Broccoli, Leek & Stilton Gratin

This is another dish to use up the leftover Christmas Stilton!  You could use any cheese you have to hand though. 

The cheese sauce is based on my Grandmother’s recipe (such as it was) and method – i.e. some milk, some flour, some butter and some cheese!  I’ve attempted to quantify it for you though!! 

The recipe for two as a side, or one as a main dish with some ham or bacon as a side is: 

1 head of broccoli

1 small leek

1oz butter 

½ pint of cold milk

1oz butter

1tb flour

1 or 2oz of cheese (to taste)

Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the broccoli by cutting into florets and cook in boiling water, then leave to drain. 

While the broccoli is draining, slice the leek and sweat gently in the melted butter for appx 10 minutes.

 

When the leek is softened arrange on the base of a gratin dish (or shallow oven proof dish).  Arrange the broccoli on the top of the bed of leeks. 

Make the cheese sauce by adding the cold milk, butter and flour to the cooled pan.  Turn on the heat and cook, stirring continuously until the sauce thickens (I use a small hand held wire whisk for this).  Providing the milk was cold you won’t have any problems with lumps in the sauce.  Season to taste, take off the heat and then add the cheese. 

Pour the sauce over the broccoli.  You could add a little grated cheese at this point if you wish, and a sprinkling of cayenne pepper. 

Pop under the grill until the cheese sauce is bubbling.

Stilton Stuffed Chicken Breasts Wrapped in Pancetta

I came up with this to use up some of the Stilton that was leftover in the fridge from Christmas.  I love Stilton cheese and only ever have it at Christmas, but I went a little overboard this year!  This is a lovely way to use some of it up. 

For two people I used: 

2 chicken breasts

4 slices parma ham

Stilton cheese, to taste (I used appx 1tsp per breast)*

Freshly milled black pepper to taste 

To stuff the chicken, simply butterfly the chicken breasts, season with pepper and dot each with some stilton cheese.  Fold over the top flap of the breasts, wrap in the pancetta and place in a baking dish.  Drizzle them with a little olive oil and give another seasoning of ground black pepper.

Bake in a hot oven (190^oC / 375^oF / Gas Mark 5) for 30 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through.  If any juices accumulate in the dish you can baste the breasts as they cook. 

I served this with some small pasta shapes (orzo) and cooked broccoli.

*You could of course use any blue cheese of choice

Goliath Sausages

Autumn has come to my world surprisingly early this year.  It’s only mid-September and yet the blackberries have gone over, the night time temperatures have slipped to single figures and the mornings are chilly.  Taking the dog for an evening stroll now means returning to the cosy glow of a lamp lit home. 

Yesterday was one such perfect autumn day.  We had a lovely romp out in the cool sunshine and then came home to put this casserole together.  The only thing missing in my world was the Aga!! 

This dish is really just a pared down version of the Guinness sausages recipe I gave a few months ago.  I called it Goliath sausages because I cooked them in one of my husband’s favourite ales – Wychwood’s Goliath ale.  In reality, you could use any ale or dark beer of your choice! 

For two of us I used : 

6 good meaty sausages

2 large onions

2 cloves of garlic

1 small carrot

1 sprig of rosemary

1 bayleaf

1tb flour

2tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 anchovy (optional, but gives a lovely meaty depth of flavour)

Salt and pepper to taste

1tb olive oil 

Firstly, brown the sausages all over.  While they are browning, peel and slice the onions into thick half-moons. 

Cook the onions in the olive oil for 10 to 15 minutes, so that they get nice and brown without burning.  Peel and dice the carrot and cook with the onions.  Finely chop the garlic and add that, cooking for a few minutes.  Add the anchovy and push around the base of the pan to ‘melt’ it. 

Add the flour to the onions and carrot and mix well in, gently pour in the ale (so that it doesn’t froth up too much) and stir in.  Add the rosemary, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce and sausages and give another stir.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Bring to a simmer on the hob and then cover with a close fitting lid.  Cook in the oven at 150^oC/275^o F/gas mark 1 for 3 hours.  You want to have a nice gravy with this so if it seems to dry out at all just add a little more boiling water (half a cup or so). 

