This tomato soup is so intense; there’s no ‘hint’ of tomato, it screams tomato, but intriguingly, for those of us who don’t like the taste of a cooked tomato on its own, it tastes like tomato soup. Weird.
There is no stock propping up the flavour base, so the flavour is cleaner, yet richer. Probably because stock gives a big background flavour, but inevitably drowns the prime performer.
It’s easy to make too. That has to be a bonus.

Another thought. If this tastes as good as it does with ‘reduced in price’ tomatoes bought from the supermarket in a literally snowy and icy January, can you imagine what it will taste like made with home-grown tomatoes in the height of Summer? Woah. I shall be growing nice, big, fat tomatoes this year!

In a large saute pan (with a lid for later), melt a large knob of butter. Add 2 chopped onions and fry over a gentle heat until softened and golden – around 10 mins.
Add 2 cloves of garlic (try 4 cloves if you’re a big fan) and continue to fry for a couple of minutes.

Whilst this is happening, chop 1.5 kg tomatoes. You can skin them if you can be bothered, but the whole lot gets liquidized and pushed through a sieve, so I ignore this step.

Add the tomatoes to the pan

Cover the pan with a lid and gently cook for 20-25 mins. Stir halfway through the time – mine looked like this:

Lid back on and by the end of the cooking time they have collapsed into a chunky soup

Transfer to a bowl and liquidise with a stick blender – or use a liquidiser if you have such a thing

Now for the sieve part. Put a sieve over a bowl (erm… like you’d sieve it directly on to the floor?!) and put a couple of ladels-full of soup in at a time. Stir and press the soup through.

You have velvet beneath and rubble in the sieve. Either chuck this lot in the bin or knit yourself something pretty with it. Up to you.

Return the silken soup to the saute pan and add 150ml milk, or single cream if you wish. Stir. It may taste a bit bitter, but don’t panic.

Add 3/4 tsp sugar, celery salt to taste (I started with about 1 tsp and went from there) and black pepper.
It’s worth remembering that it isn’t sugar that remedies bitterness, it’s salt.
So don’t add more sugar until you’ve salted it.
You can also add some cayenne pepper if you like heat. Continue to cook gently for another 15 minutes or so.

And serve. Preferably with heaving chunks of good bread.

———-

Intense Tomato Soup

PRINT THIS RECIPE (opens in a new window)

knob of butter (around 1 oz)
2 onions, chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, crushed

around 1.5 kg tomatoes, skinned, if you can be bothered, and chopped. Don’t use cherry tomatoes though – too much skin and seed proportionately.

150ml single cream or milk
3/4 tsp sugar
celery salt
freshly ground black pepper

In a large saute pan (with a lid for later), melt the butter.
Add the onions and fry over a gentle heat until softened and golden – around 10 mins.
Add the garlic and continue to fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the tomatoes, put on the lid and cook for 20-25 mins, stirring halfway through, until mushy, soupy and collapsed.

Turn off the heat and remove the contents of the pan to a large bowl and blend with a stick blender. Alternatively, blitz in a blender.

Push and stir the soup through a sieve to remove skin and seeds and generally make the soup smoother.

Return to the saute pan and add the cream or milk. Stir. It may taste a bit bitter, but don’t panic.

Add the sugar, celery salt to taste (I started with about 1 tsp and went from there) and black pepper.
It’s worth remembering that it isn’t sugar that remedies bitterness, it’s salt.
So don’t add more sugar until you’ve salted it.
You can also add some cayenne pepper if you like heat. Continue to cook gently for another 15 minutes or so.

An emergency meal for you today. This is my ‘need-something-quick’ meal. Everyone likes it; it has protein, carb and vegetable.

I have all the ambient ingredients in the pantry and I always have some mince and peas in the freezer.

It tastes really nice too.

People ask for seconds.

Preheat oven to GM5/190C/375F.
Bring a saucepan of water and a liberal sprinkle of salt to the boil and add some penne pasta; cook for the minimum cooking time stated on the packet so that it is al dente.
A couple of minutes before the end of the cooking time, add a handful of frozen peas to the water.
Drain and keep to one side if you’re still waiting for the meat to finish cooking.

