Category: Weekend Wildcard

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Gin & Grapefruit Cranberry Sauce Recipe

grapefruit juice and cranberries and gin mashed together

Ingredients

Juice of 1 & half grapefruits
600g fresh cranberries
Good glug of decent gin
150g sugar

Method
Take the juice of 1 & a half grapefruits and place into a large saucepan on a medium heat. Add the cranberries, cover the saucepan and wait until the contents begin to bubble lightly. You will hear the cranberries begin to pop in the pan. Add a glug of decent gin and the sugar. Stir so that all the ingredients are combined.

Simmer for 10 minutes before mashing. Mash until all the cranberries have popped. Simmer again for a further 6 minutes. Decant the sauce into a warm, sterilised jar, allow to cool completely before placing the lid on top. This sauce will keep for up to 10 days in the fridge

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Last Minute Limoncello Recipe

lemon vodka and sugar

You only need 4 days to make this incredible zingy limoncello which makes the perfect handmade Christmas gift. Makes just over 1 litre of limoncello in total. I decant it into 100ml bottles for gifts.

Ingredients
6 organic lemons (washed)
70cl bottle of vodka
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Method
Peel the lemons, taking care to cut as little of the white pith as possible. Place the lemon peel into a large jar. Pour the vodka on top. Put the jar into a cool dry place for 4 days.

After 4 days, combine 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of water in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer until all the sugar has dissolved and allow to cool.

Decant the cooled sugar syrup into a large jug, strain the lemon vodka into the jug. Mix until well combined. Fill up bottles of your choice.

Serve neat over ice or diluted with soda water. Always drink responsibly.

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Leftover Roasties Recipe

Roast potato with red onion, white onion and cayenne pepper

Save this for your Christmas leftovers!

Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 red onion, peeled & sliced
1 white onion, peeled & sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon each of white pepper, cayenne pepper, curry powder, ground cumin, and turmeric (or go straight for a large tablespoon of spice bag mix!)
Generous pinch of salt
500g leftover roast potatoes (this also works with chips sshhhhh)
Fresh coriander to serve

Method
Get a large frying pan smoking hot before adding some oil.
Lash the onions into the frying pan and cook until softened and blackened on the edges (this adds to the flavour). Add a little salt here to speed up the process.
Add the garlic and then the spices, stir well so that the spices are activated by the heat.
Tumble in the leftover spuds. Toss well in the onion/spice mixture. Turn the heat on the pan down a little and stir the potatoes around.
Serve with plenty of fresh coriander once all the ingredients are piping hot. I like mine with chutney on the side.

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Legendary St Stephen’s Day Pie


Do you have one recipe that a family member adores and repeatedly requests? That’s the legendary pie that our 23-year-old begs me to make every year. In truth, it’s all about the leftovers from the main event but you could use fresh ingredients if you really wanted to.
You will need a very large baking dish or several medium sized dishes to make this in large quantities but it freezes very well.


Ingredients
• 400ml warm cooking stock (I use the ham water from the day before)
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 sticks of celery chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic chopped
• 80g flour
• Ham, cooked and chopped
• Turkey, cooked and chopped
• 200g frozen peas
• 200g frozen sweetcorn
• 2 packets defrosted pastry
• 1 egg for egg wash over the top
Method
Heat 3 tablespoons of pan juices in a saucepan on a medium heat. Add in the onions, celery and garlic. Cook gentley until tender.
Sprinkle the flour on top and with the vegetables. You are essentially making a type of roux sauce. Ladle in spoons of the hot cooking stock or hot water to the saucepan and stir constantly until you get a runny sauce-like texture. Stir in 1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard (or more if you like mustard). There is no need to season this sauce because the seasoning comes from the salty stock made when the ham was boiled the day before.

Stir the meat and frozen vegetables into the sauce. Lay any leftover cooked vegetables into the bottom of the baking dish.

Spoon the sauce on top of the cooked vegetables. Cover the dish with a layer of pastry. Use a fork to poke holes on top and wash with a beaten egg for a glossy coating.

Cook in a fan oven heated to 180 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Serve with plenty of buttered mash.

