Red Tomato Chutney

Tie in a muslin (I use a bit of old nappy liner!):

½ cinnamon stick
¼ oz. whole allspice
¼ oz. bruised root ginger
¼ oz. cloves

Chop 2lb tomatoes, 8oz. onions and 8 oz. cooking apples.
Simmer with spice bag and ¼ pt. malt vinegar, ½ tsp. salt, pinch of cayenne, until softening.
Stir in ¼ pt. more vinegar and 12 oz. brown sugar( I find this a bit much).
Cook until like thick jam (about 3 hours)
Add 8oz. sultanas.
Remove spice bag.
Filled hot jars. Cover and store in a dark place.

Sherwood Salad

1tin Red Kidney beans, drained

1 medium onion - sliced

2 ripe tomatoes

1 stick celery

1 dessp chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

French dressing

Simmer onion in salted water until just tender - 3-4 min.
Scald and peel tomatoes, cut in half, remove seeds and hard core. Slice each half into 4.
Put beans into a bowl with onion, celery, tomatoes, parsley and seasoning.
Moisten with French dressing (2 tbsp. oil, 4 tbsp vinegar and seasoning).
Mix well and serve with cold meat or as a starter.

Muscavado Heaven

Serves 6

500g tub of Greek Yogurt

568ml carton double cream

6 tbsp dark muscavado sugar

(Its important to use this and not just brown sugar.)

Whisk the Greek yoghurt and double cream together in a bowl until thick, then spoon into 6 individual cups or glasses.
Sprinkle with the muscavado sugar and chill for at least 1 hr.(best overnight). Serve with a thin, sweet biscuit, such as a ginger thin.

Liz’s Brownies

Makes about 20 squares

225g butter

450g granulated sugar

100g SR flour

75g cocoa powder

4 large eggs (at room temperature)

A few drops of vanilla essence

Chopped mixed nuts (optional)

Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Mix in all the other ingredients lightly. (Don’t over mix.)
Spread in a greased baking tray (32 x 27 cm)
Bake for approx. 25 – 30 min. at 190° C or gas mark 5.
Leave in the tin for 10 min. before cutting into squares (if you can keep the gannets at bay that long!)
Cool on a wire rack (if there are any left!)

Baba Ghanoush

This is Nadia's recipe as served on Burn's Night and much acclaimed.

Serves 3-4

2 big aubergines

3 tablespoons tahini paste (sesame paste)

4 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons Yogurt (optional)

1 clove of garlic, crushed (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Make a slit in the skin of the aubergines and place under a hot grill for a few minutes on each side until cooked or until the skin is blackened on all sides. Leave it to cool down, then peel the skin off and put the aubergines in a colander for a few minutes to get rid of all excess liquid. Put the aubergines and other ingredients into a food processor to make into a dip, or crush the aubergines with a potato masher, and mix the other ingredients to get a rougher mix.

Serve cold topped with some olive oil and chopped parsley or fresh basil.

You can add more or less of the flavouring ingredients as appeals to personal taste.

Crab Apple Jelly

6lb crab apples

3 pints water

Cloves or bruised ginger (optional)

Sugar

Wash the crab apples and cut into quarters without peeling or coring. Put into a pan and add the water. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 1 ½ hours or until the fruit is mashed, adding a little more water if necessary. A few cloves or some bruised ginger may be added during this stage to give extra flavour. Strain through a jelly cloth, measure the extract and return it to the pan with 1 lb. sugar to each pint of extract. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and then boil rapidly until a “jell” is obtained on testing. Skim, pot and cover in the usual way.

Tips

It helps to freeze the fruit before thawing again and cooking up. This helps the initial mashing/break down time.

For a lovely clear jelly do not squeeze the jelly bag. It is preferable to leave it to strain overnight.

Chicken Orange Casserole

4 chicken joints skinned

1 level teasp ground ginger

½ teasp salt

½teasp pepper

Butter oil for frying

1 onion chopped small

¼pt. orange juice

¼pt. cider

1 thin skinned orange

1 level tblsp cornflour

2 tblsp golden syrup

Orange segments to garnish

Mix ginger, salt and pepper together and rub into chicken joints. Melt butter in pan and fry joints to brown and then place into casserole. Fry chopped onion and finely cut rind of orange for a few mins. Drain and add to casserole. Blend cornflour with a little of the orange juice in pan and add remainder of the orange juice and cider. Stir while bringing to the boil. Add syrup and pour over chicken joints. Cover and cook for one hour at 350˚Arrange orange segments on top of casserole contents and cook for q further 15 – 20 mins.

NB Mushrooms, peppers and carrots etc may be added to make a more substantial pot. These should be fried with the onion and orange skim.

Eton Mess

Ingredients (Serves 6)

A great one that is so easy - no special machine needed and no midway stirring required. Adapt using different fruit purees.

Fold in egg yolks and puree and ½ pint whipping cream lightly whipped. Put in an old ice cream container or other container of 2 ½ pint capacity. Level. Put lid on . Freeze overnight. Defrost a bit before attempting to scoop. Scoop out. Pile scoops on plate with leaves and brambles to decorate.

Peel and remove the seeds from a butternut squash. Cut into 2cm squares. In a large pan soften 1 finely chopped onion in 25g butter. Stir in 1 tablespoon curry powder. Add the squash and 3 peeled, de-seeded and chopped tomatoes. Stir in 425 ml chicken or vegetable stock, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 20 – 30 mins. until the squash is soft. Liquidise or process in a food processor or blender and return to the pan. Stir in 1 can of coconut milk and reheat gently. Garnish with chopped spring onions (optional) and serve.

These are very easy, very nice cookies that have a squish as well as a snap. Enjoyed by many at the Saturday coffee morning.