Good Grub

Olive oil specialist Filippo Berio has put together this gorgeous dish that’s perfect for the cooler evenings.

Italian Butterfly Lamb
Serves 6-8
Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus overnight marinating
Cooking time: 40 minutes, plus 15 minutes standing

1 leg of lamb, approx 1.8 kg/4lb, boned
3 large sweet onions
Filippo Berio Olive Oil
Sun-Dried Tomato and Balsamic Vinegar Marinade:
120ml/8 tbsp Filippo Berio Olive Oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
4 tsp dried oregano
5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp salt

Method:

1. Open out the boned leg of lamb, discard excess fat, and cut through the centre slightly so the meat can be laid out in a long flat piece. Put into a large dish.

2. Mix the marinade, and pour over the lamb, turning it so it is covered all over. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

3. Bring the lamb to room temperature before cooking. Peel and thickly slice the
onions, brush with oil on both sides.

4. Place the lamb on a medium hot barbecue, and cook for 20 minutes each side. Transfer the lamb to a carving board, cover with foil and stand for 15 minutes before carving.

5. Meanwhile, cook the onion slices on the barbecue and serve with the lamb.

Cook’s tip: Ask the butcher to bone the lamb or buy a joint that has been boned and rolled, then remove string and unroll.

www.filippoberio.co.uk/recipes

Tags: autumn, Filippo Berio, Italian, lamb, October, olive oil, recipe

September brings with it an array of gorgeous seasonal produce such as blackberries and apples. It’s also the perfect time of year to enjoy onions, as this delicious vegetable is at its freshest and best tasting. Olive oil specialist Filippo Berio has produced the following mouth-watering recipe which incorporates onions and is ideal as either a snack, starter or as part of a main.

Serves 6-8 Preparation time: 25 minutes Cooking time: 50 minutes Pastry: 175g (6oz) plain flour pinch salt 40g (1½oz) butter 40g (1½oz) white vegetable fat Filling: 500g (1lb 2oz) red onions 1 tbsp lemon juice 4 tbsp Filippo Berio Mild and Light Olive Oil 2 tsp fresh rosemary spikes, chopped 75g (3oz) black olives, pitted and roughly chopped 3 medium eggs 284 ml carton single cream Salt and pepper 50g (2oz) Gruyere cheese, grated

Method:

1. To make the pastry, put the flour and salt into a bowl, add the fats and rub in to make a fine crumb texture. Add 3 tbsp cold water and mix with a flat bladed knife until the mixture forms a dough. Gather up and knead lightly until smooth on a lightly floured work-surface.

2. Roll out, keeping a nice round shape, to line a 23cm (9”) diameter metal quiche tin, pricking the base with a fork. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, peel the onions and slice into thin wedges, then place into a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and toss together. Heat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/400°F or Gas Mark 6.

4. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onions and fry very gently for 15 minutes or until softened, stir in the rosemary and allow to cool.

5. Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans, then bake for 10 minutes until beginning to colour around the edge. Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 180°C/Fan 160°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

6. Place half of the onions into the flan case and spread evenly then scatter over half of the olives and half of the cheese.

7. Beat the eggs with the cream, and season. Pour three quarters over the onions then top with the rest of the onions, remaining egg mixture, olives and cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly golden.

www.filippoberio.co.uk/recipes

Tags: olive oil, red onion, September

Put on your flip-flops, don your shades and enjoy a deliciously decadent scoop this summer with Kelly’s Ice Cream.

With fingers crossed for a scorching summer this year, Kelly’s Ice Cream is sure to treat. Available in six mouthwatering flavours, there’s one for every occasion. Choose from best selling Clotted Cream, Mint Choc Chip, Honeycomb Caramel, Strawberries & Cream, Coffee Latte and Cornish Dairy Vanilla.

Whether in a cone, on top of fresh strawberries or even as an accompaniment to a slice of fruit pie, the rich indulgent taste of Kelly’s Ice Cream will take you back to childhood memories of sun drenched summers. Bring out this gorgeous looking tub at barbecues or family gatherings and watch the compliments roll in.

Made in Bodmin, Kelly’s Ice Cream has lashings of clotted cream and whole milk, fresh from cows that graze on Cornwall’s lush green grass. The result is a distinctive flavour and velvety smoothness that you won’t find in any other ice cream.

It takes over 100 years of experience to make an ice cream as good as this (Kelly’s secret recipe has been handed down through three generations) and you can taste it in every mouthful.

