Cornish Pasties

300g beef eg skirt or chuck, chopped fairly small 

25g beef suet

275g diced potato

275g diced swede

250 chopped onion (about 2 medium onions)

Salt and pepper 

3 x 300g packs puff pastry (ready rolled)

Beaten egg

Preheat the oven to 190c.

Prepare all the veg and meat, stir it all together, with the suet and plenty of black pepper and salt.

Roll out the pastry and cut into circles about 20cm diameter (small plate). This should make 9 pasties. 

Pile a ninth of the filling onto one half of each circle, leaving about a centimetre in front of it. Fold the pastry over the filling to form a semicircle, then crimp the edges to seal it completely. You don't want any holes or gaps to let the steam out.

Place on a baking tray. The pasties can be frozen at this point. Freeze on trays, the transfer to freezer bags.

Brush the pasties with egg wash and bake at 190 c for about 40 minutes, until golden brown.

20cm diameter 8"

Blondies

Like a brownie but not chocolaty. Should have a nice crust on top but be gooey underneath, not cakey.

325g self raising flour 

1/2 tsp salt

200g butter 

300g dark brown sugar 

3 eggs, beaten 

120g chopped nuts eg mixture of hazelnuts, walnuts and pecans

170g butterscotch chips (can substitute white chocolate or peanut butter chips but the flavour will be different, I had some chipits butterscotch chips left over from when we were in Canada, but you could try crumbling up some caramac maybe)

Melt the butter and heat it until it just starts to turn goldy  brown; don't burn it!

Stir in the sugar and let it melt into the butter until combined into a thick paste.

Leave to cool for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, grease a brownie tin (about 30 x 20cm) preferably non stick. If not non stick, line with baking parchment.

Preheat the oven to 180c fan.

Once the sugar and butter mixture has cooled to around body temperature (test carefully with your finger) beat in the beaten eggs. If you do it too soon the hot sugar will scramble the eggs so be patient.

Fold the flour and salt into the mixture, then stir in the nuts and chips until combined.

Tip the mixture into the baking tray and spread it evenly.

Bake for around 20 mins, spinning it round halfway through if your oven is uneven like mine. A skewer stuck in should come out clean, but the middle of the Blondies will seem quite soft.

Leave for a few minutes then turn out carefully onto a cooling rack.

Cut into squares.

Mini Filo Canape Cases

Great for holding all kinds of sweet and savoury treats. Guacamole, pea puree, smoked mackerel pate, coronation chicken, prawn cocktail... They keep in a tin for a few days, so you can make them ahead.

Pack of frozen filo, defrosted and unrolled - keep moist under a damp cloth.
melted butter - melt in batches of 25g in the microwave as you need it.

1. Take a sheet of filo, cut it into roughly 4cm squares. It doesn't matter if they're a bit uneven; it all adds to the charm!
2. Grease a mini muffin pan.
3. Brush 3 squares with butter, lay the first in the base of the pan, then put the next on top rotated slightly, them the next rotated a bit more, so you get interesting spikes.
4. Press into the pan.
5. Repeat until the pan is full, then bake at 150C for around 5 minutes, until they are golden.
6. Leave to cool.

original homemade biscuits by the one the only the spectacular veggie daughter (not the blog but the inspiration)

sup it's me veggie daughter from tv? maybe in the future.

just got asked to do a guest post bc my homemade oreos made everyone CRAZY 


without further ado

(ALSO YEAH THE INGREDIENTS ARE IN CUPS OKAY IT'S EASIER I'M AMERICAN AT HEART WHAT CAN I SAY)


homemade le milieu avant tout biscuits
 by smittenkitchen by the veggie daughter

biscuits:

 1 ¼ cups of self raising flour

(alternatively: all purpose flour + 1 tsp baking soda + ¼ tsp baking powder 

this is from smittenkitchen's recipe but the above is from mine and was better received so... how bout those apples im coming for your crown)

½ cup cocoa powder

1 cup of sugar 

(smitten will tell you you need more SMITTEN IS A DAMN LIAR and i'm not so american that i would need excessive amounts of sugar okay no shade all tea ❤❤❤)

½ cup + 2 tablespoons salted butter

(smitten calls for unsalted butter and adding ¼ teaspoon of salt separately.... veggie daughter claps back WHO 👏 HAS 👏 THE 👏 TIME)

