Jamie's Banana Tart Tatin. So Easy and So Delicious.

This is such an amazing recipe - 6 ingredients and 10 minutes of focusing and you have a pudding worthy of a king.

I served it at our dinner party last night with a scoop of rum and raisin ice cream.  It went down a storm... 'nuff said

Ingredients (serves 6)

60 g unsalted butter
150 g caster sugar
5 large bananas
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 orange, zest only
250 g, ready rolled puff pastry

Ice cream to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Cut the butter into squares and place in a deep baking tray (I used a roasting tray) approx 19x30 cm.  Place on a low heat and let the butter melt.

3. Add the sugar and stir until combined.  Allow to cook for 5 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is caramalised (don't touch - it is super hot).
4. Peel the bananas and cut in half lengthways.  Lay them cut side down on the caramel, remove from heat and sprinkle over the cinnamon and zest.

5. Unwrap the pastry and lay over the top of the bananas, tucking in the sides.  Prick the pastry a few times if you remember (I forgot to no conceivably bad effect) and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden.

6. Remove from the oven and immediately but very carefully place a large serving board over the tin and flip the whole lot over.  Do this asap or else the bananas will stick to the pan but do be careful with the molten sugar...

Serve hot...

Roasted Lemon and Thyme Beets. Save for a Rainy Day.

I got sucked in by the supermarkets a week ago - 2kg of beetroot for 1kg.  Now I ask you, how on earth can 2 people get through 2kg of beetroots in 1 week?  Well the answer is that you can't, all that happens is that your wee turns pink and you end up with some vaguely mouldy beets ... 

So yesterday I roasted the remaining beets, then peeled, chopped and covered them with dressing in a large jar.  I then popped the whole lot in the fridge ready for a rainy day.  A perfect standby addition to a sandwich or cheese/meat/jacket potato Christmas lunch.  And I'm sure any leftover oil will make a great base for a salad dressing.

Ingredients

1 kg of raw beetroots
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
dried thyme
lemon juice
salt and pepper

a large jam or kilner jar

Method

1. Wrap the beetroots (leave on their skin, roots and a little stem) in tin foil, drizzling over a little oil as you go.  Place on a baking tray in a 200C oven for 1 hour or until soft.

2. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
3. Peel, chop and place in a large jar.

4. Fill the jar with oil and vinegar in equal amounts leaving a little space at the top.  Squeeze in a couple of tbsp of lemon juice, add a couple of tsps of thyme and season well.  Pop on the lid, turn over a few times to mix and then keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Serve with salads or cold meats.

Deconstructed Rum and Raisin Ice Cream. A Little Bit of Fancy.

Now I don't mean to sound grand, but it is rather fun making 'deconstructed' meals (basically when you don't bother combining the key ingredients).  I got the idea from Donna Hay the Australian cook who does deconstructed Caesar salads etc.  

I served this ice cream with banana tart tatin last night.  It was completely divine, rum, raisins, ice cream and bananas is a truly winning combo.  Watch this space for the ice cream and tart tatin recipes.  Oh and I bet the raisins would be completely incredible over porridge.

Ingredients (serves 6)

6 helpings of homemade vanilla ice cream (recipe to follow)
150 g raisins
150 g Morgan Spiced Rum, or dark rum

Method

1. Place the raisins in a small saucepan and pour over the rum.

2. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for as long as possible, preferably overnight.

3. Place scoops of the ice cream in bowls and spoon over the plump raisins and a little juice.

Yum, yum, yum.

Salmon, Leek and Tarragon Cannelloni. Amazing.

We had a dinner party last night so I bought some cannelloni and got creative with tinned salmon.  Now before you think I'm a cheapskate, salmon out here is insanely expensive and I think it is important to know a few easy, cheap-ish, store-cupboard dinner party recipes in this time of austerity...

Anyway you'd never believe the meal was essentially dried pasta tubes and tinned salmon.  It tasted divine, the whole lot disappeared and it defiantly had the wow factor for a mid-week dinner party.  And best of all you can assemble the whole lot 24 hours in advance and then just pop it in the oven 30-40 minutes before serving.

