Spiced Cranberry and Apple Chutney

I remember the first time I had cranberry juice, it was before the manufacturers started heaving shed-loads of sugar in to it and it turned my mouth inside out. This sour chutney won't do this as it is lifted by the sugar, the apple juice and the sweet spices and is given a rounded flavour with the apple and onion.

This takes less than an hour and is a doddle. Don't be scared by making chutney. The only thing you have to remember is turn on your extractor fan - the vinegar can permeate a house for days and no one likes that. Although my mum used to treat us to a vinegary miasma at least twice a year when I was younger, maybe she does like it.

This will be great on a festive leftover sandwich, ideal on a cheeseboard and livens up a lacklustre tagine.

Spiced Cranberry and Apple Chutney

600g fresh cranberries
500ml red wine vinegar
2 large onions, chopped
3 sour apples, cored and chopped
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
big pinch sea salt
250g brown sugar
50ml apple juice

Chuck all the ingredients in to a pan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and stir.

Cook for 45 minutes stirring occasionally until sauce-like,  make sure it's not too thick.

Pour into some sterilised jars and seal.

Wait at least a month before eating.

Stuffed Risotto Balls (Aranchini)

The first time Squirrelface took me to Italy we went to Rome in the middle of May so it wasn't too hot for my Northern skin, and we dined on lots of different streetfoods and the one that stuck with me the most was aranchini.

These balls of stuffed and deep-fried risotto are beyond delicious as well as bieng moreish and versatile. The fillings on offer were so varied - you could have swordfish, aubergine Parmesan, ragu, carbonara, squid - it was exhaustive if not exhausting.

I wouldn't normally recommend making the risotto for the specially, it seems a bit of a long process to make something, admittedly delicious, but not unrivalled in something simple and quick. I made risotto last night and had about half left over so naturally I thought about these little balls of indulgence.

I stuffed them with low fat Mozarella, black olives and preserved tomatoes and coated them with wholemeal breadcrumbs, feel free to experiment but the stuffing needs to be firm and the aranchini will need to be chilled prior to cooking so they don't fall apart.

Stuffed Risotto Balls (Aranchini)

Take a small handful of your left over risotto and make an indent in it with your thumb then place in the mozzarella and a few pieces of preserved tomato and olive.

Carefully close the rice around the filling until there is no filling visible (if you need to use more rice to patch up the holes do so) and gently roll in to a ball, then place on a greased baking tray.

Repeat this process until you have no rice or no filling left and leave the risotto balls in the fridge for at least an hour – they need to firm up after being handled or they may fall apart.

Beat one egg until frothy in a small bowl and then put 3 slices worth of breadcrumbs in another bowl, season generously.

Heat a tbsp oil in a big, heavy based non-stick frying pan. Roll a ball of risotto in egg and then in breadcrumbs and fry, do this in batches of two as they’re easy to burn. A minute or so on each side should be all they need. Use your hands to manoeuvre them round the pan so that all sides are crisp.

Transfer to a baking sheet and leave in a warm oven until finished.

They are great served eaten by hand, if you want an accompaniment any kind of tomato sauce or mayonnaise for dipping would gild the lily without breaking the stem.

Smoked Duck and Roasted Sweet Pepper Pizza

I've been experimenting with no-rise pizza dough, which is pretty much the same as the two ingredient flat bread but rolled out to pizza size, but I've been having some trouble getting it crispy all the way through. I can't really justify buying a pizza stone right now but with a pizza shaped baking tin, a very hot oven with a very hot baking sheet I've managed to get  a crisp crust and a well cooked middle.

Squirrelface approves and as you all know, when it comes to Italian cooking if Squirrelface approves I feel like I've done a great job. I found the delicious sliced smoked duck I mention in Punchy Smoked Duck Stir Fry this morning, which melds beautifully with the smoky roasted sweet peppers and salty-sharp black olives.

