It’s Sausage Roll time again!

I’m not sure why but I only seem to make these at Christmastime when what I should be doing is making them CONSTANTLY and eating nothing but them right throughout the year. They are that good! I’ve made several batches as they have been requested and I find it best to make a larger amount in one go because any that I don’t cook and eat straight away can be frozen until I need them.

Try these, even if it’s only to get the smell of them cooking wafting throughout the house!

The quantities make approximately 100 sausage rolls. Now that may seem like a huge amount but in fact it’s not. I cut mine in to individual rolls about half an inch wide because they cook better and are easier to eat. But believe me it is very possible to eat ten of these in one go and not even notice.

Prep time – 30 minutes
Cooking time – 30 Mins

Ingredients -

1 large Golden onion
450g  good quality Sausage Meat
Large pinch of ground coriander
2 teaspoons of fennel seeds slightly ground/crushed in a pestle and mortar)
6 large fresh sage leaves
75g of white breadcrumbs (I used mine frozen straight from the freezer)
2 eggs
1kg of shop bought Puff Pastry (believe me this is fine but make your own if you feel the need)
Salt & Pepper
Several large pinches of Sesame & Poppy seeds for sprinkling

Let’s Begin -

Heat the oven to 200c

Place the onion, sausage meat, coriander, fennel seeds, sage leaves, breadcrumbs, 1 egg and some salt and pepper in to the large bowl of a food processor and whiz it up until it is all combined. If you do not have this piece of equipment then chop the onion and sage leaves in to very small pieces and combine with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix it all together with your hands. Really get stuck in there!

Set to one side.

Roll out your pastry on a floured surface. If it comes in 500g blocks roll out one at a time.

Each 500g of pasty should be rolled in to a piece that is approximately 24 inches long and 7 inches wide. Then cut this length in half right down the middle.

We’re now ready to begin assembling our Sausage Rolls.

Split the Sausage Meat mixture in to four portions and place one portion right down the middle of the pastry. Favour one edge slightly as you’ll be wrapping it up in a moment.

Pull one side of the pastry up and over the sausage meat and push together with the pastry on the other side of the meat mixture.

Seal it all in with a fork.

Give the pastry a wash with the other egg.

And sprinkle a mixture of Sesame and Poppy seeds all over the egg so that it sticks to the pastry.

Cut each length of sausage filled pastry in to approx twenty five pieces.

At this point if you want to freeze the Sausage Rolls then place them uncooked on to a tray and freeze them. When they are frozen you can transfer them in to a bag as a tray takes up quite a bit of space in the freezer. Defrost for an hour or so before cooking.

If you do not wish to freeze them but bake them immediately then place them on to a lined baking tray and cook for between twenty and twenty five mins, turning once, until they are a shade beyond golden brown.

These Sausage Rolls are a bit of a hit in my family and I’m really fond of them myself. Personally I have made batches for my myself for this evening, Christmas Eve supper and New year’s Eve to take to a friends. I’m also about to have several more with a cup of tea. So if you see a human sized Sausage Roll wandering the streets in January that would be me. I’ve simply eaten too many!

I love you and thank you so much for reading today. Back next time with scenes from my Christmas Home and Table.

Cherry x

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…I’ll be preparing my Pheasant.

Recipes to follow!

And due to the fantastic conversation started on Friday we’re cooking something else up too! Details anon.

I love you, have a fantastic Monday!

Cherry x

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Chicken stock is a staple in my kitchen/fridge/freezer and as I use it an awful lot in my cooking it never lasts very long. This is a very easy, non-scientific way of making a great tasting stock and therefore not letting any of the bird go to waste.

We had roast chicken for lunch last Sunday (when we were seven) and after picking off most of the leftover meat for Monday night’s risotto (using the chicken stock to cook the rice I hasten to add) we prepared to throw the carcass in to the pot for three hours of simmering.

I put the chicken (bones, skin, tiny pieces of meat, everything) into a pot and add -

• 1 large carrot – chopped in to three pieces
• 1 leek – chopped in to three pieces
• 1 stick of celery – chopped in to three pieces
• 1 large onion – roughly chopped in to quarters, skin still on
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cloves of garlic – unpeeled
• large sprig of rosemary
• 10 whole peppercorns
• large pinch of sea salt

Tuck these ingredients in to the pot and around the chicken. Cover them all in water and bring to a rolling boil on the hob. Then turn the heat right down to barely a simmer and leave, with the lid off, to gently bubble away for the next three hours.

During this time we hung out, watched some telly, gave the twins a bath. Ned had dried food on his face which we thought had better go before he got in to his freshly changed cot and clean growbag (I figure that if I love a clean bed then they must too)

We went back downstairs for a cuddle and then both of them went to bed.

By this time three hours had passed and I removed the meat, veggies and bones from the pot. There were a few straggly bits left over so I passed all the liquid through a fine metal sieve.

And it left me with two pints (one pint pictured) of delicious, simple to make, chicken stock.

I used some the night after in my aforementioned risotto and the rest is still airtight in the fridge as I’ll use it in the next few days. And if I don’t I’ll freeze it and use it in the next three months. There wasn’t a huge amount of fat in my stock but if there had been I would make sure that I use it before the fat turns rancid.

I am posting this today in case you are having roast chicken this weekend. It’s not the most beautiful post in the world but I really think that these things help in the running and organising of one’s home life. Homemade stock is far more flavourful and much less salty than shop bought stock which means that you can add more salt if you want to when cooking with it.

Have a fantastic weekend. I don’t know about you but I think I need it. A couple of days just to mooch with the fam and sort stuff out.

I love you.

Cherry x
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Today’s recipe is such an experiment actually.

Over Christmas I was given a belly of pork to cook. I had cooked it in the autumn and the recipe for this can be found here but with this joint I wanted to take my time. I wanted to sloooooww it down somewhat. So I did, I slowed it right down, and ended up pulling a slice of heaven out of the oven four hours later.

I was all set to serve the pork belly with the usual spinach, potatoes and various other accompaniments but that wasn’t the mood I was in. I wanted a Pork Belly Sandwich. I wanted to place the meat that was dripping from the ribs, leaving them clean, in to a soft, white floury bap and I literally wanted to shove the whole thing in to my mouth in one go. And a few nights ago, as supper rolled around, that is exactly what I did. I should say that my husband and my mother-in-law did very much the same thing too. You see this isn’t just any old meat sandwich. This is the best pork sandwich you’ll ever try.

