Spinach, leek and gruyere tart

I made this lovely recipe from Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook last night.

Ingredients

• One packet ready-rolled shortcrust pastry (375g) - or make your own.
• 90g grated gruyere cheese
• 2 leeks, thinly sliced
• 200g baby spinach leaves
• 30g butter
• 2 eggs
• 300ml milk (or 150ml milk and 150ml cream)
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees (200 degrees if fan assisted).
2. Roll out the pastry and line a 28cm flan tin. Blind bake (see pastry post) for 20 minutes, removing the foil and beans for the last 10 minutes.
3. Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Fry the leeks over a high heat, stirring so that they don't burn, until golden brown.
4. Add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes until it wilts.
5. Beat the eggs, then mix with the milk (and cream, if using) and cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Spoon the leek and spinach filling into the pastry case. Pour in the cheese mixture evenly.
7. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until golden brown.
8. Serve with salad, and rice or potatoes if you wish.

Bolognese sauce

Everyone thinks they know how to make a bolognese sauce. But I think it fair to say that there are some recipes that are much better tasting than others. This week I made Jamie Oliver's recipe from his Ministry of Food book. Bleurgh! If that's all Jamie can manage, then I am well on my way to being a celebrity chef.

This recipe is so easy to prepare, but the longer you cook it the better tasting it will be. Traditionally bolognese sauce is made with white wine but I don't include any in mine.

Bolognese sauce - for pasta, lasagne, cottage pie, jacket potato topping...

Ingredients

• 500g beef mince
• 2 tins chopped tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large onion
• 2 medium carrots (optional)
• 250g mushrooms (optional)
• Any other vegetables you feel like adding - red or yellow pepper and celery go well
• Oxo cubes - 1 beef, 1 Italian
• Balsamic vinegar
• Worcestershire sauce
• Dried herbs - basil, thyme, oregano are all good
• Tomato ketchup
• Tomato puree
• Olive oil

Method

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic.
2. Add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large saucepan over a medium heat. Fry the onion for about 3 minutes until it starts to go soft, then add the garlic and fry for a couple more minutes
3. Chop the carrots into small pieces (and any other vegetables you are using).
4. Add the minced beef to the saucepan. Bash it around with a wooden spoon to break it up into a fine, crumbly texture (or you can use your hands to do this beforehand - just put the mince in a bowl and scrunch it up). Fry until browned and stir frequently so it doesn't stick to the bottom. If it seems a bit dry and keeps catching, add a little bit of water
5. Add the tinned tomatoes, carrots and any other vegetables and stir into the mince.
6. Add a dash of Worcestershire sauce, a dash of balsamic vinegar, a tablespoon of tomatoe puree, and a good squirt of tomato ketchup. Crush up the Oxo cubes and sprinkle them in. Then add a good sprinkling of any herb you feel like using. Stir this all into the sauce along with the mushrooms.
7. Bring it to the boil, then turn down and simmer for at least 30 minutes and preferably more like 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally and making sure it doesn't catch on the base of the pan. If you're going to cook it for a long time, fill up one of the tomato cans with water and add it, and make sure the sauce doesn't dry out.

I have had a few culinary disasters with bolognese. Once, my husband and I decided it would be a good idea to add some cinnamon. Bad choice! Cinnamon goes well in chilli but not in bolognese!

I think I've perfected it now, but as you can tell from the recipe above it's not exactly science!

French style braised beef

This is a delicious recipe for beef stew cooked with wine, tomatoes, and vegetables. Serve it with rice, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, or just a chunky piece of bread. The meat needs to be marinated overnight, so you need to be a bit organised about making this dish! The recipe originally came from Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook but I have adapted some of the quantities to make it even better.

French style braised beef

Ingredients

500-600g beef braising steak

2 tablespoons olive oil

250g carrots

One medium to large onion

500ml red wine

About 400ml hot beef stock

500g tomatoes (I use a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes and throw in one or two fresh alongside)

100g black pitted olives

About 300g mushrooms (button mushrooms are nice), properly washed

Bouquet garni

2 garlic cloves

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Cornflour, if required

Method

1. The night before you want to cook this, mix together the red wine vinegar and red wine. Cut the beef into cubes (any size you like) and place in a bowl with the garlic cloves and bouquet garni. Pour over the vinegar and wine mixture. Leave to marinate in the fridge overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
3. Slice the onion and chop the carrots into large chunks. Chop the tomatoes.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large, oven- and flame-proof casserole dish. Lift the beef out of the marinade and pat it dry with kitchen paper. Gently fry the beef until browned all over. Then lift it out of the casserole and leave to drain on kitchen paper.
5. Add the onion, carrots, and mushrooms to the casserole and fry, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until they are lightly coloured.
6. Add the beef back to the casserole. Add the chopped tomatoes and olives. Strain the marinade through a sieve and add this to the casserole along with the hot stock. The liquid should almost cover the beef. Then bring it to the boil over a high heat.
7. Cover the casserole with a lid and place into the preheated oven. Cook for about 2 hours until the meat is juicy and tender. I usually stir it once during the cooking time.
8. If the sauce looks a bit thin or watery when the 2 hours have passed, place the casserole back on the hob over a medium heat. Add a heaped teaspoon of cornflour and stir it in. If the cornflour is damp it will go lumpy, so make sure it is fresh and if in doubt use a sieve to get rid of any lumps as you add it to the stew. If the sauce is still too thin, add a little more cornflour until it has thickened.