In the event you might need some summertime recipe inspiration, Kelly’s has come up with a deliciously decadent recipe.

Easy Strawberry Meringue Sundae

4 egg whites
250g golden icing sugar
Kelly’s Cornish Clotted Ice Cream or Kelly’s Strawberries & Cream Clotted Ice Cream

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Put the egg whites and sugar in a clean, dry bowl (don’t use a plastic one, as they can be greasy) and beat with the whisk attachment of an electric food mixer or hand-held electric beater until the mixture is foamy and stiff.

This will take about 10 minutes so don’t use a hand whisk. Spoon the meringue onto baking trays lined with baking parchment in small dollops for individual meringues. Remember that it will spread as it cooks, so leave room between individual meringues. Cook for 35–45 minutes until crisp, and then remove from the oven and leave to cool. Break down the meringue into chunks and place in a tall glass.

Mix with fresh strawberries and Kelly’s Cornish Clotted Cream Ice Cream or Kelly’s Strawberries & Cream Clotted Cream Ice Cream and serve.

The Kelly’s range includes:

• Cornish Clotted Cream Ice Cream 1 litre
• Strawberries & Cream Ice Cream 1 litre
• Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream 1 litre
• Honeycomb Caramel Ice Cream 1 litre
• Coffee Latte Ice Cream 1 litre
• Cornish Dairy Vanilla Ice Cream 1 litre
• Cornish Dairy Vanilla Ice Cream 2 litre

Prices start from £2.99 for a 1 litre tub and are available from supermarkets nationwide.

Tags: Cornish, Cornwall, ice-cream, meringues, strawberry

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35-40 minutes
Serves 12

5 large eggs

150g/5oz caster sugar

a few drops vanilla essence

150g/5oz plain flour, sifted

100ml/4floz Filippo Berio Mild & Light Olive Oil

Filling:

150ml/ ¼ pt double cream

150g/5oz strawberries, halved

3 tbsp strawberry conserve

Icing sugar to dust

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Oil and base line two 20cm/8in round sandwich tins. Use an electric whisk to whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl until they are really thick enough to leave a trail on the surface, when the whisk is lifted.

2. Gently fold in half the flour with a metal spoon, then half the oil. Repeat, working very lightly. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for 35-40minutes or until golden and springy to the touch. Cool for 10 minutes; remove tins, then transfer to a wire rack and leave until cold.

3. To decorate, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks; mix the strawberries and conserve together. Cut the cake in half and sandwich together with the cream and strawberries. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

www.filippoberio.co.uk/recipes

Tags: Add new tag, cake, cream, June, sponge, strawberry

MOCHA CHOCCA CHIP CAKE – FRUISANA RECIPE OF THE MONTH – DECEMBER

Fed up with traditional fruity festive fare? Don’t like fruit cake, stollen or mince pies? Look no further as help is at hand from the Fruisana Kitchen – this recipe for a delicious moist Mocha Chocca Chip Cake which is great for the lunch box and yet rich enough to serve as dessert with a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream.

Mocha Chocca Chip Cake

175g butter, softened

100g Fruisana Fruit Sugar

3 large eggs

200g self-raising flour, sieved

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 tablespoon coffee essence

100g chocolate chips

Place the butter and Fruisana into a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.

Beat in each egg then fold in the flour, cocoa powder, coffee essence and chocolate chips.

Place the mixture in a lined 2lb loaf tin and bake fan oven 160°C, electric oven 180°C or gas oven mark 4 for 1 – 1¼ hours until well risen and firm to the touch.

Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out and cooling completely.

There are lots more recipes to be found on the Fruisana Fruit Sugar website www.fruisana.com

Tags: cake, chocolate, Chocolate chip, Christmas, December, fruisana, Mocha, recipe

Home baking is enjoying a resurgence – it’s official: the WI reports renewed interest in its baking courses, with sales of courses up 60 per cent*; retailers report a dramatic sales increase in baking utensils with one online retailer reported to be selling a biscuit cutter every 15 minutes**. Fruisana Fruit Sugar reports renewed interest in the baking recipes on its website www.fruisana.com And it’s not surprising – the plethora of cookery programmes on TV, foodie websites and our love of cookery books, have shown us how easy and rewarding home baking can be.

The feeling of satisfaction when you take your freshly baked cake from the oven, combined with the delicious smell and the promise of the pleasure to come when you share it with your friends and family takes some beating, and more and more of us are choosing to spend our spare time relaxing this way.

