Winter One Pot Wonders: From Succulent Soup to Tantalising Tagine!

With each New Year come New Year resolutions’. ‘Eat healthily’ and ‘Exercise more’ made with such optimism on January 1^st; only to find yourself cwtched up on the sofa demolishing a tub of Ben and Jerry’s by the 2^nd, promising yourself you will go the gym tomorrow. Sound familiar?

When it’s dark, cold and miserable weather outside, a salad just won’t cut it. Instead, we crave hot, stodgy, comforting meals – cue calorific pies and stews, ready meals and takeaways. Why not try some of my Winter Warmer recipes as an alternative? Nutritious, hearty meals packed full of flavour – with not a boring casserole in sight!

How about making a tagine as a quirky alternative to a stew? My Lamb, Honey and Apricot Tagine is sweet and comforting with a gentle warming spice:

Lamb, Honey and Apricot Tagine (serves 4)

1)    Finely chop 3 onions and 1 stick of celery. Cook on a medium heat with a splash of oil until the onion starts to soften.

2)    Add 2 finely chopped garlic cloves and cook for a further minute.

3)    Now add your spices: 1 ½ tsp. ground cumin and ½ tsp. each of turmeric, ground ginger, ground coriander, cayenne and ground cinnamon. Stir to coat the vegetables, whilst smelling that amazing aroma!

4)    Next, make your sauce. Add 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, 1 tbsp. tomato puree, a pinch of sugar, 5 tbsp. clear honey, a handful of chopped fresh coriander and a generous handful of sultanas and chopped dried apricots. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5)    Add diced lamb (I made lamb meatballs for a change), cover and simmer until the meat is cooked.

6)    Sprinkle with fresh coriander and serve alongside cous cous.

You can’t beat a piping hot home-made soup on a cold winter’s evening. Ready-made soups can be expensive, very sweet and have a high salt content. Why bother when making your own is so easy? The only fuss is peeling and chopping the vegetables; after that you just stick everything in a pot and simmer until done! Plus you can freeze the extra portions for another day when you can’t be bothered to cook. I’ve got a few favourites, but my Parsnip Soup remains the winner amongst friends. Try my recipe below which only uses a few ingredients:

Parsnip Soup (makes 6-8 portions)

1)    Peel and thinly slice 1Kg parsnips. Finely chop 1 large onion and 2 garlic cloves.

2)    Melt a large blob of butter in a big cooking pot and add the vegetables above. Cook gently until the onion softens.

3)    Add 2 tsp. ground cumin and 1 tsp. ground coriander and stir for a further minute to coat the vegetables.

4)    Pour in 2 pints of chicken stock and stir. Season to taste. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Check the seasoning once cooked and alter to taste.

5)    Puree the soup. Place the soup back on a gentle heat, add 150ml single cream and stir to combine.

6)    Garnish with some chopped chives before devouring a big bowl of goodness!

If you’re looking for a warming recipe for lunch or as a starter, try my ridiculously easy Potted Prawn. No cooking skills are required for this one, just pop the ingredients in a ramekin and put it in the oven!

Potted Prawn

1)    Fill a ramekin with cooked prawns (the smaller ones work best).

2)    Add a glug of single cream.

3)    Cover the top with breadcrumbs and a large blob of butter. Sprinkle with paprika.

4)    Cook at 180⁰C for approx. 12 minutes until golden brown. Simple!

Whilst we are on the fish theme, I love a rich and creamy Fish Pie on a winter’s evening. One of my favourite dishes, but criminally often ruined with a bland, tasteless sauce. Make your sauce pack a punch by using my recipe below and prepare to be blown away!

Fish Pie

 

1)    Peel, boil and mash potatoes, adding a splash of milk, dollop of butter and seasoning with salt and pepper.

2)    Whilst the potatoes are boiling, cook the fish of your choice according to instructions. I often poach salmon fillets in water or milk, and use king prawns for a touch of luxury. Don’t overcook your fish!

3)    Boil some peas and a couple of eggs for 5 minutes until cooked.

4)    Now make your sauce. Melt a blob of butter in a pan. Remove from the heat, add 1 tbsp. flour and mix together. Add a splash of semi-skimmed milk and whisk until smooth.

5)    Put the pan back on the heat, and keep adding more milk, a splash at a time, constantly whisking to keep the mixture smooth. Keep going until you have enough sauce to cover the fish in your pie. Be patient, the results are worth the arm power! Stir in wholegrain mustard to taste (approx. 1 tbsp). This ingredient will transform your sauce!

6)    Arrange the fish in an ovenproof dish (breaking up any fillets into chunks). Add the peas, chopped boiled eggs and a handful of tinned sweetcorn. Pour over your sauce.

7)    Top evenly with the potato. Don’t forget to fluff the top with a fork so that it turns golden brown when cooking. Top with grated cheese if you’re feeling naughty.