Ingredients (makes 28 tubes)

For the cannelloni

5 tins of salmon (212 g), drained
500 g marscapone cheese
3 lemons, zest only
a large knob of butter
 6 leeks, whites only, 1 cm slices
4 tsp dried tarragon
a large handful fresh fennel or dill fronds, finely chopped
salt and black pepper
28 dried cannelloni tubes (ones that don't need pre-cooking)
butter for greasing

For the bechamel sauce

100 g butter
100 g flour
1.2 litres whole milk
200 g mature cheddar
grated nutmeg
2 large handfuls grated parmesan for sprinkling

Method

1. Remove the salmon from the tins and spend time discarding any bones or skin.
2. Heat a little butter in a frying pan, add the leeks and cook over a moderate heat until softened.  Stir in the tarragon.

3. Mix the leeks and all the cannelloni ingredients (bar the tubes) together with the salmon.

4. Butter a shallow ovenproof dish that is large enough to take 28 tubes.
5. Spoon the salmon mixture into the tubes...

...and lay them down in the dish side by side.

6. Heat the oven to 190C if you are going to cook them immediately.
7. Now make the bechamel.  Melt the butter in a large saucepan then add the flour, stirring for 1 minutes.  Gradually add the milk, stirring all the while until combined.  Bring to the boil then remove from the heat, making sure you stir well to stop the bottom catching. Stir in the cheese, season with pepper and a little grated nutmeg then poor over the cannelloni tubes.

8. Sprinkle over the parmesan and pop in the oven for 40 minutes, or until bubbling and golden, or allow to cool and keep in the fridge until your guests arrive.

So very yummy.

Butternut, Beetroot and Bean Stew. Smoky.

This is a delicious, low-fat, low-cost meal to whip up when the cupboards are bare, your wallet is empty and your waistline is bulging.  Now who can argue with that?  It is sweet, smoky, wholesome goodness in every mouthful.

Eat with mash, a hunk of bread, or just as is, although preferably with rain beating on the windows and a period drama on the box. 

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 tbsp olive oil
5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
400 g french/small shallots, peeled but left whole
a small butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
3 small raw beetroot, peeled and coarsely grated
2 heaped tsp sweet smoked paprika
1 heaped tsp cumin
1 heaped tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 heaped tsp honey
1 heaped tsp dried chili flakes
1 tin cherry tomatoes
1 tin of water (use the cherry tomato tin when empty)
50 g tomato puree
2 tsp veg stock powder
20 cm stick cinnamon
salt and black pepper
1 tin butter beans, drained and rinsed

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan.  Add the garlic and cook over a moderated heat for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add the shallots, squash, beetroot, paprika, cumin, thyme and chili flakes to the pan.  Stir and allow to cook for a minute.

3. Add the remaining ingredients, expect the butter beans, and bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat, pop a lid on and allow to simmer for 35-30 minutes, or until the squash is just cooked.

4. Add the beans and allow to heat through for a few minutes, then serve, removing the cinnamon stick and bay as you go.

Yum, yum, hearty, warming, yum.

Apple, Oat and Cinnamon Scones. Christmassy.

I still had a few furry apples leftover today despite my beetroot and apple soup-fest last night.  That combined with a request from the loveliest new mummy for egg-less recipes, some milk on the turn (perfect for scones) and a near nervous breakdown when it transpires that a green mumba (snake) has been living in our front garden (!!!) led to some therapeutic baking this morning (it's impossible to focus on my Masters - a few weeks ago we spied a 3m long forest cobra in the back garden).  

