Butternut Squash, Red Peppers and Chickpea parcels.

 Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash (1.2kg)
• 2 red onions
• 1 bulb of garlic
• ½ x 460 g jar of roasted red peppers
• 1 x 700g jar or 2 x 400g tins of chickpeas
• 2 tablespoons ras el hanout , plus extra for dusting
• 1 bunch of mint (30g)
• 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley (30g)
• 3 tablespoons dried cranberries
• 100 g couscous
• 100 g feta cheese
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 1 x 270 g pack of filo pastry
• 1 tablespoon runny honey
• 2 tablespoons unsalted pistachios
• 1 lemon
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon rose harissa
• 2 x 400 g tins of plum tomatoes
• 8 tablespoons natural yoghurt

• Method 

1. Bake the butternut squash, onions and garlic on 180c for 2 hours on a non-stick baking tray. 
2. Allow to cool, squeeze out the garlic and roughly chop the squash and onions, discarding the skin and seeds. 
3. Drain the peppers and roughly chop about 1cm pieces. 
4. Add half the chickpeas, discard the liquid. 
5. Season well with salt and pepper, mix in finely chopped mint and parsley. 
6. Mix in the cranberries and couscous.  Mix well but don't crush.  Using hands after this to crumble and crush gently the feta with the mix. 
7. Using a muffin tin, place 6 sheets of filo over the tin, cut and gently push into the tin. You can use melted butter or veg spray between the sheets, but not always needed. 
8. Spoon the mix into the filo cases so they are just over full.  Sprinkle rad el hangout and rosemary over the top with a few pistachio.  A drizzle of olive oil, then bake for 22-25 minutes on 180c

Serve hot or cold with some sour cream and some spicy tomato and rash el handout dip. 

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Pellet Smoker Christmas Turkey.

I've now had my Pit Boss PB1000XLWL Austin XL Wood Pellet Grill for several months.  So far, the experience has been extremely good.  So it's Christmas day, and although I started the prep on Christmas Eve, today was the long 6-7 hour smoke.

I used the Traeger Grills Cherry Wood Pellets from BBQ World  set to 120c (250f), although for the first 30 minutes had it running at 150c(300f).

Turkey Prep:

Ingredients.

Turkey 6.7Kg (14.7lbs) from Allisons Butchers

Unsalted butter 225g (8oz)

Red onions X 3

Chestnuts vacuum packed 120g(4oz)

Fresh sage, thyme and rosemary, parsley.

Carrot X 4

Leek X 1

Garlic Bulb X 2

Clementine X 1

Lemon X 1

Sausage meat 220g(8oz)

Salt.and black pepper.

Olive oil or rapeseed oil.

Turkey Brine:

For years I relied on accurate cooking, tin foil, butter and luck to ensure the turkey remained moist, occasionally getting it wrong with a turkey drying out too quickly.  When deciding to use a smoker on a long and slow roast, ensuring the moisture of the meat was going to be key.  There are many different brine recipes for  turkey, I decided to go for a festive brine.  24 hours in a salt, sugar mixture with cinnamon, star anise, Clementine pealings, onions, black peppercorns and bay leaves.

I made sure I took the turkey out of the solution and fridge 2 hours before placing onto the smoker.

Chestnut and Sausage stuffing:

This can be made a few days before, but only stuffed into the neck end of the turkey an hour before cooking.

Finely dice 1 red onion and soften in a frying pan with a knob of butter and a little bit of olive oil (not virgin olive oil) or rapeseed oil.

When softened add a couple cloves of crushed garlic and a good few leaves of finely chopped sage.  After a few minutes, chop and add the chestnuts.  Cook away for a few more minutes with some salt and pepper to taste.  Then set aside to cool completely. 

Once the mixture is cooled, add the sausage meat and mix well using your hands, mechanical mixing can add heat and upset the sausage meat (making it a bit sad).

