Mince pies

Mince pies are a favourite in our house. Mr Frivolitea has been asking for days when I’m going to make some. Well today was the day. Here’s my recipe.

Rich shortcrust pastry

250g plain flour

175g butter ( cold and cubed)

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp cold water

I make my pastry in my thermomix:

Put the flour, butter and sugar in the thermomix and pulse on turbo until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the egg mix and pulse until just coming together to a dough. Tip it out and bring together to a ball, wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 30 mins before using.

If doing by hand, rub the butter and flour together to resemble breadcrumbs, mix in the sugar then add the egg mix to bring together into a dough.

I make mine the traditional way with a pastry bottom and top. I put a larger circle of pastry in each mince pie tin and prick with a fork. I add about 1-2 small spoonfuls of mincemeat (this year I made River Cottage apple, pear and ginger mincemeat). I dampen my finger and run it round the pastry before adding the smaller circle of pastry on top, pinching to close. I finally add a little cross with a knife before baking for 12-15mins at 200c.

Mincemeat biscuits

I love making edible gifts for Christmas presents and this is one I’ve made a couple of years in a row now. This recipe makes about 24 biscuits.

Ingredients

200g unsalted butter, softened

100g soft brown sugar

200g porridge oats ( I use stringer porridge oats, from a local farm in Bishop Wilton)

100g plain flour

6 tablespoons of mincemeat ( I made my mincemeat using the river cottage Apple, pear and ginger mincemeat)

Method:

Heat the oven to 170c

Mix the butter, sugar and flour together, then stir in the oats and mincemeat.

Take small amounts of the mix and roll into balls. You should have enough mix to make aobut 24 balls. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment. Flatten each ball slightly. I like to sprinkle them with a little Demerara sugar.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden. Take them out of the oven and leave on the tray to cool for 5-10 minutes before putting on a cooling rack to cool completely.

I like to put them in an airtight jar with some ribbon and a nice label and give as a gift.

Roast haunch of venison

I was given a beautiful haunch of venison as a gift recently and so planned a meal for friends with the haunch as the star of the show. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

Haunch of venison (mine was just over 2kg bone in but this would work with boned and rolled too)

2 onions sliced

Marinade:

Bunch of rosemary (half chopped, half as sprigs set aside for later)

2 small lemons (zest and juice)

4 tablespoons rapeseed oil (I use Yorkshire rapeseed oil, made just up the road from us on the Yorkshire wolds)

Method:
Put the haunch of venison in a container. Mix the marinade ingredients together and put the marinade over the venison (this can be left overnight or a few hours depending on what time you’ve got).

When you are ready to cook the haunch, turn the oven to 220c

Make incision marks in the haunch and put the sprigs of rosemary in the incisions

Put the onions in an oven proof dish, set the haunch on top and pour over any marinade that is left

Cook the haunch at 220c for 20 minutes. Once this time is up pour 500ml vegetable stock into the dish and turn the oven down to 200c. I like my venison medium to medium rare so I cooked it for 20 minutes plus 15 minutes per 500g.

Blacksmith Arms, Westow

We love pie, really, really, love pie, so when we saw pie on the menu on a meal out with friends it was inevitable. (I should point out however that we only eat pie if it’s proper pie. Stew with a hat on does not constitute a pie in Mr Frivolitea’s world).

We’d never visited the Blacksmith Arms before despite it being not too far from where we live. Our friends suggested it for a meal out and I am so glad they did, and three of the four of us had pie.

I chose the chicken and ham pie from the specials board:

Mr Frivolitea chose the steak and ale pie:

The pastry was superb, the pie did not skimp on fillings and the meat was top quality. The vegetables and chips were cooked to perfection.

My only slight criticism, which would not be a criticism for many, would be that the pie was too big, I simply couldn’t finish it and desperately wanted to!

I couldn’t manage pudding after all that pie but the others did. Mr Frivolitea opted for the dark chocolate fondant despite its 15 minute wait time. He confirmed that it was definitely worth the wait, rich and delightfuly squidgy.

Our friends had the specials board pudding, vanilla panacotta with an apple crumble topping and apple sorbet. The apple sorbet was a particular hit.

I did hesitate before writing this blog. The food here was so good that I wanted to keep it to myself!