Meanwhile, in a frying pan, heat a tbsp of oil. Add a finely chopped onion and fry until softened and beginning to colour.. Add 2 cloves of crushed garlic and fry for a couple of minutes.

Add 400g beef mince and fry until browned.
Add 2 tbsp tomato paste, a crumbled Oxo cube and sprinkle of crushed chilli and stir in well, continue to cook for a couple of minutes.
Add 390g tin of chopped tomato; stir and cook for a good 5 – 10 mins. It’s not a terribly wet sauce. (I had only added about half of the chopped tomatoes when I took this pic)

Put the drained pasta and peas into an oven proof dish and pour the meat sauce on top. Stir and turn over well to combine.

Scatter a thick layer of grated cheddar over the top and bake for around 15 – 20 mins.

Serve! (leftovers freeze really well)

——-

Beef Pasta Bake

PRINT THIS RECIPE (opens in a new window)

1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
400g beef mince
a shake of crushed, dried jalapeno or chillis
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 oxo cube, crumbled
400g chopped tomatoes, tin or packet/tetra pak arrangement
pasta – I use penne
handful of frozen peas
grated cheddar

Preheat oven to GM5.
Bring a saucepan of water and a liberal sprinkle of salt to the boil and add the pasta, cook for the minimum cooking time stated on the packet so that it is al dente.
A couple of minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the frozen peas to the water.
Drain and keep to one side if you’re still waiting for the meat to finish cooking.

Meanwhile, in a frying pan, heat a tbsp of oil.
Add the onion and fry until softened and beginning to colour.
Add the garlic and fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the beef mince and fry until browned.
Add the tomato paste, crumbled Oxo cube and sprinkle of crushed chilli and stir in well, continue to cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the chopped tomato, stir and cook for a good 5 – 10 mins. It’s not a terribly wet sauce.

Put the drained pasta and peas into an oven proof dish and pour the meat sauce on top. Stir and turn over well to combine.
Scatter a thick layer of grated cheddar over the top and bake for around 15 – 20 mins.

Serve! (leftovers can be frozen)

This recipe is from ‘Delicious’ magazine’s Dec 2009 edition. It is very delicious. Very delicious indeed. Mum made it last week; it took just one bite for me to shove the magazine in my handbag and scurry home to make one for us as well.

Moist, moist, moist, plummy, fudgey with marzipan and some chopped nuts for an additional texture.
Not just that, this genuinely works as a cake. It isn’t a ‘best served warm’ cake, it is a proper cake. Likewise, if you serve it warm, it is a real pudding.
A really clever recipe that comes together without a lot of fuss. In addition to all this, it can be frozen. That is pretty marvellous at this time of year – you never know when you’re going to need a cake or pudding on standby.

Preheat oven to GM4/180C/350F
Line a 9″ cake tin with a depth of around 2-3″

Before you start, dry fry 50g nuts; I used almonds – the original calls for hazelnuts. Once they’ve coloured in the frying pan, let them cool on a plate and chop them up.
Take 400g ripe plums, remove the stones and cut each one into 4 or 6 slices.

Cream 200g softened butter and 200g caster sugar until fluffy and pale.

Beat 4 eggs and add them slowly, beating well after each addition. If it looks like it’s going to curdle, add a tbsp of the measured flour.

Fold in 130g ground almonds, then fold in 100g plain flour and 2 tsp baking powder.
Finally, fold in the 50g chopped, roasted nuts and 120g chopped marzipan.

Spoon the mix into the tin and scatter the plum slices over the top – press them down into the mixture just a little. The mixture will rise and engulf them, sending them and the marzipan to the bottom, so don’t be too worried about it all.

Bake for 50-60 mins until a tester poked into the middle comes out clean.

Doesn’t look terribly exciting does it? Note. You can wrap it well and freeze it at this point – a handy cake/pudding for the festive period.

Choice time.

To make this into a cake:
Cool in the tin for 5 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make some glace icing by whisking 3-4 tsps water or lemon juice into 100g icing sugar, then drizzle it over the top.

