Its quince time!!

I had a lovely delivery from my friends orchard yesterday of beautiful fragrant quinces, they still have their beige velvet coats intact too, the smell coming from my fruit dish is amazing.

I always look forward to cooking with them as its such a treat, lots of the quince trees were pulled up shortly after the war to make way for other things, thankfully many farmers have now realised we shouldn't lose our quinces and have started planting them again.

Festive Mincemeat bars!!

These are mince pies in a different and simpler form and are great for anyone who doesn't want to make pastry, you can also get away with offering them to people who 'don't do mince pies'.

While they are baking they make the whole house smell cosy.

Here is the recipe:

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4/ 180° standard electric or 160° fan or 350F

8 inch square cake tin, lined I either use square paper cake tin liners or baking sheets cut to size.

200g/ 70z butter (from fridge so its chilled)
200g/ 70z soft brown sugar
200g/ 7oz plain flour
1 level tsp bicarbonate soda
100g/ 4 oz porridge oats

450g/1lb mincemeat (mine has added glacé cherries to it)
a good slug of chocolate liqueur (it is almost Christmas after all)

Take the butter straight from the fridge and grate it right into the bowl, then add the sugar, flour, bicarb and oats and mix by hand, the mixture will look dry and like it won't come together at this stage but it just like shortbread and as soon as you push it into the tin it will mould together beautifully.

Halve the oaty mix and tip into the tin, push down with fingertips, making sure you get into the corners.

Pour in the mincemeat and spread over the oaty mix with the back of a dessert spoon so that it is nice and even.

Finally pour over the rest of the oaty mix over and push down again with the tips of your fingers until all of the mincemeat is covered.

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 35 - 40 mins.

Allow to cool completely before removing from the tin and cutting into bar shapes, otherwise it will do this as I have absolutely no patience.

Put some fire in your belly!

Today I have been to the farmers market in Ludlow, this is run on a regular basis and you are always guaranteed to find something that extra bit special. One of the stall holders today was a man called Talfryn who runs a lovely local company called Fareground he makes the most amazing pepperdew's I've ever tasted they are stuffed with soft cheese and soaked in olive oil, I also picked up some beautiful little onions that were marinated in balsamic vinegar and some freshly made harissa.

From another stall I got lovely yellow courgettes and yellow tomatoes, yellow tomatoes are my favourite and lets face it any tomato that has been chilled and flown x amount of miles is never going to come close to anything like these which were picked this morning and then sold to me a few hours later, I've already eaten half of them while pottering about in the kitchen I like eating them just like an apple, delicious!

Using most of what I bought, here is what I made for dinner:

Harissa Baked Chicken

1 chicken breast per person
1 heaped teaspoon harissa
rapeseed oil
1 teaspoon local honey (mine is obviously from Shropshire, so use what is local to you)

You will also need a lidded oven proof dish.

With a sharp knife (this is a joke in my house as my husband uses my best knifes for DIY jobs when I'm not looking) Cut slits across the top of the chicken breast, this is so the harissa will soak deep into the chicken while its marinating.

Next, in a small bowl mix the harissa with the honey and stir well. Add a little rapeseed oil to the baking dish and rub around the bottom and sides, add the chicken breasts to the dish and then rub each one thoroughly with the harissa that was mixed with the honey trying to ensure each one is well covered. leave in the fridge to work its magic for at least two hours.

Remove the dish from the fridge an hour before you plan to start cooking, while this is happening I prepared my potatoes and courgettes.

The courgettes were topped and tailed and then sliced into thin discs before being cooked in a little rapeseed and butter on a slow heat with a lid on.

The potatoes were halved, slit across the top (just like the chicken) and par boiled for tens mins before being put on a baking tray with more rapeseed oil (I heated this in a small pan along with saffron) and then poured it over the potatoes before putting them in a very hot oven, the rapeseed makes lovely crispy potatoes which is great when you're not having a roast dinner or want something lighter than goosefat.

On a low shelf in the oven cook the chicken in a preheated oven 150°/gas mark 2/300f and bake for 1 1/2 hours keeping the lid on. Check after the first hour, as everyone's ovens are slightly different.

The chicken was so moist and tender I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way again, the flavours of the harissa were amazing, of course I couldn't help but add a final flourish of fresh rose petals, this is me after all, any excuse to add a floral note and I will.


As you can see from the picture I also used the pepperdews and balsamic onions.

Autumn is the season of Plenty!

Well I haven't blogged for quite a while now and this isn't because I haven't been cooking because I have, I just haven't shared my recipes that's all.

A few weeks back I got bombarded with emails from a very well known supermarket, telling me I should blog and stating that I should use the value range that they stock, well first of all this is my blog and I talk about what I like, I will never ever be pushed around by a big name and secondly I would not buy that rubbish food anyway, I only buy my meat from a proper butcher and try and buy local right from the source, I'd be a bit dumb if I didn't living in such a beautiful place and having some of the best potatoes right on my doorstep, as well as lots of other things. The said supermarket thinks its tapped into a new area by hassling bloggers, let me tell you this isn't the way to go, so take you value range and put it where the sun doesn't shine.