I can’t recommend this place enough. The food was of top quality, the pub cosy and inviting, and the staff really helpful and friendly. It’s clear that the Blacksmith Arms take huge pride in what they do.

We will definitely be back. A lot.

Crunchy nutty granola

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter
150ml honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

500g jumbo oat flakes

500g mixed nuts and seeds ( I tend to use a mix of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cashew nuts, hazelnuts, and almonds)

Method:

Preheat the oven at 170C

Melt the butter, honey and vanilla extract together in a saucepan.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and add the melted butter mixture.

Stir it to make sure it is well combined and then tip it into a large baking tray.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. I stir it occasionally to ensure it colours evenly.

Remove it from the oven but leave it in the tray to cool completely so it doesn’t go soggy.

I store it in a large kilner jar and it lasts a few weeks.

Pear and ginger chutney

Ingredients:

1.5kg pears (peeled, cored and chopped)

500g onions (peeled and chopped)

1 lemon ( zest and juice)

125g raisins

250g sugar

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1tbsp ground ginger

300ml cider vinegar

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a large pan and simmer until soft and thick.

Put in sterilized jars and leave for a couple of months to mature.

Slow cooker apple chutney

We have been blessed / cursed* With a lot of pears from our garden and a crate of apples from the neighbours. So the chutney factory begins!

I decided to experiment with the slow cooker to enable me to make chutney during the week without having to watch over it all the time.

I’m really pleased with the result.

Ingredients:

1.3-1.4kg apples ( peeled, cored and chopped) 2 large onions peeled and chopped 2 garlic cloves crushed 300ml cider vinegar 675g Demerara sugar 1tsp each of cinnamon, ginger, cayenne and chilli powder 2tsp salt

Method:

Turn the slow cooker to high whilst you prep. Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on high, lid off, for 30 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved. Put the lid back on and cook on high for 9 hours ( I took the lid off after 6 hours and cooked the rest of the time with it off to reduce the mixture and allow the liquid to evaporate.

Once thickened, Put in sterilised jars and seal.

(*delete as appropriate)

Guest blog – Brew Lab training lab

For our anniversary the ever thoughtful Mrs Frivolitea bought a session at Brew Lab in Edinburgh on artisan coffee brewing. I’m not sure what this says about my coffee making skills but it was, nonetheless, most welcome. A nice surprise ahead of the day was a message that I was the only person booked in. Rather than cancel, we were offered free places for any friends who might care to join. Nice. So Mr and Mrs Frivolitea brewed some coffee together under the expert tutelage of the delightful Emiliya Yordanova. We were shown pour over technique (with the Kalita wave), immersion brewing (with clever dripper) and Aeropress.

In many ways we barely scratched the surface of this craft and I left with a renewed respect for the skill of someone who makes coffee with the level of attention to detail displayed at places like Brew Lab.

The class itself was a great mix of explaining concepts, such as over and under extraction, then demonstrating this and letting us taste the results. We played with how tiny variations of a recipe (changing the quantity of coffee by a few grams) dramatically affect the result of the brew and the different qualities extracted from the coffee at different points in the process.

We also tried the same coffee brewed with the different methods, again tasting the very different results. Artisan coffee is still a pretty small market, although rapidly growing, and often parodied as the domain of arrogant hipsters; attracting the man who perfects just the right bounce to his cappuccino and his beard but cares for little else.

I admit that I don’t know as much about the world of coffee as many and I was a little worried I might be looked down on, as if I might be someone who thinks Costa serve something worth drinking… None of that at Brew Lab. Emiliya was a great tutor. Clearly passionate about good coffee and wanting to share and encourage. She patiently handled our newbie questions and it was a pleasure to spend the morning with her.

My day to day, practical coffee brewing probably isn’t going to be dramatically changed as a result… In an office where Nescafé is the default option I’m already gently lampooned for my hand grinder and Aeropress. But we definitely learned some techniques and tips that will make a difference; a clever dripper is on our purchase list… And I am gaining more of a taste for the delicate flavours to be extracted from pour over brewing.

So that does sound like I’m taking away more than I suggested… Probably. The passion for all of this, demonstrated by folk at Brew Lab, is quite infectious.

