If you're feeling cold, frazzled and just generally down-in-the-dumps because winter is coming then we've got a little treat for you.
Food lovers, feast your eyes on this selection of tasty recipes from Melrose and Morgan's new book 'Good Food For Your Table: A Grocer's Guide'.
Savoury Bread Pudding | Serves 4
This is a great way to use up day-old bread. Throw in some grilled crispy smoked bacon for added flavour.
Ingredients:
175 g day-old bread (weighed with crusts removed)
unsalted butter, for the oven dish
1 large leek
100 g cavolo nero
6 sprigs of oregano
100 g Caerphilly cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper
2 tbsp white wine
250 ml double cream
250 ml milk
5 eggs
Equipment:
sharp knife and chopping board
30 x 20 cm ovenproof dish
box grater
2 large saucepans
medium mixing bowl
deep roasting tin
Preparation:
Cut the bread into 2 cm cubes.
Butter a 30 x 20 cm ovenproof dish.
Trim the leek, then wash and chop it.
Remove the stalks from the cavolo nero and wash and shred the leaves.
Pick and wash the oregano leaves.
Grate the cheese.
Method:
1) Cook the leek and herbs in the oil until softened but not coloured, season, add the wine and cook for a few more minutes. Blanch the cavolo nero in boiling water for three minutes, then squeeze out excess water.
2) Make the custard by whisking together the cream, milk and eggs and season well with salt and pepper.
3) Toss the leek, cavolo nero and half the cheese with all the bread cubes. Place in the dish, pour over the custard and allow to stand for one hour so the bread absorbs the custard. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining cheese.
4) Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
5) Place the oven dish in a deep roasting tin. Pour enough hot water from the kettle into the tin to come halfway up the sides of the dish, then bake for 50 minutes, until the custard has set and the top is golden brown.
Ham Hock, Pear and Parsley Terrine | Makes 750 g
Great as part of a buffet or to take on a picnic. We suggest setting it in one dish or terrine, but feel free to set it in three smaller containers. It’s most successful when the hock is cooked long and slow, to break down the meat and release the flavour.
Ingredients:
1 unsmoked ham hock (about 1 kg)
1 carrot
1 onion
6 garlic cloves
500 ml dry cider
1 pig’s trotter, cut in half length-ways (get your butcher to do this)
6 cloves
4 star anise
1 dried chilli
1 tbsp white peppercorns
1 tbsp fennel seeds
3 bay leaves
1 Conference pear
1 tbsp chopped parsley leaves
Equipment:
sharp knife and chopping board
large saucepan
sieve
box grater
lined terrine
Preparation:
Rinse the hock and soak it in clean water overnight.
Peel and roughly chop the carrot and onion.
Crush the garlic cloves.
Method:
1) Remove the hock from the soaking water and rinse it under fresh water. In a large saucepan, cover the hock with the cider and fresh water and bring slowly to the boil, then add the trotter, carrot, onion, garlic, spices and bay.
2) Bring to the boil and simmer for four hours until the meat falls away from the bone. Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the poaching liquor.
3) Discard the trotter (it will have released its gelatine into the poaching liquid). Strain the liquid through a sieve, then heat and boil to reduce by one-third.
4) Shred the ham hock meat, discarding all the fat. Peel and grate the pear and mix with the shredded meat and the parsley.
5) Place the meat into a lined terrine, cover with the reduced poaching liquid and allow to chill and set in the fridge overnight. This will keep for five days in the fridge.
Bonfire Sauce Chicken Wings | Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 kg chicken wings
3 tbsp of runny honey
75 ml soy sauce
75 g tomato ketchup
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
50 ml sunflower oil
2 splashes of Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp white wine
1 tsp smoked paprika
A pinch of chili flakes
1 tsp sea salt
Black pepper
Method:
1) To make the marinade - in a bowl mix the runny honey, soy sauce, tomato ketchup, white wine vinegar, sunflower oil, Worcestershire sauce and white wine.
2) Add the smoked paprika, a pinch of chilli flakes, sea salt and a grinding of black pepper and stir.
3) Put 1 kg of chicken wings in a plastic food bag and add the marinade.
4) Seal and put in the fridge overnight.
5) The next day, return to room temperature and preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
5) Cook the chicken for 35 minutes until charring on the edges.
Ginger and Lime Treacle Tart | Serves 6
For more consistent results, use fresh breadcrumbs. We use ginger to add depth and lime to balance the sweetness. Serve with crème fraîche.
Ingredients:
For the sweet pastry:
100 g chilled unsalted butter
230 g plain flour, plus more to dust
75 g icing sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
For the filling:
1 lime
25 g crystallised ginger
400 g golden syrup
100 g honey
150 g fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp double cream
Equipment:
zester and juicer
sharp knife and chopping board
large mixing bowl or food
processor
rolling pin
20 cm tart tin with removable base
saucepan
Preparation:
Finely grate the zest and juice the lime.
Chop the crystallised ginger.
Method:
1) To make the pastry - Chop the butter for the pastry. Rub the butter into the flour either in a large mixing bowl with your fingertips or in a food processor. Add the icing sugar and egg and bring together into a ball. Roll out to 2 mm thick on a work surface lightly dusted with flour and use to line a 20 cm tart tin with removable base, 2.5 cm deep.
2) Rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Line the tart shell with baking parchment, weigh it down with raw rice or baking beans and blind bake for 20 minutes until the pastry is cooked through. Allow to cool.
3) Heat the syrup and honey gently in a saucepan, then remove from the heat and add the lime zest and the crumbs.
4) Allow to cool for 20 minutes until the crumbs start to absorb the syrup.
5) Beat the egg and both types of ginger with the cream.
6) Add to the bread mixture with the lime juice and give it a good stir.
7) If the mixture seems a bit dry or stiff, add a little more golden syrup. Pour into the tart shell.
8) Place in the oven on the baking sheet and cook for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Recipes from the Good Food For Your Table: A Grocer's Guide by Melrose and Morgan.