Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
Beat together 225g softened unsalted butter and 225g caster sugar until
pale and creamy, then add 4 eggs, one
at a time, slowly mixing through. Sift in 225g
flour, then add the finely grated zest of 1 lemon and mix until
well combined. Line a loaf tin (8 x 21cm)
with greaseproof paper, then spoon in the
mixture and level the top with a spoon.
Bake for 45-50 mins until a thin skewer
inserted into the centre of the cake comes
out clean. While the cake is cooling in its tin,
mix together the juice of 1 1/2 lemons and 85g caster sugar to
make the drizzle. Prick the warm cake all
over with a skewer or fork, then pour over
the drizzle - the juice will sink in and the
sugar will form a lovely, crisp topping. Leave
in the tin until completely cool, then remove
and serve. Will keep in an airtight container
for 3-4 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.
Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
Crush 8 digestive biscuits in a food processor (or put in
a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin). Mix
with 50g melted butter. Press into a 20cm springform
tin and bake for 5 minutes, then cool.
Beat 600g cream cheese with 2 tbsp flour, 175g caster sugar,
a few drops of vanilla extract, 2 eggs, 1 yolk and
a 142ml pot of soured cream until light and fluffy. Stir in 150g raspberries and pour into the tin. Bake for
40 minutes and then check, it should be set
but slightly wobbly in the centre. Leave in
the tin to cool.
Using the remaining 150g raspberries, keep a few for the top and put
the rest in a pan with 1 tbsp icing sugar. Heat
until juicy and then squash with a fork. Push
through a sieve. Serve the cheescake with the
raspberry sauce and raspberries.
200g
good quality
dark chocolate
, about 60% cocoa solids
200g
butter
1
tbsp
instant coffee
granules
85g
self-raising flour
85g
plain flour
1⁄4 tsp
bicarbonate of soda
200g
light muscovado sugar
200g
golden caster sugar
25g
cocoa powder
3
medium eggs
75ml
buttermilk
(5 tbsp)
grated
chocolate
or curls, to decorate
FOR THE GANACHE
200g
good quality
dark chocolate
, as above
284ml
carton
double cream
(pouring type)
2
tbsp
golden caster sugar
Butter a 20cm round cake tin (7.5cm
deep) and line the base. Preheat the
oven to fan 140C/conventional 160C/
gas 3. Break 200g good quality dark chocolate in pieces into
a medium, heavy-based pan. Cut 200g butter into pieces and tip in with the chocolate, then mix 1 tbsp instant coffee granules into
125ml cold water and pour into the
pan. Warm through over a low heat just
until everything is melted - don't overheat.
Or melt in the microwave on Medium for
about 5 minutes, stirring half way through.
While the chocolate is melting, mix
85g self-raising flour, 85g plain flour, ¼ bicarbonate of soda,
200g light muscovado sugar, 200g golden caster sugar and 25g cocoa powder in a big bowl,
mixing with your hands to get rid of
any lumps. Beat 3 medium eggs in a bowl
and stir in 75ml (5 tbsp) buttermilk.
Now pour the melted chocolate
mixture and the egg mixture into the flour
mixture, stirring just until everything is
well blended and you have a smooth,
quite runny consistency. Pour this into
the tin and bake for 1 hour 25-
1 hour 30 minutes - if you push a
skewer in the centre it should
come out clean and the top
should feel firm (don't worry if it cracks a
bit). Leave to cool in the tin (don't worry if
it dips slightly), then turn out onto a wire
rack to cool completely.
When the cake is cold, cut it horizontally
into three. Make the ganache: chop 200g good quality dark
chocolate into small pieces and tip into a
bowl. Pour a 284ml carton of double cream into a pan, add 2 tbsp golden caster sugar, and heat until it is about to boil.
Take off the heat and pour it over the
chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has
melted and the mixture is smooth.
Sandwich the layers together with just
a little of the ganache. Pour the rest over
the cake letting it fall down the sides and
smoothing to cover with a palette knife.
Decorate with grated chocolate or a pile of
chocolate curls. The cake keeps moist and
gooey for 3-4 days.
Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Fry 1 finely chopped onion and 2 crushed garlic cloves in 3 tbsp olive oil until softened but not coloured. Add 2 x 400g tins of cherry tomatoes, season, then simmer for 10-15 minutes or until thick and glossy. Take off the heat and stir in 4 tbsp mascarpone and half a handful of basil, roughly torn.
Heat a little olive oil in a pan and fry 6 chicken breasts
on both sides until golden. Transfer to a baking dish and pour over the
sauce. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Scatter over the remaining half handful of basil.
½
tsp
grated
nutmeg
(freshly grated will give you the best flavour)
FOR THE FROSTING
175g
icing sugar
1½-2 tbsp
orange juice
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/fan 160C. Oil and line
the base and sides of an 18cm square cake tin with baking parchment. The
easiest way to do this is to cut two long strips the width of the tin
and put each strip crossways,
covering the base and sides of the tin, with a double layer in the base.