I won't tell you how to top a pizza, you can do it however you want. I will tell you how to make a Kick-Ass Multi-Use Tomato Sauce you can double or triple up on and freeze. I added oregano as it's a pizza herb for me.

This is an easy and adaptable base for mid-week cooking and eating that will taste better and be better for you than any supermarket bought pizza.

Smoked Duck and Roasted Sweet Pepper Pizza

1 potion Kick-Ass Multi-Use Tomato Sauce

1 portion no rise pizza dough

1 ball low fat Mozzarella

5 thin slices smoked duck, snipped up with kitchen scissors

1 sweet red pepper, skinned and finely chopped.

Hand full black olives

Put a large, flat baking sheet in your oven  and preheat at top temperature.

Mix together flatread ingredients with your hands and roll out on a floured surface.

Transfer to a floured baking tray, I used a round one with holes in, and roll until the dough is evenly distributed.

Top with tomato sauce and then whatever it is you’d like on your pizza.

Pop in the oven and leave for  5 – 6 minutes and then turn the pizza around 180 degrees and then bake for another 5-6 minutes.

The heat of the oven will differ from appliance to appliance – what you’re aiming for is golden brown crispy crust, bubbling cheese and tomato sauce.

Kick-Ass Multi-Use Tomato Sauce

A good tomato sauce is a lifesaver when you're tired and can't be bothered leaving home for something delicious but nutritious. It's one of the quickest and easiest things to knock up with store cupboard ingredients and utilise in any way you want.

My mum taught me how to do this when I was in my mid teens, on those rare occasions when we talked during my adolescence it was about food, now we talk about other things too but still share a passion for cooking and food.

You can embellish this sauce with whatever you like for a bit of variation. A few suggestions that can be added on their own or in different combinations:

A tsp of French mustard
A tsbp of vinegar
A glass of red or white wine
Fresh or dried herbs
Chilli

Ad infinitum.

Keeps in the fridge for a good 3-5 days and freezer for an age. Recipe easily doubled.

Kick-Ass Multi-Use Tomato Sauce

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 onion, diced

1 fat garlic clove (or two medium)

1 tbsp tomato purée

A pinch of sugar

! tbsp oil

Salt & pepper

Fry onion in oil for 5-7 mins or until translucent.

Add garlic and cook for a further 2 mins, be careful not to brown it or it will go bitter.

Add chopped tomatoes, purée, sugar and any additions you wish and simmer for 10 mins.

Serve as you wish.

Healthier Cauliflower & Macaroni Cheese

I made some parsnip, Cheddar and mustard tarts the night before last but didn't blog them so I thought I'd recreate some of the flavours and create a slightly healthier version of a winter warmer - macaroni cheese.

This week's veg box supplied us with a nice big head of cauliflower, which gave me some food for thought as I've seen so many interesting recipes and ideas using it in different ways recently. I was tempted to experiment on cauliflower rice, lemon pudding and cake but in the end it seemed like an old favourite with a healthy twist was called for.

By using half milk/half water and infusing the mixture with garlic, bay and peppercorns to make the cheese sauce and using mustard to flavour the sauce meant I used much less cheese that a usual macaroni cheese would call for. The use of cauliflower bulks the dish up without using carbs and adds a lightness to a sometimes very stodgy dish.

You can serve it as soon as you've poured the sauce over if you're short on time, grill it until the cheese bubbles or bake it so the sauce infuses into the pasta and cauliflower and the flavours mingle.

Healthier Cauliflower & Macaroni Cheese

Serves 2

1 head cauliflower
130g pasta
60g Cheddar cheese
1/2 pint semi-skimmed milk
1/2 pint water
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 bay leaves
5 black peppercorns
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Pre heat the oven to 200c/Gas Mark 6 if baking.

Bring milk, water, garlic, bay and peppercorns to a simmer in a heavy bottomed pan then leave to stand with the lid on.

Break cauliflower into florets and wash in cold water, steam in a colander over the boiling pan of pasta for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the roux by melting the butter over a medium heat and whisking in the flour for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Strain the infused milk to remove the aromatics and whisk into the roux until smooth and put back on the heat and whisk until it thickens, around 3 - 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in 25g of cheese and the mustard.

