Over Christmas I seem to not be able to walk past a bowl of chocolates without putting at least one in my mouth. I'd eaten all the Dairy Milk ones out of the Celebrations before Christmas Eve! The boys weren't amused. So there is the relief when back to normal limitations with the rich stuff. The only problem is that, if you're like me, you still have a 100 weight of everything and aren't really sure what to do with it.
I think I must have thought the entire cast of Eastenders and Coronation Street were going to turn up for breakfast on Christmas morning. Really who could possible need 10 packets of sausages and bacon?
I'm not a lover of pork pies but while I was cleaning my table I thought these would be perfect to use up some of those left over piggy bits.
Pastry
200g plain flour
40g strong plain flour
50g butter
60g lard
1 tsp salt
100ml boiling water
an egg
Filling
3 sausages
150g ham of the bone (chopped into tiny pieces)
1 shallots (diced very small)
1 tbsp chopped parsley
3 tsp cranberry
salt and pepper
1 sachet Dr Oteker gelatine
1 pod of chicken stock
100ml water
1. Heat pasty water in a pan add lard and salt stir until lard and salt have dissolved.
2. Rub flours and butter together until resembles breadcrumbs
3.Pour in lard and water and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together
4. Turn out and work for a couple of mins
5. Roll and cut out 6 large circles and line a muffin tin with them and 6 smaller ones for the lids
6. Skin your sausages, mix together with chopped ham, shallot, parsley, salt and pepper
7. Spoon half into cases, then add half a teaspoon of cranberry sauce into each, cover with the other half of pork mix.
8. Brush pasty lids with some water and stick to the bases.
9. Brush with some eggwash
10. using a piping nozzle make a small hole in each pie
11. Bake at 180 for 40 mins
12. Boil 100ml water mix with stock pod and gelatine, with the piping nozzle pour into pies.
13. Leave to cool then put into fridge to set overnight. Serve with some nice cranberry sauce.
Ham and Potato Hash
I was wondering what to do with the rest of the huge hunk of ham I had left over when a lovely lady on facebook gave me this idea.
Par boil the potato and shallot
Heat some oil and a little butter in a saluting pan.
Add potato, shallot and ham, salute until everything starts to go nice and crispy
Then add some salt, pepper and a pinch of dried thyme and either half a pepper, cubed into small pieces or I added a handful of fresh cranberries ( I love the tartness) Continue to cook until peppers or cranberries are soft.
Serve either on its own or with a fried egg on top.
Mincemeat
I love homemade mincemeat but this year went slightly overboard with it (12 jars)
I did actually use nearly all of it, don't gasp as I made lots of hampers for friends and family!
I absolutely love mincemeat frangipane it's a real lovely dessert and freezes beautifully, so if you can't face another dried fruit delight now maybe something for a chilly January sunday tea
Or for a really simple Mincemeat Loaf is wonderful.
- 150g soft butter
- 120g soft light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 220g self-raising flour
- 150g mincemeat
- 100g currants
- 100g sultanas
- 3 tbsp Demerara sugar
Just mix all the above ingredients except for the Demerara sugar together
Spoon into lined 2 loaf tins and top with Demerara.
Bake for 1hr 15 mins @ 160 or until firm to the touch
Cool on a wire rack
Little chocolate pots, for those of you who know me, you'll remember that pic on my facebook page with the millions of GU glass ramekin dishes, well this is when they come into their own.
Little chocolate pots
200g dark chocolate or 100g dark 100g milk chopped into small pieces
200ml of double cream heated to just boiling
2 Tbsp baileys
2 egg yolks
4 tbsp icing sugar
2 tsbp cocoa
Pour hot cream over chocolate and give a good stir
Fold in Baileys, egg yolks and icing sugar
Pour into ramekins or coffee cups and put into the fridge to chill
Dust with cocoa powder and enjoy xx