When all mixed, place into the fridge until ready to use as turkey stuffing, but also great as stuffing balls.

Turkey cook day:

Looking to get a really nice smoke on the turkey but wanted to make sure it was not overcooked.  Given the high quality of the bird, I estimated 25-30 minutes per lb, a lower quality would be 30-35 minutes per lb.  So around 7 hours at a temp of 120c (250f).  Two hours to warm up, and 90 minutes at the end to rest.  

Using the remaining veg as a trivet along with the giblets and neck to help build the gravy at the end.

After the first hour, the turkey already started to taking some of the smoke.

Using a meat probe I decided to cook until 75c (170f).

During the warming up process, I stuffed the neck end with the chestnut stuffing, and butter, sage, garlic under the skin.

The final turkey was cooked to perfection, meat succulent and moist, and the colour was exactly what you are looking for on a special day.  The cherry wood pellets also ment that the flavour of the meat wasn't overpowered by the smoke.

Worth the effort.

Orange cake with Orange Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup of fresh orange (2 satsumas in food processor including rind)

160g unsalted butter 

80g Self Raising Flour

80g light muscovado sugar 

60g ground almonds

1/2 tsp of baking powder 

2 eggs

Orang caramel syrup Ingredients 

Juice of 2 oranges

150g light Muscovado sugar

30g unsalted Butter

100ml double cream

Pinch of salt.

1. Pre heat oven to 170c/160fan

2. Whisk together the blitzed orange, soft butter and sugar.  Don't worry if it looks split.

3.  Add eggs, and whisk again.

4. Fold in the ground almonds, sifted flour and baking powder.

5. put into 6 large muffin cake moulds or tin 

6. Place in over for 15 to 20 minute's until top is golden brown 

7. Heat light muscovado in a heavy saucepan to 150 to 160 degrees, do not let burn. Take off heat

8. Add double cream and stir until mixed

9. Add in Orange juice and return to heat.

10. Bring to boil for 1 minute

11. Take of heat, add butter and gently hand whisk until butter dissolves.

12. Set aside to cool 

Serve with a side of vanilla ice cream withe the caramel sauce served reserved (very rich).

Perfect Pork Crackling

Ingredients 

Morrisons Pork Skin for Crackling

Process 1

Standard oven cook.

Preheat oven to highest level

Dry off pork skin an deeply score with a sharp knife.  Then rub salt deep into the skin, making sure it has a good coating.

The Morrisons skin comes with very little fat, so a little oil on the bottom of the pan.

Roast for 20-30 minutes

This gives an ok result.  It misses the gelatinous fatty layer you get when cooked on the meat.

Process 2

Poach and fry

This is almost a pork scratching type of process.  Firstly cut the pork skin into strips, then put in a pan of boiling, very salty water, pan for 20 minutes.

Drain then place the strips into a warm oven to dry for 10 minutes. 

Heat a pan of oil to 170c then fry off the pieces

This is my favourite. When it comes out of the fryer I dust it with a coating of onion salt

Process 3

Steam and roast

Cut pork into squares, salt and flavour (I used Chinese 5 spice) then steam for 20 minutes.

Place on a pan an roast in oven for 20 minutes.

This is my least favourite,  there isn't enough fat to give it the puffiness I wanted

Process 3a

Using vinegar. 

After 20 minutes in a hot oven, sprinkle a  small amount of cider vinegar over the skin and cook for further 10 minutes.

Out of all the process 3 methods, this is the most successful. 

Process 3b

Instead of roasting the skin, shallow fry skin down.  Use enough oil to keep skin covered but not floating. 

Process 3c

Instead of shallow frying, deep fry until crispy.  Allow the skin the curl.  

Lemon Tea Cake

INGREDIENTS 

240g plain flour

2tsp Baking Powder 

350g caster sugar

5 eggs

140g double cream 

80g melted butter

3 lemons (juice and zest)

Glaze

Apricot jam

Icing sugar

2 lemon rind and juice

Method

Heat oven to 180

Beat all the wet ingredients with the sugar until combined. 

