Tag: Easter

Categories
Bakes Recipes

Easter Choc Egg Biscuits

Easter is a special time in the food treats calendar. I always like to explore the array of innovative egg-themed confections that become available in the shops. No excuse is needed to enjoy the satisfying taste of chocolate this time of year (not that I need an excuse any other time of the year, to be fair 🙂 ).

Here’s a fun and fairly simple way to knock out some home-made biscuits for the holidays, incorporating a pack of chocolate mini eggs. Great fun to make and delicious to eat – they make an eggs-cellent addition to your holiday treat cupboard.

Servings

Makes 12 biscuits.

Timings

10 mins to prep, 30 mins to chill the dough, and 15 mins to bake at 160C in a fan oven.

You Will Need:

  • 250g butter, softened at room temperature
  • 140g caster sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 300g plain flour
  • 100g chocolate mini eggs

Method

  1. Beat the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.
  2. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix in again.
  3. Sieve over the plain flour.
  4. Roughly chop the chocolate mini eggs with a knife and add to the mix.
  5. Now comes the real fun part – having made sure you’ve washed your hands, roll up your sleeves and get in there with both sets of fingers to squidge it all together into a biscuit dough. Place the dough in the fridge for 30 mins to chill.
  6. Switch on a fan oven to heat up to 160C.
  7. Pull off a piece of the dough and roll between the palms of your hands into a ball. Repeat 12 times to make a dozen biscuits. Place each ball on a metal tray lined with baking paper, flattening the top slightly with the palm of your hand. Space them out on the tray, as they will flatten and spread as they bake.
  8. With the oven up to temp, place the tray in the oven for up to 15 mins. Keep an eye on them and let them bake until they’ve reached your preferred level of doneness, whether that be soft and chewy or a little more toasted and crisped. Everyone is different, so do what works for you.
  9. Remove and transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool (as shown in my photo at the top of the post). They will be soft when fresh from the oven, and will firm up gradually as they cool. The biscuits will keep for 2 – 3 days in a sealed container.

Customise It!

Most forms of chocolate can be used in place of the mini eggs if you wish. You could also substitute some chopped nuts for some of the chocolate.

In search of a seasonally named track for the ADK Playlist, I turned to Patti Smith’s Easter album. However, good though it is, I’ve decided to go with my favourite Patti Smith track, which is taken from her Wave album, instead. Here’s Patti with Frederick.

Categories
Recipes Snacks

Pizza Twists

Heading into the Easter holidays, many of us will be looking for recipe ideas for entertaining friends and family. This one comes from the Batch Lady, Suzanne Mulholland, whose recent series on Channel 4 I’ve been enjoying.

These pizza twists are relatively quick and easy to make, and go well as a snack alongside drinks, as part of a starter or as an accompaniment to a bowl of salad – see below.

What’s more, they can be fully prepared in advance, then frozen and lifted out of the freezer when required. Once thawed, they are ready to eat, and be warned – they are very tasty!

Servings

Makes 12 twists.

Timings

Prep time 10 mins, baking time 20 mins at 190C in a fan oven.

You Will Need:

  • 375g sheet of ready rolled puff pastry
  • 2 tbsp tomato passata
  • 140g grated cheddar cheese
  • 15g fresh basil
  • 1 large egg
  • sprinkling of Italian dried herb seasoning

Method

  1. Heat a fan oven to 190C.
  2. Unroll the pastry sheet and cut into 2 halves.
  3. Spread one of the halves with the passata. Cover with the grated cheese and the basil – see my photo above.
  4. Put the other half of the pastry on top. Cut into 12 strips, each about 1cm wide.
  5. Gently hold each strip between the fingers of both hands and twist into shape.
  6. Brush all 12 twists with the beaten egg and sprinkle the Italian herb seasoning over. Place on a baking tray and put in the oven at 190C for 20 mins.
  7. Remove and place on a wire rack to cool. Once cooled, they can be frozen if required – simply remove from the freezer and thaw to room temperature to eat.

Customise It!

Replace the passata with pesto, and/or the cheddar with parmesan. Once you brush with the egg, sprinkle over some poppy seeds or sesame seeds.

Here’s a timeless classic that I never tire of and always enjoying hearing when it comes on over the speaker. Elvis Costello and the Attractions with (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes.

Categories
Bakes Desserts

Hot Cross Bun Pudding

The idea for this week’s dish has been sent in to me by keen follower of A Different Kitchen, Pamela (thank you, Pamela). It is a kind of bread and butter pudding made with hot cross buns and fruit. The original recipe that it is based on came from Waitrose, and included rhubarb, which Pamela says prompted her husband to comment that this is one of the nicest puddings you have ever made.

High praise indeed!

In my version, I’ve changed it up a bit to include raspberries and blueberries as another option.

Hot cross buns are plentiful in the shops this time of year, and this is a good way of using up ones that may still be at the back of your cupboard, a day or two old. Their dried fruit, spices and glaze go well in a custard-style pudding.

