Lemon tart

Lemon tart is one of my favourite desserts, but for some reason, one that I’ve never made myself. Why, when it’s so simple? Well, now I have made it, and it was delicious. And easy. Well, I used ready made pastry, sorry.

This was supposed to be low calorie, using low fat creme fraiche, but Mr Rice had trouble locating it on his shopping trip. So there were a few more calories than I’d originally intended. The full fat creme fraiche made it lovely and rich though.

Recipe for Lemon tart

250g sweet dessert pastry (Sainsbury’s is sweet and buttery)
200g creme fraiche
2 eggs
4 egg yolks
175g caster sugar
2 lemons, juice only
icing sugar for dusting
raspberries for decorating

Preheat the oven to 190°C and grease a 9 inch loose bottomed tart tin. Roll out the pastry and carefully drape it over your tin, and press it down into the tin, but don’t cut the edges off at this point. Prick the surface gently with a fork, fill with baking beans (or baking paper and rice) then chill it in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, or until you need it.

Bake the pastry blind for 15 minutes until it’s just getting a bit of colour, then remove the baking beans or paper and rice. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg yolk, and bake for another 10 minutes until the pastry’s golden. Let it cool for a bit. Now you can trim the edges as you like.

Turn the oven down to 110°C. Whisk up the eggs, egg yolks and sugar, then stir in the creme fraiche, and finally the lemon juice. Transfer it into a jug so it’s easy to get into the tin.

Put the tin onto the oven shelf and pull it so you’ve got enough pouring room, then pour your mixture slowly into the tin, slide it back into the oven and cook for 1 hour 10 minutes. Check the centre is a little wobbly, and it’s ready.

Leave to cool, dust with icing sugar, scatter with a few fresh raspberries and serve. For extra decadence, drizzle with some single cream. Yum.

© Katheryn Rice 2010

Cheesy sweet potato cakes

Perfect for light Sunday lunch, and a great way to use up last night’s sweet potato mash.

Banana and blueberry crumble

When I make crumble I tend to make extra topping and freeze it away for when Mr Rice and I fancy a quick pudding fix. One Sunday we were feeling particularly sweet-toothed and could think of nothing better than a lovely crumble. So I dug out the frozen crumble mix and had a look around at the fruit available. 

Ok, so all we had were some frozen blueberries and some nicely ripe bananas. I think cooked banana is delicious and under-rated, so I thought I’d give it a go, combined with some low-GL antioxidant-rich blueberries for a little extra colour and flavour.

 

Banana and blueberry crumble

 

 

It worked fantastically well, the bananas took on that softer, creamier texture and a subtle, deep flavour, which means there’s no need for butter with the fruit. The blueberries added sweet little kick. The great thing about this pudding is that it’s so easy and tastes amazing…

Recipe for banana and blueberry crumble
300g blueberries (fresh or frozen)
3 bananas, ripe is best
100g golden caster sugar
Crumble
100g wholemeal plain flour
80g oats
50g golden caster sugar
50g demerera sugar
100g butter, chilled

Throw the blueberries into a 7-9 inch pie dish, then slice the bananas into the mix, add the sugar and combine well. Level out the mixture in preparation for the crumble.

To make the crumble, grind the oats until quite fine, but still with a bit of texture, then add them and the sieved flour into a large bowl. Then chop the butter into the mixture into inch-size pieces. Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs and then add both sugars. Rub the sugar in until it is completely blended.

Pour the crumble onto the fruit mixture and then cook at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the mixture is bubbling and the crumble is golden brown. Serve with fresh custard.

© Katheryn Rice 2008

Peach Melba Crumble

As we head into autumn, crumble is the perfect comfort food for a chilly day. The combination of peaches and raspberries is usually found in other deserts, but it works fantastically with the sweet and crunchy crumble too. Top with creamy custard or fluffy vanilla ice cream and tuck in!

Peach melba crumble

Recipe for Peach Melba Crumble
4 ripe peaches, diced, skin on
200g fresh raspberries
50g brown sugar
3 knobs of butter 

Crumble
100g wholemeal plain flour
80g oats
20g flaked almonds
50g golden caster sugar
50g demerera sugar
100g butter, chilled

Mix the diced peaches, raspberries and brown sugar together well, then transfer into a 7-9 inch pie dish. Add the knobs of butter just under the top level of fruit and make sure the top of the mixture is level for the crumble.

To make the crumble, grind the oats until quite fine, but still with a bit of texture, then add them and the sieved flour into a large bowl. Then chop the butter into the mixture into inch-size pieces. Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs and then add both sugars. Rub the sugar in until it is completely blended. Finally, stir in the flaked almonds.

Pour the crumble onto the fruit mixture and then cook at 180 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes or until the crumble is golden brown – delicious!