By using Fruisana Fruit Sugar in your baking instead of regular sugar, you will find that the flavours are enhanced. You need use less Fruisana than ordinary sugar and your end result will be more satiating as well as tasty. If you choose foods which have a low Glycaemic Index (GI), there will be minimal impact on raising the blood sugar level, thus reducing those energy peaks and troughs. Fruisana’s GI value (only 19) means longer lasting energy and reduced temptation to snack, because it helps prevent the hunger pangs associated with low blood sugar levels.

Here, fresh from the Fruisana Kitchen, is a simple recipe which is sure to become a firm family favourite – the cardamom adds a lovely spicy flavour and it is fabulous for afternoon tea.

Cardamom Cake
Ingredients:

225g butter, softened
175g Fruisana Fruit Sugar
4 large eggs
150ml natural yogurt
200g self-raising flour, sieved
200g wholemeal self-raising flour, sieved
10 cardamom pods, remove the seeds and grind them in a pestle and mortar
or use 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom
175g raisins
100g chocolate chips

Method:

1. Place the butter and Fruisana into a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.

2. Beat in each egg then beat in the yogurt, fold in the flours and ground cardamom seeds mix thoroughly.

3. Gently stir in the raisins and chocolate chips, place the mixture into a lined 23cm (9inch) round deep cake tin.

4. Bake in a fan oven 160°C, electric oven 180°C or gas oven mark 4 for 1½ – 2 hours until well risen, golden in colour and when tested by placing a skewer in the centre it comes out clean.

5. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out to cool completely.

And once you have tried this recipe you can experiment with your own. The Fruisana website www.fruisana.com has a host of more recipes and welcomes feedback and recipe suggestions. You can also become a Friend of Fruisana for advance news of events and special promotions.

To obtain a free set of recipe booklets from Fruisana, just phone 0800 279 1114 or email information@fruisana.com

Tags: cake, fruisana, fruit sugar, recipe, tea time

Tags: almond, buns, easy, fruisana, homemade, macaroons, quick, recipe

 Summer is here and what better way to enjoy the warm weather than to indulge in a spot of alfresco dining with Young’s Seafood prawns.

Less than 100 calories per portion, a natural source of Omega 3 and naturally low in fat, prawns are the perfect healthy summer addition to any barbeque, picnic or outdoor party.

All Young’s prawns are easy to use and come packaged ready to eat. Simply defrost from frozen or use the chilled variety direct from the pack. They need only need to be added a couple of minutes before the end of preparing the dish to heat them through.

Young’s Greenland and Caribbean King prawns are incredibly versatile and can be used across a variety of dishes. They are perfect when tossed in with a salad, used as a sandwich, stir-fried or included in curries.

For the more adventurous, why not use the recipes below

Potted Prawns

These prawns are amazingly sweet and really delicious, mixed with butter

Serves 4

You will need:

375g Young’s Greenland prawns

Good pinch of cayenne pepper

Good pinch of mace

Pinch nutmeg

A twist or two of black pepper

Butter

To make:

Pound the prawn flesh to a paste in a pestle and mortar. Season with cayenne and mace. Mix in plenty of softened butter and put into ramekins. Chill in the fridge for an hour or two before serving with hot toast.

© Mitch Tonks

Quick Fried Caribbean Prawns with Ginger and Chinese Greens

These prawns have an amazing texture and added to a quick stir-fry like this, they are fantastic. Everyone loves these Chinese flavoured prawns.

Serves 2

You will need:

200g Young’s Caribbean prawns

1 inch piece of fresh root ginger (finely chopped)

1 garlic clove (finely sliced)

25ml Chinese rice wine

25ml Chinese rice vinegar

1tsp brown sugar

Pinch ground star anise or five spice powder

50ml soy sauce

2 heads of pak choy

To make:

Mix together the soy, five spice, rice wine, sugar and rice vinegar. Add a little oil to a hot wok or frying pan, then add the garlic and ginger. When it starts to brown, add the greens and the prawns and stir-fry for a few minutes until the greens start to wilt. Pour in the sauce and cook for a further minute. Then serve. Fantastic.

© Mitch Tonks

The Best Prawn Cocktail

I love a good prawn cocktail. It can’t be beaten!

It’s really about the quality of the prawns and I like to use the really sweet Greenland prawns and mix in a few of the firm textured Caribbean ones. They are a great combination together and make a luxurious lunch or starter.