This meal is truly delicious. It may take a long time to cook but the preparation is practically effortless. You don't need to labour over the chopping - the more rustic the better.

Bacon and butternut squash risotto

This is a delicious, seasonal recipe using only a few ingredients, many of which will be in your store cupboard. Not really one for a dinner party since it needs constant stirring. The result is well worth it though! I have adapted the recipe below from one found on the BBC's food website.

Bacon and butternut squash risotto - serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 125g bacon or pancetta
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 large butternut squash - buy it a few days in advance and store it on the counter, not in the fridge, so it can ripen
• 2 glasses white wine
• 400g arborio risotto rice
• Olive oil
• Sage - fresh (15 leaves) or dried (2 tbsp)
• Butter
• 1 litre hot vegetable stock - keep it simmering gently in a pan as you make the risotto
• About 125g grated parmesan cheese
• Handful of pinenuts (optional)

Method

1. At least 1.5 hours before you want to serve: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Peel the squash. Cut it into four chunks (one cut width-wise and one length-wise). Remove the seeds using a spoon - don't be afraid to give it a good scrape to get the stringy flesh out. Cut the squash into 2-inch chunks. Roughly chop the garlic cloves. Put the garlic and squash into a roasting dish, drizzle generously with olive oil, sprinkle over about 1 tbsp of dried sage (or about 7 chopped fresh sage leaves), and season with sea salt and ground pepper. Toss the whole lot together with your hands. Roast in the oven for 40-50 minutes until the squash is softened.
2. Once the squash is cooked, lightly mash it with a fork and set aside.
3. Chop the onion and the bacon. Heat 2 tbsps olive oil plus a generous knob of butter in a heavy-based large saucepan. Gently fry the onion and bacon until the onion is soft and the bacon browned.
4. Add the rice and stir for about a minute until the grains are coated with the oil.
5. Pour in the wine. Stir continuously until it has all been absorbed into the rice.
6. Add a ladle of hot stock and a tbsp dried sage and stir continuously until the stock has been absorbed. This should be done over a low to medium heat.
7. Keep adding ladles of stock until it has all been used up. Keep stirring! After about 15-20 minutes the stock will all be used and the rice will be soft. The texture should be thick and creamy.
8. Remove the pan from the heat. Gently stir in the butternut squash and parmesan. Season to taste.
9. Cover with a lid and leave to stand for two minutes.
10. If you like, serve with some toasted pinenuts. While the risotto is standing, place a handful of pinenuts in a fairly hot frying pan. Move them around until they are golden.
11. Serve the risotto with extra grated parmesan.

Galette des rois

Happy New Year!

This is a recipe for a French dessert made with pastry and almond paste (or frangipane) eaten to celebrate Epiphany and throughout the month of January. I learnt about this one from the French part of my family. Traditionally a small ceramic toy is hidden in the cake. The youngest person at the table hides underneath the table and as the cake is cut calls out the names of who the slice should belong to. Whoever finds the toy hidden in their slice is crowned king or queen for the evening and wears a gold crown.

You don't have to do all that, though. The galette is delicious in any case!

Galette des rois - serves 8-10

Ingredients

• 500g packet puff pastry
• Three eggs
• 125g caster sugar
• 125g ground almonds
• 125g unsalted butter
• A tablespoon of dark rum
• A tablespoon of milk
• One egg yolk

Method

1. Get the butter out of the fridge well in advance (about an hour is ideal) - you will need it to be soft so that it can be mixed in easily. Get the puff pastry out at least 10 minutes before you need to use it as well - probably about the same time as you start making the almond paste.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
3. Mix the caster sugar and ground almonds in a bowl.
4. Then cream in the butter using an electric hand whisk, until its smooth in texture.
5. Mix in the three eggs, one by one, mixing each one in well with the hand whisk.
6. Mix in the rum.
7. Cut the slab of puff pastry in half. Roll out each half until it's about 0.5 cm thick and you can cut out a circle using a plate as a guide.
8. Make an egg wash: mix the egg yolk with the tablespoon of milk using a fork.
9. Place one of the circles of pastry on a baking sheet. Spoon the almond mixture onto the pastry, leaving a 5 cm border around the edge.
10. Brush the border with the egg wash. Then place the other pastry circle on top of the almond paste (don't worry, the paste is quite thick and won't squidge out if you don't press too hard on it). Pinch the two pastry sheets together - you can do this quite roughly as when it all rises it won't show, but do make sure it's well pinched together or turned in on itself as otherwise the filling will seep out when it's cooking.
11. Chill the galette for between 30 and 60 minutes.
12. Score the top of the pastry with a sharp knife in a diamond pattern (diagonally one way, then the other). Brush it with the remainder of the egg wash.
13. Bake in the oven for around 40 minutes, until the pastry is risen and golden.
14. Some recipes tell you to then brush the pastry with a sugar syrup, but I think it's nice just as it is - sweet but not too sweet.
15. You could serve it with cream but beware: it's pretty heavy as it is!