Cookbook

Ingredients

225g butter
80g caster sugar
50g Parma Violets, bashed up
330g plain flour
Caster sugar for sprinkling

Method

1.     Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/ Gas mark 4.

2.    Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper ( if you only have one, bake one batch, then a second batch).

3.    Put your Parma Violets into a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin until it’s a mixture of fine powder and small fragments of violet flavoured rubble.

4.    In a mixing bowl, thoroughly beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

5.    Add the Parma Violets.

6.    Add the flour a little at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon as best you can.

7.    Tip the dough mixture onto a clean work surface and form the dough with your hands (try not to overwork the dough.

8.    Lightly flour the worksurface and rolling pin, roll the dough out so it’s about 5mm thick and cut into rounds (use a glass if you don’t have any cutters) carefully lift each shortbread biscuit onto the baking tray. You should get around 18 good-sized shortbread biscuits out of the dough. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar over each round before baking.

9.    Bake in the pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes. Keep an eye on the shortbread, they still need to be pale and not brown. Once they’re baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a cooling rack.

Note:

You could use hard margarine instead of butter.

If your hands are warm, cool before handling the dough so you don’t melt the butter.

If your dough becomes too soft because of the heat, chill in the fridge prior to roll

Ingredients

8 medium eggs

14 Lincolnshire sausages

1 tsp ground mace

1 tbsp thyme leaf

100g fresh breadcrumb

500g pack shortcrust pastry

Flour for dusting

1 tbsp sesame seed (optional)

Method

1.       Put 6 of the eggs in a large pan of cold water. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Leave for 5 mins, then lift out eggs and cool under cold running water. Peel.

2.       Snip the ends of the sausages and squeeze the meat out into a mixing bowl. Add the mace, thyme, 75g of the breadcrumbs, 1 egg and some ground pepper, and mix together well – you’ll probably need to get your hands in.

3.       Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Criss-cross 2 long strips of baking parchment in a 20cm pie tin or round cake tin (to help you lift out the pie). Roll out half the pastry on a lightly floured surface to line the tin. Scatter remaining breadcrumbs over the base of the pastry, then pat in about a quarter of the sausage mixture. Evenly space the peeled eggs on top, then gently pack the meat around and over – trying to evenly cover the eggs without leaving any gaps.

4.       Roll out remaining pastry, cover the pie, then trim the edges. Pinch and crimp edges to seal, poke a steam hole in the top, then glaze with the final egg, lightly beaten with a fork. Scatter with the sesame seeds, then bake for 30 mins.

5.       Remove the pie from the oven and carefully remove it from the tin. Place on a baking tray and return to the oven for 10 mins to brown the sides of the pie. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, then serve in chunky wedges.

Note:

You can use any type of sausage meat for this recipe.

Please make sure the pie is cooked all the way through.

Ingredients

•  100g self-raising flour
•  20g cocoa powder
•  140g caster sugar
•  Pinch of salt
•  40g unsalted butter at room temperature
•  120ml whole milk
•  1 egg
•  ¼tsp of vanilla extract

Icing

•  150g icing sugar sifted
•  50g unsalted butter
•  25g cocoa powder
•  25ml whole milk

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C
2. Put flour, cocoa, sugar, salt and butter in a bowl and mix together until you have a sandy consistency.
3. Whisk milk, egg and vanilla in a jug. Slowly pour half into the mixture, beat to combine and to get rid of any lumps.
4. Pour in the remaining mixture and continue to mix for a couple of minutes. Do not over mix.
5. Spoon mixture into 12 bun cases and bake for 20 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
6. For the chocolate buttercream: Beat icing sugar, butter and cocoa powder together in a bowl using a wooden spoon, add milk gradually, beat for approximately 5 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
7. Use a piping bag and nozzle to pipe or a knife to top the cooled cupcakes.
8. Decorate with a chocolate chunks or chocolate buttons.

Note: This recipe makes 12 cupcakes. You can replace the butter with margarine, hard margarine for the icing preferably if required.
To check if the cakes are cooked, insert a skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean, the cakes are cooked.