And it is PERFECT for the weekend.

Which is rather fortuitous as it’s Friday today.

This is belly of pork and this joint weighted in at about 1.6kg

It was scored by my butcher,  it’s vital that they or you score the skin. I then blotted the entire joint with kitchen paper getting it as dry as I possibly could. The presence of water will stop the skin from crackling which is why it is best to get your pork belly from your butcher as supermarket joints will have huge amounts of water and additives pumped in to the skin and no amount of blotting will get it out. I even blotted in amongst the scored skin. Then I rubbed Maldon Sea Salt on to the skin and in to some of the cracks and patted in in place.

It went in to the top of my oven at the highest possible temperature for twenty minutes. I then removed the joint and put it into a cooler oven, 140c, for three hours and then turned it down a further ten degrees to 130c for the last hour.

Twenty minutes before I was wanting to serve my rolls to the waiting crowd of two(!) I pulled the joint from the oven and removed the crackling from the top of the joint with a sharp knife. I then returned the crackling to the top of my very hot oven and left it to turn in to the best crackling in the land.I basically grilled it.

Now a word about crackling – you may find that your crackling has turned out perfectly and that you don’t need to remove it and grill it. You can tell by giving it a little knock. If it is hollow sounding and hard then it has crackled. If it has a dull sound when tapped and is a little bouncy or bendy then it needs longer in a very hot oven. But I removed it because I wasn’t prepared to scorch my beautiful slow cooked belly right at the last minute.

When your crackling is done leave it to one side to cool a little so that you can handle it. Meanwhile pull the meat apart from the bone with two forks and place on to a serving platter.

Break the crackling up in to bite sized pieces and place those on to the platter also.

And serve in soft, white, floury baps with my divine and ruby red Cranberry & Apple sauce.

This sauce is quite wonderful and is so good for many of the fattier meats such as pork, duck and goose. It is a great excuse to use any bags of Cranberries that you may have sitting around after Christmas and also demystifies the making of your very own Cranberry sauce for  next year as you’ll be an expert by then.

• Place 300g of whole cranberries in to a saucepan on a low heat
• Add one large or two small peeled and chopped Bramley Apples to the pan
• Pour in 100g of caster sugar and stir well not allowing the sugar to scorch under any circumstances until it has dissolved, hence the low heat
• For a few minutes allow the juices from the Cranberries and the Apples to begin to flow out and soften the fruits
• Drop a Star Anise in to the pan and a dash of pure orange juice
• Cook very slowly for about twenty minutes on a low heat, mashing the fruits up in to one another in the pan as they continue to soften further
• At this time add a dash of water and cook for a further ten minutes
• Remove from the heat and mash together until you have a pulp
• Pass the pulp through a fine mesh metal sieve and then place in to a serving bowl with a spoon
• Allow the sauce to come to room temperature

This is the consistency you’re after. If, when you try to pass the sauce through the sieve it gets stuck then put the whole lot back in to the pan with a further dash of water for two minutes and then try again. You’ll be an expert at quantities  the second or third time you make it so it really isn’t anything to do with you.

It is wonderful for spreading on to the white baps before filling them with the soft pork meat and also as a dipping sauce for pieces of crackling.

This is a divine and decadent nod to the humble Pork Sandwich and is thoroughly worth the time spent with the joint cooking slowly. You don’t have to do anything once it’s in. That is the beauty of such a fatty piece of meat, it does it all for you.

Which is how I like it…….occasionally!

I love you. Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you back here on Monday.

Cherry
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I’m not one for wishing my life away so I’ll make sure that there are lots and lots of good and cosy things coming your way here on my website this week. That way we’ll have a great week together and enjoy every minute.

I’ve also got a free gift for you. Today you can download my Bonfire Night Sausage Flags.

Simply print them out on to stiff paper or thin card, cut out the flag shapes, fold them in half & glue them around a cocktail stick.

Then stick them in every sausage you can find and serve them out of a bowl on Bonfire Night.

It’s fun as a host or hostess to go around and personally serve your guests. And this way makes it easy.

The kids will be sure to love them too!

I made my sausages taste even better by frying them very gently in a dash of balsamic Vinegar & Worcestershire Sauce. If you do it slowly enough it gives the sausages a really beautiful tasting glaze to them and also makes them look charred but not taste burnt.

A little secret tip for you on a Monday.

You’ll also find that the flags are back to front on the reverse. I like them like that. It makes a simple thing a little more interesting.

Robert the Husband and I got out in to the Paddock on Saturday. We didn’t get as much done as we’d hoped as the rain came down and nearly washed us away. But we finally got the Gazebo packed up and put away for the Winter and I cleared the Sunflowers. I left them up for much longer than I should have done as they serve as natural bird feeders.

The birds come along, sit on the flower and eat all the seeds.

But the seeds have now all gone so the plants need to come up as they look horrid standing there devoid of all life.

I strapped Anaïs on to my front and although it made the job take a little longer than it may have done it was more fun.

She is starting to teethe and although no teeth are coming through just yet she does create a lot of dribble. The front of my top was soaked, soaked let me tell you, when we’d finished. But in that ‘new mummy’ way I kind of like it and wear my dribble drenched clothes as a badge of honour. My greatest achievement.

Anaïs seems to be achieving a rather fetching ‘having my picture taken’ face!

That’s my girl.

Work it baby, work it, own it!

Welcome to November, says Ned.

Let’s enter this month with glorious abandon and embrace everything it throws at us. You never know, it may the best November we’ve ever had!

Download my Free Bonfire Night Sausage Flags here!

I love you.
Cherry x

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But it could be worse, he may not have a job at all so I’m thankful that he goes out each day to something that he enjoys doing. And it makes the weekends extra special as we’re together as a fam!

Roasted Pork Belly with Crackling is something that we have a lot of in the Autumn months. It somehow seems most appropriate at this time as opposed to any other in the year. I couldn’t imagine having it in the Summer for instance. Does that make any sense at all?

And crackling, once you get the hang of it, is very easy.