Now I've got that firmly off my chest I will tell you about the beautiful apples I picked from my friends ancient orchard the other day, some are so old they don't even know what varieties they are but the shapes and colours and especially the flavours are pretty wonderful, so here they are ready to be made into a big deep apple pie.

Raspberry Ice Cream!

The beautiful English Raspberries are in season right now and not everyone wants to turn them into pots of jam so this really simple ice cream recipe is perfect and every spoonful tastes like summer.

600 ml 1 pint double cream
200g evaporated milk (small tin)
1/2 vanilla pod
450g fresh raspberries
250g caster sugar

warm the sugar, double cream and vanilla pod in a pan over a low to medium heat, just until the sugar melts, do not boil.

Remove the pan from the heat then add the evaporated milk and raspberries.

Add the mixture to a blender and blitz until smooth, if you don't have a blender mash the raspberries with a potato masher until they give ooze the fuchsia coloured juice into the cream.

Pass the whole mixture though a wide netted sieve then pour into an icecream maker and churn for 45 mins, then pour into a tub and freeze until required.

If you don't have an ice cream maker pour into a plastic tub and remove every hour and stir until set to break up any ice particles.

This is also lovely on meringue nests.

One Lemon Curd!

Me and the microwave don't normally get along but this recipe is lovely, you can see the magic working before your eyes.

The rind and juice of 1 lemon (preferably unwaxed because the rind is in the recipe)
25g/1 oz butter
100g/4 oz caster sugar
1 egg beaten

Makes 1 small jar

In a small microwave proof bowl, add the lemon juice, rind, butter and caster sugar, beat well and microwave for 1 min on full power or until the butter has melted.

Remove from the microwave and beat the egg into the mixture.

Return to the microwave and cook for 3 mins, stopping and beating every thirty seconds, this will stop the egg scrambling.

Once the curd has thickened it is ready, remove from the microwave and whisk once more.

Add to a clean glass jar, allow to cool before adding the lid.

this will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Chocolate Orange Muffins!

As with most muffins recipes these are simple to follow, you need two bowls one for dry ingredients and one for wet.


Apologies for the measurements as they are in ounces as I weighed everything on my balance and weigh scales.

Makes 12 large muffins

11 oz plain flour
2 oz cocoa powder
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
4 oz butter (melted)
4 oz chocolate chips
1 tub buttermilk or 284 ml
120ml milk
1 large egg
zest of 1 orange

For topping:
8oz icing sugar (sieved)
60 ml orange juice

12 muffin cases
1 muffin tin

Pre heat the oven to 180/gas mark 4/ 350 f



Add all the dry ingredients to one bowl and mix well.

In the other bowl add the orange zest, egg, milk, butter milk and melted butter and mix together.




Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour the wet mixture into the centre, stir with a metal spoon until the mixture is just about coming together, do not over mix little lumps are fine where muffins are concerned.

Add a heaped dessert spoon to each muffin case until all the mixture has been used.

Bake on the middle shelf for 20 mins or until the tops have gone lovely and crunchy.



Add the icing sugar to a small bowl along with the orange juice, stir well until you have a smooth thick paste.

Spread the topping over the muffins as soon as they leave the oven so it melts and sets over the top.

If you have any extra orange zest you can scatter some over the top of the icing for a final flourish.

Serve immediately with tea or coffee Mmmmm.

Rachel Allen's Date Bars!

I have a few recipes for similar oat based bars, but these are so simple to make and and keep that lovely moist centre whilst cooking, I cannot recommend them enough, they will keep in an air tight container for a good few days, but even if you live alone I doubt they will last that long unless you have the willpower of rhino.

20 x 20 cm/8x 8 inch square cake tin

200g/7oz chopped dates (stones removed)
350ml/9 fl oz water

175g/6oz plain flour
175g/6oz soft brown sugar
175/60z butter, (at room temp and chopped)
100g/3 1/2 oz porridge oats
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt

Heat the oven to 350f/gas mark 4/ 180°

The recipe tells you to butter the sides of the cake tin but I never do this anymore as I am in love with those lovely re-usable baking sheets, you can buy them almost anywhere and cut them to fit your tins, they happily go through the dish washer time and time again and saves a whole heap of time fiddling around with greasing the tin and then scrubbing any stubborn bits of it after.

Add the water and the dates to a saucepan and bring to the boil, turn down to a low heat and leave for 10 mins, or until the dates have absorbed the water and turned into a lovely sticky mixture, then leave to cool.

In a bowl add all the dry ingredients and mix well, add the butter and rub into the dry ingredients with your fingers (the same way you would with a crumble).

Add half the mixture to the bottom of your prepared cake tin, then spread on the date mixture (the back of a dessert spoon works well) over the base, finally add the rest of the mixture and press over the top of the dates with your fingers.

Bake on the middle shelf of your oven and cook for 40 mins, until golden brown.

leave to cool inside the tin. Once cooled cut into slices, I manage to get 15.

