront!  This lovely little pull out cookery book is filled to overflowing with delicious recipes . . . impossible to resist . . . and for the most part simple to prepare, because as we all know, part of the fun of entertaining is being able to enjoy the evening with your guests in comfort, knowing that you have done your best to plan and provide for them a delicious repast, from beginning to end . . . free from stress and pressure.



You can pick from such tasty delights as Rowley Leigh's Parmesan Custards with Anchovy Toasts and Gizzie Erskine's delicious looking Beef Wellington, which is not as difficult to make as one would imagine!  Each recipe looking more fabulous than the last, it was really difficult for me to choose just one to prepare to show you . . . but I do have a rather sweet tooth and so the Cherry Clafoutis won out!



Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.  Butter four individual oven dishes, or one large shallow oven dish, really well.   Dust the base and sides with icing sugar.   Scatter the prepared cherries amongst the dishes, dividing them equally.   Give the chilled batter a stir, and then pour it over the cherries in the dish(es).  Stand the dish(es) on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and risen.  Check to be sure the clafoutis have set in the middle.  If they haven't, then bake them for an additonal five minutes.   Allow to stand for 5 to 10 minutes before adding a dusting of icing sugar and serving warm. 

Don't forget to pick up your copy of The Sunday Times Ultimate Cookbook:  Dinner |Parties this weekend, on Sunday the 8th of December 2013, the final installment in a four-part series.  Featuring a selection of the finest recipes of the celebrity chef era.  The Ultimate Cookbook is part of  The Incredible Edibles Food Series dedicated to food and dining.  Many thanks to The Times for allowing me to participate in presenting this fabulous series to you.

Visit thesundaytimes.co.uk to subscribe and to find out more details about exclusive Times + chef events hosted at some of the country's best restaurants.

Note - This will make a lot of chocolate sauce, but no worries as it keeps well in the fridge.  Just reheat gently to use.