Fish and Pecorino lasagne

 

Fish and pecorino lasagne

 

It might sound odd, but it tastes absolutely delicious. If you like fish pie and you like lasagne, you will love fish lasagne. It was supposed to have cheddar and parmesan, but I picked up pecorino cheese by mistake. Not one to trudge back to the shops, I decided to give it a go, and it worked brilliantly. The cheese sauce gives the whole dish an extra kick, and the crunchy cheese topping is the icing on the cake, so to speak! Use whatever combinations of fish and cheese takes your fancy.

Recipe for Fish and Pecorino Lasagne

1 pint skimmed milk
2 bay leaves
1 garlic clove
40g butter
50g wholemeal plain flour
1 tsp English mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 fresh lasagne sheets
100g smoked haddock
150g cod fillet
200g prawns
50g sweetcorn
50g wholemeal breadcrumbs
300g cheddar cheese, grated
200g pecorino cheese, grated

Heat up the milk, bay leaves and garlic in a pan over a medium heat and warm to just before boiling point, then remove from the heat. Then slowly melt the butter in a separate pan and stir in the flour carefully, stirring all the time. Take the bay leaves and garlic out of the milk, then gradually add a little of the milk to the flour and butter mixture. Add the milk bit by bit, stirring all the time until you have a thick, smooth sauce. Once all the milk is added, bring the sauce to the boil, add the mustard, salt and pepper and then turn the heat off. Put enough of the cheese aside for a generous topping, then add the rest to the sauce and stir until it’s melted. Add all the fish and the sweetcorn to the sauce, then put a quarter of the mixture into the dish, followed by a sheet of lasagne and so on. Mix the breadcrumbs with the remaining grated cheese, and cover the top of the lasagne. Cook at 180°C for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden and the sauce is bubbling. Serve with garden peas and garlic bread.

© Katheryn Rice 2008

Honey and ginger pork with parsnips

Like many red-blooded males, Mr Rice likes to eat his fair share of red meat, so I decided to treat him to some tasty pork chops for sunday lunch.

Honey and ginger pork with parsnips
2 large pork chops
3 parsnips
1 onion
1 orange, zest and juice
8 tbsps clear honey
¼ tsp ground ginger

Heat the oven to 180ºC, line a baking tray with foil and add a knob of butter, then melt for a few minutes in the oven. Meanwhile quarter the parsnips and slice the onions thickly. Then add them to the baking tray and coat with the butter. Mix the honey and ginger with the orange juice and zest and pour half of it over the contents of the tray, then cook for 45 minutes, turning a couple of times.

Meanwhile, quickly brown the pork chops on each side and set aside. After 45 minutes, add the chops on top of the vegetables and pour on the rest of the sauce. Turn the oven up to 220ºC and cook for 15 minutes, turning once halfway through.

The parsnips and onions will have caramelised and soaked up the juices, which will have reduced, and the pork chops will be nicely browned.

Serve with vegetable mash and celeriac dauphinoise. 

Mr Rice often insists on having his roast dinner served in a giant Yorkshire pudding, and this was no exception…

 

© Katheryn Rice 2008

Caramelised onions

Caramelised onions is one of my favourite ingredients. I love caramel at any time, and onions are the basis for so many dishes, however they have been prepared. That’s why I added them to my sausage rolls. Of course you can buy them in a jar, but making them usually gives better results.

Recipe for Caramelised Onions
3 red onions
1 white onion
25g butter
dash of olive oil
3 tbsps brown sugar
50 ml warm water
1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Thinly slice the onions and fry gently with the butter and olive oil until they are soft and translucent. It’s very important to let them cook slowly – if they burn the bitterness will come out, which will spoil the sweetness.

When the onions are soft and translucent and just starting to brown, add the brown sugar, balsamic vinegar and a splash of water and stir well. Then cover the pan and cook on a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice only, to ensure it doesn’t stick.

After 15 minutes, check the onions to see how much moisture is left. The less moisture there is, the sweeter and stronger the caramel flavour will be. Cook the onions in the same way – on a low heat with the lid on – until you get the consitency you want. For the sausage rolls recipe you will need the least amount of moisture, so they look like the onions below.

When the onions are caramelised to your liking, use immediately or store in the fridge for up to a week.

Celeriac Dauphinoise

What would you do with this?

Mr Rice and I asked ourselves that very question when he lifted this harsh looking vegetable from our Able & Cole box last week. After double-checking that it was a celeriac, we pondered on how to make it look and taste better than it does here. Underneath it has some ancient-looking roots that look more like something from Pan’s Labyrinth than something you would be able to eat.

How will we get into it? Will we even be able to peel it? And how will we eat it? These are all questions we would have to answer ourselves, using our own ingenuity and a bit of reading. So, an hour or so later I had a plan: Celeriac Dauphinoise.