Ingredients

500g potatoes

200g mature cheddar (or vegetarian

alternative), grated

100g soft breadcrumb

bunch spring onions, thinly sliced

2 eggs

500g pack shortcrust pastry

a little flour, for dusting

2 tbsp Marmite (or Vegemite)

Method

1.       Peel and grate the potato.

2.       Grate the cheese.

3.       Thinly slice the spring onions.

4.       Put the grated potato, cheese, breadcrumbs and spring onions into a mixing bowl with 1 egg. Sprinkle over 1 tsp salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper and mix together.

5.       Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to just slightly thicker than a £1 coin.

6.       Use a 16-17cm saucer or bowl to cut out 6 circles of pastry – you may need to re-roll trimmings to get the last one.

7.       Warm the Marmite in a small pan or in the microwave with a splash of water so it is a bit runnier, then brush over each circle, leaving a 2-3cm border around each edge.

8.       Divide the filling between the middles of each circle.

9.       Beat the remaining egg and brush a little around each border.

10.   For each circle, bring up 2 sides of pastry to meet over the filling, and pinch and crimp to seal into a pasty shape. If eating straight away, transfer pasties to a baking sheet and chill while you heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.

11.    Or leave on the tray, wrap well in cling film and freeze for up to 3 months.

12.   Brush the pasties all over with more egg. Bake for 50 mins-1hour until golden brown and crisp. Eat warm or cold within 24 hours.

Note:

If you are not eating the pasties as soon as they are cooked. Cool down quickly and store in the fridge.

Ingredients

1 x 400 g tin of chickpeas

1 small clove of garlic

1 tablespoon tahini

1 lemon

Extra virgin olive oil

Seasoning (salt/pepper)

Method

1. Drain and tip the chickpeas into a food processor.

2. Peel and crush the garlic into the food processor, then add the tahini, a good squeeze of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of oil.

3. Season with a pinch of salt, then pop the lid on and blitz.

4. Use a spoon to scrape the houmous down the sides of the bowl, then blitz again until smooth.

5. Have a taste and add more lemon juice or a splash of water to loosen, if needed, then transfer to your container.

6. Slice your cucumber and pepper into strips.

Note: if you don’t have a food processor, you could use a hand blender or push the chickpeas through a sieve (this will take some patience)

Top tip

Add seasoning and any extra liquid a little at a time (you can always add more, but you cannot take it out once added)

Feeling adventurous?

Try adding different herbs and spices or even vegetables such as rep pepper or sun dried tomatoes

 

Ingredients For the Vinaigrette

• 3 tbsp. fresh orange juice
• 3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp. honey Salt and pepper
• 3 tbsp. olive oil

For salad

• 4 mixed coloured carrots,
• 4 large radishes
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1 small cooked beetroot
• 1 handfuls of watercress
• 2 small oranges
• Small handful of mint leaves

Method

1. Wash and prepare all vegetables and fruit.

• a) Top and tail carrot and shave into strips lengthwise
• b) Top and tail radishes and shave into rounds
• c) Thinly slice celery
• d) Slice the beetroot in half then shave or thinly slice the beetroot e) Peel the oranges, slice in half, then cut each slice in half.

2. In a bowl, whisk together orange juice, lemon juice, honey and a good pinch of salt and pepper to dissolve honey.

3. Add the oil to the bowl and whisk again. Taste and add more seasoning if required.

4. Arrange vegetables, oranges, and mint (if the leaves are large, you can tear them into smaller pieces) on large platter and drizzle with vinaigrette.

Notes:

• To shave the vegetables, use a vegetable peeler.
• You can adjust the quantities to either scale the recipe up or down.
• Lidl often have the multi-coloured carrots in store, if you cannot get them in your local shops, you could just use orange carrots.

Ingredients

1 egg white
5 tbsp finely grated parmesan
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
400g new potatoes
140g frozen peas
Good handful baby spinach leaves
1 tbsp white wine vinegar (or any white vinegar)
2 tsp olive oil

Method

1. Wash and dry all vegetables.
2. Dice the new potatoes into small even sized cubes.
3. Heat grill to medium and line the grill pan with foil.
4. Beat the egg white on a plate with a little salt and pepper.
5. Tip the parmesan onto another plate.
6. Dip the chicken first in egg white, then in the cheese.
7. Grill the coated chicken for 10-12 mins, turning once until browned and crisp.
8. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes for 10 mins, adding the peas for the final 3 mins, then drain.
9. Toss the vegetables with the spinach leaves, vinegar, oil and seasoning to taste. Divide between four warm plates, then serve with the chicken.

