Heritage cooking - an adaption of one of Mum's recipes

When I was a child, too long ago to mention, my Mum baked every Sunday.  The results would be served up to me and my brother at tea time and added to my Dad's packed lunches - we had the joy of school dinners!
Her repetoire included Victoria sandwich cakes, jam tarts, ground rice cakes, squashed fly pie, almond slices, egg custards - sadly with very soggy bottoms, Mary Berry would not have approved -  and, as an occasional treat,  she would make toffee tarts.  I have no idea where the original recipe came from but they were a confection of pastry case, sugar and dried fruit made even sweeter with a splodge of icing.
My teeth ache at the mere thought of them.

But the memory of the sheer pleasure these brought made me think it would be worth re-visiting her original recipe and adapting it to a more grownup palate.

And this is the result - sweet, sticky, but a little more sophisticated than those teatime treats

Short crust pastry
4oz plain flour
2 oz butter
Cold water

Place the flour in a large mixing bowl, cut the butter into small pieces and add to the flour.
Rub together until you have a mixture resembling fine breadcrumbs.
Alternatively, chuck the flour and butter into a food processor and do this the quick way!!

Add just enough cold water to bring it all together into a stiff dough.  Place in a plastic bag or greaseproof paper and leave in the fridge for ½ hour.

Grease a 10" pie dish.  Roll out the pastry and line the pie dish.

Filling
1oz butter
4oz brown sugar - dark is best
3oz chopped dates
3oz chopped walnuts
1 egg
1 orange

Place the butter and sugar into a saucepan  and place over a low heat until the butter  has melted and the sugar dissolved.
Remove from the heat.
Finely grate the orange and add the zest and the juice to the butter mix.
Stir in the dates, walnuts and egg.

Pour over the flan case and bake at 170ºC for approximately 30 minutes.

Serve in thin slices - it is very rich -  with custard, ice cream, creme fraiche or clotted cream
A custard flavoured with lemon rind and bayleaf goes beautifully with this.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Eat your greens

This is a very green salad - best served slightly warm and no cooler than room temperature.

200g green or Puy lentils
1" ginger in julienne strips
2 cloves garlic, halved

1 large onion
½ head Hispi cabbage
2 sticks celery
2 tblsp oil
Grated rind of 1 lemon

Vinaigrette

1 pack of feta cheese
Handful of sorrel or mint

Place the lentils, ginger and garlic in a saucepan and generously cover with water.
Bring to the boil and simmer until the lentils are cooked, but are not mushy.

Halve and then finely slice the onion.
Heat the oil in a wok and add the onions.  Cook over a medium heat until just starting to brown.
Add the chopped celery and finely shredded cabbage.  Throw in the lemon rind.
Cook until the cabbage wilts and then remove from the heat and transfer to a serving dish.

Tip the drained, warm lentils on top of the cabbage and dress with a generous glug of simple oil, mustard and vinegar dressing.

Top with cubed feta and sorrel (or mint) 
Serve with bread or new potatoes.


© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

Wild garlic dumplings

Yet another way to make use of the abundance of wild garlic.  This came about as I was researching ideas for outdoor cooking - but more of that to come.
In the meantime make do with these little mouthfuls of moreishness.

6 medium floury potatoes
100g plain flour
Salt and pepper
2 eggs
A handful of wild garlic
50g butter
2 tblsp olive oil.

Boil the potatoes in their skins until soft.
Drain and allow to cool.
Peel them and place in a large mixing bowl.
Mash coarsely - you do not want a smooth mash, a few lumps are desirable.
Stir in the flour and eggs and season well.
Finely chop the wild garlic and mix in with the potato.

Bring a large panful of water to the boil.

Drop large teaspoonfuls of the mix into the water - do not overfill the pan: 6 - 8 at a time is enough.

When they rise to surface, lift them out, drain and set aside.
Continue until all the mix has been cooked.

Put the butter and oil in a frying pan - a 12" pan is ideal for this and heat until the butter foams.

Transfer the boiled dumplings to the frying pan and cook on all sides until golden brown

These are perfect with a bean stew, bacon and eggs, along side some smoked belly pork, or dropped into a tomato soup.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Damson custard crumble - a gluten free pudding

Another Autumn favourite - fruit crumble. 

We are fortunate not only to have damson trees in the garden, but also to live in an area of the country where they grow abundantly in the hedgerows.  So this time of year is a particularly purple hued season for us.

                                          

This recipe was inspired by a demonstration at the 2013 Ludlow Food Festival by our friend, Marcus Bean and has been modified as a gluten free version of a traditional favourite.

I have used my own damsons, but any plum variety would work just as well.  I can gather cherry plums, bullaces, Marjorie Seedlings and damsons between home at the Workshops.

400g damsons
320ml single cream
3 egg yolks
100g sugar

200g chestnut flour
100g pistachios
120g butter
70g  sugar


Poach damsons in 100ml water until just soft.

Leave to cool, remove the stones and sweeten to taste - they will be added to a sweet custard, so retain a little bit of sharpness for contrast.