To make this into a pudding:
Serve warm from the oven with ice cream or cream.
Or, make in advance, then wrap in foil and re-heat for around 10 mins on GM6/200C/400F

Anyway. This not so exciting cake?

Have a look inside…. NOW it looks exciting!

——–

Plum, Marzipan and Almond Cake or Pudding

PRINT THIS RECIPE (opens in a new window)

From ‘Delicious’ magazine.

200g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
4 large eggs
100g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
130g ground almonds
50g nuts, chopped (I used almonds that I had dry-fried before chopping; the original called for roasted hazelnuts)
120g marzipan, chopped
400g ripe plums, stones removed and each cut into 4 or 6 slices

100g icing sugar
3-4 tsp water or lemon juice

Preheat oven to GM4/180C/350F
Line a 9″ cake tin with a depth of around 2-3″

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale.
Slowly add the eggs, beating well after each addition. If it looks like it’s going to curdle, add a tbsp of the measured flour.

Fold in the ground almonds, then fold in the flour and baking powder.
Finally, fold in the chopped nuts and marzipan.

Spoon the mix into the tin and scatter the plum slices over the top – press them down into the mixture just a little.
Bake for 50-60 mins until a tester poked into the middle comes out clean.

To make this into a cake:
Cool in the tin for 5 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. (You can wrap and freeze the cake at this point)
Put the icing sugar into a bowl and whisk in the water or lemon juice. Drizzle over the cake.

To make this into a pudding:
Serve warm from the oven with ice cream or cream.
Or, make in advance, then wrap in foil and re-heat for around 10 mins on GM6/200C/400F

Alex asked what we were having for dessert.
‘Queen of Puddings’, I replied.
‘Is that your name, Mama? Queen of Puddings?’
Well… dear, sweet child, flattery will get you everywhere. I’d like to continue with more ego-stroking anecdotes, but he went on to express his deep dissatisfaction that the meringue was soft and warm as opposed to huge, crunchy, chewy and cold with buckets of whipped cream on it.

Oh well.

We love it.
Alex managed to eat his, despite the crushing disappointment. Brave little soldier.

Retrieve a shallow ovenproof dish, about 2 pints capacity. Mine measures 10″x7″x2″

Preheat oven to GM4/180C/350F

Heat 550ml milk, a knob of butter and 25g caster sugar in a saucepan, stirring occasionally to melt the sugar and butter.

Reduce 100g brioche (or use white bread if you haven’t got brioche handy) to crumbs in a food processor and place in the dish with the zest of 1 lemon.

I say ‘if you have any handy’ because (bear with me) Mum and Dad are having their kitchen redone at the moment and Mum’s painting the walls. Whilst on our way back from town in the car, she asked me whether I had any undercoat. I told her to check my handbag. For one delicious moment, I thought she was going to. Darn it.

Here is the brioche crumb and lemon. No undercoat (haven’t got any after all)

Once the milk has warmed and the butter and sugar have melted, pour this over the brioche and lemon then let it sit for 15 mins to come together, commune, be.

Once the 15 mins has passed, stir 2 egg yolks into the dish and bake in the oven for 25-35 mins or until it has set. It must be firm and set all over.

Once it has set, remove from the oven and warm 5 dessertspoons of raspberry jam in the microwave or on the hob to make it easier to spread. Carefully and gently spread the jam over the top.

In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, place 2 egg whites and 50g sugar.

Stir to combine and heat until it is finger hot. Test this by, well, sticking your finger in it. If it’s hot, you’re there. If you have a firm cholesterol-free, sweetened omelette then you’ve gone too far.

Remove the bowl from the top of the pan and, using an electric hand whisk, start whisking whilst it cools

until it is a glossy meringue.

Either pipe the meringue over the jam layer or dollop out evenly and spread to cover completely. Obviously, piping it would be most attractive, but don’t be too generous with the height of your piping – you don’t want to run out half way through. There’s enough meringue to cover it, but you won’t have any left over – so bear that in mind.
Of course if your dish is smaller, but deeper, this will be less of a problem. Tsk. It’s all about surface area in cooking isn’t it? I never thought I would have to halve and double surface areas so much. I do it more now than I did in Maths. Mind you, that isn’t saying much.