Tip the sugar into a large mixing bowl, pour in the oil and add the
eggs. Lightly mix with a wooden spoon. Stir in the grated carrots,
raisins and orange rind.
Mix the flour, bicarbonate of
soda and spices, then sift into the
bowl. Lightly mix all the
ingredients - when everything
is evenly amalgamated stop
mixing.
The mixture will be fairly soft
and almost runny.
Pour the mixture into the
prepared tin and bake for 40-
45 minutes, until it feels firm
and springy when you press it in
the centre. Cool in the tin for 5
minutes, then turn it out, peel
off the paper and cool on a wire
rack. (You can freeze the cake at
this point.)
Beat together the frosting
ingredients in a small bowl until
smooth - you want the icing
about as runny as single cream.
Set the cake on a serving plate
and boldly drizzle the icing back
and forth in diagonal lines over
the top, letting it drip down the sides.
Prepare your vegetables. Chop 1 large onion into small dice,
about 5mm square. The easiest
way to do this is to cut the onion
in half from root to tip, peel it
and slice each half into thick
matchsticks lengthways, not
quite cutting all the way to the
root end so they are still held
together. Slice across the
matchsticks into neat dice. Cut 1 red pepper in half
lengthways, remove stalk and
wash the seeds away, then chop. Peel and finely chop 2 garlic cloves.
Start cooking. Put your pan on
the hob over a medium heat. Add
the oil and leave it for 1-2
minutes until hot (a little
longer for an electric hob). Add
the onions and cook, stirring
fairly frequently, for about
5 minutes, or until the onions
are soft, squidgy and slightly
translucent. Tip in the garlic, red pepper, 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder or 1 level tbsp mild chilli powder, 1 tsp paprika and 1 tsp ground cumin. Give it a good stir, then
leave it to cook for another 5
minutes, stirring occasionally.
Brown the 500g lean minced beef. Turn the heat
up a bit, add the meat to the pan
and break it up with your spoon
or spatula. The mix should
sizzle a bit when you add the
mince. Keep stirring and
prodding for at least 5 minutes,
until all the mince is in
uniform, mince-sized lumps
and there are no more pink bits.
Make sure you keep the heat hot
enough for the meat to fry and
become brown, rather than just
stew.
Simmer it gently. Bring the
whole thing to the boil, give it a
good stir and put a lid on the pan.
Turn down the heat until it is
gently bubbling and leave it for
20 minutes. You should check
on the pan occasionally to stir it
and make sure the sauce doesn't
catch on the bottom of the pan or
isn't drying out. If it is, add a
couple of tablespoons of water
and make sure that the heat
really is low enough. After
simmering gently, the saucy
mince mixture should look
thick, moist and juicy.
Bring on the beans. Drain and
rinse 1 can of red kidney beans (410g can) in a sieve and
stir them into the chilli pot.
Bring to the boil again, and
gently bubble without the lid for
another 10 minutes, adding a
little more water if it looks too
dry. Taste a bit of the chilli and
season. It will probably take a
lot more seasoning than you
think. Now replace the lid, turn
off the heat and leave your chilli
to stand for 10 minutes before
serving, and relax. Leaving
your chilli to stand is really
important as it allows the
flavours to mingle and the meat.
Serve with soured cream and plain boiled long grain rice
Heat the oil in a frying pan, preferably non-stick.
Add the chicken and fry without moving it until it
takes on a bit of colour. Turn the chicken and cook
on the other side. Continue cooking for 12-15 mins
until the chicken is cooked through. Season all over
with a little salt and pepper.
Halve the tomatoes and throw them into the pan,
stirring them around for a couple of minutes until
they start to soften. Reduce the heat and stir in the
pesto and crème fraîche until it makes a sauce.
Scatter with a few basil leaves if you have them,
then serve with rice and salad or mash and broccoli.
Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Mix the
cheeses and mustard together. Cut a slit into
the side of each chicken breast, then stuff
with the mustard mixture. Wrap each stuffed
chicken breast with 2 bacon rashers - not
too tightly, but enough to hold the chicken
together. Season, place on a baking sheet
and roast for 20-25 mins.
Cut 185g unsalted butter into smallish cubes and tip into a medium bowl. Break 185g best dark chocolate
into small pieces and drop into the bowl. Fill a small saucepan about a
quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on
the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until
the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them.
Now remove the bowl from the pan. Alternatively, cover the bowl loosely
with cling film and put in the microwave for 2 minutes on High. Leave
the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.
While you wait for the chocolate to cool, position a shelf in the middle
of your oven and turn the oven on to fan 160C/conventional 180C/gas 4
(most ovens take 10-15 minutes to heat up). Using a shallow 20cm square
tin, cut out a square of non-stick baking parchment to line the base.
Now tip 85g plain flour and 40g cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium bowl, and tap and shake the sieve so they run through together and you get rid of any lumps.