• Ask your butcher for Pork Belly – a big enough piece to feed the amount of people you’ll be having for the meal
• Score the fat length ways across the top of the fat but not piercing the meat
• Then dry the piece of meat off as much as you can using kitchen roll. Blot it, rub it and get as much moisture out of the joint as you can until it feels dry to the touch
• Rub salt over the meat, I use rock salt, making sure that it goes in to the scored fat. If you’re using rock salt you can easily knock it off after cooking
• Place the joint in the top of the oven at the highest temperature possible
• Listen as the joint begins to sizzle and spit
• Lower the oven to 180c / 350f and drop the joint to the bottom of the oven when you can see that the fat on the joint has hardened and therefore become crackling. Tap it with the back of a spoon and see if it sounds almost hollow. If it does all over then you can drop the meat.
• Cook for a further thirty minutes or until the meat is cooked but not dry inside and serve with apple sauce.
• The absolute key to getting the crackling right is drying off the meat and putting it in to a very hot oven at first. It needs a good blasting to get the crackling going. No oil is needed. Just salt.

Love it. Want it now. May have to make some more just so I can take it behind the sofa and eat it all  myself.

My roast of choice for this Halloween weekend.

My family and I will be outside again as much as possible if the weather allows. Ned and Anaïs love it outside. And I mean they REALLY LOVE IT. They love the outside much more than the inside, which can be troubling, as occasionally we really do have to retreat to the living room. When the temperature drops to below freezing or when it gets very dark for instance.

Anaïs loves it especially.

She comes alive outside.

She’s not great at being trussed up like a chicken and gets very hot and extremely bothered if she has too many clothes on.

But when she is outside she sings.

Literally.

She is singing here with such earnestness and sounds like a Mogwai Gremlin. So delicious that I have to clench my teeth *again* and just sit and watch her. She’ll go on for ages and ages.

Which is fine if conditions allow as it’s one of my all time favourite sounds.

It’s Friday…….

And I’m in love.

I love you too and thank you for reading. Have a wonderful spooky Halloween weekend and I’ll see you Monday.

Cherry x

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Nowadays of course it’s very different. I just sent Robert an email at work asking him if he’d like to go to the local apple farm this weekend with our little family. And I am more excited about the prospect of picking Apples than I ever was about meeting some celeb and having to have some narcissistic conversation through beer goggles. But at the same time it was rock ‘n’ roll back then and I wouldn’t change a second of it.

Last night we had my parents over for supper. They had just got back from a holiday in Israel and we wanted to hear about their adventures. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to debut my new recipe. Read that as “use them as guinea pigs for my latest recipe”.

They needn’t have been worried as this slow-cooked leg of lamb was utterly wonderful and in my opinion a quintessential dish for the colder months. If you are planning a feast of any kind this weekend I urge you to give this a go. It doesn’t need much looking after and takes about thirty seconds to put together.

Which leaves a whole lot more time for picking apples!

Here is my cooking & weight conversion chart if you are not in the UK

• Ask your butcher for a leg of lamb
• This served four adults and weighed 1.5kg
• Pat it dry with some kitchen paper
• Lightly score the fat, not cutting as far down as the meat

• Place the joint on a bed of two roughly chopped onions

• Sprinkle 200g of chestnuts in to the pot – you can buy them ready-roasted and vacuum packed
• And add four or five peeled whole carrots

• Tuck two large sprigs of fresh rosemary down the sides of the meat
• And pour 200ml of maple syrup all over the meat – if you think you may like it a little less sweet then use 150ml or 100 ml of syrup
• Add a pint of water and place a lid on the pot
• Put in to the oven at 150c / 300f for two hours
• After two hours turn the oven up to 220c / 425f and cook for a further two hours or until you can twist a fork in the meat and it comes easily away. It may take longer than two hours.
• After one hour at the higher temperature crumble two beef stock/Oxo cubes in to the pot – stir
• Then add a heaped teaspoon of cornflour to a cup of cold water, mix well and add to the pot – stir

You can see how tender the meat became after cooking slowly for so long as it is sliding off the bone in this picture.

You don’t even want to consider taking a carving knife to this joint. You simply want to take the pot to the table and pull it away with a  fork and a spoon before placing it on plates.

True Autumnal eating.

All of my oven gloves look like this, these are Emma Bridgewater. I’m quite proud of them. I find it hard to break new pairs in as they are a little stiff to start with. I look at them, in their filthy state, and am reminded of how much I love to cook, experiment and get creative with food. And also how messy a cook I really am.

Ah, my favourite tipple.

Well, it was Thursday night. Old habits die hard let me tell you.

As clean as any bone you are ever likely to see.

That’s my Dad. I have introduced him before to you all but here he is again. Hello Dad.

My Dad and I had some great projects on the go in a section called ‘Projects with my Dad’ here on this site. But then he decided to break his ankle in the most horrific way possible by falling off the roof of my parents house so they were put on hold for a bit. I’m still trying to decide whether or not to let him back on here. I’ll have a little think.

And then we retired, full of belly, to the living room with more Prosecco.

Thursday nights are certainly more low key than they were ten years ago but it has to be said that they are certainly not any less fun. I love chewing the cud with family. We all have such big plans and dreams and they all seem to involve home and garden in some way. My kids will grow up listening to us adults get excited over what we plan to do. Excitement is so infectious and I believe that they too will get excited and allow themselves to have their own dreams. They’ll learn to converse and debate correctly at the dinner table and we’ll encourage that. Of course if they ever disagree with me it’ll be straight to the naughty step for them…..

And when they come home after an adventure I’ll get the pot out and slow cook a joint for them. That way I can let it simmer away in the Aga while my kids regale me with stories that they think I couldn’t possibly have heard anything about or experienced because I’m Mummy and I don’t have a life………..

I’ll keep the Met Bar adventures to myself I think!

I love you and hope that if you are thinking of cooking something cosy this weekend you’ll give this a go.
Cherry x

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It’s the 24th of September, it’s Friday and in one weeks time we go into October. That means that it’s time for a pie. Oh yes, a cosy, warm, filling Autumnal pie that will make your whole house smell of the long days of childhood spent cooking in the kitchen with your Nana.