Anyway, these are completely delicious in a nutty, not-too-sweet perfect scone sort of way.  But you'll have to bare with me on how to measure the ingredients - the scales' battery ran out mid morning.  They are also rather healthy with only a small amount of sugar thanks to the inherent sweetness of the apples, and wonderfully they make the whole house smell of cinnamon and Christmas.  In fact they are so delicious that I just caught the biggest monkey in our kitchen aiming for the cooling rack!  Heart racing and armed with a sieve and potato masher I managed to save the scones and evict the potential thief... my, my, as I keep being told - 'Africa is not for sissies'!  I need a cuppa and a scone....

Ingredients (makes about 28 small scones)

400 ml self-raising flour (plus extra for dusting)
300 ml porridge oats
50 ml brown treacle sugar
pinch of salt
2 tsp cinnamon (plus extra for dusting)
2 tsp mixed spice
100 g unsalted butter
3 eating apples, grated (leave the skin on)
about 2 tbsp milk (plus extra for brushing)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C and dust a baking tray with flour.
2. Mix the flour, oats, sugar, salt and spices in a bowl.  Rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs and then stir in the apples.

3. Add the milk if needed to make a soft/firm (if not too contradictory!) dough then roll out on a floured work-surface to about 2cm deep...

Cut out shapes using floured cookie cutter and pop on the prepared tray...

4. Brush with some milk and sprinkle over a little extra cinnamon.

5. Cook at 200C for about 15-20 minutes or until golden on top and cooked underneath.

Serve as fresh as possible, preferably warm on their own, with cream and jam or a good spread of butter.  You can freeze them for up to a month, defrost fully before warming up again.

Beetroot, Apple and Fennel Soup. With Feta.

I love beetroot, it creates such a depth of colour and flavour to dishes despite being as cheap as chips.  Apples, however, are another kettle of fish.  I ended up buying 3 different bags of extortionately priced eating apples last week as the first two were either furry or fizzy - I'm sure it must be something to do with how they are ripened?  

Anyway, as a result we have been slightly drowning in horrible tasting apples.  So when the hubbie asked if we could have soup last night, I jumped into action with this beetroot and apple soup.  It is a delicious, low fat concoction that goes so well with a sprinkling of crumbed feta and a sunday night movie.  

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 kg raw beetroot, peeled and diced
4 apples, eating or cooking, peeled and diced
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 bay leaf
3 tsp veg stock powder/ 1 cube
1 tsp caster sugar
salt and black pepper
feta, to garnish

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan.  Add the onion and garlic and cook over a low-ish heat until softened but not brown.
2. Add the beetroot, apple, fennel and bay and stir to combine.

3. Cover the whole lot with water and add the stock cube/powder, season.  Bring to the boil then simmer with the lid on for 30-40 minutes, or until the beetroot is cooked through (it will take longer the larger your beetroot is chopped).

4. Remove from the heat and blend until smooth.  Return to the pan and check the seasoning, adding the caster sugar if needs be.
5. Serve in bowls sprinkled with the feta.

Yum, yum, yum...Serve it with a hunk of bread and a large spoon....

The Best Lasagne. Seconds and Thirds all Round!

I did the weekly shop last Sunday, so by this morning the cupboards were looking pretty bare - near culinary disaster given we'd invited some friends for lunch...

So searching the freezer and cupboards I decided on a good old lasagne and my word I couldn't have chosen a better meal - the wind was howling, the rain was lashing down and we all sat inside drinking delicious wine and eating the ultimate comfort food.  It is pretty damn simple to make and wonderfully can be made up to the final cooking stage and popped in the fridge for about 24 hours, then as your guests arrive you simply shove it in the oven for 40 minutes giving you time to enjoy your family or friends.  The hubbie said it was the best lasagne he had ever eaten and the rest of us dived in for seconds and thirds - I think I've hit on a winner recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

For the bolognese

3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 slices of smoked free range back bacon, chopped
500 g free range lean beef mince
1 tsp finely chopped rosemary
2 bay leaves
3 tsp dried thyme
1 tin plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 tin water
50 g tomato puree
1/2 glass white/red wine
3 tbsp full fat milk
salt and black pepper

For the white sauce

125 g butter
100 g flour
1.2 litres whole milk
130 g mature cheddar, grated
2 large handfuls finely grated parmesan, or similar

A packet of dried lasagne pasta sheets

Method

1. First make the bolognese.  Heat the oil in a large saucepan.  Add the onion and garlic and cook over a gentle heat until soft.  Add the bacon and cook, stirring for 3 minutes...

...then add the mince and again cook, stirring until turned grey.  Add the remaining ingredients, bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 30-40 minutes.  Check the seasoning.
2. Now make the white sauce.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over a moderate heat.  Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon over the heat for 1 minute.  Gradually add the milk, stirring all the while.  Bring to the boil then remove from the heat and stir in the cheddar.

3. Assemble.  In a largish ovenproof dish (preferably rectangular) spoon a thin layer of the bolognese sauce onto the base (remove the bay leaves as you go)...

...then dollop over a layer of white sauce, then top with a layer of lasagne sheets (breaking them up to fill in the gaps).  Continue the layers making sure you end up with a layer of lasagne sheets topped with white sauce (I ended up having a penultimate layer of bolognese sandwiched between lasagne sheets to ensure I ended up with the lasagne sheet-white sauce combo).

4. Top with the parmesan (the more the better) and then pop in the oven for 45 minutes, or until bubbling and golden.

Serve with a salad and ciabatta.  So comforting and so very delicious.

Hmm...I wonder if there are any leftovers....

Cherry Bakewell Tart. Traditional Yumminess.

When I was much, much, much younger my baking specialities were Bakewell tarts and apple pies both of which I haven't tried in years.  Well, until yesterday when I gave the former another go.

We invited over a lovely South African couple for a lunch and rather than serving pud we went for a breezy beach walk and then came back for tea and tart.  They had never heard of this classic English delight which, for the uninitiated, has a sweet pastry base, a layer of jam, an almond spongy topping followed by icing and glace cherries.

It is fairly simple to make and is perfect with a cup of builder's tea and a sofa.  And best of all this recipe uses almond extract mixed with cornflour rather than ground almonds, and so is much easier on the purse strings.

Traditionally the icing is omitted and its made in a round tin, but I reckon the icing is a great addition and everything is better in a rectangle.

Ingredients (makes a 10x34 cm rectangular tart or a 20 cm round tart)

For the pastry case

225 g plain flour
110 g unsalted butter
80 g caster sugar
1 large free range egg
2 tbsp milk

For the filling

3-4 tbsp good quality cherry jam (I used Bon Maman)
125 g unsalted butter
125 g caster sugar
1 large free range egg
125 g cornflour
1 tsp almond extract or essence

For the icing

125 g icing sugar, sifted
3-4 tbsp hot water

Method

1. First make the pastry case.

Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Stir in the sugar.  Make a well in the centre and add the egg and milk and stir to form a soft dough, adding more milk if necessary.  Shape into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and pop in the fridge.

2. After 20 minutes, roll the dough between two sheets of clingfilm until large enough to line your tin.

Remove the top layer of clingfilm and gently roll into the tin pressing in the dough into the corners.  Remove the remaining layer of clingfilm.  Prick all over with a fork and place back in the fridge for 20 minutes, or until firm.

3. Heat the oven to 180C and cook the pastry case on a baking tray for 20 minutes, or until starting to turn pale golden.  Peek halfway through and if the base is rising up just gently prick it with a fork to let the air out.

4. Now make the filling.  Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the sugar and cook for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes or so (you don't want the egg to scramble in the heat).  Stir in the cornflour, egg and almond extract.

5. Take the pastry case and baking tray out of the oven, increase the heat to 200C and spread the jam evenly over the base...

...then top with the almond mixture...

...smooth the top and then pop back in the oven for 35 minutes or until risen and golden.

6. Allow to stand on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then ease out of the tin and allow to cool.
7. Now make the icing.  Place the sifted icing sugar in a bowl and gradually add the water stirring until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
8. Poor the icing over the tart and finish with halved glace cherries.

Notice the runny icing above - we couldn't wait until it set!