1 egg

1. preheat your oven to 180°C/375°F/gas mark 5  (i just googled that for the 3 people in the world who still use gas mark ovens YOU'RE WELCOME next time google it yourself ya lazy!) unless it's the hottest summer in the entire history of the world and you have no aircon 'cause you're english in which case just do it at the end (i won't tell if you won't tell)
2. mix the dry ingredients in your food processor bowl (if i need to tell you which the dry ingredients are.... just lick all the ingredients and if your tongue is wet then that's not a dry ingredient. wait your tongue is already wet. i'm out of ideas. it's the flour, cocoa, sugar and salt. the grainy ingredients. also the baking soda and powder if you're IGNORING ME IN FAVOUR OF SMITTEN IN WHICH CASE... go look at her recipe. go on. betray me.) no food processor? no oreos. tragic. or like, use a spoon. like the victorians/tudors/ancient egyptians would have if the tesco down the road was out of oreos. #historyfact
3. add the butter and the egg and mix. SLOWLY. or pulse it if you have a schmancy food processor - in which case just get your butler to make the oreos, fancypants.
4. arrange the biscuits on a baking tray. (what? how? is this your first time making biscuits? if so i'm honoured, wow, thanks. smitten says to use a piping bag but like. it's solid? so.) you do this by taking a spoon or your hands (your hands) and shaping the biscuits into small balls and placing them a distance apart on a greased/parchment papered tray and then squash em down with your hand. try to make them the same size. or don't, i'm not your boss. or am i?
5. put them in the oven until cooked. (hey veggie daughter, you're saying. how long? how do i know when they're cooked? please veggie daughter i've never cooked before and i am so so hungry. i laugh. it sounds like faraway bells. how long is a piece of string, child? i ask. smitten says 9 minutes. i shake my head and smile. my smile is older and wiser than my years. i fade away into the light. you're just so confused right now.) they will be very soft when they're ready! when you can smell them, about 10-12 minutes? although that is on our terrible oven. turn them around in the middle if you like. also you can always take them out and realise they're not cooked and just... shove them back in the oven again. once again, i won't tell if you don't. 
6. leave them to cool on cooling racks or on the trays while making the icing. (how do i make the icing veggie daughter? i hear you cry. CALM DOWN I'M GETTING TO IT you hear me cry. we're both crying. depression is in this year.)

author's note: i just went downstairs to get a picture of one of the 40 homemade oreos i literally made like, yesterday. AND CARNIVORE DAD ATE THEM ALL. really queen? that's how we're playing it? okay... 👀👀👀 🐸☕️ i mean at least it's a glowing endorsement.i guess. i'd rather have an oreo than a glowing endorsement for one that's been eaten though >:^(

icing:

⅓ cup butter (another difference: smitten will tell you to use half unsalted butter and half shortening. i ask you. WHO HAS. THE TIME. i just used salted butter... tastes good to me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

some vanilla extract (stop crying use however much you want damn... no more handholding!!!)

1½ cup icing sugar

(smitten recommends the proportions like ½ cup, 2 cups. yeah, if you want a tub of leftover icing in your fridge. which isn't the worst thing in the world. mmmm. but in all seriousness you don't need that much icing, it's very sweet)

1. mix the butter and vanilla extract
2. mix in the icing sugar. SLOWLY. (however slowly you do it there's going to be icing sugar everywhere. sometimes that's just how life is. no sense crying over a sugarsplosion.)
3. ice the biscuits. (real bakers would wait until the biscuits were cool to do this. however if you have a problem with GANNETS shaped like your MOTHER and your BROTHER in your kitchen, ice them straight away, because otherwise they'll complain and eat the dry biscuits and honey, your reputation doesn't deserve that. these biscuits are perfect.)(smitten will also tell you to assemble them so the icing is in the middle, like some sort of chocolate sandwich biscuit with vanilla icing in the middle. honestly, i wouldn't bother. might as well just... not. they taste good enough on their own and last twice as long 'cause there's twice as many. in theory. also if you're not a heathen you separate biscuits into halves before eating them. so. what's the point of putting the halves together in the first place? that's the real question, nabisco.)
4. eat the biscuits. (or don't. but they will be gone in less than 24 hours so work quick)

Cranberry and red onion chutney

This was an experiment. I'm not a huge fan of cranberry sauce, and thought a chutney might be a nice alternative on the Christmas lunch table. It proved very popular with cheffy son, who devoured nearly a jar of it with most of the cheddar from the fridge. It also did go really well with the roast turkey on Christmas day, and with the Boxing Day turkey and mayo sandwiches too.

25g butter 

1 tsp ground mixed spice

350g red onions 

300g cranberries 

410g dark brown sugar 

250ml  malt vinegar 

50ml balsamic vinegar 

75 ml apple cider vinegar 

1 tsp sea salt 

Gently sauté the onions in the butter with the mixed spice until soft.

Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil.

Simmer until thickened, about one hour.

Pour into sterilised jars and seal.

Canapé toast cups

 

8 slices medium sliced white bread

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 180 c.

Cut the crusts off the bread, then roll them flat with a rolling pin.

Use a fluted round pastry cutter to cut out circles.

Brush each side of the bread with olive oil and press into mini cup baking tray.

If you don't have one, you can just bake them flat, but then obviously they don't form cups, just little flat platforms!

Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. They should be crisp when cool. If not, give them another couple of minutes back in the oven to crisp up.

Leave to cool completely then fill with your chosen filling.

Here pea puree, which we topped with Serrano ham, but forgot to photograph.

Linseneintopf

Warming, tasty one pot thick lentil and bacon soup that we first tasted in mountain restaurants in Austria. You can vary the veg according to what you have hanging around. 

200g green or brown lentils 

1 litre chicken stock 

200g bacon, chopped 

1 small onion 

1 leek

1 red or yellow pepper 

1 red chilli 

1 large carrot 

1 large sweet potato 

2 parsnips 

2 medium potatoes 

2 cloves garlic 

1 courgette 

2 sticks celery 

1 heaped tablespoon toenjang (Korean soybean paste)

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp dried oregano 

1/2 tsp smoked paprika 

3 sun dried tomatoes in oil

2 bayleaves

1/2 tin tomatoes 

Dash of truffle oil 

Pour boiling water over the lentils and leave to soak for an hour. Chop the bacon, fry it gently with some oil from the jar of sundried tomatoes. Chop all the vegetables. Toss the onion, leeks, celery, Chili, courgette, oregano and pepper in with the bacon and cook for 3 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil. Close the pressure cooker, bring to pressure and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let it come down from pressure slowly. Serve with crusty bread and butter.