Timberyard

Last night we went to one of the most interesting places we’ve eaten in for a long time. Timberyard is tucked in a side street behind Edinburgh Castle and the entrance does not fully prepare you for the wonder inside. The name I guess should give a big clue but as we walked in to the building and saw the big open space of the main dining area my sense of excitement grew. This place is different. Different in style, different in feel and different in quality from anywhere else we’ve eaten recently.

The sense of space at Timberyard is something I particularly liked. This place has stayed true to the building but also in doing so has created an ‘urban’ feel. Its history is on show, it’s not ‘prettied’ up. Timberyard is creative and it’s clever. Everywhere you look there are jars of foraged homegrown fruit, leaves, herbs, preserved in interesting ways.

We arrived a bit early and had a drink at the bar. We knew we were in for a great evening when we needed the soft drinks menu to be explained to us!

Mr Frivolitea opted for the pickled elderflower. A long drink using pickled elderflower syrup topped up with sparkling mineral water. I opted for sourdough and bramble, a short drink served over a chunk of ice. It was literally a chunk of ice and fascinating to be sitting at the bar watching the drinks being prepped and the use of a miniature axe bing used to chip ice to fit the glass. The barman described my drink as like drinking jam and toast, really good jam and toast, and I can’t think of a better description. It is nothing like anything I’ve tasted before. The pickled elderflower was also really interesting and refreshing. Never have soft drinks been so appealing. Oh and they had Nyetimber on the menu and you know we always approve of this. So after soft drinks a glass of Nyetimber each ensured an excellent evening.

We decided to opt for the daily menu rather than the tasting menu. This menu is made of bites, small, large and pudding course.

Before our food arrived we were given some malted sourdough bread with some whipped chicken liver and whipped crowdie, juniper pepper and lovage salt.

We both had bites. I had Mackerel, horseradish, buttermilk, apple. This dish was really creative. It messed with my head a bit and I’m in awe of the processes and precision they used to present the mackerel and the horseradish and buttermilk that felt like snow. It was a really light and fresh start to the meal. Mr Frivolitea had pea, curd, spelt, lovage, shoots. This was a wonderfully light dish, delicate flavour with occasional surprises of sweetness or curd flavour.

I passed on the small dish but Mr F had the mallard, cauliflower, kolhrabi, elderberry, shallot, black garlic, chard.

Another exciting and creative dish with the black garlic being a particular highlight. For large, we both opted for the venison. Well you would, wouldn’t you! The dish was titled venison, squash, onion, mushroom, beetroot, juniper, kale. The crust on the venison loin added an extra dimension to the dish and the slow cooked venison was deliciously tender.

Finally Mr F had pudding (though I did try a bit of course!) pudding was honey, nut, lemon thyme, oatmeal, milk. Every mouthful revealed something new. It was one of those puddings were if you had one of the elements on its own you might be underwhelmed but put all together it was incredible. The honeycomb was the best we’ve had and the lemon thyme really lifted the dish.

This place is exciting. It’s a place you want to return to, and we will.

Sesame

Want to be able to get creative, fresh and interesting food on the run? Well go to Sesame. Sesame sits on Garrick Street a few steps from Leicester Square tube station. The layout reminds me a little of Pret but that’s where the similarities end (for those of you who were worried!)

The interior is vibrant and exciting.

Sesame is the latest venture by Yotam Ottolenghi. I’m a huge fan of his food. I’ve got the cookbooks, I’ve eaten in his restaurants and Sesame is a great next step. Why? Because it means that people like me who don’t live in London but who pass through for work can grab some tasty food at a good price.

I decided to try a couple of skewers from the flame grill in the shop. I chose the spiced lamb and the paprika and cardomom chicken.

Not the best photo of them! I loved the flavour the flames gave the meat. Though I didn’t get much cardomom flavour off the chicken.

I then bought a salad and dip to eat on the train home.

I love cauliflower and anytime I have eaten a cauliflower dish that Ottolenghi has created it really impresses me. So I chose the cauliflower, tahini and pomegranate salad. It was really delicious.

I also chose an aivar pepper, goats cheese and nigella seeds dip. It packed a punch and was lovely and creamy.

The great thing about Sesame is that they also have a small selection of sweets and snacks you can buy too. So Mr Frivolitea hasn’t missed out as some Soffle’s chilli and garlic pitta crisps, some sesame brittle and sweets are in the bag winding their way back to York.