Don’t be afraid of pies or pastry. They have been cooked by so many millions of people for so many years and it is only in the last generation or so that some of us have been de-skilled in the art of making pastry from scratch and filling it with hearty, meaty goodness. A pie is symbolic of time spent with family and friends in safety, comfort and love. And this pie is SCREAMING out to be made this weekend BY YOU!

So, get thee to the market after work to buy the ingreeds and wander down in to your kitchen tomorrow morning prepared to cook your heart out. Put the oven on, turn the radio up and wallow in the pie making experience. You’ll never be the same again.

Pre-heat your oven to 180c

Click here for our weight conversion chart

For this recipe you will need a casserole dish or a dutch oven and a deep pie dish (I used an oval shaped pie dish that measured 10 x 8 x 3inch)

What you will need:

For the meat filling -

• 450g cubed free range stewing steak (the better the quality, the better the pie)
• 3 sweet potatoes
• 1 onion
• 2 medium sized carrots
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne
• 1 heaped tsp Paprika
• 570 ml Boiling water
• 3 Oxo (stock) cubes – beef flavour
• 1 1/2 tblsp corn flour
• Salt and pepper

For the pastry -

• 300g plain flour (plus extra for dusting)
• 130g salted butter (softened)
• pinch salt
• 2-3 tblsp water
• 1 egg (whisked for glazing)

For the pie filling:

• Peel and cut the carrots, sweet potato and onion. Chop them in to smallish pieces and add them to the casserole dish/dutch oven.
• Brown off the cubed meat in a frying pan with a little oil, this should only take 4-5 minutes.
• Add the meat to the casserole dish.
• Crumble 3 oxo (beef) cubes into 570ml of boiling water and then add the corn flour, stir together until it has all dissolved; the corn flour will thicken the stock to give a richer more rounded flavour when cooking your meat.
• Pour the stock over the meat and vegetables.
• Add the Paprika and the Cayenne and stir the contents of the casserole dish.
• Finally, add a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper.
• Put the lid on to the casserole dish and cook for two and a half hours or until the meat is tender.

For the pastry:

• Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the softened butter and a pinch of salt.
• Use your fingers tips to combine the flour and butter until the mixture resembles a fine bread crumb consistency.
• Add the the water a little at a time until the mixture sticks together to form a pastry dough but is not too sticky.
• Transfer the pastry dough onto a flat, well flowered surface and use a rolling pin to roll the pastry out flat; the pastry should be rolled big enough to cover the inside/sides of the pie dish.
• Transfer the beef and onion filling into the pie dish. Placing on top of the pastry.
• To create the lattice top on my pie I used a wooden wheel pastry cutter to cut my strips of pastry, but this could just as easily be done with a sharp knife.
• Once the pastry strips are cut, lay them over the top of the pie dish, pinching the sides shut so that pastry is sealed for baking.
• Finally, brush the top of the pie with one whisked egg for glazing. This will give the baked pie a delicious golden colour!
• Return to the the oven (at 180c) and bake for a further 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
• Serve piping hot with mash, veggies, steamed spinach or anything that takes your fancy.
• You may want to add more stock or gravy if you like a ‘wetter’ pie but I don’t like my pies and the pastry they are cooked in to be too soggy.

If it is still warm enough to eat outside in your part of the world then I urge you to do so. Grab a rug and carry the pie hot from the oven to the lawn and dig in with spoons. Who cares, nobody is watching!

The Hydrangea heads that I have been drying over the AGA are ready and looking lovely in my makeshift vases. Emma Bridgewater cups are fab for so many things not least drinking tea out of them!

I love you all very much and hope you have a really great and restful weekend.

See you on Monday!

Cherry

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You will need a food processor for this recipe.

This makes six portions.

For the dressing -

• Add the garlic, sugar, chili, chopped shallot and a generous seasoning of freshly ground black pepper and blend together in the food processor until a paste forms.
• Transfer the paste into a large mixing bowl and then stir in the fish sauce, lime juice, chili sauce and vinegar and olive oil as this will create the dressing. (Use a whisk to fully blend the ingredients together if necessary.)
• Set the dressing one side.
• Boil the rice, drain and set to one side.

For the chicken -

• Cut the skinless, boneless chicken thighs into small pieces.
• Place the chicken pieces in the food processor and whizz for approximately 10 seconds until the chicken is finely minced but not mushy.
• Transfer the minced chicken to a non-stick frying pan and lightly saute in a little olive oil until cooked throughout (around 5 minutes).
• Reduce to a low heat and then add the coriander, mint, sliced shallots, soy sauce and rice and gently mix together.

• Finally, pour the dressing over the chicken mixture and coat thoroughly.
• Break off six individual iceberg lettuce leaves and fill the middle of each of the leaves with the chicken mixture.
• Garnish with chopped dry-roasted peanuts and serve.

Have a great day.

x
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Cherry Menlove

This past Saturday we made the most of the sun and had our lunch outside. I bought my twin girls and husband over to see Cherry & Robert (Cha-Cha & Rot-Bot as they are more commonly known) and we cooked them lunch. Our motivation was that this would most probably be the last time my girls saw Cherry with her enormous belly and it was also a good opportunity to try out a burger recipe that I have had brewing for some time.

The Roquefort Cheeseburger that we’re featuring today is my favourite type of cheeseburger as the cheese is inside the patty and infuses every part of it with its rich creaminess. To make them I used the same ingredients as we did for our classic burger which we featured here last summer, the only difference is that I filled the middle of each burger with Roquefort cheese before they were cooked, and let me tell you they did not disappoint. The ingredients in the red box will make 6 good size burgers.

• I started by puréeing the onion, because let’s face it, no-one wants to find large pieces of onion in their burger unless you placed them there on purpose as a garnish. You want the onion to infuse the meat and sit with it, not apart from it in lumps! If you do not have a food mixer, chop the onion into very fine pieces.
• Once the onion was puréed I removed it from the mixer and put it into a large mixing bowl.

• Then the oregano, coriander, paprika, black pepper and salt were added to the mixer

• And all blended together.

• All the flavourings and the breadcrumbs were added into the large bowl with the puréed onions.

• I then added the meat and whisked egg to the same bowl. I used my hands to mix all the ingredients together, the egg created the wetness needed so that the meat would stick to the other ingredients.

• When all the ingredients were blended together, I formed the round burger patties and made a hole in the middle of each one.

