Dolcelatte and Parma Ham Gougeres

Oh baby its cold outside, so the idea of steaming hot cheese puffs is even more enticing than normal. The snow is falling thick and fast, the temperature is plummeting and warming food is definitely the order of the (very chilly) day. The best part is, they freeze well so I can make a huge batch and keep some to serve during the party season. These are usually made with gruyere but I wanted something just a little deeper in flavour and chunkier in texture. Using a stronger blue cheese, a gorgonzola or roquefort gives a great result but if you do, I wouldn't bother with the ham as the delicate flavour is overpowered.

Dolcelatte and Parma Ham Gougeres

250 ml whole milk

125g butter

salt and pepper

100g plain flour

3 large eggs

100g dolcelatte (or other mild blue cheese), crumbled

50g Parma Ham

Heat the oven to 220C/Gas 7.

Heat the milk, butter and a few grindings of salt and pepper in a saucepan until the butter has melted. Add the flour and whisk until the mixture starts to come away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the heat and add the eggs and cheese. Beat until smooth and shiny. Snip the Parma ham into little shreds and stir through the batter.

Using two teaspoons, place dollops of the batter onto a baking tray and bake in the hot oven for around 10 minutes until light and golden.

Serve immediately or allow to cool and freeze.

Cranberry Sauce with Shiraz

I am getting my Christmas groove back. All the tricky chores are almost finished and only the lovely things remain. Christmas crafts with the boys, present wrapping, parties, menu planning and the nicer side of cooking. For me the fun starts when school stops. We'll be making home made biscuits to hang on the tree, canapes for parties, sauces, treats and fripperies.

First off, cranberry sauce. I love when the shops start getting their Christmas sandwiches in: turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing or brie and cranberry, and I love to make fresh cranberry sauce (the store-bought versions are so often more like overly-sweet jam than the requisite light fruity sauce) to see us through the post-christmas week of turkey, ham and cheese suppers. I've added a little bit of hot spice and limey zestiness to the usual flavours to cut through the sweetness of the cranberries. This is gorgeous served with baked camembert at a party and (obviously) perfect served with turkey or a hot spiced ham at Christmas lunch.

Cranberry Sauce with Shiraz

Juice and zest of 1 orange

Juice and zest of 1 lime

85g caster sugar

150ml shiraz or other fruity red wine

200g fresh cranberries

1/4 tsp allspice

1 hot red chilli

Dissolve the sugar in a pan with the red wine, orange juice and zest, and lime juice and zest.

Stir in the cranberries, whole chilli and allspice.

Cook uncovered for 10 minutes until the cranberries have all popped and softened and the juices are thickened. Remove the chilli before serving. Serve warm or cold.

Visions of Sugar Plums

Poetic sweeties. I love these these tiny, (almost fat free), traditional christmas bites filled with dried fruit, aromatic spices, orange juice and nuts. One of my favourite Christmas stories is Clement Clark Moore's "The Night Before Christmas" where "visions of sugarplums danced in their heads."

The exact nature of sugar plums seems to change depending on which historian you read but these seem to be one of the more recent incarnations of this particular tradition. This recipe is based on a Saveur recipe from a few years ago but I've found similar all over the web; some containing chocolate, others a different blend of fruit and nuts so play around with the contents as much as you like. They would be lovely with the sharpness of dried cranberries added.

Sugar Plums

50g toasted slivered almonds

100g honey
(preferably orange blossom)
Juice and zest of one orange

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1⁄2 tsp allspice

1⁄2 tsp nutmeg

100g finely chopped dried apricots

100g finely chopped dried dates

100g icing sugar

Combine honey, orange zest and juice cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl. Add almonds, apricots, and dates and mix well.

Roll the mixture into little balls. Roll balls in icing sugar, then refrigerate in single layers between sheets of greaseproof paper in airtight containers. They will keep for a week or two but they will absorb the icing sugar so it is worth rolling them once again just before serving.

Serve with coffee or port.

Cranberry and Tangerine Scones

I have been neglectful of my Christmas cooking duties. December has been lost to one cold or sore throat after another and suddenly we have less than two weeks to go and nothing has been done!

So as of today I have to get cracking, every day I have something planned. Like a Martha Stewart monthly calendar, I have listed all the food, drink and

entertaining jobs needing done and assigned days and hours to the tasks. So christmas morning scones are today's task. These would freeze well to be heated up on the day - but unfortunately there are none left so expect I will  make them fresh on the day. It is the season for citrus fruit and I particularly love the taste of sweet tangerines but oranges, clemantines or even fresh juice out of a carton would give a similar end product.

Cranberry and Tangerine Scones

100g (4oz) fresh cranberries, chopped

1 tbsp caster sugar

350g (12oz) self-raising flour

100g (4oz) caster sugar

85g (3oz) cold unsalted butter

100 ml yogurt

50ml whole milk

1 egg

Juice and zest of 2 tangerines (or around  50ml orange juice) 

Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6.

