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.

 

The code is TASSIMO45 

To get in on this great deal you simply need to go to www.costatassimo.co.uk and enter the code to redeem.  You will need to act quickly however, as this fabulous deal ends tonight!

My friend Elly has the most beautiful recipe for Parsnips that I have been using for many years, Parsnips with Gorgonzola.   It always turns out delicious and it is something which I frequently  served with roast beef when I cooked at the manor.  They loved it.  It's a dish that always goes down really well.



It makes a fabulous side dish for dinner parties or the holidays.  I charged it up a little bit this time when I made it by adding some toasted walnuts and using leeks instead of spring onions.  It turned out  to be just gorgeous. 



 You get the  buttery almost sweet creaminess, with caramlized edges of the parsnips . . . then the sharp herbiness of the leeks, the toasty crunch from the walnuts, and then that rich creamy tang from the gorgonzola cheese.  All making happy noises and feelings in your mouth.  So much tastiness!



The only way they could even possibly be any tastier would be if you drizzled them with some honey perhaps . . . oh, boy.  I'm going to do that next time, I am, I am!  Enjoy!



Cook the parsnips, leaving them whole if possible, in lightly salted water until tender.  (I had to cut mine into equal sizes ad they were on the large side.  Just cut in half  width wise, then cut the larger bit into quarters and the bottom thinner bit in half.)  This should take 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of your parsnips.  Drain well.  If you have left them whole, cut them in half lengthwise.

Melt 2 TBS of the butter in a large skillet.  Add the parsnips in one layer and lightly brown them on all sides.  Arrange them in a lightly buttered baking dish, fitting them in snugly.  Wipe the pan out and then melt the remaining butter and heat until it begins to foam.  Add the sliced leek and walnuts.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the leeks are soft and the walnuts lightly toasted.   Scatter this over top of the parsnips in the dish.   Crumble the gorgonzola over top.  (This much can be done ahead the day before if you wish)

When you are ready to cook them, preheat the oven to 220*C/450*F/ gas mark 8.  Pop the dish of parsnips in and bake until the cheese is very lightly browned, 10 to 13 minutes.


 

This recipe gave me the perfect opportunity to use some of that Divo Italiano Cubed Gorgonzola P.D.O.  Piccante that I was sent.    It has such a nice bite and beautiful creaminess.  It was a Gold award winner at the Nantwich International Cheese Awards 2013, a P.D.O. Italian blue cheese without any rind which means nothing goes to waste. Packaged in a convenient pre-cubed format, it is the first to market in this format for Gorgonzola cheese. It is matured for up to 90 days in natural caves in Northern Italy to give it a sharp, spicy (‘piccante’ in Italian) flavour and creamy texture. It makes a delicious match with ripe pears and walnuts tossed into rocket leaves, melted on pizza, or used to make an indulgent cooking sauce.  You can buy it at Morrisons and via Ocado.

 I love food this time of year . . . I know I say that all year round, but this is the time of year that we really start to get stuck into comfort foods . . . winter warmers . . . rich soups, stews, casseroles and bakes.



Food that, with the exception of a few small prep details, pretty much cooks itself.  Simple and wholesome ingredients, but let me tell you . . . more often than not there it nothing simple at all about the flavours!  Most pack a very delicious punch!



I've always been the kind of person that has been able to put things together and come up with something satisfyingly delicious . . . things like this Chicken, Bacon and Leek Casserole I am showing you here today.



It's simple.   It uses stuff you most likely have in your fridge, larder and freezer right now.  It tastes fabulously delicious, and it basically cooks itself.  I like to serve it with some fluffy mash. 




The Toddster is a real mash lover.  I like to cook some greens on the side as well, just for some colour and vitamins.  Today it was sprout tops.  I do hope you will give it a try., and when you do that you'll come back and tell me how much you loved it!  It may not look very exciting, but dull this isn't!




Heat the oil over medium heat in a medium sized flame and oven proof casserole dish.   Add the bacon and chicken and cook, stirring occasionally until golden.  Stir in the leeks, carrots, celery and parsnips.  Cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the summer savoury and thyme, along with some salt and pepper to taste.    Grind over a bit of garlic powder. 

Add the wine and chicken stock.  Bring to the boil.   Reduce to a simmer and stir in the flour/water mixture.  Cook stirring until the mixture begins to thicken.  Cover tightly and then transfer the casserole to the oven.   Bake, covered, for about 45 minutes.  Uncover and bake for 15 minutes longer, until the chicken and vegetables are very tender.

Serve hot with some mashed potatoes and crusty rolls.