Put the dish back in the oven for 5-10 mins to brown the meringue.

Let it sit out of the oven for a good 10 mins, then serve.

Mmmmmm.

It’s quite runny when it’s hot and firms up as it cools. I have to say, that hottish-warm is our preferred temperature. But hot is still good and cold is absolutely fine. Let me know how you like your Queen of Puds the best.

———————————

Queen of Puddings

PRINT THIS RECIPE (opens in a new window)
550ml milk
knob of butter
75g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
100g brioche (or white bread) reduced to crumbs in a food processor
2 eggs, separated
5 dessertspoons raspberry jam

Shallow ovenproof dish, about 2 pints capacity. Mine measures 10″x7″x2″

Preheat oven to GM4/180C/350F

Heat the milk, knob of butter and 25g of the sugar in a saucepan, stirring occasionally to melt the sugar.
Meanwhile, in a 2 pt shallow ovenproof dish, place the brioche crumbs and lemon zest.
Once the milk has warmed enough to melt the sugar and butter, pour into the dish. Stir to combine and leave, cooling, for 15 mins.

Once the 15 mins has passed, stir the egg yolks into the dish and bake in the oven for 25-35 mins or until it has set.

Once it has set, remove from the oven and warm the jam a little in the microwave or on the hob. Carefully and gently spread the jam over the top.

In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, place the 2 egg whites and remaining 50g sugar. Stir to combine and heat until it is finger hot.
Remove the bowl from the top of the pan and, using an electric hand whisk, whisk until it cools and is a glossy meringue.

Either pipe the meringue over the jam layer or dollop out evenly and spread to cover completely.

Return to the oven for 5-10 mins to brown the meringue.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 mins before serving.

www.creamuntilfluffy.co.uk

This one is courtesy of my friend Dana.  She’s from Iowa and in addition to working full time and raising her two boys, the family run a farm and breed cattle. She can even artificially impregnate cows, which is a skill that I’m sure we are all in awe of.  Those pictures will go with me to my grave.

So as she’s all about the beef, here’s her famous recipe for…

… chicken.

There is only one thing to dislike about fried chicken – the enormous, precarious vat of boiling oil, the greasy smell and the clean-up. OK, there are 3 things to dislike… (Monty Python moment – sorry)
One of the joys of this recipe is that you get all the flavour of fried chicken but none of the risk (Alex! Cats! Out of the way!) and only a fraction of the cleaning up. You DO, however, get all the crunch, all the succulence and all the flavour.

Ian wants to marry her; hey, after cooking this recipe, my Mum and Dad want to marry her. Try this chicken and you too could dream of marrying Dana. Dana, we love you and good grief woman, do we love your chicken.

Start by heating the oven to GM7/425F/220C.

In a tin measuring about 9×13″, put around 2oz salted butter. Put the tin straight into the oven – the butter can melt and start to go golden whilst the oven heats.

Dana’s recipe calls for 1 chicken which you cut into portions ( in which case, you would up the butter to 3-4 oz) . I had a packet of thighs and drumsticks, so I used that.
No, they haven’t got jaundice – they’re corn fed. Sorry, they WERE corn fed.

Into a large freezer bag, put 1/2 cup plain flour, 1 tsp salt (I used celery salt – might use garlic salt next time), 1 tbsp black pepper and 1 tsp dried crushed jalapeno chillis. You can add whatever dried seasoning you like, but don’t hold back too much.

Twist the top of the bag and give it a shake to combine.

Rinse the chicken pieces under cold water and sort of dry them. That’s a rubbish description, but what I mean is that you don’t want them bone dry – nor do you want them dripping wet. That leaves you with ‘damp’ but I’m not convinced that ‘damp chicken’ is particularly good a description either.

Put a couple of the pieces of chicken in the bag at a time, twist the top (trapping some air) and shake it around to thoroughly coat the pieces.

Once the oven is up to temperature, place the chicken into the butter skin-side down.