Remove cauliflower from colander and put in baking dish, drain the macaroni in the colander and add to baking dish, mix and then coat in sauce and mix again. Top with the remaining 35g cheese, season and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned and bubbling.

Roasted Beetroot with Soft Cheese Mousse and Sprout Tops

Beetroot needs a creamy foil, well - I think it tastes good with a creamy foil. The beetroot's earthy sweetness gets carried and mingles with a soft and salty cheese but isn't muted. A hunk of cheese and a whopping great beetroot might be someone's ideal but not mine.

Instead with a little bit of finesse with a leftover egg-white, some seasoning and something green, sprout tops in this case thanks to my veg bag from Local Greens (insert link), makes for a pleasing on the plate and pleasing on the palette meal.

I love the simplicity of winter vegetables, in the same way as summer veg can be made in to a delicious salad with a simple dressing, winter veg can be gussied up with a hot oven to expose their sweetness. Last week one dinner was swede and carrots roasted with some fried onions and kale and dressed in a lemon spiked bean dip thinned out with yogurt and tahini.

Dairy + roasted winter veg = match made in heaven. If you need the carbs then a hefty slice of walnut bread would go excellently.

Roasted Beetroot with Soft Cheese Mousse and Sprout Tops

1 large beetroot
1 egg white
200g soft cheese
150g sprout tops (any other dark green will work well)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 150C/Gas mark 2. Scrub the beetroot of any earth and rinse clean. Wrap in foil and leave on the middle shelf of the oven for around 4 hours. Once the skin is slightly wrinkled and comes away when you pull it means it is done.

Whip the egg white to stiff peaks with a pinch of salt. Set aside.

Whip the cream cheese with salt, pepper and oregano and then fold in a third of the egg white mixture until combined. Then fold in the remaining egg whites gently. Transfer to a small bowl or ramekin, cover with cling film and leave in the fridge.

Remove the stalk form the middle of the greens, wash and then shred. Melt a nob of butter in a big heavy bottomed pan and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally.

Once the skin of the beetroot comes off and it is hot enough to handle, halve and then cut into semi-circles.

Put balsamic vinegar on a low heat until reduced by half. Turn off.

Make quenelles out of the mousse using wet metal table spoons.

Arrange the component parts on the plate as your wish and drizzle with the balsamic reduction - I think I spent too much time this week watching Masterchef - The Professionals - look at the slick...

We ate this with this walnut bread by James Martin but used half the ingredients and it was a delicious accompaniment.

Sweet Potato Falafel with Homemade Flatbreads

I hold my hand sup with this one, it is time consuming but it is devilishly easy and holds up to different seasoning depending on how you're feeling.

I always make a big batch of these sweet potato falafel, by roasting two gargantuan sweet potatoes, because they work so well for dinner as they do for lunch. If you make an excess of the flatbreads you can have a jazzy lunchtime wrap, or you can have them with cous-cous or a rice salad, their versatility is ace.

Neither of these are my original recipes the sweet pottao falafel come from the inimitable Allegra McEvedy and the flatbreads come by way of BuzzFeed. As you might expect, I've tweaked the flavours to suit myself, the falafel have added lime juice and fajita spice and the flatbreads are embossed with za'atar, which means you can do the same yourself, experimentation is fun.

I've been debating on making some beetroot falafel by adapting this recipe, the main thing is, you don't want the falafel to be too dry, or they can be claggy in your mouth and not the leftover delicacy I rave about.

Sweet Potato Falafel with Homemade Flatbreads

For the falafel

2 fat sweet potatoes

150g gram (chick pea) flour

Juice of 1 lime

1 packet of fajita seasoning

1 clove garlic

Salt and pepper

For the flatbreads

160 g self raising flour

140g low fat Greek yogurt

2 tsp za'atar

1 tsp salt

Bake the sweet potatoes for around an hour at 200C, when soft all the way thorugh remove and cut in half to cool. If they're still too hard on the inside you can wrap them in foil and put them back in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes.