This really is best served with buttery mashed potato to mop up the gravy!

 

Blackberry Crumble

Crumble in any guise is a lovely comfort food.  Blackberry crumble is perfect at this time of year, and my absolute favourite. 

The simple rule of thumb with crumble recipes is that you need half the quantity of butter to flour, and the same amount of sugar as butter. 

For a small crumble for two of us I used : 

Approximately 8 to 12oz of blackberries 
2 or 3tsp sugar, to taste

6oz plain flour

3oz butter

3oz caster sugar 

Simply clean the blackberries (I always soak them in salted water for a few hours to get rid of any ‘visitors’!) and arrange in a buttered dish adding sugar to taste. 

In a food processor (or mixer, or by hand) mix the flour, sugar and butter together to achieve a breadcrumb texture.  Sprinkle the crumble topping over and cook at 200^oC / 400^oF / gas 6 for approximately 30 minutes or so. 

Best served with custard, although ice cream is nice too!

Herby Roasted Sausages and Root Vegetables

This is such a quick and easy dish to put together that it’s perfect fare for a weeknight dinner.  It’s also relatively inexpensive, and quite filling. 

Obviously you can use whatever assortment of root vegetables you and your family prefer, or have to hand.  The quantities are easily adjusted to suit the number of people that you are feeding too. 

The recipe (such as it is!) given below is what I used to feed two of us. 

6 good meaty sausages (I always prefer Cumberland)

1 large carrot

½ medium swede (rutabaga)

1 large potato

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

Appx 1tb each of chopped fresh rosemary and sage (use less if using dried herbs)

1tb olive oil

To prepare simply peel and dice the potato and carrot into nice big chunks, cut the swede into smaller pieces as it will take longer to cook.  Peel the onion, halve it and cut each half into quarters.  Peel and slice the garlic and finally wash and chop the herbs. 

Simply toss all of the prepared vegetables, herbs and sausages in a large roasting tin with the olive oil and finally add a seasoning of black pepper. 

Cook in a hot oven (220^oC / 425^oF / gas 7) for approximately 45 minutes.

Hobgoblin Casserole

This is nothing more than beef in beer; I named this after my favourite ale to make it with!  You could use any good beer, I just prefer the Wychwood Hobgoblin.  Wychwood’s Goliath is another very good one, or you could try one of the Black Sheep ales which are very good.

This is a bit of a cheat’s recipe in that I cut out quite a few corners because of time pressures.  With the flavour of the ale and the long slow cooking it makes little difference to the finished dish though! 




 

For two people : 

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

½ lb of stewing beef

4 large mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thickly

1 sprig of rosemary washed and finely chopped

1tb Worcestershire sauce

1tb tomato puree

1tb flour

1 bottle of good ale/beer

Salt and pepper to taste 

Gently cook the onion and carrot in 1tb of olive oil for a few minutes, while you chop the rosemary. 

Add the beef to the onion and carrot and stir together, then add the rosemary and the flour and stir well.  Slowly add the beer (because it will froth up) and then the Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, mushrooms and seasoning. 

Cook,covered in a slow oven for 2 ½ to 3 hours at 150^oC/300^oF/Gas mark 2

 

This is delicious served either with mashed potatoes, or brown rice and a green vegetable.

 

Redcurrant Muffins

The basic muffin recipe here is a Delia Smith one (from her summer collection) that I have been using for very nearly 20 years!  It’s a very adaptable recipe, easy to scale up or down and you can add whatever variety of fruits you have to hand.  

For 12 muffins : 

10oz plain flour

½ tsp salt

1tsp baking powder

3oz caster sugar 

8fl oz milk

4oz butter (melted)

1 egg

1tsp vanilla extract 

4oz redcurrants (or blueberries, blackcurrants, cranberries etc!) 

Simply sift the flower into a bowl together with the salt and baking powder. Add the sugar and stir together. 

Melt the butter and leave to cool slightly.  Beat the eggs and add to the milk, then add the cooled butter. 

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a gentle folding action until both are combined.  Rinse and add the fruit to the bowl and stir. 

Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 30 minutes at 200^oC/400^oF/gas mark 6.