Notes

•  Ensure chicken juices run clear and is cooked all the way through before serving.
•  Recipe can be scaled up and down.
•  https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/parmesan-spring-chicken

Ingredients
Fruit base

• 600 g rhubarb trimmed weight
• 125g golden caster sugar

Sponge

• 200g golden caster sugar
• 225g softened butter
• 200s self-raising flour
• 25g cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 100ml milk
• 1tsp vanilla extract (optional)
• 50g dark chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
2. Wash, dry and cut the rhubarb into 2cm-3cm lengths and place in a bowl.
3. Add 125g of golden caster sugar to the rhubarb and toss the rhubarb in the bowl.
4. Arrange the rhubarb evenly in the base of a 30cm/2 litre capacity ovenproof dish (or equivalent size).
5. Remove 2 tablespoons of sugar from the sponge ingredients and leave to one side for later.
6. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl. 7. Add the remaining sponge ingredients, except the chocolate chips to the flour and cocoa powder, cream the ingredients together (make sure the mixture is light and fluffy and free from lumps). Stir in the chocolate chips with a spoon. 8. Smooth the sponge mixture on top of the rhubarb, scatter over the 2 tbsp sugar you saved earlier and bake for about 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 9. This is delicious served hot. But is also good warm.

Serving suggestion: Serve with custard, ice-cream or cream.

Notes:

•  You can substitute golden caster sugar for white caster sugar
•  You could also use margarine instead of butter
•  Recipe can be scaled up or down but, remember to amend the cooking times. Smaller quantities will cook quicker than larger quantities.
•  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1272877/Recipe-Chocolate-rhubarb-sponge-pudding.html
• Serves 6-8

Ingredients

 

• 4 pitta breads
• 4 tablespoons pizza sauce
• Selection of topping
• 50g mature cheddar, grated
• 1 tsp mixed herds

Method

1. Heat oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 and put a baking sheet inside to heat up. Spread each pitta with 1 tbsp pizza sauce. Top with your selection of toppings and cheese, sprinkle herbs.
2. Place on the hot sheet and bake in the oven for 10 mins until the pittas are crisp and the cheese has melted. If you like serve with a green salad.

Pizza sauce:

If you don’t have pizza sauce you could use 4 tsp of tomato puree instead, other alternatives could be:
Ketchup
Brown sauce
BBQ sauce
Pesto
Topping suggestions
Diced onions, diced tomatoes, sliced mushroom, sliced peppers, salami, chorizo (make sure the meat has started to frazzle around the edges before removing from the oven). Add a few more grams of cheese if you like it cheesy, but not too much.

Alternative cooking method:

Preheat the grill, place pittas on a baking tray and cook under the grill until the cheese has melted and any meat has started to frazzle on the edges.

Ingredients

1 plaice or lemon sole filleted (or any white fish)

75g plain flour

2 eggs

150g breadcrumbs

Method

1.    Cut the fish into strips.

2.   Put flour into a mixing bowl.

3.   Crack and beat the eggs in a second bowl.

4.   Put breadcrumbs into a third bowl.

5.   Coat the strips of fish in the following order.

a.    Flour (dust off any excess)

b.   Egg

c.    Breadcrumbs

6.   Put coated fish strips on a plate, cover and refrigerate until ready to cook.

7.   Pour oil into a frying pan, heat on a medium/high heat until a few breadcrumbs sizzle when added. (CAUTION: DO NOT LEAVE A FRYING PAN CONTAINING HOT OIL UNATTENDED)

8.   Place the fish strips into the pan of oil in a single layer and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. The fish should be golden brown.

9.   Remove from the heat and place on a paper towel to drain away excess oil.

10. Fish strips can be place in a warm oven until plating up.

Note:

You can use any type of white fish for fish goujons.

Ensure fish goujons are evenly sized so they cook evenly.

Please ensure fish is thoroughly cooked.