• Then I filled the hole (generously) with the Roquefort Cheese and used my finger to push it down through the middle of the patty.

• I repeated this process with all the patties.

• Then, the patties are ready for the grill.

• Cook according to how well done you like your meat and serve on ciabatta bread with salad and olives.

A Pimm’s works pretty well with this combo too….

Have a great day.

Jodie

x

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Cherry Menlove

Hello & Welcome to Friday!

What with all the political comings and goings over the last 24 hours I had almost forgotten that this weekend we are not only going to be celebrating at our baby shower but Robert the Husband and I are also going to be kicking back and relaxing before the new arrivals. This means that we’ll be eating and right now we (I) crave nothing more than fresh, tasty, fast food. By ‘fast’ I don’t mean a burger, what I mean is a great dish that takes moments to appear in front of me on a plate….and this is exactly what this new recipe is like!

Serves 2 adults

How to make it -

• boil your pasta according to the instructions and until it is ‘al dente’
• drain and set aside
• add some olive oil to a pan and heat gently – not allowing to burn
• put the chorizo, garlic, shallots and pepper in to the heated oil and keep moving about in the pan so as not to burn the garlic
• allow to soften for a few moments on a moderate heat
• add the passata, the cherry tomatoes, the chili sauce and the dried basil and oregano
• stir and continue to stir for a few moments
• add the pasta and stir all the ingredients together for a minute or two to get the pasta good and hot again
• serve on two plates
• tear up the ball of mozzarella and divide between the two plates
• tear the basil leaves up and add to the top of the pasta

Have a wonderful weekend and do let me know if you try this recipe. We’ll soon be making it easier for you to get in touch by adding a comment form to the end of each post but until then you can reach me on Twitter and Facebook by using the links below.

I’m off now as the house is already buzzing with Baby Shower activity. We’ve taken tonnes of behind the scenes pics so you can see the whole process right here next week.

ENJOY folks and, as ever, thanks so much for reading. Something rather exciting happened yesterday and I’ll fill you all in on Monday.

Lots of love, Cherry
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Sue Sylvester, Glee ‘The Madonna Episode’

This morning was what Robert the Husband and I describe as a ‘toughie’. It was an early start as things are busy around here and it was tough to get out of bed and get going.

As I hoisted fifty extra pounds of weight out of bed and wandered downstairs to start the day I wasn’t quite sure if I would make it past the sofa. I grabbed a bowl of cereal and a hot mug of tea (I’m back on tea, YAY, one or two cups a day) and shuffled in to the living room to eat and drink. With the bowl resting very securely on top of my bump and my hands wrapped around the mug of tea I powered up my Sky+ box and decided to watch last night’s episode of Glee.

Last night was the night that the already infamous Madonna episode aired and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. When so much hype surrounds something often it falls short of all the expectations. This episode had me actually laughing out loud and rewinding bits. Mostly Sue Sylvester put downs but even Will Schuester was looking hot last night.

As the Madonna songs played throughout and I sat there laughing my ever expanding bottom off I was reminded of how many GREAT songs there are by Madonna. Almost every one an anthem and when you couple that with Sue Sylvester in a tracksuit and a conical bra, I knew I had the makings of a great morning despite feeling so heavy.

Granted, I had to wait for the caffeine from the tea to kick in a little bit but after that I was ready to go. And seeing as this feeling will probably only last until early afternoon I had better get on with what I have for you today.

I’m dedicating today’s recipe to Sue Sylvester and Madonna for no other reason than they both gave me the ability to take a shower and get dressed without having to find a corner to curl up in and take a nap beforehand.

Cheers, my lovelies!

Dedicated to Sue Sylvester and Madonna – My Singapore Noodles with Chicken, Shrimp and Vegetables

Serves two people as a main dish and four as an accompaniment

Click here for our cooking and baking conversion chart

When working on a dish with as many ingredients as this I find it always works best if you chop and prepare all the food and equipment/utensils in advance. This cuts down on cooking and stress time. It also makes the dish taste better as you are going to be able to cook it correctly.

• Boil the chicken thighs for 15 minutes in a pan of boiling water.
• Set them aside on a plate and then shred the thighs in to pieces when they have cooled
• Peel and finely chop the shallots
• Fry them in a small amount of oil until they are crispy and brown but not burnt. Keep them moving and keep an eye on them
• Blot the oil from the shallots in some kitchen towel and place to one side

Now make the stir fry -

• Add the lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, pepper and 5 tablespoons of water to a small bowl and keep to one side
• Heat three tablespoons of oil in a wok or large frying pan until very hot
• Place the spring onions, garlic, chili and ginger in to the hot wok
• Soften for a minute or two, not allowing to colour or burn. Keep it moving in there!
• Add the shredded chicken, shrimp, spinach, and  pak choi
• Stir fry for a further minute
• Add the bowl of stir fry sauce to the wok and stir fry for another two minutes

• Add the egg noodles and the bean sprouts. Stir fry for a further two minutes or however long it says to cook the noodles for on your packet as they differ. Should not be longer than four minutes

• When the dish has been stir fried sufficiently and is cooked, place the entire wok of food on to a large platter
• Sprinkle the top of the noodle dish with the hazelnuts, sauteed shallots and roughly chopped coriander

Serve immediately with small bowls and chopsticks as shown. Robert and I actually ended up eating most of this dish straight from the platter while sitting across from each other at the kitchen table on Saturday night. It was divine and very, very tasty.

Try not to be put off by all of these ingredients. I guarantee you’ll want to make this again very soon and you’ll have most of the cupboard items already in stock, so to speak. Cooking with the best fresh ingredients is a wonderful thing to do and to eat and if you want to stick around then I promise you a whole summer full of this type of cooking and even more besides.

Hey, we haven’t even reached soft fruit season yet!!!

Have a ‘Gleeful’ day!

Lots of love,
Cherry

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With the mercury still residing well below what is comfortable for someone who was born in August it was imperative that on Saturday night, as Robert & I got stuck into Season 2 of House , that we had something cosy and filling to eat. Something that also had so much flavour that it jumped out of the pot and on to our taste-buds. I also wanted to make a dish that was fairly slow cooked. One that left the sides of the pot laced with cooked-on  juices as I find that this is a great sign of a rich, slow- cooked pot.

