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Ginger Potato Cakes

from Lesley the chalet host in Alp d'Huez Ingredients A panful of spuds - mashed 1/2 onion, chopped and fried 2 tsp ground ginger 2 tblsp chives, chopped Mix together Bake on a greased tray at 180°C for 15 mins. Serve with lime juice mixed with mayo and smoked salmon

French Chocolate Cake

from Lesley the chalet host in Alp d'Huez Ingredients 9.5" round tin 150g caster sugar 275g plain choc 175g butter 2tsp vanilla 5eggs - seperated 40g flour Salt Icing sugar Oven 160°C Grease and sugar a cake tin. Melt the choc with 100g sugar and the butter. Take off heat and add vanilla. Whisk in the egg yolks. Whisk in the flour. Whisk whites and salt to soft peaks, add rest of sugar and fold in to the mix. Bake 20-30 mins.

Ginger Chicken

Great for left over chicken. You can leave out the cream. Serves 2 Half  onion - finely chopped 1 in ginger - finely chopped half red pepper - finely chopped 1 chilli - finely chopped leg & thigh of chicken (cooked) - remove skin and torn into bit sizes half can butter beans 1 tsp pimenton quarter pint stock/white wine/ tsp stock powder in water 1 carrot - julienned 6 mini sweetcorn 1 dessertspoon cream Fry the onion, ginger, chilli, pepper until soft. Add the chicken, beans, pimenton and stir. Add the stock and gently bring back to boil. Add the carrots and sweetcorn and simmer until just tender (3-4 mins depending how thick you cut the carrots). Finish with the cream and serve with mashed potato

Apple Pies

This is a whole apple, half-cooked in cider and honey, and then you wrap it in pastry and pour the reduced juices on the top (so it looks like a huge, round jam tart). Then whack it in the oven on high (well, I was doing roast potatoes at the time...) on the bottom of the oven. They come out looking like pastry apples. Serves 4 5 Braeburn apples, peeled & cored 1 pint cider 1-2 tbsp honey 1/2 Cinnamon stick Shortcrust pastry Milk Sugar Put the apples in a deep pan, pour the cider in until it reaches just half way up, pour honey over the top of the apples, throw in the cinnamon stick. Cover with a lid and slow cook in the oven for 4 hours at 100°C. Remove from the oven and gently remove from the juice, cover the apples with cling film and set them aside to cool. Reduce the juices until they are a thick syrup. Cut a wedge from the spare apple and push it into the cores of the others. Or you could use dates or sultanas, I guess. Roll out the pastry. Each apple will need a roundish pie...

How to use a frying pan/make gravy

1. Ensure whatever you are frying is completely dry: Pat meat with kitchen paper, leave scallops on paper for an hour, let noodles drain for an hour. 2. Don't crowd the pan or your food will steam, not fry. 3. Don't toss and poke your food or it will cool and won't brown 4. Don't use a non-stick pan (except for cooking eggs). 5. Use peanut oil or sunflower oil. Don't use olive as its burning point is too low. About browning • Browning is called the Maillard reaction. It is not 'sealing' the meat. Juices don't leak out of meat while you're cooking it, they retreat to the centre (which is why you rest the meat - to let the juices even out again). • Browning can only happen at high temperatures (above the boiling point of water, which is why if your food is wet it won't brown). • Browning is all about adding flavour. Basic Sauce/Gravy 1. Get the pan hot, add the oil, turn the heat down slightly and add the meat. 2. Leave the meat to build up a ...

Beavers at 4 Fig Tea Loaf

from Amy Claridge I have a marvellous bearded friend whom I fondly call The Marquis. He wears combat trousers, and plays cricket in Doc Martin boots painted white with emulsion. He inspired this cake. I was in his company once, when he suddenly said “Beavers at 4!” to his brother, Jason. It turned out that when they were schoolboys in the 50s and 60s, they would partake in tea and cake at 4 pm – as was the routine of their school. The general term for this cake – of any type – was ‘beavers’. So when I was trying to work out how to use up a load of Christmas dates and figs, I worked them into a traditional tea loaf recipe, and called it ‘beavers’. I could just imagine a young Marquis in shorts with grazed knees helping himself to a rather large slice whilst Jason salivated in the background.This recipe has been made numerous times since, and a couple of grease proof paper clad loafs, tied with twine, have made their way to the Marquis and his brother. I am assured that this cake tastes ...

Venison with Blueberry and Red Wine Gravy

Goes so well with the fruit in this dish, and is great served with some steamed purple sprouting broccoli. Mashed potato, parsnip or celeriac go well with this too. Serves 2 (huge portions) Ingredients • 1 small handful of fresh rosemary • 5 dried juniper berries • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • extra virgin olive oil • 1kg venison sirloin on the bone • 4 shallots, peeled and finely sliced • 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely sliced • 1 glass of robust red wine • 200g/7oz fresh blueberries (or blackberries) • 2 large knobs of butter Chop up the rosemary and juniper berries finely and add a really good pinch of salt and pepper. Pat the venison dry with some kitchen paper, and rub the oil mixture all over it. Add 2 good lugs of olive oil to a hot pan and sear the meat on all sides, and then transfer to a roasting tin and roast for about 30 mins in oven preheated to 180°C. Remove it from the oven when it’s cooked to your liking and allow it to rest on a plate for 10-15 mi...