Pour the cream into a milk pan and heat gently.
Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks and sugar together and add 1 tsp vanilla extract.
Whisk in the hot cream, return to the pan and stir continuously until the sugar has dissolved.

Place the stoned damsons in an ovenproof dish and strain the custard over the top.
Cook in a low oven, 170ºC for around 30 minutes - until the custard is just set, a little wobble is a good thing.

Chop the pistachios very finely and put into a mixing bowl with the chestnut flour.
Chop the butter, add to the flour and rub in until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Stir in the sugar.

Tip the mixture into an oven proof frying pan or prospector pan

When the custard is cooked, remove from the oven and turn up the heat to 200ºC
Put the crumble mix in the oven,  after 10 minutes cooking, give it a stir and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.

 To serve, dish up the custard onto a pudding plate and surround with crumble mix.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Gluten free honey cake

This was inspired by the kind gift of a jar of very local rapeseed honey and after I posted the pictures on Twitter, I've been asked to share the recipe.

I am not gluten intolerant myself, but have friends who are, so I like to come up with recipes that we can all share and enjoy, rather than marking them out as "different", or worst still getting them a gluten-free special from the supermarket.

This is a deliciously moist cake, which can either be eaten on its own, or served with a little extra something - see  below - as a dessert.

2 eggs
120g butter
120g runny honey
60g ground almonds
80g chestnut flour 
(You can also make this with 120g of self raising flour or a combination of 40g chestnut flour and 80g self raising flour)
30g pine nuts
Grated rind and juice of one orange

Pre heat the oven to 170ºC
Lightly toast the pine nuts - I've discovered that our blini pan is perfect for jobs like this.

Keep an eye on them - they burn in a instant :-)

Cream the butter and honey.

Add the orange rind and juice and beat in the eggs.

Fold in the almonds, chestnut flour and pine nuts.

Pour the mixture into a 22cm cake tin and bake for approx 30 mins, this will depend on your cooker.

If you want to serve this as an indulgent dessert, lightly toast a handful of chopped walnuts in a small pan , then add a couple of tablespoons of honey and the grated rind of an orange. Warm gently.

Serve the cake with a dollop of Ricotta cheese - the fresher the better and the honeyed walnuts poured over the top.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Lemon, lime and vodka ice cream - strictly for adults

This is a rather fine ice cream, enhanced with a slug of vodka, making it a special grown-up treat.
Of course, if you are feeling virtuous or want to share with the kids you can leave the vodka out.... or you could just feed them some vanilla!

                               


You will need.....
250 ml double cream
150ml full fat milk
Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime
100ml Greek yogurt
2 eggs
150g sugar - more or less according to taste
Slug of vodka

Measure out 100ml of cream and put into a milk pan with the milk.
Heat gently.
Whisk the eggs, sugar, rind and juices together.
When the milk and cream are just coming to the boil, pour over the egg mix and whisk well.
Return to the pan.

Cook gently, stirring continuously until the custard coats the back of the spoon.

Transfer to a bowl and cool quickly - I stood mine in a bowl of iced water.

                                               

When cold, add the vodka.

In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining cream until it just holds its shape and then stir in the yogurt.

Pour the lemon custard in and mix gently.

Pour into a plastic container and place in the freezer.

                                                   

Be patient until it has frozen.... you can always keep yourself distracted by making some shortbread to go with it..

50g crushed pistachios

50g sugar

100g butter, cubed

100g plain flour

4 heads of lavender

Pre-heat the oven to 140ºC

Place the pistachios and flour into a mixing bowl.

Rub the butter into the flour and pistachios.

Add the sugar and finely chopped lavender.

Knead together to form a ball of dough.

Roll out to approx, 10mm thick.

Cut into rounds and place on a baking tray

Place in the oven and cook for around 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Spaghetti with wild garlic and lemon sauce

Symond's Yat spaghetti

More wild garlic.......... a recipe named after the delightful location where we gathered a large bag full.

Yet another use for the glorious green stuff before it disappears again until next Spring.  This time I've mixed it with a refreshing lemon zing for a glorious Spring dish.
This can be served on its own or with a variety of extras including chicken, either poached or breadcrumbed and fried; poached salmon; green veg - especially in-season English asparagus or even some crispy pancetta

120ml white wine
Grated rind of 1 lemon
250ml double cream
400-500g spaghettit or tagliatelle - depending on your appetite and what you're serving it with
50g wild garlic
Salt and pepper

Put the wine in a pan, bring to the boil and turn down to a simmer. Reduce to half the original volume
Put the pasta on to cook, according to the pack instructions - the 8" saucepan is ideal.

Add the lemon rind to the wine and slowly pour in the cream.  Heat gently and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Drain the pasta, reserving a ladleful of the cooking liquid.

Add this liquid to the cream sauce and then stir in the spaghetti.
Chuck in the chopped wild garlic and stir well to mix.

Here it is topped with broccoli and leeks for a "meatfree" Monday supper

Let me know if you've got any other ideas of what to serve with this - or if you have a wild garlic recipe we can publish.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk