Tag: recipe

Xmas Recipe: Gingerbread Christmas Trees

By on 12th December 2015in Food & Drink, Lifestyle

Nothing says ‘Christmas’ like gingerbread…

 

Ingredients:

  • 120g Greenvale Unsalted Butter
  • 150g The Pantry Demerara Sugar
  • 150g Grandessa Honey
  • 350g The Pantry Plain Flour
  • 1 tsp The Pantry Bicarbonate of Soda
  • 3 tsp Stonemill Ground Ginger
  • 1 tsp Stonemill Ground Cinnamon

To Decorate:

  • 100g Icing Sugar, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 tbsp Water
  • Silver Ball Decorations

Method:

To begin with, slowly melt the butter, sugar and honey in a pan, then sieve together all of the remaining ingredients. When the sugar, butter and honey have completely melted, they can be added to the dry ingredients and mixed until well combined.

When the dough is cool enough to handle, knead and form a ball, and then leave it in the fridge (wrapped in cling film) for half an hour to become more manageable.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas mark 6.

When the dough has cooled, roll it out between two pieces of greaseproof paper to about half a centimetre thick, and – using 3 different sized star cutters – cut out 4 large stars, 4 medium stars and 8 small stars.

Place the stars on a baking tray and press the dough back together. Roll it out again and cut out the same amount of stars.

Bake them for 4-8 minutes (you may have to remove the smaller stars earlier as the larger ones will take longer to cook).

While the biscuits cool, make the icing by mixing the icing sugar and water.

To complete the gingerbread Christmas trees, place a small amount of icing on a big star, and then stack the stars on top of each other in size order, using the icing to bind them together.

Decorate with a dusting of icing sugar and the silver balls.

Makes:

  • 4 large or 8 small trees

Ready:

  • 20 minutes

Prep Time:

  • 10 minutes

Cook Time:

  • 8 minutes

Have you followed this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments below!

Recipe: Moroccan Spiced Chicken With Yoghurt, Chickpeas And Roasted Carrots

By on 6th October 2015in Food & Drink, Lifestyle, What's New?

Master Chef winner (and In & Around contributor) shares his recipe for a great family dish…

This is a fantastic family dish that makes a nice change from traditional roast chicken. I recommend placing the halved, juiced lemon in the chicken cavity before cooking.
After cooking, while your chicken is resting, pop the pitta bread in the oven to warm. Enjoy!

 

– 1 whole large chicken (1.6kg approx)
– 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
– 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
– 2 teaspoons ground cumin
– 1 teaspoon hot chilli powder or finely chopped red chilli
– 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
– fresh coriander, chopped
– 1 tin of chickpeas (about 400g), drained
– salt and ground black pepper
– juice of 1 lemon
– 1 500ml tub of natural yoghurt
– 1 tablespoon of clear honey
– a bunch of baby carrots, scrubbed, tops left on
– 1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
– olive oil
– 6 wholemeal pitta bread

With a pestle and mortar, grind (or blend in a food processor) the cumin seeds and coriander seeds with the chilli powder, garlic, fresh coriander, and a handful of chickpeas until you have a paste. Season this with salt and black pepper. Add the lemon juice and yoghurt.

Use half of this flavoured yoghurt to coat and cover the chicken all over. Add the honey to the other half of the flavoured yoghurt and put it in the fridge. Cover the chicken and leave to marinate overnight if possible (but for at least an hour).

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Place the carrots in a roasting tray with the remaining chickpeas, then sprinkle with the ground cumin, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and toss together to coat.

Place the marinated chicken in a roasting tray and put in the oven with the tray of vegetables on the shelf below. Cook for an hour and 20 minutes, tossing the carrots halfway through (chicken needs to cook for 20 minutes per 450g/1lb). Remove the chicken from the roasting tin and set aside to rest.

Serve with the carrots, warm pitta bread and flavoured yoghurt on the side.

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below!

Recipe: Scallops With Prosciutto And Granny Smith Apple

By on 20th September 2015in Food & Drink, Lifestyle, What's New?

One of Gareth Kyle’s earliest memories is being caught by his mother in the kitchen at 8 years old, with a pan on the stove cooking… lemonade soup!

“I had a frying pan on the go, and in it was chopped cucumber, tomato and lemonade! I was inspired by Keith Floyd to make that concoction, and I’m glad to say my skills are a bit sharper now!

I’m a self-taught cook, and I’ve taken part in a number of cooking competitions. I was a winner of the 2012 EAT! NewcastleGateshead Trial Shift Competition, and the 2011 Masterchef Live competition at the BBC Good Food show. I then went on to win a Masterchef ‘Champion of Champions’ event at the London Studios. In 2010 I was a final regional contender on ITV’s Britain’s Best Dish.”

 

– 3-5 scallops per person
– 8 slices of prosciutto
– 3 granny smith apples
– 1 lemon
– 50ml water
– 30g sugar
– 150g plain flour
– 2 eggs
– 250g panko breadcrumbs
– vegetable oil for frying
– knob of butter

To finish…

– olive oil
– garlic, cress, or chives

To make the apple purée, peel, core and chop one of the apples, and put into a saucepan with the water, sugar and juice of half a lemon. Simmer until soft, and purée using a hand blender.

Core and chop the rest of the apples into matchsticks, and dress with the rest of the lemon juice to stop them from going brown. Set aside.

Prepare the scallops by removing the orange coral. Cut the coral into smaller pieces and pané them (coat in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs) before frying in Vegetable oil until golden.

In a frying pan with a little oil, fry the scallops for two minutes each side. Add a knob of butter to the pan for the last minute, and baste the scallops in butter before leaving to rest in the pan (off the heat), while plating the rest of the dish.

Place the prosciutto on the plate with apple sticks, and puree round the outside. Add Scallops, the crumbed roe, and garnish with garlic cress and a drizzle of oil.

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below!

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