Chutney recipes from my 'guest' on BBC Coventry & Warwick radio

I have created both of these recipes &  I've modified & tweaked them over the years. They are both really versatile & you can change spice mixes & fruit content. One thing to bear in mind is to try & balance your flavours, do this by keeping ratios of ingredients the same. You could add in plums & remove some apple, or cut down the courgettes & add in some squash or pumpkin. Just don't go over the top with onions.

The chutney recipe that was broadcast


500g of each courgettes & onions, (1cm dice, sprinkled with 1 T spoon of salt, cover & leave overnight)
500g bramley apples (1cm dice)
150ml malt vinegar
400g sugar (white or brown)
1/2 T spoon of each paprika, cinamon, cumin, corriander

Method
After the salting, rinse off the veg, drain.
Simmer all vegetables & apples in a large pan with the sugar & vinegar for around 45-60 mins until sticky
Place in sterilised jars & ideally leave for 4-6 weeks to mature (if you can resist!)

Dark mixed (branston type) pickle

800g mixed veg 1cm dice (carrot, swede, onion & courgette)

200g 1 cm diced dessert apples

800g cooking apples

700ml malt vinegar (plus a little for later)

500g brown sugar

1 tsp salt ( or to taste)

1 tspn of ground ginger, paprika,cinamon & mustard seeds

1-2 dessert spoons of flour

6-8 jars

Method

Place the diced veg in a suitable bowl & sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt, mix through, cover & leave for 12 hours.

Now mix in the diced apples & leave for another 12 hours.

Rinse off the veg with cold water & drain.

Place the cooking apples, sugar & vinegar in a suitable sized pan & simmer with the spices for ten minutes.

Mix a little cold vinegar with the flour to a paste, whisk this into the spiced vinegar & cook for around 2-3 minutes. it needs to be the consistancy of double cream.

Stir in all of the prepared vegetables, cook for a couple more minutes & then place into sterilised jars, seal the lids & leave to mature for about 6 weeks or as long as you can resist!

Both go brilliantly with a ploughmans type lunch, great in a cheese sandwich, or dare I mention it really nice with cold meats or leftover christmas turkey! If you make it now, it'll  be really well matured. 

Enjoy!  

Cherry frangipane cake

This was one of those recipes which I made up by accident. I needed a pudding/cake to take to a friends & it was borne out of what was hiding in my cupboards!
It's basically a rich almond sponge with syrup drizzled over & served with an accompanying compote. It's really nice either warm or cold.

For the syrup/compote
200g cherries
50g granulated sugar
50ml water

For the cake
230g butter
230g granulated sugar
3 medium eggs (should weigh around 220-230g)
170g ground almonds
60g self raising flour
1/2 Tspoon baking powder
1/2 T spoon almond oil or essence

Method
Firstly line a 20-25cm spring ring with baking paper
for the syrup & compote
Place the cherries & the sugar into a suitable pan & simmer for 10 minutes until the cherries are soft, pour off 150ml of the syrup & reserve for pouring over the finished cake.
Take the remaining syrup & fruit & pour through a sieve back into the pan. Press the fruit through the seive & then discard the stones. Bring back to a simmer for another 10 minutes & sweeten to your taste, I like mine quite tart, as long as it doesn't turn my face inside out! Thats the compote to serve with the cake.

Now you have the syrup to drizzle over & the compote to serve with the cake

For the cake
In a suitable sized bowl cream the butter & sugar together until light & pale.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Stir in the almonds, flour, baking powder & almond oil.
Mix until smooth.
Spoon into the pre lined tin & roughly smooth the top, no need to be too fussy tho'.
Bake at 170-80 C gas 5-6 for aproximatly 20 minutes or until the sponge springs back when pressed. If you're unsure, insert a needle into the middle of the cake, if the needle comes out clean it's done, if not, give it another 5 minutes & check again.
Leave the sponge to cool for 5 minutes, then jab all over the top with a needle & pour over the syrup.
Serve straight away or let it cool completely,either way serve a slice with the compote & maybe some good vanilla ice cream, clotted cream or just as it is if you're being healthy.

Enjoy!

Food Fanatic. A brief history

So, food fanatic, that's me. everything I do is squarely based around food. I'm a chef of twenty years & love what I do. I currently teach the next generation of chefs, which is a very interesting & engaging vocation. Recently I 've developed a more litterary creative streak, so I've put pen to paper (metaphoricaly) & started writing about food. Food writing seems a real nut to crack, almost a closed door unless you happen to be a TV dwelling 'celebrity' chef; but for me personally if I'm going to write about food, i'll only be happy if I can get it published. So I've spent a while emailing & contacting various food publications about some freelance work. Some have borne results & some haven't (yet!). I had a little appearance on the local BBC radio station last week, which was great fun & I write a column for a community magazine http://roundaboutmagazines.net/roundabout_warwick/index.php As an offshoot to that I began thinking about publishing things myself, so here we are, the begining of my blog. Exciting times.