Clam Chowder and Christmas

I don't know why we had clam chowder for our tree trimming party in 1989 but we did and it started a tradition. Perhaps it isn't a tradition for the whole family since my daughters don't seem to like sea food as much as Cliff and I. It seems to me that that year we also started eating tourtière as one of our pre-Christmas treats. Below is our chowder recipe:

Ingredients

1/4 C butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1/2 C flour
1 litre semi-skimmed milk
3 medium potatoes
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t thyme
2 5 oz cans of baby clams

1. Melt butter. Sauté onion till transparent and fragrant. Don't brown. Add flour and cook on a low heat for 5 minutes.

2. Whisk in milk. Add parboiled potatoes and spices. Bring to boil, then simmer for 20 minutes or till the potatoes are tender.

3. Add clams and juice. Reheat at serving time. Garnish with croutons, bacon pieces and chopped onions.

Pumpkin Muffins

Easy
Ready in 45 mins

Ingredients
Serves: 12
1 small sugar pumpkin, seeded
375g plain flour
400g caster sugar
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon salt
160ml vegetable oil
3 eggs

Preparation method

Prep: 20 mins |Cook: 25 mins
1. Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin cases.

2. Split pumpkin in half. Remove seeds and strings. Place on baking tray, cut side down. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven until tender, about 90 minutes. Scoop out pumpkin and puree in blender. Weigh out 500g of pumpkin puree; set aside.

3. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, bicarb, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the 500g pumpkin puree, vegetable oil and eggs. Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until smooth. Scoop muffin mixture into prepared muffin cups.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

Lemon Chicken

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

• 3 juicy lemons
• 50g butter
• 3 tbsp clear honey
• leaves from 4 rosemary sprigs
• 1 garlic clove , finely chopped
• 8 chicken pieces, such as thighs and drumsticks, with skin
• 750g potatoes , peeled and cut into smallish chunks (You could also serve with rice!)

Serves 4
Easily doubled

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 5 - 10 mins
Cook 1 hr

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6/fan180C. Squeeze the juice from 2 lemons into a small pan and heat with the butter, honey, rosemary, garlic and salt and pepper, until the butter melts and it smells fragrant.
2. Lay the chicken in a roasting tin - don't pile it up or it won't cook so well. Add the potatoes and drizzle with lemon butter to coat evenly. Cut the third lemon into 8 wedges and tuck them in. (Can be made up to 2 hours ahead up to this point.)
3. Roast for 50 minutes - 1 hour until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are crisp and golden. Serve with a green salad.

Fish Stew

Ingredients
Serves: 4
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 large red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
450g sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
500ml fish or vegetable stock
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
225g frozen peas
175g frozen sweetcorn
600g skinless white fish fillet, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh thyme leaves to garnish (optional)

Preparation method
Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 30 mins
1. Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are light gold.
2. Add the pepper and sweet potatoes, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the sweet potatoes begin to soften. Stir in the stock, thyme and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are just tender. Stir in the peas and sweetcorn.
3. Place the fish on top of the vegetables, cover and cook gently for 8–10 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Season to taste with black pepper, then serve immediately sprinkled with fresh thyme leaves if you are using them.

Mint Sauce

Today I have decided to make a recipe from the Waitrose magazine, Minted Lamb in Filo Pastry. I wanted to make my own mint sauce, which is called for, since I have lots of mint in the garden. This one looks good!

Ingredients

bunch of mint
pinch salt
4 tbsp boiling water
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 level tbsp caster sugar

Preparation method

Strip off the mint leaves, sprinkle with salt and chop finely.
Place into a jug, add the sugar and pour over the boiling water, stir and leave to cool.
Stir in the vinegar and taste.
Add more water or vinegar and adjust seasoning to suit your taste.

Blackberry Jam

Cliff and I went blackberrying this evening and at first I thought I would make a pie but now I have decided to try jam and the following recipe from the Good Food magazine.

Ingredients

900g fruit (blackberries, plums, raspberries or strawberries), prepared weight
900g golden granulated sugar
knob of butter


Put the fruit into a preserving pan or large heavy-based saucepan. For blackberries, add 50ml of water and 1½ tbsp of lemon juice; for plums (halved and stoned), use 150ml of water; for strawberries, add 3 tbsp of lemon juice (no water); and for raspberries, add nothing. Bring to the boil.
Lower the heat. For blackberries, simmer for 15 minutes; for plums, simmer for 30-40 minutes; for raspberries, simmer for 2 minutes; for strawberries, simmer for 5 minutes. The fruit should be soft.
Tip in the sugar, stir over a very low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Raise the heat, bring to a full rolling boil, then rapidly boil blackberries for 10-12 minutes, plums for 10 minutes, raspberries for 5 minutes or strawberries for 20-25 minutes - don't stir though - until the setting point of 105C is reached.
Remove from the heat, skim off any excess scum, then stir a knob of butter across the surface (this helps to dissolve any remaining scum). Leave for about 15 mins so the fruit can settle. Pour into sterilised jars, label and seal.

Meatloaf from Delia Smith

Ingredients
1 lb (450 g) minced beef
1 lb (450 g) minced pork
2 medium onions, very finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 heaped tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 level dessertspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 large egg
3 oz (75 g) white bread, sliced and crusts removed, cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) cubes
3 tablespoons milk
1½ rounded teaspoons mustard powder
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 fl oz (110 ml) dry white wine
about 8 slices (6 oz/175 g) traditional smoked streaky bacon
salt and freshly milled black pepper
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 2, 300°F (150°C).

Equipment
You will also need a 2 lb (900 g) loaf tin, 7½ x 4¾ x 3½ inches deep (19 x 12 x 9 cm deep), preferably non-stick.

This recipe first appeared in Sainsbury's Magazine.

Method

1.The best way to make a meatloaf is in a large food processor, if you've got one. In which case you can begin by chopping the onions, garlic, parsley and thyme all together until the onion is very finely chopped, then add the meats and break in the egg. 

2. Place the bread in a little bowl, spoon the milk over, then mix it with your hands or a fork until the bread has broken down to fine crumbs. 

3. Add these to the processor along with the mustard powder, Worcestershire sauce, wine and a really good seasoning of salt and pepper. 

4. Now, switching on and off, or using the pulse button, mix the whole lot together until thoroughly blended. 

5. If you don't have a food processor, grate or mince the onion, chop the garlic finely then mix everything thoroughly in a large bowl. 

6. When the mixture is ready, pack it into the loaf tin and smooth the top with the back of a spoon, then snip the rinds off the bacon and lay the slices all along the top of the meat, slightly overlapping, and press them down firmly.

7. Now place a piece of foil over the top and twist or pleat the corners. 

8. Stand the tin in a shallow baking tin, pour about 1½ inches (4 cm) boiling water into the tin straight from the kettle and place the whole thing on the middle shelf of the oven. 

9.Let it cook slowly for 2 hours. 

10. After that remove the foil and dig a skewer into the meatloaf; press it down to make sure that the juices are running clear. 

11. Now, if it's cooked, remove it from the oven then let it cool for about 30 minutes and after that, if you're serving it cold, replace the foil and place something heavy on top to weight it down. Leave it weighted like this until it's completely cold. This makes the meatloaf easier to slice. 

12. If you're serving the meatloaf hot, just allow it to rest for 30 minutes in the tin, covered with foil, then turn it out on to a board and serve cut in slices.