When cool, scoop all the flesh out into a bowl and add the spicing, gram flour and salt and pepper and stir together. When combined add the lime juice and stir in well. If a little stiff add some olive oil or water.

With wet hands scoop up the mixture and roll into walnut sized balls and place on an oiled baking tray or roasting tin. I advise re-wetting your hands every second or third falafel. If you don't like having dirty hands just use two soup spoons to shape them.

Add to the oven and bake for 10 minutes and the turn so top and bottom of the falafels are nicely browned. Put a griddle pan on a high heat and keep an eye on it as you make the flatbreads.

While the falafel are in the oven, combine the yogurt, flour, za'atar and salt in a bowl, then set out on to an oiled work surface and knead for 2 minutes. divide into 4 even sized pieces and roll out in to side plate size rounds.

The flatbreads will only need 2-3 minutes on each side if the griddle pan is hot enough so keep an eye on them and don't be alarmed if they puff up.

Serve the falafel with the flatbreads and whatever you fancy going in them, I had some kale to hand and added some mayonnaise.

I'll report back when I attempt the beetroot ones.

Preserved Slow Roast Tomatoes

I'll be banging on about preserving every time I get a glut of something worth covering in sugar, salt or oil and shoving in a sterilised jar. It's only September - this means we have plenty of time.

Post parental France holiday I had some lovely plum tomatoes that were not all going to get used in salads and sauces before spoiling. They got seasoned, oiled and roasted on a low heat for a long time then shoved in a kilner jar with olive oil once cool.

These little flavour bombs are great for adding sparingly to anything from cheese on toast to pasta, antipasti boards to pizza, old weather salads to savoury baked goods.

We all like a bit of autumn/winter food, the squashes, the brassicas, the apples, the sloes but to be able to pair them with ingredients you actually had during summer is a guiltless pleasure.

You can embellish with different vinegars and herbs or spices when roasting if you want, I prefer to leave that to when I'm preparing a particular dish, your call.

Preserved Slow Roast Tomatoes

As many tomatoes as you can find, halved. 

Generous glug olive oil for tomatoes, plus however much you need to fill kilner jar.

Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 120C

Oil the baking dish you're using and put the tomatoes in cut side down. Then turn right side up, season and place in oven.

Roast for 2-3 hours, or even overnight on a super low heat, until they reach a semi-sun dried tomato look.

Leave to cool, put in sterelised kilner jars and fill with oil.

Walnut Pesto (with Purple/Green Beans & Fusili)

Cheap store bought, or even upmarket brands of fresh pesto have become less appealing the further we come form the 1990s. Once as bohemian and middle class as houmous, now you get pesto topped houmous, this craze has to stop. can all be used

Fresh peppery leaves, such as basil, rocket or nasturtium can form the base of a great home made pesto, you don't need to be a slave to Genoan tradition - native Italian, Squirrelface, even said he preferred this walnut type to the traditional made with pine nuts.

Garlic can be a contentious issue, with the peppery leaves you don't want too much of a punch in the mouth from excessive allium use, one fat clove is adequate without being over-powering.

I'm definitely an Italian hard cheese purist in the case of pesto, vegetarians can use the 'Italian style hard cheese', my insistence on the use of these cheeses is their ability to be grated finely without clumping - essential for a good rustic pesto.

I use a pestle and mortar here as I like to get my frustrations out and I prefer a more coarse textured pesto, smooth green gloop makes me think of soylent green. But use your food processor if you prefer a more uniform consistency.

I served the pesto with dried whole-wheat fusili and a handful of purple runner beans, from my parent's garden in France, which turn green on cooking. I chucked the sliced beans in halfway through cooking the pasta.