You may also be able to pick them up in the shops at the moment at reduced price. This happened to me completely by chance – I didn’t get round to shopping for this till a few days after Easter Sunday, by which time Sainsbury’s were selling off yellow stickered packs of six for the princely sum of 15p (which equates to 20 US cents) each. As they say in a cost of living crisis, every little helps!

Timings

10 mins to combine, then 30 mins to chill. Another 30 mins to bake at 180C.

Servings

At least four generous portions.

You Will Need

  • 4 hot cross buns, which can be a day or two old
  • Butter or spread for the buns
  • 50 g caster sugar
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 300ml single cream
  • 100ml milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 15 – 20 raspberries and 15 – 20 blueberries

Method

  1. Slice each bun horizontally into 3, and spread each slice on one side with butter or your choice of spread.
  2. Arrange them in a baking dish so that they overlap at 45 degree angles. This will mean the submerged parts of the buns soak in the custard, while the peaks crisp up and caramelise.
  3. Stud the berries in between the bun slices, to get good coverage all over.
  4. Combine the sugar, eggs, cream, milk and vanilla extract in a bowl with a mixer. Pour all over the buns, and place in the fridge to chill for 30 mins.
  5. Heat an oven to 180C, and put in the dish for around 30 mins. Keep an eye on it for the last 10 mins or so to make sure the tops are crisped, but not burnt.
  6. Serve warm. It is also great cold.

Customise It!

As suggested, you can vary up the fruit to include whatever you like or have to hand. As we know from Pamela, rhubarb will work very well – stew about 400g in 80g sugar with a little orange juice, and spread amongst the buns.

Do you have an idea for a dish that can be featured on A Different Kitchen? And if so, would you like to choose the next track for the Playlist? Drop me a note in the comments below, if so.

This week’s track for the Playlist is one that I know Pamela will appreciate. Here’s Rod with You Wear it Well.

Categories
Mains

Roast Beef with Red Wine Sauce

Happy Easter weekend everyone! It’s sunny and warm here in the UK but, I see, raining cats and dogs in Augusta, Georgia. How very inconsiderate of the weather, interfering with my planned post-dinner relaxation watching the US Masters. Oh well, while the golfing umbrellas are up, I will capitalise on the time to update you on my Easter weekend cooking.

I bought a joint of beef brisket from my local butcher and have slow cooked it with seasonal veg in a pot roast that seems to have gone down well with the troops. So here is the recipe.

Servings

There should be enough here for 6 adult servings, alongside your choice of roast veg.

Timings

10 mins to prepare, then leave it to slow cook for 6 hours or so.

You Will Need

  • 1kg rolled beef brisket
  • a swig of veg oil
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 parsnip, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 leek, chopped
  • 200ml beef stock
  • 200ml red wine
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp red currant or cranberry sauce
  • 1 tsp cornflour dissolved in 2 tsp water

Method

  1. Warm the oil in a heavy-based wok or saucepan. Put in the beef brisket joint and sear until it is brown on all sides. Transfer to a warm plate.
  2. Put all the chopped veg into the warm oil and cook till browned.
  3. Add in the stock, wine, bay leaf and redcurrant/cranberry sauce. Bring to the boil and stir to mix.
  4. Combine the beef joint, veg and sauce in the vessel that you are going to slow cook in. I used an electric slow cooker on the low setting, but I have also cooked this dish in a Le Creuset casserole dish on the stove top, on simmer setting. You could also put it in a casserole dish and transfer to the oven at 140C. Whatever method you choose, the key factor is to let it stew for around 6 hours on a low heat. This will tenderise the meat, infuse the veg with a beefy taste and produce a sweetened sauce, or gravy.
  5. 6 hours later, remove the joint and set on a carving board, covered with foil to keep warm. Transfer the sauce to the hob and heat to reduce. Add in the cornflour and water mix to produce the thickness you desire. If you wish, add in further amounts of cornflour and water as necessary.
  6. Slice the meat and serve with a generous dollop of the red wine sauce. You can see from my photo that I served this with roast potatoes, roast parsnips, boiled carrots and brussels sprouts.

Customise It!

I would stick to the choice of joint, and proportions of beef stock and wine. The veg, however, you can vary up to include what is in season and what you have to hand. Some field mushrooms and some red or green peppers would go down well. Celery would be a brilliant addition.

As it is the Easter holidays, I have a special, longer track for the ADK Playlist. The 50th Anniversary of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells has recently been a topic of celebration here in the UK, with a re-recorded version and concert tour.

At first I was slightly wary about a re-recording of a classic, that was as close to perfection as it is possible to get. However, the new version is actually pretty good, being very faithful to the original, and definitely worth a listen. It has been recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the added strings, woodwind and percussion sections add significantly (there is no brass as far as I can tell).

I was curious to see who would take the place of Vivian Stanshall as MC, calling in the various instruments. My guess was Stephen Fry, but as it transpires it is Brian Blessed, in typically rumbustious and over the top fashion.

All in all, a lot of fun.

Make the most of this relaxing music – next week I am back in London to see one of my favourite ever bands, Inspiral Carpets, live at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire. I am really looking forward to this, folks, so expect higher decibel levels to be resumed soon.

Happy Easter!