Bake for 20-30 mins ( I cooked it for just 20 mins because the chicken was quite thin).

Turn the chicken over and return to the oven for a further 20-30 mins.

Glorious

Bronzed

Crispy

Fabulous.

———————-

Dana’s Oven Baked Fried Chicken

PRINT THIS RECIPE (opens in a new window)

1 whole chicken, cut into portions – or as many portions as you need
2-4oz salted butter
1/2 cup plain flour
1 tsp salt (or celery/garlic salt)
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried, crushed jalapeno pepper

Heat the oven to GM7/425F/220C.
Cut up the butter and place in 9×13″ tin.
Put the tin straight into the oven so that the butter can melt whilst the oven comes up to temperature.

Combine your seasoning with the flour in a large freezer bag.
Wash the chicken and shake dry.

Put into the bag in batches, twist the bag and shake to coat the chicken.

Once the oven is up to temperature, place the coated chicken pieces, skin-side down in the tin and cook for 20-30mins.
Turn the chicken pieces over and cook for an additional 20-30 mins.

Serve, crispy, bronzed and delicious.

Puff pastry, sweet gooey marzipan, juicy baked fruit and it is ready to dazzle in around 30 minutes.

Oh yeah baby.

My Mum always has puff pastry in the freezer and is a master of fruit tarts; therefore, I have inherited this love and have moved to new heights of pleasure as a result of my recent love affair with marzipan. I can’t get enough of the stuff – it’s most peculiar. Only warm though – I’ll probably still pick it off fruit cakes, but we’ll wait and see what Christmas brings before I commit to that.

You know, if you don’t like marzipan, just leave it out of this recipe; just put the fruit on the pastry and serve – maybe with a little whipped cream? Just a suggestion…

These are SO easy and SO delicious, it’s incredible.

First, get a pack of butter puff pastry from the supermarket (or drive over to your Mum’s and use hers because you have run out and didn’t realise). It really must be butter.

This is one of the 2 pieces in the pack – each weighing 250g.

Roll it out and cut into squares, triangles, circles (use a cookie cutter), whatever size and shape you fancy. You don’t have to be precise and mathematical – it’ll rise and puff in the oven anyway.

Roll out some marzipan to a similar thickness, although that’s not terribly important either, and either cut it to fit like a slightly smaller sheet over the pastry, or cut into thin strips like I did here. Lay it on top of the pastry.

Get some fruit out – I used sliced nectarines, blueberries and raspberries (from our garden!). Consider peaches, figs, blackberries, loganberries, thinly sliced apple, pear,plums? Arrange the fruit on top of the marzipan.

So pretty.

Sieve some icing sugar over them – or caster sugar if you like

Bake at GM6/400F/200C for 20 mins.

Remove to a wire rack to cool and add some more icing sugar if you wish. It’s just so patisserie, but so easy.

They’re lovely at room temperature and positively addictive when still slightly warm from the oven. Of all the things I bake, this is the one thing I have most trouble walking away from. I could clear that wire rack in minutes, I tell you.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

———

Marzipan Fruit Puff Tarts

PRINT THIS (NOT) RECIPE (Opens in a new window)

500g all butter puff pastry – thawed if frozen
500g marzipan
1 nectarine
some raspberries
some blueberries
icing sugar

Preheat oven to GM6/400F/200C

Roll the pastry out to the thickness of a coin.
Cut into shapes – squares, strips, circles (use a cookie cutter), triangles or just make one large tart.

Roll the marzipan out to a similar thickness.
Cut shapes just slightly smaller than the ones you have cut the pastry into, or cut the marzipan into thin-ish strips and nestle them on top of the pastry.

Arrange the fruit of your choice on top of the marzipan.
Consider most fruits (I wouldn’t recommend strawberries or bananas – they can go a bit weird in the oven) such as sliced peaches, figs, blackberries, loganberries, thinly sliced apple, pear, plums, anything you fancy.

Dust with icing sugar and bake for 20 mins.

Remove to a wire rack to cool. Dust with more icing sugar if you think it could take it. Serve at room temperature or warm – reheat for 5 mins if necessary.