Toss the chopped cranberries with the 1tbsp of caster sugar and set aside.

Mix together the flour and sugar in a bowl. Rub the butter in with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Try to be as light-fingered as possible and handle the mixture as little as possible- this will keep the scones light and airy as they bake. Add the cranberries to the dry mixture.

Stir together the yogurt, milk, egg and the juice and zest of the tangerines. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix gently to form a soft dough.

Roll the dough out to 3cm/1inch thickness and cut out rounds with a cutter, I like these to be dainty and delicate, around 3cm in diameter. Collect the trimmings together, re-roll and cut out more rounds.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden.

These are lovely topped with a tangerine and icing sugar glaze and served with morning coffee but I find this to be a little too sweet for breakfast. 

These scones can be prepared the night before for a quick breakfast. Leave the dry ingredients and fruit mixed together in one bowl, set the jug of ready mixed wet ingredients in the fridge overnight and in the morning, they can be mixed together, rolled out and baked.

Hot Spinach and Parmesan Dip

Served bubbling hot or at room temperature with crusty bread or crudites, this is one of those stand-by storecupboard American recipes that are rarely found in British kitchens but made at the drop of a hat in American ones.

It is really quickly thrown together (quick canapes for unexpected guests are extra useful at this time of year). I always keep those balls of frozen spinach in the freezer so am only ever 10 minutes away from this hot full-flavoured dish. Adapted from a recipe at www.epicurious.com, it is high on my emergency list of party food.

Spinach and Parmesan Dip
4 balls of frozen spinach
(approx 150g frozen weight) 
1 packet onion soup mix
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup natural yogurt       (or soured cream)
50g Parmesan Cheese

Defrost the spinach then blitz  in a blender with the soup mix, mayonnaise and yogurt. To serve cold, pour into a bowl and serve just as it is, (it really is that simple).

If you want to serve the dip hot, pour into an oven proof serving dish, top with grated parmesan cheese and place into the oven (180C) and warm for 10 minutes then serve with crusty bread or fresh vegetables.

Banana Flapjacks

 
Snacks to give you energy during a long winter run, snacks for school playtime or after school snack, snacks to stop you snacking everytime you sit down during the day - just can't get enough easy snack recipes.

I am trying (in vain) to get into a "my body is a temple" vibe but can't stop snacking so I thought I would try to create a snack I didn't feel guilty about. They are very gorgeous and  morish - just what you don't need from a wee snack - one is never enough but I guess you can't win them all.

Don't be put off by the long fruit and seeds list - you can substitute the same weight of any dried fruit and nut/seed combination. I just used what I had in the house but raisins and peanuts would be great too.  

Banana Flapjacks
100g butter
4 tbsp maple syrup
150g porridge oats
2 bananas  

50g dried cranberries

50g dates, chopped
25g pumpkin seeds
25g sunflower seeds
25g sesame seeds

25g flaxseeds
A sprinkling of poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ gas mark 4. Line a 20cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper.

Melt the butter and syrup together in a heavy based pan.

Take off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients to the pan and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top. The flapjacks will furm up as they cool. Cut them into squares and store in an airtight tin. 

Roast Pepper and Tomato Soup with Feta and Basil

..... and more soup. The wind is howling a gale, the rain is biting, you know the kind that stings when it touches your skin,.I can't see the hills for thick, black clouds and I have been soaked and frozen three times today already. I am miserable, its only the beginning of winter, we have months of this ahead of us and already I think it is time to break out some of the produce I preserved over the summer.
I've got jars of roasted red peppers and garlic olive oil waiting to liven up winter greens and all too ubiquitous root vegetables. There is also a windowbox full of basil, so today I just want to taste the sunshine.

Roast Red Pepper and Tomato Soup with feta and basil
1kg tomatoes
2 tsp sugar 
2 tbsp olive oil 
3 roasted red peppers (or 1 jar of roast pepper antipasti)
1 red onion
1litre vegetable stock
Black pepper
200g Feta cheese, crumbled
1 generous bunch of basil
4 cloves garlic
100ml olive oil

Half the tomatoes and sprinkle with sugar and a drizzle of olive oil then roast in a hot oven (180C) for 20 minutes until they start to colour. Roasting winter tomatoes in the oven with a little sugar will help enrich their flavour.
Gently saute the 4 cloves of garlic in the 100ml olive oil to infuse the oil with spiky garlicky flavour. 
Remove the garlic and pour all but 2 tbsp of the oil into a bowl. 
In the remaining oil, saute the onion till soft. Add the peppers, tomatoes and stock. Cook gently for 30 minutes. Season to taste with black pepper, you should not need salt as the feta is very salty.
Blitz in a blender till smooth. 
Serve topped with a little crumbled feta cheese, a good glug of the remaining garlic oil and a handful of basil leaves.