It’s normally made with potatoes, and purely with cream, but I love my cheese, and wanted to make it slightly less painful on the calories, so I have used a combination of double cream and low fat creme fraiche, with cheese added to each layer too. It was difficult to peel, and chopping the tangle of roots off the bottom felt wrong – like I was killing a Mangrove root. But needs must, so I got on with it.

The finished result is almost as far removed from the original object as it could be. It looks creamy, cheesy, appetising and manageable. But by far the best thing for me was the taste. The celeriac has an amazing combination of sweetness and sharpness, and a hint of the familiar celery taste. Whereas normal celery veers towards savoury preparations, celeriac gets sweeter when cooked, so combining it with the cream and cheese was a master stroke. The texture was also rather lovely, being a little bit al dente, but still managing to melt in the mouth. Mr Rice loved it too, so hopefully next time Abel & Cole send us one of these unfortunate looking chaps, we will be a little less afraid.

Recipe for Celeriac Dauphinoise
1 whole celeriac
200ml double cream
200ml low fat creme fraiche
200g mature cheddar cheese, grated

Peel the celeriac, starting from the top, and slice the roots away, making sure all rooty bits have gone. This might mean slicing sections off with a knift, rather than just a peelet. The outer is quite tough, so it’s best to get rid of it. Slice the celeriac into 5mm pieces.

Butter a medium sized oven-proof dish, and add a layer of celeriac slices, then a drizzle of cream and a sprinkling of cheese, then repeat with a dollop of creme fraiche and a sprinkling of cheese. Repeat this process until all ingredients are used up, and finish with a thin layer of cream and cheese. You can sprinkle each layer with a pinch of salt and pepper if you’re that way inclined, but I think the flavours are strong enough.

Cook at 190ºC for 1 hour, until the cheese is golden and the sauce is bubbling. If you have filled the dish quite full, make sure it’s on a baking tray to catch any overflow.

Celeriac Dauphinoise is a perfect, decadent side dish.

©Katheryn Rice 2007

Roast vegetables with Halloumi Cheese

Simple and delicious and really versatile, roast vegetables are an easy way to serve up a colourful and healthy meal. I have experimented with this dish a lot, and I recommend that you do this too. Everyone has their favourite vegetables, so test them out until you have the combination that suits you. This is my best concoction. Using red and white onionsand shallots gives the onion element real depth and variety. Introducing the cherry tomatoes towards the end adds a moistness and soft flavour to complement the stronger vegetables, and the Halloumi Cheese gives a hearty, salty dimension to fill you up.

Recipe for Roast Vegetables with Halloumi Cheese
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 red onion
1 white onion
3 shallots
1 courgette
10 cherry tomatoes
1 pack Halloumi Cheese
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil

Chop all the vegetables except the tomatoes into 1-2 inch chunks, mix together and scatter onto a foil-covered baking tray. Chop the garlic finely and scatter over the vegetables, followed by a drizzle of olive oil, then stir to ensure the vegetables all have a light covering of oil. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of sea salt.

Cook at 200ºC in the oven for 45 minutes, stirring and turning the vegetables every 15 minutes. After 45 minutes they should be softening and browning, so chop the cherry tomatoes into halves, and the Halloumi into 1 inch chunks, and add to the tray. Cook for a further 15 minutes, turning once, until the cheese has golden & brown patches.

Serve as a side dish or with pasta and chunky bread as a main course.

©Katheryn Rice 2007

Braised celery

Raw celery has never done it for me. The taste is just too pungent and sharp. But I have learnt over the years to embrace celery as a superb ingredient for adding flavour to sauces. So, when Abel & Cole sent us some celery one week, and I had used it as a sauce and also forzen some away, I decided to set myself a challenge to prepare it as a dish by itself.

Yet again, Abel & Cole came up with a corker of a recipe, this time for Braised Celery. I was staggered by how delicious it turned out to be, and how well it went with the rest of the sunday lunch I had prepared. The celery imparts its own flavour into the sauce, but also absorbs the flavour from the stock and the cheese, making it unbelievably delicious. And so easy too!

 Recipe for Braised Celery
1 head celery
240 ml chicken stock
2 tbsp olive oil
8 whole garlic cloves
1 pinch thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan

Cut the celery into thick matchsticks and chop the celery leaves too. Place the celery, stock, olive oil, garlic, and thyme in a medium frying pan over high heat.

Bring  to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 15-20 minutes, until the celery is tender and the liquid is reduced. Then remove the celery and put it in a serving dish. Keep the liquid in the pan and heat to reduce and thicken it, which should take about 4-5 minutes. Then pour the liquid over the celery and sprinkle the parmesan all over, ensuring full coverage. Then cook in the oven at 200°C for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is well melted and starting to brown. Remove from the oven and serve.

© Katheryn Rice 2007