The fact that by the time this dish would be done my heartburn would be so bad I could really only manage A MOUTHFUL did not deter me as I’m getting mighty used to heating supper up for breakfast these days. But this means that I can confirm that the dish is just as delicious heated up the next day as it is straight from the stove.

So without further ado and if you want a pot that is as hard to clean as my one was on Saturday evening here is a wonderful ‘Winter Warming’ recipe that you’ll cook again and again because it’s so freaking EASY!!

Cosy Lamb, Spinach & Chickpea Slow-Cooked Pot
Serves 4

Here is a weight conversion chart

• Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole dish on a LOW heat
• Add the Onion, Chilli, Black Mustard Seeds, Garlic, Cardamon Pod, Coriander and Turmeric
• Stir gently together ensuring that the onion softens but that the garlic doesn’t burn, hence the LOW heat
• Add the cubed Lamb and coat the meat in the spice mix
• Pour in the tin of Chopped Tomatoes and a large four fingered pinch of caster sugar
• Allow to simmer for a minute or so and then add the spinach, half a cup of water and the tine of rinsed Chickpeas
• Allow the spinach to wilt before transferring to a warm oven and cooking at 180c / 350f for approximately two hours or until the meat is tender
• Serve in a bowl with a helping of rice on the bottom and a good dollop of Sour Cream on top

To make the rice you simply boil the rice and add the chopped, fresh coriander and the toasted almond slices. Mix it all up and place it in the bottom of the bowls, ready to place the lamb on top.

This is a great Winter dish and once you have all of the ingredients in your store cupboard you’ll make it again and again until the weather warms up.

It’s also one of those dishes that looks and tastes much more complicated than it actually is.

If I were you I would go along with the praise and wipe your brow dramatically as you bring it to the table or fireside. Nobody need know!

Cx

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It’s the eternal question? Do we have Turkey for Thanksgiving/Christmas or something else? Some folks, my Dad for instance, would never let us hear the end of it if we served anything other than Turkey on Christmas Day.

A fictional conversation now takes place…

“Do you remember when you served that other thing on Christmas Day, Chel?”

“What OTHER THING, Dad?”

“You know, the thing that wasn’t Turkey”

“Goose?”

“Is that what it was??? I had the shock of my life. Never before had I had a Christmas without a Turkey and to be honest Chel, it troubled me a little”

“There, there, you’re talking in your sleep again. Toddle off back to the armchair like a good Dada and I’ll get your tartan blanket. Is that dribble?”

Others are not as bothered. They’ll try Duck, Goose, Ham or Beef. So the recipe I’m featuring here today is either an alternative to Turkey or a dish that you can serve on another day such as Boxing Day or New Years Day. It’s still festive, still allows you to carve at the table and is still tasty and mightily filling.

This sized joint will certainly feed eight adults. You will find a weight conversion chart here if needed

• Place your joint in to a snugly fitting pan

• Pour two litres of Cider in to the pan

• Then add the rest of the simmering ingredients
• Bring the pan to the boil
• Lower the heat and allow to simmer with the lid on for 2 hours
• Turn the joint upside down after one hour
• Keep cider topped up during this process keeping as much of the joint immersed in water as possible

• After 2 hours simmering, with the lid on, remove the joint from the pan and place on to a chopping board or suitable surface
• Remove the string if it has any
• Taking a sharp knife slice off the layer of fat
• Discard both the fat and the cooking liquid

• Score the top of the joint diagonally making pretty  diamond shapes that remind you of Kanye West’s sweaters
• Drizzle olive oil over it and rub this in to the joint
• In a pestle and mortar grind up the rub ingredients (see red ingredients box) and smear them all over the top and ends of the joint
• Place the joint in the oven for twenty minutes at 200c

Serve with roasted veg….

Mashed potato with heaps of black pepper…

..and a table adorned with berries, lights, candles, wine and those you love ….don’t put actual people on the table as humans are not commonly used as table decoration.

I placed a cosy blanket on the back of each chair to try and induce a sense of being in a ski lodge. Don’t ask me why but these little touches are the things that guests LOVE. The blankets are all inexpensive fleecy numbers and make hard backed chairs a darn site more comfortable.

I can’t explain the ski lodge thing further I’m afraid except for the fact that my Mum and I were having a convo yesterday while watching Deck the Halls on Sky Movies. We were saying how much we’d love to spend Christmas at the Ahwahnee and dreaming of how lovely it would be. Here’s my mini version of what I think it would be like. And all I had to do was pop to Ikea for some blankets!

Yay!

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Toad in the Hole Recipe

So, we’re dabbling in a little Wintry comfort eating today and this post is entirely dedicated to my American friends. I had mentioned Toad in the Hole in a previous post/facebook/tweet etc and had some emails from American readers asking me what this dish was as they had heard of it but did not know what was in it. There were also some folk who had always made Toad in the Hole as a fried egg in the middle of a slice of bread.  If you’re an American who does indeed know what my version of Toad in the Hole is then you’re more than welcome to partake in a little chat amongst yourselves as this goes out to those who don’t know.

Toad in the Hole is basically sausages in batter and there are a few golden rules to follow of you plan on making one. These golden rules I have highlighted in the method and also placed below. If needed, you will find a weight conversion chart here.

1. Cook your sausages first. Brown them on all sides as they will not brown sufficiently when in the batter and that is just disgusting
2. Mix the batter very well. Ensuring lots of air gets in to it and all lumps are beaten out
3. Make sure that the oil in the baking tray is very, very hot indeed when you pour the batter in to it
4. Make sure your oven is very, very hot when baking the dish
5. Serve immediately or it will flop and go a wee bit soggy

OK, here goes……

These quantities serve four people

Make sure your oven is on the highest setting 230-240c / 450-475f / gas mark 8/9

• Cook your sausages first as they will not brown once they are in the batter and nobody likes baby pink sausages. In fact I get a little bit of vomit in my throat just thinking about that.
• Once the sausages are cooked set them aside while you make the batter
• Sieve the flour in to a mixing bowl
• Make a well in the bottom of the bowl and add one egg and half the milk
• Whisk together as well as you can
• When ready add the second egg and the rest of the milk
• Continue to whisk together as well as you can
• It’s vital that you whisk the batter well. Get lots of air in to it and mix out each and every lump. Lift it up out of the bowl on the whisk and really put some elbow grease in to it.
• You want to be left with a semi-thick, smooth and lump free batter
• Once your batter has been made it’s time to heat the oil
• Place the oil in an oven proof dish and put in to a very hot oven for a few minutes. You certainly don’t want the oil to be smoking when it comes out but you do want the oil to be very hot.
• Once the oil has been heated, remove it carefully from the oven and again, CAREFULLY place the sausages side by side in the dish in a row.
• Then, carefully, as the oil is very hot, pour the batter over the top of the sausages
• Place the entire dish back in to the very hot oven and bake for between 15 and twenty mins. Try and peek at the dish without opening the door as you want the batter to cook and rise up around the sausages, encasing them, and opening the door may cause a little flopping.