Walnut Pesto (with Purple/Green Bean and Fusili)

Serves 2

Half the leaves on a plant fresh basil
50g walnuts, chopped
1 fat garlic clove
25g hard Italian cheese (I used Gran Padano), finely grated
Glug olive oil
Glug walnut oil
Salt & pepper

Pulverize the garlic to a paste with salt in the pestle and mortar.

Crush the walnuts in to the garlic to form a coarse paste.

Add basil and pound until a light green.

Add cheese and mix.

Add a glug of each oil and incorporate until desired consistency is reached.

It stores well in an airtight jar in the fridge, make sure there's oil covering the top of the pesto.

Fig and Vanilla Jam

I was very lucky this year – I got a nice mix of wine, cheese and fresh fruit and vegetables form my yearly trip to see my parents in France. The figs were really delicious, we’d been having them stuffed with cheese and wrapped in prosciutto then baked. Delicious as a side dish or as a simple starter.

This time of year, as the nights draw in and there is a nip in the air you know a foodie will think about preserving. Seeing as my freezer is like a letterbox (even smaller when it is frosted up, like now) the only way I can preserve all my delicious figs before they spoil is jam.

Jam making may well be a scary concept for some, the correct temperature, the sterilisation of the jars, the right amount of pectin and enough cheap fruit to hand will put many off but please let me demystify this and ease your fears, it’s easy and fun and rewarding.

Think about that cold midwinter day when you’ve made hot toast with jam (and in my mind peanut butter too) and all the summer sweetness is still there. Even better - when you have a sharp cheddar on crackers or a creamy goaty cheese baked for a hot salad you can marry this jam with sweet shallots and some balsamic or raspberry vinegar for a flavour sensation.

Don’t burn your tongues now…

Fig and Vanilla Jam

750g fresh figs, diced 

500g jam sugar

1/2 fresh vanilla pod (I put the other half in a jar with some sugar to make vanilla sugar).

1 lime, zest and juice

Set the oven to 120C or Gas Mark 1 if you don't have direct control of the heat.

Put figs, sugar, vanilla, lime juice and zest into a large bowl and leave to steep for 2 hours.

Add to a large heavy-based pan and dissolve the sugar over a low heat. 

Bring to the boil and turn the heat down low and stir regularly.

Wash 3 regular or 1 small and 1 large jar in hot soapy water, including metal lids.

Place on a baking tray and leave in the oven for up to 15 minutes.

Once the jam has reached a thick and gloopy consistency pour into sterilised jars and clean thread with paper towel then place and screw on lids.

Leave for at least 3 weeks before eating. 

Fig, Serrano and Gorgonzola Salad

When its warm outside and you can pair seasonal foods with simple complementary flavours in a mouth-watering salad - like fresh, ripe figs, Gorgonzola and Serrano ham with a fig and balsamic dressing on baby spinach - it is a win/win situation. You get to eat something that feels sophisticated and tastes delicious without having to heat a thing in your kitchen.

If you can't find fig vinegar, balsamic will do just as well.

Serves 2 as a main with bread or 4 as a starter.

Fig, Serrano and Gorgonzola Salad

2 handfuls of baby spinach, washed and drained

4 ripe figs, topped and quartered

50g Gorgonzola, cubed

75g Serrano ham, shredded

3 tbsp fig vinegar

6 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

Chuck them all in a bowl however haphazardly you wish.

Bleeding Beetroot Chocolate Cake for 'Labolis::Threshold'

Today I will be making 11 cakes. 11 of the same cake – I’m not totally insane. Labolis has been a constantly evolving and beautiful beast, part immersive theatre, part scavenger hunt, part role playing game and part art kaleidoscope. The amazing Ultra Violets have the fifth Labolis this weekend and it is gearing up to be the best yet.

I was asked to play a ‘Mad Chef’ and create something suitably surreal for the participants to eat during their experience. After some conceptual clambering I settled upon a bleeding beetroot chocolate cake. Something suitably delicious, with an earthy note that is visually arresting was a hard spec to follow but I made it in the end.

