Apple strudel

Our puppy loves apples, actually she loves to eat most things, but apples are one of her favourite things at the minute. On our daily walks we pass by some public land where an old orchard has been left in situ. Our dog soon sniffs out some windfall apples, plays football with one or two and then sinks her teeth into one or two apples for good measure. As well as providing entertainment for exuberant puppies, the orchard allows passers by to take a bag and fill them with apples to take home.

We bring a few apples home from time to time and make a variety of apple-based products. This week I made an apple strudel, which everyone loved.  It is made with shop bought filo pastry, so it is quick to put together and takes about 20 minutes to bake. The dark muscavado sugar turns into a tasty toffee once baked. My family thought that this pastry is like eating a wonderful toffee apple or a sticky toffee pudding. It is superb served with a dash of cream, or with some good vanilla ice cream.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 5

4-5 small, sweet eating apples

juice of ½ a lemon

80g butter

4 sheets of filo pasty

150g pecan nuts, chopped

ground cinnamon

150g dark muscovado sugar

60g caster sugar

a handful of dried cranberries

icing sugar, to dust the strudel

cream good-quality vanilla ice cream, to serve

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.

2. Peel and slice the apples thinly, and put them in a bowl of cold water with a little lemon juice to stop them going brown. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat and keep warm.

3. Carefully take out the filo pasty and place one sheet on a clean tea towel. Mix the pecans, cinnamon and dark muscovado sugar together.

4. Brush the first sheet of filo with melted butter. Sprinkle over a third of the pecan mixture. Lay another sheet of filo pastry on top, brush with butter and sprinkle again with a third of the pecan mixture.  You can have three or four sheets. On the final sheet op with the apple mixture.

5. Drain your apples well and toss with the caster sugar and drained cranberries. Spread them out along one edge of the top sheet of filo pastry. Brush the opposite edge with a little water. Starting at the edge with the apple mixture on, gently lift the edge of the tea towel and use it to help you roll the pastry up lengthways like a Swiss roll – the apples will end up at the centre. Once it’s all rolled up, press your strudel together gently.

6. Place it on a baking try and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Dust with icing sugar and serve cream or with some good vanilla ice cream.

Borscht - beetroot soup

Beetroot is now in season. We have an abundance of beetroot in our garden at the moment. I have roasted quite a lot, pickled some for use later on in the year and made some soups. It is fantastic fresh with a goat’s cheese salad, great roasted and served with a joint of beef and horseradish sauce, and it also makes a tasty Borscht soup.

 

Borscht is a beautiful rich ruby colour. It is good served with a blob of sour cream, chives sprinkled on top and some rye bread on the side. My father was brought up in the Ukraine, so I think that I have quite a good recipe for this Slavic dish. There are a variety of recipes available for this soup. This one is pretty good and definitely worth a try.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 6

1.2 litres chicken stock
or dark beef stock

2 tbsp red wine vinegar


225g raw beetroot, peeled and grated 


600g red cabbage, shredded


2 large tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped

1 bay leaf


2 cloves of crushed garlic

2 onions, grated


4 tbsp soured cream


bunch of chives, chopped

METHOD

1.Put the stock and vinegar in a large pan and bring to the boil. Add the

beetroot simmer for 10 minutes.

2.Add the cabbage, tomatoes, onions, garlic and bayleaf.

3.Cook for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Season well.

4.To serve, garnish with a blob of soured cream and sprinkle with chopped

chives.

Roasted beetroot

Roasted beetroot is simple to make and extremely tasty. It is good served with game or roast beef and a dollop of horseradish sauce.

To serve six people, peel 750g beetroot, chop into wedges and place in a baking dish with a whole head if garlic divided into cloves. Drizzle with olive oil and season. Bake for 35-40 minutes in a hot oven (Gas mark 6, 200 C).

Middle Eastern honey and yoghurt cheesecake

My children love the combination of honey and yoghurt. So when I stumbled across this recipe I just had to give it a whirl. It is good warm or cold and does not have any sugar added to the main recipe – although it does have a wonderfully sweet and chewy amaretti biscuit base. You can serve it with fresh fruit or it as equally good on its own. It is definitely a big hit with honey and yoghurt fans!

INGREDIENTS

Serves 8

100g/4oz amaretti biscuits

85g/3oz toasted flaked almond

85g/3oz unsalted butter, melted

250ml/9floz Greek yoghurt

2 eggs

zest of 1 lemon

zest of 1 orange

250ml/9floz honey

fresh fruit to serve

METHOD

1. Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Crush the biscuits and most of the almonds inside a plastic bag using a rolling pin, Mix with the butter, then press into the bottom of a deep, oval, 23cm dish (or something similar in size - a roasting tin, baking dish or cake tin will work). Bake for 10 mins until crisp.

2. Stir or mash together the yogurt and mascarpone, then whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the lemon and orange zests, then stir in most of the honey, reserving about 3 tbsp. Spread over the biscuit base, cover loosely with foil and cook for 1 hr. Remove the foil and cook for 15 mins more until lightly golden and the top is firm with just the slightest wobble in the middle. Leave to cool. Can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days.

3. To serve, scatter with almonds, drizzle over the remaining honey, and hand around fresh fruit to go with it.

Roast leg of lamb

On a recent visit to the Lake District we sat and had a delicious family dinner of roast leg of lamb after a day of walking up to the top Blencathra. What a fine day! Not only were we rewarded with the most spectacular views from the top of this magnificent fell, we were also spoilt with the quality of the meat to mark the end of a great day out walking in the Lakes.

The lamb was local, succulent and mouth watering. The essence of the meal was to use local and seasonal produce.The meat was simply prepared, laced with garlic and sprinkled with thyme. I served the lamb with roasted tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinegar, a mixed bean salad (broad beans and French beans, all in season in August) and sautéed new potatoes.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 6

I kilo leg of lamb

olive oil

garlic cloves

a few sprigs of thyme

salt & pepper

METHOD

1. Turn on your oven to gas mark 6, 200 C

2. Cut up your garlic cloves into chunky pieces, pierce the le g of lamb with a sharp knife and insert the pieces of garlic under the meat. Season the meat well with salt and pepper.

3. Drizzle some oil in to a meat tray and heat up the tray on your hob until the oil is hot. Place the meat in the tray and seal of the meat on all sides, making sure that it takes on a good colour. This should take around 10 minutes. Then place some sprigs of thyme on and around the lamb.

4. Place the meat in the oven and cook for approximately 45 minutes for medium rare or 60 minutes for well done, turning the meat every 15 minutes and baste the lamb. Once cooked take the meat out of the oven and allow the meat to rest before serving.

5. Whilst the meat is cooking prepare the sautéed potatoes, roast tomatoes and mixed bean salad (you will find the recipes below and in the menu index). 

Broad bean and french bean salad

Broad beans are in season from July through to the end of August. They are delicious in this hot mixed bean salad and good enough to eat on their own with a hunk of bread.

INGREDIENTS

serves 6

600g podded broad beans

600g fine French beans, trimmed

olive oil

small bunch of spring onions, chopped

olive oil & balsamic vinegar for the dressing

1. First cook your beans by cooking them in boiling salted water for a short time (2-5 minutes) so that they retain their colour and crunch. Drain them and place them in a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process.

2. Heat up a frying pan with some oil. Add the chopped spring onions and cook for one minute until they start to soften. Add the beans and heat through for 2 minutes. Add the dressing (balsamic and oil) to the pan and heat for 30 seconds. Season and serve.

Roasted tomatoes

Roasted tomatoes work well with meat and fish. The basil, garlic. balsamic and olive oil give this dish a wonderful mediterranean flavour.

INGREDIENTS

serves 6

6 medium sized tomatoes, halved

olive oil

2 tbspns olive oil

1 tbspn balsamic vinegar

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

handful of basil leaves

Place some oil in a pan with some thyme and place the tomatoes in the plan sliced side down. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for 3 minutes until coloured. Turn the tomatoes and drizzle with balsamic vinegar, season and place in the oven for 20 minutes until caramalised. Remove from the oven and allow the tomatoes to rest before serving for 5 minutes.

Sautéed potatoes

Sautéed potatoes can be made with new potatoes. They are also good made with old potatoes and can be made all year round, make sure you use a good waxy potato like the Maris Piper or Desirée
so that it holds its shape if you are using an older spud.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 6
1 kilo potatoes
1 knob of butter
2 tbspns olive oil
salt & pepper

1. Boil your potatoes whole until they feel soft with a knife. Drain and cut the potatoes into cubes.

2. Heat a pan, adding olive oil and a knob of butter. Put the potatoes in the pan and cook on a slow to medium heat until the potatoes are crispy and light brown all over. Season and serve.

You can also add other flavours to your potatoes, for example a sprinkle of oregano or rosemary with a couple of cloves of chopped garlic added a couple of minutes to the pan before serving. Or you could fry up some slices of onion to stir in with your potatoes.