Add flour and baking powder,  then beat again for 1 minute

Put into lined bread tin.

Cook for 40 minutes

For the glaze, first warm apricot jam and paint over the cooled cakes.  Then combine the icing sugar with the lemon juice and rind in a pan over a low heat.  Then paint a thin cover over the cooled cake.

Banana & Apple cake

I woke up this morning and wanted some fresh fruit.   However,  all the fruit Inhad was starting to get to the end of their life span.

This took 50 minutes at 180c fan to cook to give it a really tasty caramel outside. I also used a 26cm Non-Stick Savarin Cake tin from John Lewis.

Ingredients 

3 very ripe bananas 

5 eating apples

80g currants

150g Self Raising flour

80g ground almonds

200g brown caster sugar

1tsp baking powder

80ml rapseed oil

60g soft butter.

3 large free range eggs

Lemon juiceb

Vanilla 

Directions

1.  Pre heat over to 180c fan/gas 5

2.  Coat inside of cake tin with a thin layer of butter and 20/30g sugar

3.  Peel 2 of the apples the cut them into eighths.  Remove the hard core then soak in bowl of cold water with juice of a lemon.

4.  Put peeled bananas into a separate bowl and crush with a fork.  To a nice, smooth consistency.  

5.  Mix in 3 whole eggs to the banana with a whist and once well combined add the oil.

6. Once the oil banana mix is nicely combined,  add 140g of the sugar and vanilla essence.   Mix well.

7.  Go back to the chunks of apple and place them into the bottom of the tin.  Dot the remainder of the butter over them, then sprinkle the remainder of the sugar evenly. 

8.  Using a sieve, add the flour, baking powder and ground almonds.   Fold this into the mix, but be careful not to over mix.

9. Grate the remaining apples into the bowl with the lemon and water.  I prefer keeping the skins on, but feel free to take it off.

10.  Drain the grated apple really well, squeezing out as much of the liquid as you can using a cloth.

11.  Add the grated apple and currants, stir in to mix well, then add to the cake tin on top of the apples.

12. Bake for 50 minutes, leave 10 minutes before turning out onto a plate.

Lemon Curd and Blueberry Muffins

These are tasty when eaten normally, but fresh from the oven. Wow!

Key part to this recipe is the Lemon Curd.  Easy to make fresh and so much tastier.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients 

4 lemons

200g caster sugar

100g butter

4 eggs

Directions

1.  Place the butter, lemon juice, lemon zest and sugar in a heat proof bowl and place over a bowl of simmering water.  Never boiling the water as it might get water into the mix.

2.  When the butter mix is melted, keep stirring until the sugar is dissolved.  Then slowly add the beaten eggs.

3.  Keep stirring until the curd thickens, able to form streaks.  If it overheats it can cuddle and undercooked it goes runny .  Test it on the back of a spoon.

Muffins

Wet Ingredients 

• 50 ml rapeseed oil
• 150ml low fat yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 10ml milk
• Zest of lemon

Dry Ingredients 

• 250g Self Raising Flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 100g golden caster sugar
• 100g blueberries

Directions 

1.  Place all the wet ingredients into a bowl and whisk to form a very runny liquid batter.  Make sure the oil and yogurt have blended.

2.  In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients,  making sure not to bash the blueberries.   Be gentle.

3.  Pour the wet mix into a well in the centre of the dry mix.  Then gently fold until all the dry mix is consumed.  If it's too dry you can add more milk, a spoonful at a time.

4. Put into 12 lined muffin tin, then carefully top with a spoonful of lemon curd.  Using the small spoon to make a pit at the same time.

5.  Sprinkle the top with some more caster sugar the put into a hot 180/160c fan oven and bake for 22 minutes.   Check cooked with skewer. 

Serve warm