Month: December 2021
Christmas Muffins
These muffins are full of Christmas flavours – fruit, spice, and orange but are lighter than the traditional Christmas pudding and a lot quicker to cook! They can be served instead of the pudding or cake or can be eaten for breakfast on Christmas morning. The fruit really does benefit from at least 24 hours soaking but you can speed things up a bit by mixing all the ingredients and wazzing in the microwave for 30 seconds. This does help to plump the fruit up and absorb the flavours of the spices. I quite often soak double the quantity as it will keep over the Christmas period in a closed container in the fridge and a spoonful will perk up all sorts of things – left over red cabbage, sliced brussel sprouts, glazed carrots in the veg line and of course, its handy for making more muffins!
Ingredients
- zest of ½ an orange
- 80g raisins
- 25g cranberries (I used the ones pre-soaked in apple juice)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 Tablespoons brandy
- 30g dark brown sugar
- 250g SR flour
- 5 teaspoons doves baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarb powder
- 100g castor sugar
- ½ teaspoon mixed spice
- juice of an orange
- 150ml milk (approx)
- 75 g melted butter
- 1 large egg
Directions
The day before cooking the muffins (see note above), place the raisins, cranberries, spices and the brandy in a small bowl. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and add the orange zest. Simmer for 5 minutes, drain and refresh with cold water. This removes any bitterness in the rind. Drain thoroughly and cut into the most narrow strips you can. Add to the bowl and cover, shaking from time to time to mix all the lovely flavours and to make sure all the spirit is absorbed by the fruit.
When you are ready to cook preset the oven to 210°C and line a muffin tin with paper cases. Mix the dark brown sugar into the spiced fruit.
Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb, spice and castor sugar in a large bowl. Mix the milk and orange juice in a measuring jug, topping up to the 200ml mark with milk. Beat the egg lightly and add to the jug. Pour in the melted butter, give it a quick stir and pour into the dry ingredients, lightly mixing everything together. I find a large fork best for this as the mixture is quite stiff and the fork helps to smooth the lumps out without beating it too much.
When everything is mixed, put into the paper cases with two teaspoons – the cases should be about ¾ full. Put a heaped teaspoon of the fruit mixture in the centre of each and place in the hot oven. After 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 200°C and cook for a further 8 – 10 minutes when they should be risen and golden brown. Test they are cooked with a toothpick, which should come out clean when inserted into the spongy part. Serve with cream or brandy butter if you like.
Macaroni Cheese with Tuna and Sweetcorn
November Comfort Food
It seems you can’t walk into a café or pub these days without a version of Mac’n’Cheese on offer and its even available as a ready meal! I must admit there is something quite alluring about the creamy sauce coating pasta, a lovely one dish meal to eat by the fire or watching TV. It really is an easy dish to make and I love “bakes” as putting the oven on warms the kitchen and the smells pervade throughout the home – a real test of comfort food.
I can’t remember exactly where this version came from – I’ve been cooking it since the kids were small and has proved a winner over time. It has endless possibilities of course, layering anchovies or roasted strips of red pepper over the top pizza style for one, sliced tomato perhaps or even dotted with “salad seaweed” such as dulse. Its also quite good to finish up any soft cheese, crème fraiche etc., just reduce the amount of milk a little to compensate. I like to use a mixture of grated cheese as well – it just depends what you have in the fridge. One of the red cheeses gives great colour to the sauce and parmesan sprinkled on the top makes a slightly crusty finish. Serves 2 or 3.
Ingredients
- 175g elbow macaroni (gomitini)
- 135g onions
- 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 50g cornflour
- 650ml milk
- 160g tin tuna in olive oil (sustainably fished)
- 140g sweetcorn from a can
- 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
- 150g cheese, grated
- salt and black pepper
Directions
Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the gomitini. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 8 minutes (the pasta should not be cooked all the way through). Place a cup in the sink and drain the pasta in a colander over the cup to catch some of the pasta water. Remove the cup from the sink and run the pasta under cold water to stop further cooking. Shake well and leave to drain.
Finely slice the onions and sauté in the olive oil until they are transparent. Crush the garlic and add to the pan. Stir and fry for a few minutes then add the dried oregano and 250ml of the reserved pasta water. Simmer until the onions are cooked through – most of the water will evaporate.
Whilst they are cooking, mix the cornflour with half the milk in a small bowl. It helps to do this with a hand blender to make sure it is well incorporated and also this would be the time to add any other bits of soft cheese etc. (see above). Add the rest of the milk to the bowl.
Return to the pan with the onions. Add the can of tuna with all the oil and break up the lumps. Add the sweetcorn. Place over a low heat and add the milk mixture. Gently stir this mixture until it thickens and then remove from the heat.
Add half the pasta then two thirds of the cheese and stir well. You may need to do this in the pan you originally cooked the pasta in. Add the remaining pasta, stir and season with the salt and pepper. Pour this into an oven-proof casserole, sprinkle the parsley on top and cover with the remaining cheese. Place into a preheated oven at 185ºC for approximately 20 – 25 minutes until the top is golden and bubbly. Serve with a green salad.