With a large sharp knife, chop 50g white chocolate and 50g milk chocolate
into chunks on a board. The slabs of chocolate will be quite hard, so
the safest way to do this is to hold the knife over the chocolate and
press the tip down on the board, then bring the rest of the blade down
across the chocolate. Keep on doing this, moving the knife across the
chocolate to chop it into pieces, then turn the board round 90 degrees
and again work across the chocolate so you end up with rough squares.
Break 3 large eggs into a large bowl and tip in 275g golden caster sugar.
With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar until
they look thick and creamy, like a milk shake. This can take 3-8
minutes, depending on how
powerful your mixer is, so don't lose heart. You'll know it's ready when
the mixture becomes really pale and about double its original volume.
Another check is to turn off the mixer, lift out the beaters and wiggle
them from side to side. If the
mixture that runs off the beaters leaves a trail on the surface of the
mixture in the bowl for a second or two, you're there.
Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold
together with a rubber spatula. Plunge the spatula in at one side, take
it underneath and bring it up the opposite side and in again at the
middle. Continue going under and over in a figure of eight, moving the
bowl round after each folding so you can get at it from all sides, until
the
two mixtures are one and the colour is a mottled dark brown. The idea is
to marry them without knocking out the air, so be as gentle and slow as
you like - you don't want to undo all the work you did in step 4.
Hold the sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and resift the
cocoa and flour mixture, shaking the sieve from side to side, to cover
the top evenly. Gently fold in this powder using the same figure of
eight action as before.
The mixture will look dry and dusty at first, and a bit unpromising, but
if you keep going very gently and patiently, it will end up looking
gungy and fudgy. Stop just before you feel you should, as you don't want
to overdo this mixing. Finally, stir in the white and milk chocolate
chunks until they're dotted throughout. Now your mixing is done and the
oven can take over.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the
bowl with the spatula. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the
tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it.
Put in the oven and set your timer for 25 minutes. When the buzzer
goes, open the oven, pull the shelf out a bit and gently shake the tin.
If the brownie wobbles in the middle, it's not quite done, so slide it
back in and bake for another 5 minutes until the top has a shiny, papery
crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Take
out of the oven.
Leave the whole thing in the tin until completely cold, then, if you're
using the brownie tin, lift up the protruding
rim slightly and slide the uncut brownie out on its base. If you're
using a normal tin, lift out the brownie with the foil. Cut into
quarters, then cut each quarter into four squares and finally into
triangles. These brownies are so addictive you'll
want to make a second batch before the first is finished, but if you
want to make some to hide away for a special occasion, it's useful to
know that they'll keep in an airtight container for a good two weeks and
in the freezer for up to a month.
Pat the chickpeas dry with kitchen paper. Tip
into a food processor along with the onion,
garlic, parsley, spices, flour and a little salt.
Blend until fairly smooth, then shape into
four patties with your hands.
Heat the oil
in a non-stick frying pan, add the burgers,
then quickly fry for 3 mins on each side
until lightly golden. Serve with toasted
pittas, tomato salsa and a green salad.
a small bunch of fresh
coriander
, roughly chopped
low-fat
yogurt
and naan bread, to serve
Heat the oil in a large pan and
cook the onion and garlic over a
medium heat for 3-4 minutes until
softened, stirring occasionally.
Tip in the potatoes, carrots and
parsnips, turn up the heat and cook
for 6-7 minutes, stirring, until the
vegetables are golden.
Stir in the curry paste or powder,
pour in the stock and then bring to
the boil. Reduce the heat, add the
lentils, cover and simmer for 15-20
minutes until the lentils and
vegetables are tender and the
sauce has thickened.
Stir in most of the coriander,
season and heat for a minute or
so.Top with yogurt and the rest of
the coriander. Serve with naan bread.
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin.
Place the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar, chocolate and golden syrup
in the pan and melt gently on a low heat until it is smooth and
lump-free.
Remove the pan from the heat.
Break the eggs into the bowl and whisk with the fork until light and frothy. 5 Add the eggs, vanilla extract or essence,
flour, baking powder and cocoa powder to the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly.
Put the mixture into the greased and lined cake tin and place on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for 25-30 mins.
Remove and allow to cool for 20-30 mins before cutting into wedges and serving.
Serve with cream or ice cream and plenty of fresh fruit.
4
skinless
chicken breasts
, cut into large chunks
4
tbsp
curry paste
(we used Patak's balti paste))
85g
raisins
850ml
chicken stock
chopped
coriander
and toasted flaked almonds to serve
Soak the rice in warm water, then wash in
cold until the water runs clear. Heat butter
in a saucepan and cook the onions with the
bay leaf and other whole spices for 10 mins.
Sprinkle in the turmeric, then add chicken
and curry paste and cook until aromatic.
Stir the rice into the pan with the raisins,
then pour over the stock. Place a tight-fitting
lid on the pan and bring to a hard boil, then
lower the heat to a minimum and cook the
rice for another 5 mins. Turn off the heat and
leave for 10 mins. Stir well, mixing through
half the coriander. To serve, scatter over the
rest of the coriander and the almonds.