This is what you want the dish to look like once it has been cooked. The batter has been browned, almost overly which is a good thing for this dish and it gives it such a crispy texture. The batter has also risen up and encased the sausages.

Serve immediately with mash, carrots and gravy for one of the most heartiest, comforting Winter dishes you can hope to make.

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Cherry’s British Boston Baked Beans Recipe

In the UK the 5th of November  is celebrated as Guy Fawkes Night and if you are having some peeps over for a bonfire and some fireworks this weekend then I have the recipe for you. It’s hearty and guaranteed to warm the cockles. This is also a recipe that we’ve created specifically for LARGE BOOMING gatherings. So often I bang a chili in to the oven on such occasions but this is just as good and another dish to add to the repertoire.

We needed the perfect dish that we could serve with some nice crusty bread and steamed rice and this dish is perfect for that. Please bear in mind that the quantities I have given will produce 2 large pots (5 lt. pots – I told you it was a lot!) of my British Boston Baked Beans. You can of course half the quantities if you like but if you do decide to make the full amount you will be happy to know that these beanie babies freeze beautifully and are even better having been heated up.

You can find a useful weight conversion chart here.

For the beans…

If the packets of your dried beans tell you to soak all your dried beans in large pan overnight then you must do this.

• The next morning….  drain the beans and distribute them equally between two large pans
• Add 1 litre of water to each of the pans ensuring the beans are totally immersed in the water. Add more water to cover if necessary
• Peel your onion and cut it in half
• Add  half of the peeled onion to each pan along with 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• Put the pans on a high heat and allow them to reach boiling point and then let them boil for a further 5 minutes
• After 5 minutes turn the heat down to a medium/low heat and part cover each pan with the lid
• Allow both pots of beans to gently simmer for 2 hours until the beans are tender

Note: the beans should always be immersed under water so add more water throughout the simmering process if necessary

After 2 hours….

• Drain both pans of beans
• Remove and discard the onion pieces.

For the British Boston mix…

• Use a large mixing bowl to combine the cinnamon, apple cider vinegar, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard and salt and pepper.
• Stir until blended.
• Finely chop the Romano peppers and add them to the bowl.

• Cut the uncooked smoked gammon into smallish sized cubes,  removing any fat from the cut, and add to the bowl
• Then add the crushed (or finely chopped) garlic and stir well until all the ingredients are blended together
• Divide the boiled beans into two separate pans or oven proof dishes – they must be able to fit into the oven and have a lid (I used one large oven proof pan and a one dutch oven)

• Divide the British Boston mix equally in two and then pour over each pan of beans
• Stir gently but thoroughly to ensure all the beans are covered in the mixture
• Pour one litre of fresh water into each of the pans and once again stir gently
• Peel and half the other onion and add the two halves to each of the pans
• Put both pans, with the lids on, into a hot oven – 220c – and cook for 1 hour.
• After one hour remove from the oven and stir well making sure there is still liquid in the pans and they have not dried out.
• Add more water if absolutely necessary but don’t dilute! On the other hand don’t let them dry out. Pesky beans.

At this point the beans will be cooked but to get the most out of all the flavours you have added to the pan it is advisable to let them cook slooowwly for a further three hours in a warm oven – 150c.

Serve immediately …..
or warmed up a little later …..
or even freeze them and eat them another time once defrosted.

They taste great with crusty bread, rice or cornbread.

If you are heading out tonight then have fun. Remember to put your pets inside as they can get scared by the big bangs and don’t pick up a firework after it has gone off as it may still be hot.

Hmmmmm, at least there was one of us paying attention during Blue Peter as a kid! Do you remember those adverts they used to play on the tele around this time. That poor girl who picked up a firework, screamed, and then had to show her hand to the camera!

Jeez, I was scarred for life over that one.

Cx

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Rack of Lamb with Chestnut & Mustard Thyme Crust

Useful Weight Conversions

My parents have a sweet chestnut tree at the front of their house that is five hundred years old and it has never once been tempted by botox. Needless to say it’s growing old terrifically. These chestnuts are a minute portion of this years crop. Sweet Chestnuts are the variety that you can cook with. Horse Chestnuts are not, so make sure you know which ones you’re working with.

With my share of the harvest I decided to create a nutty crust for a delicious rack of lamb and this is how I did it.

Pre-heat the oven to 220c / 425f

• In a bowl place the chopped chestnuts, the breadcrumbs, the thyme, 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper
• Mix together
• Trim the fat from the rack of lamb
• Paint the top of the lamb with a generous layer of french Dijon mustard

• Grab a handful of the crust mixture from the bowl and start covering the lamb with it by pressing the mixture on to the mustard. Some will fall off so do this part over a plate.
• Place the lamb on a trivet  in a baking tray to allow air to circulate
• I cooked the rack for approx 30/35 mins which cooks the meat so that it is medium – although other ovens may vary so do keep an eye on it!

You’ll see that I have served this rack of lamb on a bed of Thyme Sweet Potato and Sauteed Leeks. To make this accompaniment ……

Serves Four

• Peel, chop and boil three large sweet potatoes until they are soft but not mushy
• In the meantime …. heat 1 tbsp of olive oil gently in a pan
• Add to the pan –  1 large leek chopped in to slices, pinch of salt and pepper, 1 crushed clove of garlic, 1 knob of butter
• Sauté gently
• When the sweet potatoes have softened, drain and add to the sautéed  leek in the pan
• Mix and roughly mash the potatoes in with the leeks
• Serve on a large plate, placing the rack of lamb on top
• Serve immediately

I was out early yesterday morning and this is what I saw for the first time ……

Jack Frost is here!