 

When I was a very young bride, many moons ago the old Italian mother of a friend of mine taught me about making slits into pork and beef roasts and inserting slivers of garlic to add fabulous flavours to the meat.  It made such a wonderful difference I have been doing it ever since.   And it doesn't take a lot to add a real flavour boost.



Honey is another thing which goes really well with pork, and garlic for that matter.   Pork is naturally kind of a sweet meat, and very rich.  Honey helps to accentuate that richness very well.   Think honey garlic spareribs . . .but there is no soy in this recipe.  Not needed. I use orange juice instead, because you know pork is also a meat that goes very well with fruit . . .



A lot of the flavour comes from the rub mixture of salt, pepper, paprika and thyme.  It's such a simple way to get extra flavour and colour.    The combination of the rub, the sauce . . . heavenly.



A bit of chicken stock in the bottom of the tin helps to keep the meat moist and along with frequent basting ensures that you will have a beautifully flavoured, coloured, succulent and tender roast.   A few slices of this with some of the pan juices spooned over top and you're in heaven.   Fabulous contrast of flavours that marry together in bliss!



Slice the roast to serve with some of the juices spooned over top.

First make the dumplings.   Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Line a baking tray with some baking parchment.

Unroll your puff pastry.  Cut out 4 3-inch squares and place them each on the baking tray, leaving plenty of space in between.  Cut out 9 to 12 small pastry leaves.  (You can just cut another 3-inch squares into four triangles each and score lightly to resemble the veins in leaves.)  Cut the remainder of the pastry into 1/2 inch wide long strips.  

Core the apples and peel.   Mix the sugar with the cinnamon and roll each apple in this mixture to coat. Brush the squares on the baking sheeet with some of the beaten egg.  Place each cored apple on the centre of a pastry square and fold the pastry up to fit around the apple base snuggly.   Fill each core with an equal quantity of mincemeat.   Brush the pastry strips lightly with some of the beaten egg and apply them to the apples, covering them all the way around, working your way up from the bottom and slightly overlapping them over each other, egg wash side in so that they stick to each other.  Do this until the apples are all covered with the exception of the mincemeat hole in the middle.   Brush the leaves with some egg wash, and apply around the holes, again leaving the hole open.   Brush the outsides of the pastry covered apples with some more egg wash and then sprinkle with demerara sugar.

Bake in the heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pasty is golden brown and crisp and the mincemeat is bubbling and the apples are cooked.  Remove from the oven and allow to stand while you make the creme anglaise.

Heat the cream with the vanilla in a saucepan until you see bubbles around the edges.  Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until smooth.  Slowly pour half of the cream into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly.   Return this mixture to the remainder of the hot cream, again whisking constantly.  Return the pan to the heat and cook, whisking, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a metal spoon.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the spices. 

Place one fourth of the cream anglaise in each of four dessert bowls.  Top each with one of the baked apples and serve immediately.  Delicious!

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

I do get sent the nicest things.   This week I got this handy candy apple red Kitchen Aid Mezzaluna from the people at Red Candy.   If you aren't familiar with Red Candy, it's a company which specializes in all things red!  If Funky Home Accessories and ravishing Red Kitchen Accessories are your cup of tea, then this is the place for you!



The Kitchen Aid Mezzaluna is a fine edged stainless steel cutter.  You cut things merely by rocking the sharp fine edges stainless steel blade over them.     It has a comfy red sure grip handle which feels really comfortable in the hands and comes with a matching red blade cover which helps to protect the blade from scratches and you from getting cut when you reach into the drawer. It's also dishwasher safe.



I've been using it all week for chopping all sorts . . . onions, carrots, herbs, etc. and it has performed very well.   It also comes with a one year hassle free replacement and Lifetime Limited Warranty.  It's ace, which is just what you would expect from the Kitchen Aid brand.

£28 at Red Candy.

Many thanks to Red Candy for sending these to me!




Something else which I received which is really nice are the Holy Lama Spice Drops.  I was send an assortment of five different ones  . . . Garlic extract, Peppermint extract, Garama Masala Extract, Tea Massala extract and Cinnamon extract.



Holy Lama Naturals "Spice drops" are a natural transition from powdered or whole spices to easily soluble &  longer lasting, liquid spices!

• Highly concentrated extract of the natural spice
• 3 years shelf life
• Consistent in every drop
• Easy to blend
• No artificial colours, flavours or preservatives!
• Easy to store
• Easy to use and handy time saver
• Ready to use combinations like mulled wine spices, spiced tea, etc.