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Pancakes/Crepes



Whatever you do make this batter the night before. It makes life so much easier on you. Yes, when you take it out of the fridge it may look a little split, just give it a quick whisk before adding about 50g of melted butter. That will add a depth of flavour to your pancakes and prevent them from sticking to a non-stick pan. No need to add any oil at all to the pan.

Ingredients

· 250g plain flour
· 3 medium eggs
· Decent pinch of salt
· 450ml of whole milk
· 50g of melted butter

Method
Combine the flour, eggs, salt, and milk together in a large bowl. Whisk well. Don’t worry about small lumps, these will settle overnight. Once you have a light batter, cover the bowl and leave it in the fridge to rest for about 10 hours.

The following morning, take the bowl out and whisk in 50g of melted butter. Cook each pancake on a medium heat. Use your fillings/toppings of choice

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Crispy Pancakes Recipe


Ingredients

50g butter
100g plain flour
300ml warm milk
200g grated cheese (cheddar is the best but whatever you have to hand is fine)
100g chopped ham (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Method
Get a large saucepan onto a medium heat.
Melt the butter in the saucepan. Stir in the flour and slowly add the warm milk bit by bit to prevent lumps. Stir until it has thickened.
Turn off the heat, add the melted cheese and ham. Stir this into the sauce mixture – it will get THICK. Spoon the mixture onto a plate or bowl and allow to come to room temperature before covering and chilling until later.

For the pancakes… Check out the recipe before this on my profile for crispy pancakes! Or make your own panckes like normal, make double quantities and hold half the batch to one side to fill.
Put a large tablespoon or two on half of each pancake. Fold in half and seal the edges with some beaten egg or milk. Put the filled pancakes onto a baking sheet and freeze or chill for an hour.
To assemble the giant Crispy Pancakes! You will need 2 medium eggs, 200g seasoned plain flour, 200g panko breadcrumbs. dip the partially frozen pancakes in seasoned flour, then egg, then panko breadcrumbs.
Bake in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes until the centre is heated through and the outside is golden brown. Enjoy with a leafy green side salad

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Homemade Jambons


Ingredients
· 50g butter
· 100g plain flour
· 300ml warm milk
· 200g grated cheese (cheddar is the best but whatever you have to hand is fine)
· 100g chopped ham (optional)
· Salt & Pepper to taste
· 1 roll readymade puff pastry
· 1 beaten egg for glazing


Method
Get a large saucepan onto a medium heat.
Melt the butter in the saucepan. Stir in the flour and slowly add the warm milk bit by bit to prevent lumps. Stir until it has thickened.
Turn off the heat, add the melted cheese and ham. Stir this into the sauce mixture – it will get THICK. Spoon the mixture onto a plate or bowl and allow to come to room temperature before covering and chilling until later.
Once cool, preheat a fan oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Take a sheet of puff pastry and divide it into 6 large squares or have fun and divide into many small squares.
Spoon a generous amount of the filling into the centre of each square. Then pull the corners into the centre to sit on top of the filling mixture. Brush the top of the squares with beaten egg.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and baked through. Allow to cool a little before eating as the filling gets very hot

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Pickled Onions


You can make as much or as little of these punchy pickled onions as you like. They taste better over time but my jar lasts about a fortnight in the fridge. The jar I use is a 500ml jar, half these ingredients if you are using a classic jam jar.


Ingredients
• 3 sliced red onions
• 1 heaped teaspoon sugar
• 1 heaped teaspoon salt
• 150ml hot water
• 150ml white vinegar
• Spices/Seasonings of your choice – here I used fennel seeds, coriander seeds and cumin seeds


Method
Combine the sugar and salt in a jug with the hot water until fully dissolved. Add the vinegar to the hot water mixture and stir well.
Put your spices/seasonings of choice into a large jar. Stuff in as many onions as you possibly can.
Pour the pickling mixture into the jar on top of the onions until you reach the top of the jar

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Maccaroons

Ingredients
200g caster sugar
2 medium egg whites
300g dried coconut


Method
Preheat a fan oven to 170°C. Line a baking tray with a sheet of non-stick greaseproof paper.
Combine the sugar, egg white and coconut with a fork in a large bowl, until you get a sticky paste.

Wet your hands and shape the mixture into balls. Space the eight balls of mixture on the baking tray.

Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool before lifting them off the paper, otherwise they will stick.

Dip in chocolate and drizzle with chocolate if you like.