8)    Cook at 200⁰C for 15-20 minutes and then tuck in!

Try out some of my recipes to keep you toasty this winter. Speaking of which, I’m jetting off to South East Asia to smugly escape the cold for a month. Look out for my next post when I return!

‘To Tea or Not to Tea…’: Champagne Afternoon Tea

It was New Year’s Eve and I was getting more than a little bit excited. It has becomes a tradition for a few close girlfriends and I to always spend NYE together. Despite the logistics of living at opposite ends of the country, over the past 9 years we’ve only missed 1! (My fault, damn nights rota). With the girls making the long journey up to me this year, what better accompaniment to the marathon of gossip than a homemade Afternoon Tea? The perfect way to kick off the new year celebrations before the evening ahead!

After popping open the champagne, clinking our flutes and toasting to the new year ahead, we began by tucking into the sandwiches. Of course, the traditional sandwich filling for afternoon tea is cucumber (how dull!).  Instead, I served a variety of smoked salmon with cream cheese, ham with wholegrain mustard, cheddar cheese with red onion chutney, and cream cheese with fresh chives. Anything goes, just remember to cut off the crusts for extra delicacy ‘dahhhling’.

I made Welsh Cakes as a quirky alternative to scones (recipe below). Smothered in butter and jam, they were equally as delicious! They were also the perfect personal touch for the girls’ first trip to North Wales, none of whom had tried the traditional cake before. I made mine with sultanas, but you can use any dried fruit (cranberries work well) or even chocolate chips.

Other sweet treats included Strawberry and Vanilla Fairy Cakes and some Mini Lemon Meringue Pies. For the ‘pièce de résistance’, I served some Raspberry and Elderflower Champagne Jellies to finish! (All recipes below). Once the champagne had started flowing, we forgot to drink the tea….

Several hours and bottles of champagne later, we saw in the new year whilst watching the fireworks at Beaumaris Castle. Try out my recipes below and invite the girls over for your own afternoon tea. Happy 2015! 

Welsh Cakes (makes 12)

1)      Using your hands, mix together 225g self-raising flour with 110g salted butter until it makes breadcrumbs.

2)      Add 1 egg, 75-85g sugar and a generous handful of sultanas. Mix together to form a ball of dough.

3)      Roll out on a floured surface until 1/2cm thick, and then cut out circles approximately 5cm diameter.

4)      Melt a blob of butter in a frying pan on a medium heat. Cook the welsh cakes for a few minutes on each side until golden brown. Sprinkle with caster sugar before serving.

Strawberry and Vanilla Fairy Cakes (makes 12)

 

 

1)      Just remember equal quantities of butter, sugar and flour! I’ve chosen 100g to make it easy.

2)      Whisk together the unsalted butter and caster sugar.

3)      Add 1 tsp. vanilla extract, then gradually whisk in 2 beaten eggs.

4)      Fold in the flour using a wooden spoon. Spoon into cakes cases and bake at 180⁰C for 15-20 minutes.

5)      To decorate, make butter icing by whisking together 115g icing sugar with 60g caster sugar, then stir in a few tbsp. strawberry jam. Scoop out the top of each cake using a small spoon, fill the hole with butter icing then replace the cake top. Finally, add pieces of fresh strawberry and dust with icing sugar for some seriously luxe-looking fairy cakes!  

Mini lemon meringue pies (makes 4)

Tight for time? Try this quick ‘cheat’ recipe:

1)      Line mini tart cases with ready-rolled shortcrust pastry and some baking beans. Bake at 180⁰C for 15 minutes, or according to the instructions.

2)      Fill each case with lemon curd.

3)      Make the meringue. Whisk 2 egg whites with 13g sugar to form stiff peaks. Add a drop of malt vinegar, then gradually whisk in a further 13g sugar.

4)      Top the pies with a dollop of meringue and bake until golden. Chop each tart into quarters to make bite sized pieces.

Raspberry and Elderflower Champagne Jellies (Makes 6)

1)      Soak 6 gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, slowly heat together 150ml elderflower cordial with 100g caster sugar until dissolved. Remove from the heat just before the mixture boils.

2)      Remove the gelatine leaves from the water, squeezing out any excess, then add to the elderflower mixture and stir to dissolve.

3)      Add 500ml champagne or sparkling wine (not chilled) and stir.

4)      Add a few raspberries to each serving glass. Pour the champagne mixture to fill 1/3 of the glass. Chill for 2 hours to set. Meanwhile, keep the pot of remaining mixture warm by standing it in a bowl of hot water.

5)   Once the jellies have set, add more raspberries to each glass, then top the glasses up with the rest of the mixture. Doing this in 2 stages prevents all the raspberries from floating to the top. Return to the fridge to set before wowing your guests!