Each comes in it's own eye dropper bottle, easy to store and easy to use. No more crushing or grating.  A drop is all you need.  It is recommended that  you add them just at the end of your cooking time, so that doesn't make them very good for baking with, but I have been using them all week and found they added a nice natural flavour to my curries and stews. I especially like the garlic  You can find out more about them and where you can buy them on the Holy Lama Page.  They come in quite a few different varieties.  Many thanks to the Holy Lama people for sending these to me.  I will certainly be using more of them. I especially like the cinnamon, mint and the garlic.  The cinnamon is great in hot drinks, as is the mint (think hot chocolate here!) and the garlic was excellent when added to my soups and stews.

 

I recently received a lovely Halogen Oven from Argos.  This was something which Todd and I had been thinking about getting for quite some time.   Our friends Sheilagh and Ralph had gotten one last year and waxed rhapsodical about it's qualities and how deliciously it roasted chicken.

You may be wondering that is a Halogen oven?  Well, a Halogen oven is a portable, multi-purpose, table-top oven which uses halogen technology which enables food to be cooked using infrared waves from a halogen light source.  It is said to cook up to 40 % faster than a conventional oven, and in doing so, uses less power and is therefore very economical to use.  A Halogen oven will roast, grill, defrost, bake and steam with the convenience of merely plugging it into an earthed mains power socket.



It consists of a large glass bowl, which rests on a metal base.  The workings are all in the lid which sits atop the glass bowl. It should come with two racks (a lower one and a taller one) and a set of tongs which are useful for lifting the racks out.   You can also buy special cooking pans that will fit perfectly into the oven.   You can cook either directly on the racks, or in dishes and trays which are the right size to fit in.  There are two control switches on the top, one which controls the temperature of the oven and the other which controls the time.  Easy peasy.



The first thing I cooked in it was a chicken crown.  It was one I had picked up at the grocery store and was already seasoned with lemon and pepper.  I added a nice knob of butter to the top.  It was quite interesting to watch the oven at work.  That light was really bright.   It didn't stay on the whole time.  It flashed on and off and the fan inside blew the hot air around.

It was a fairly large chicken crown and so I put it in at 200*C/400*F for approximately 45 minutes, which was slightly less than the time recommended in the package.  I was glad that I had.  It does seem to cook a lot quicker than the conventional oven.



In fact I was quite concerned when I took it out, thinking I had actually cremated it.  Scary!  It looks quite black doesn't it.   But . . .

 

The chicken meat itself was really moist and perfectly cooked.  I think the herb mixture on top had caused the skin to blacken somewhat, which really wasn't a problem at all.

Next I decided to cook a potato and parsnip gratin in it.



It was a very simple gratin, composed simply of thinly sliced potatoes and parsnips, layered  with some chopped onion, herbs and cheese, along with some milk.



Apparently it can take some vegetables longer too cook in the Halogen Oven than others.  I hedged my bets by slicing mine really thin and the dish was perfectly done in about an hour.  I removed the foil from the top for the last fifteen minutes so that the top would brown.

  

It went really well with the chicken.  The vegetables were cooked perfectly, and maintained their shape.  Taking the cover off for the last fifteen minutes made for a lovely golden topping, and it wasn't dry at all.   In short perfect.  I was very impressed with it's performance.




Put the dish into the hot oven.  Cook for 60 minutes until piping hot and cooked through.   I uncovered it for the last 15 minutes and got a lovely golden brown top.


Alternately you can do this in a regular oven at the same temperature and for the same time.

I am going to try to bake something in it next.   I think possibly a flourless chocolate cake.  What do you think???

So my verdict.  The oven did indeed cook in a shorter time and so would save a bit on the electric bill, and everything I cooked in it was moist and not dry.  The chicken was especially succulent, which is good for a chicken breast which can dry out so very easily.  It was fairly easy to use.  It is a bit on the bulky side, but I have a very small kitchen and so something doesn't have to be very large in order to cause storage stress.  It is the perfect size for Todd and myself, but I can see where it would be somewhat limiting to anyone who had a large family to cook for.  A small to medium size chicken could fit in quite nicely, but I don't think you would get a large one in, or a small turkey either.  It would have to be very small.

Here is one of the biggest bonus's of all  . . . .



It is basically self cleaning, which is just fabulous!  You just add cool water and a bit of soap to the bowl, once it has cooled down.  (Don't add cold water to a hot bowl!) Turn it onto the clean cycle for about 10 to 15 minutes and Bob's your uncle!  Done!  Most impressive.  All I had to do was to rinse it and wipe it out with a towel to dry.

You can get one of these lovely ovens at Argos right now for £44.99, which is 25% off the regular price.  The delivery time is really quick or you can pick it up sooner if you have an Argos in your immediate area.  I highly recommend.