St George and The Rabbit!

I know the idea of eating rabbit may not appeal to lots of people but not only is it cheap and available all year round, it's very low in fat too.

What better way to celebrate St George's Day than with a Great British Feast! Everything in this recipe is local and in season.

If you are wondering where to obtain a rabbit then the best place is a local butcher who has a licence to sell game, most of them will skin and portion it out for you.

One rabbit will serve two people generously.

Here is the recipe:

Serves 2 (this can easily be doubled up for 4 people)

1 rabbit skinned, gutted and cut into portions
1 pot buttermilk
2 large cooking onions (chopped into slices)
1 stick celery (roughly chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
Rapeseed oil
2 bay leaves
4 juniper berries
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried parsley
handful wild garlic leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Lea and Perrins Worcester sauce
1 teaspoon tomato purée
2 pints chicken stock
1 tablespoon cornflour (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the rabbit 24 hours before you plan to cook it, for which you will need a big dish that will fit inside your fridge, add the rabbit and coat in the whole pot of buttermilk, give it a stir to make sure all the rabbit is coated in the buttermilk, wrap the dish in clingfilm and leave to marinade overnight.

Add about a tablespoon of rapeseed oil to a big pot and allow to warm on a medium heat, Throw in the onions and stir well, leave to cook until the onions are just starting to brown then throw in the celery and minced garlic and stir again allowing another five minutes for the garlic to cook before adding the rabbit into the pot.

Finally add the bay leaves, pepper, juniper berries, dried herbs, tomato purée and chicken stock and a generous shake of Worcester sauce, bring to the boil over a high heat and once it starts to firmly bubble away, clamp a secure lid on the pot and turn down to a low heat so that the liquid simmers away gently for two hours or until the rabbit falls off the bone. Do not add the salt until the rabbit is cooked otherwise it tends to make the rabbit a bit tough.

Once cooked sieve the stock into a new pan (a fine mesh sieve is best for this as it will catch everything) then pick the rabbit from its bones. Add the wild garlic to the stock and reduce over a high heat until it has thickened slightly, if the sauce does not thicken enough add a little cornflour mixed with cold water to form a paste and add this to the stock, stir well and allow to boil. Add the rabbit back to the thickened sauce before serving.

The rabbit was served with local potatoes, mashed with a about 100g of Shropshire blue cheese running through them, along with the potatoes were local asparagus and carrots, finally as a perfect compliment to any game was a generous serving of redcurrant sauce.

Cost per portion is around: £3.00

On Tonights Menu is...

My Husband came up with this idea, it's for times when you just don't know what to cook for dinner even though you own half a library's worth of cookbooks and nothing jumps of the page at you.




So here is a visual menu:


Sweet and sour chicken with egg fried rice.
Faggots in gravy with mashed potato and two kinds of peas.
Puff pastry tart with crushed potatoes
kebab with salad and potato wedges
Steak and ale pie
Roe on mushy peas with sweet, blue and white potatoes.
Mushroom risotto.
Camembert baked in its box with fresh crusty bread.
Cheese and fresh herb pie with salad and garlic bread.
Chicken cooked in coca cola
Steak with lovely Shropshire blue cheese.
Grey peas and bacon.
purple sprouting broccoli, crispy potato slices and roast chicken.
Cheesy leak topped cottage pie.
Chicken pie with crispy puff pastry.
baked new potatoes with chicken and salad.
Oat coated sea bream, with vegetable and parsley sauce.(seasonal)
Shredded chicken with crushed potatoes and roasted tomatoes.
Quiche and salad.
Chilli con carne with sour cream, rice and flat bread.
Grilled lamb with new potatoes, vegetables and homemade mint sauce. (Seasonal)
Spicy Prawn salad.
chicken Piri Piri with chips and salad.
Locally produced fillet steak with sauce bernaise and vegetables. (seasonal vegetables)
Chicken Maharajah, the original recipe was taken from Feast but I switched the lamb for chicken as I found the lamb to rich for the sauce.
Tuna fish pie.
cheese, onion and potato pie.
Beef stew and mashed potato.
Beef Stroganoff.
Chicken Tikka curry with crispy onion rice.
Mince and tatties.
Roast chicken risotto.
Mirin glazed salmon with rice and vegetables.
Flemish beef in beer, which is cooked in beer and mustard.
Crispy belly pork with cucumber and hoisin sauce.
Roast pork sandwich.
Locally caught pheasant wrapped in smoked streaky bacon with vegetables and mashed potato and drizzled with hedgeberry sauce. (seasonal)
Lamb curry with pomegranate and rice.
Jacket potato with a vintage chedder, onion relish and lots of salad.
Chicken chat, which consits of shredded chicken in a spicy tomato sauce and salad.
Broad beans with crispy smoked bacon, peas and croutons.(seasonal)
Roast lamb with mint jelly and seasonal vegetables.
Italian sausages with puy lentils, these are the lentil haters lentil, they are simply wonderful.
Ham cooked in coca cola and roasted in the oven with mustard and sugar.
salami pizza