This post is as much about the recipe as it is about my trials and tribulations over the day of baking 11 cakes. I’ve already decided that the blood filling (red fruit coulis, maple syrup, treacle and red food colouring) and the ganache icing will be made in one batch so i can concentrate on the conveyor belt of cakes. I’m hoping the weather is suitably damp and cool in Manchester so I can get some respite outside away from the kitchen inferno.

The pictures should be pretty kick-ass too, the kitchen I’m working in has windows. Crazy what happens when you live away from London, the mod cons you get.

After this weekend I’m aiming to be a better actor, performer and mass caterer – although one out of three would suit me well.

Bleeding Beetroot Chocolate Cake

Cake

200g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)

200g softened butter

135g plain flour

1 heaped tbsp baking powder

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

250g puréed cooked beetroot

5 eggs at room temperature - separated

200g caster sugar

Ganache

200g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)

200ml double cream

4 tbsp golden syrup

Filling

200g fresh or frozen raspberries

1 tbsp treacle

3 tbsp maple syrup

50g icing sugar

heat the oven to 180C then grease and line two 20cm spring form tins.

Whisk egg whites in stand alone mixer until at the stiff peaks stage.

Meanwhile whisk egg yolks until pale and fluffy and mix in with beetroot purée.

Heat chocolate in a bowl over a pan in boiling water making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water directly. Once melted add the butter, cubed, and stir until melted and glossy. Leave to cool for a few minutes.

With the mixer running tip the sugar slowly into the egg whites and mix until they resemble a good marshmallow mix.

Add the cooled chocolate mix to the beetroot and egg yolk mix and fold in thoroughly. Sieve in the flour, cocoa, ginger and baking powder and fold in thoroughly till no four can be detected in the mix. Finally add the egg whites and fold through gently with a metal spoon until you reach a smooth mousse like consistency with volume.

Bake for 30 mins and allow to cool while you make the filling and ganache.

For the filling process the raspberries in a food processor and pass through a sieve to remove seeds. Add raspberry purée, syrup, treacle and icing sugar back to food processor and process for 5 minutes and refrigerate until using.

For the ganache tip cream, chocolate and syrup into a pan, heat slowly, stirring continuously until glossy. Leave in pan to stay warm for easy pouring.

Tip and spread filling over base cake and top with remaining cake. Pour over ganache and smooth over with palette knife.

Eat. Scream, Run....

Guacamole

Guacamole used to be my default evening meal, generally with some grated sharp cheddar cheese scooped up by smoky potato wedges. I don’t know exactly when I stopped making it all the time but this evening I felt it was time to reprise my lost love.

I don’t just use it as a dip for tortilla chips or crudités, I adore it in the morning on tasty for a zingy breakfast or slapped between two pieces of rye bread for an earthy and wholesome lunchtime sandwich. Carbs are a friend to guacamole, something starchy and bland to compliment the assault on your taste buds from the cooling yet spiky sauce, rice is a yes, pasta is a no – this should be obvious but I’m sure guacamole pasta has been attempted in some student households and adventurous novice cooks.

I don’t often go in for the whole nutrition info thing as if you want to know that you’d probably be reading another blog however, all the ingredients are super good for you and there is no guilt in the fat from avocados – it’s good fat. I know some people dislike how quickly the avocado discolours and thus does not keep for long but using lime juice instead of lemon preserves the green colour for longer, I’m not aware of the science behind it, merely trial and error of my own.

Add coriander if you want, I can’t abide the stuff.

Guacamole

2 ripe avocados

1 large ripe tomato

juice of 1 lime

1 chilli (or more if you're feeling spicy)

Sea salt and black peper

Half, de-stone and skin the avocados, place in a bowl and squeeze the lime juice over.

Add peeled garlic clove, de-seeded chilli and pinch sea salt to pestle and mortar and pound to a paste.

Mix paste with avocados and mash with a fork until smooth.

Add chopped tomato and a good grind of black pepper.

Leave the flavours to marry for an hour or two and eat greedily with or without carbs.