Do you have a lifestyle, foodie, gardening or craft website that links to us?OMG!!! Tell us and we’ll add you to our soon to be published links & favorites page

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Ah ha!!!

It’s Day Two of Pasta Week and today we have one of those recipes that transports your kitchen to the heart of Italy. The smells, the tastes and the look of this dish make me feel proud and I really want you to try it!

REALLY, REALLY!!!!!

TRY IT!!!!

Making the meatballs

CLICK HERE FOR WEIGHT CONVERSION CHART

• Start by chopping your onion and crushing your garlic and mixing together in a large mixing bowl.
• In a food mixer or blender, whiz up the slice of bread until it has formed the breadcrumbs. If you do not have a food mixer or blender, you can crumble the bread yourself by hand or you can buy ready made breadcrumbs at the supermarket.
• Add the breadcrumbs to the mixing bowl.
• Lightly toast the pine nuts (if you haven’t already bought them toasted) and finely chop into small pieces, then add to the mixing bowl.
• Add the marjoram and the minced beef to the bowl and season with salt and pepper.

• Whisk the egg in a separate bowl and pour just half of it into the mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
• Using your hands mix together all the ingredients allowing the egg to bind the ingredients together. If the mixture is still quite dry, pour the rest of the egg in but don’t let it get too wet, please.

Hello meatballs.

• Once all the ingredients are combined, start rolling the beef mixture into small apricot ( Sorry, my size descriptions leave a lot to be desired) sized balls and set them onto a plate
• Dust lightly with flour
• Heat 1 – 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a pan over a medium heat and then add the meatballs
• Fry until they are browned on the outside, this usually takes 4-5 minutes
• When the meatballs are browned remove from the heat and set them aside

Making the Sauce

• Wash the tomatoes and cut them in half, add them to a food mixer or blender and whizz until pureed. If you do not have this equipment then chop, chop, chop until you have very small pieces of tomato.
• Add the tomatoes to a good sized pan place on a medium heat., add the garlic granules, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and red wine, stir together until combined. Allow to simmer gently for about 6 – 8 minutes
• In a separate bowl, add the flour and corn flower to 2 tablespoons of water and mix together until it forms a paste. Then add the paste to the simmering tomato sauce and this will thicken the sauce.
• Add the meatballs and simmer for a further 8 minutes until they are cooked

Serve with my SUPER SIMPLE and BEAUTIFULLY LIGHT homemade spaghetti and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

People, this dish is so free of any kind of rubbish ingredients that you simply must have a go at it. I have to insist. I would very much like to send you all bowls of the stuff via FedEx but my gut feeling is that it could get messy for the postman and take rather a long time. Much better for you to make it yourselves at home and then tell me all about it.

Oh, and if you find yourself wiping a flour smeared brow whilst making it and channeling Malena don’t be alarmed; it’s par for the course and is really rather sexy!

Pasta Week – Day One

Pasta Week – Day Three

Pasta Week – Day Four

Pasta Week – Day Five

Questions? – Send them to info@cherrymenlove.com and we will be sure to answer them to the best of our ability

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Baked Pork in Plum Sauce

We sat down to a proper supper the other night. One with meat and potatoes a lovely gravy. A real glimpse of things to come as we go through the season.

I know from your emails that many of you have had a surfeit of plums this year and it’s great to know that so many of you have made plum jam from those plums. The recipe that is to follow is a wonderful way of cooking with that jam especially if your shelves are bowing from the quantity you have sitting on them.

• Make up the marinade using all of the ingredients in the red box to the right of this page.
• Roll the cuts of pork in the marinade, cover and leave in the fridge for half a day at least but overnight if you can bear it.

It’ll be worth it.

• Bake slowly in the oven at about 240°F/120°c for 3 hours before turning the oven up at the end to 400f/ 200c for the last thirty minutes.

• Take the meat from the baking dish and place to one side keeping it warm.
• Pour the juices from the baking dish in to a hot pan on the stove and add one teaspoon of beef gravy granules or one teaspoon of flour to thicken.
• Pour in to a gravy boat.

Serve the pork with freshly baked potaotes, the gravy the meat was cooked in, lashings of butter and a very empty tummy.

I used  a mixture of pork cuts including ribs, belly and chops. All of them worked beautifully when baked like this.

See you tomorrow morning!

Cherry , x

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Spicy Pork, Tofu & Coriander/Cilantro Rice Recipe

Please click here for weight conversion chart

I remember reading about how Nigella Lawson would go to a restaurant, try a dish and then take the menu home so that she could recreate it herself. I’m not sure if this was true but if it was then in true Nigella style I came home from holiday with the taste of a dish still in my mouth and tried to recreate it in my own kitchen. When we first arrived in Las Vegas, having been awake for twenty four hours we went to a place called Chopstix in the Bellagio hotel for a bite to eat before we crashed. I had a stupid dish of chicken and rice. Literally, chicken breast (dry) and rice (white). Robert the Husband however had Spicy Pork and Tofu. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!

There he was delving in to what looked like an oasis in a dessert to me while I just sat and stared at my chicken breast (dry) and rice (white). I vowed to make his dish as soon as we returned home. And I did. And it was good.

So here it is.

Serves two large portions / four small portions

• Heat the oil in a wok or a large frying pan until it is very hot
• Add the pork mince, garlic and chili and stir fry mixing all those flavors together. This should only take three to four minutes
• Add the tofu (chopped in to bite sized pieces), oyster sauce and fish sauce and stir fry for another three minutes
• Remove from the heat and throw in two handfuls of the coriander/cilantro. Stir in well.
• Dish up in to bowls or plates and sprinkle the remaining coriander/cilantro onto the tops of the portions along with a sprinkling of peanuts
• Serve immediately

I recently tripled the quantities of ingredients and made this dish as a side for a bar-b-q we had at the house.

Every grain of rice was cleared from that plate…….and not by me!

Do try it!!

See you later on for another dish that we tucked in to this past Sunday. It may be the start of something new.

http://www.cherrymenlove.com/gardening_flowers/2010/04/as-the-sun-shines-on-our-faces-we-go-to-work.html