Serves 2

You will need:

150g Young’s Greenland Prawns

150g Youngs Caribbean Prawns

2 little gem lettuces (finely shredded)

4 spring onions (finely sliced)

Squeeze of lemon

For the cocktail sauce

Small jar of mayonnaise or about a cup full of homemade

4 tablespoons tomato ketchup

Dash tabasco

Splash whisky or brandy

Pinch cayenne pepper

To make

Mix the lettuce with the spring onions, a little salt and a squeeze of lemon and put in the bottom of two glasses. Make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together until it is to your taste, adding a little more or less of everything to suit you. Stir the prawns into the sauce and place on top of the lettuce. Garnish with a sprinkling of cayenne.

© Mitch Tonks

Spaghetti with Caribbean Prawns, Fresh Tomato and Chilli

This is a really quick dish and I love pasta with shellfish. This makes a fantastic dish to share and goes well with a nice cold bottle of Pinot Grigio.

Serves 2

You will need

200g Young’s Caribbean Prawns

150g Dried spaghetti

8 ripe cherry or baby plum tomatoes sliced in quarters

Small handful chopped basil

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

1 mild chilli (seeds removed and finely chopped)

Squeeze of lemon

Salt and pepper to season

To make:

Add a splash of good olive oil to a frying pan and add the garlic. When it starts to turn golden, add the chilli and tomatoes and cook for a minute or two, until the tomatoes start to “melt” adding the prawns. Cook the spaghetti until it has just a firm bite, then add to the pan with a handful of basil and a squeeze of lemon, mix well and serve.

© Mitch Tonks

www.youngsseafood.co.uk

Tags: caribbean, greenland, prawns, recipe, seafood, spaghetti, youngs

Harvest Sausage Casserole

Ingredients:
200g (8oz) pork chipolatas
Large Bramley apple (peeled & sliced)
200g sliced pre-cooked carrots
1 medium onion (peeled & sliced)
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
3-4 slices bread (crusts removed)
75g grated Cheddar cheese

Fry the chipolata sausages in a saute pan until browned. Remove to a warmed plate, then clean the pan. Fry the sliced onions in a little light olive oil until soft. Add the apple and fry until soft. Add the stock and carrots. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. Place the slices of bread on top, pressing down gently to absorb some of the gravy. Sprinkle with grated cheese then put the saute pan under a pre-heated grill for 3-4 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is starting to brown. A complete meal as it is, or serve with potatoes for hungry appetites.

Tags: apples, casserole, recipe, sausages

Marmalade Making the Easy Way!

February is Seville Orange season and marmalade making time!

The normal method is to chop the fruit first, and put the pith and pips in a bag to extract flavour and pectin. It’s much, much easier to cook the fruit first and then chop it. The addition of a litre of orange juice gives the finished marmalade extra flavour and body.

Makes about 10 x 1lb jars

1.5kg Seville oranges
2.5kg sugar (you can use jam sugar for high pectin fruit or ordinary sugar)
2 lemons
1 litre water
1 litre orange juice

Wash the oranges and lemons; make a slit in the skin. Place in a preserving pan with one litre of water.

Gently cook the whole fruit for around an hour, to an hour and a half, or until the oranges are very soft.

Leave to cool (overnight is good).

Lift the fruits out of the liquid, and squeeze each one into the liquor to remove juice and fruit pulp. Don’t squeeze so hard that the pith comes out as well.

On a large board, open up the fruit (discard the lemons if you prefer), scrape out the pith, which comes away easily, then chop/slice the cooked peel according to preference.

Put the chopped peel, orange juice and sugar into the liquor in the preserving pan.

Slowly bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Bring the marmalade to the boil and boil rapidly for 15 minutes.

Then test for a set:

If you have a suitable thermometer, put it in the middle of the pan. You should have a set when it reads 105C (220F).

OR:

Put a saucer into the freezer to cool down.
When you think the marmalade is ready, take the saucer out of the freezer and put about 1/2 teaspoon of marmalade onto the plate.
Allow it to cool.
Push your finger through the marmalade: if it wrinkles, you’ve got a set.
If not, boil for a further 5 minutes and test again.

Allow to cool, and remove any scum from the top.

After around 20 minutes, stir again to distribute the orange peel.

Pour into hot, sterilised jars and cover.

Note: to sterilise a jar, wash the jar and lid in soapy water and rinse well. Put upside down in an oven at 100C for 20 minutes.
OR
Use straight from a hot wash in a dishwasher.

Tags: citrus, easy, marmalade, oranges, Preserves, recipe