Mary Berry's Florentines

As recently featured on The Great British Bake Off, I absolutely had to give these a try! The recipe is Mary Berry's taken from the Good Food Website.

Ingredients 

(Makes 18)

50g butter

50g demerara sugar

50g golden syrup

50g plain flour 

25g glacé cherries or dried cranberries finely chopped

50g candied peel

25g chopped almonds

25g walnut peices finely chopped 

200g dark chocolate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line 3 baking trays with greaseproof paper.

2. Measure the butter, sugar and golden syrup into a medium saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted.

3. Remove from the heat and add the flour, cherries or cranberries, candied peel, almonds and walnuts, stir to combine.

4. Spoon 6 teaspoons full of the mixture into each of the 3 baking trays, well spaced out to allow for spread in the oven. 

5. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden. Timing is crucial, not long enough and they won't set to a crisp once cooled, too long and they will catch and burn.

6. Using a pallet knife, lift them from the paper onto cooling racks to cool completely.

7. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water in a pan, ensuring the bowl doesn't touch the water. Use a chocolate thermometer to heat the chocolate to exactly 53 degrees to temper it, as you stir it you will notice it becomes glossy and shiny. 

8. Remove the chocolate from the heat and continue to stir until it reaches 23 degrees, then spread it onto the back if each of your cooled Florentines. Mark the chocolate with a fork, creating wiggly/ zig-zag lines in it. Then leave to set completely! 

9. Store in an airtight container until ready to enjoy.

Mediteranean Chicken One Pot

Adapted from Delia's Chicken Basque recipe, this has become a firm favourite. I always love a one pot for convenience in the week, but the lovely flavours make this taste like more of a weekend treat! 

Ingredients 

(Serves 4)

4 whole chicken legs 

3 peppers, one red, one yellow, one green, cut into quarters 

2 onions, quartered and broken up

150g sliced chorizo 

50g sundried tomatoes in oil

3 cloves garlic, crushed

50g black olives 

1 orange, thinly sliced

Easy cook rice measured to 225ml in a measuring jug 

1 tsp hot paprika

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme 

1 tbsp sundried tomato paste 

275ml chicken stock

175ml white wine 

2 tbsp olive oil 

Salt and pepper 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees

2. Season the chicken with a little salt and pepper then place skin side down in a hot, ovenproof pan with a little olive oil in the bottom. Fry until the skin becomes crisp and brown then turn to seal all over. Remove from the pan and set aside for later.

3. Add a little more oil to the pan and fry the onions and peppers for a few minutes until the onions soften and the peppers begin to char a little. Add the garlic and fry for a couple of minutes more. 

4. Add the paprika, chorizo and sundried tomatoes to the pan and stir for a couple of minutes until the chorizo releases some of it's fat and colour. Pour in the wine and stir to deglaze the bottom of the pan and cook off the alcohol.

5. Add the rice to the pan, followed by the stock, tomato purée, thyme, olives and a little salt and pepper to season, stir everything together and bring up to a gentle boil.

6. Place the chicken skin side up back in the pan on top of the rice, then lay the slices of orange on top. Place a lid on the pan or cover it in foil, and pop it in the oven for 1 hour.

7. Remove from the oven, check the chicken is cooked through and serve. 

Poached egg on toast

A super healthy, super tasty way of squeezing the last out of this season's asparagus crop! You could even make a big batch and freeze it!

Ingredients 

(Serves 4)

800g asparagus (woody ends removed)

2 white onions

1 carrot 

2 litres vegetable stock

8 fresh eggs

16 slices ciabatta bread 

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

1. Finely chop the onions and carrot, add a lug of olive oil to a large saucepan over a medium heat and fry the onions and carrot until softened, for approx 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile cut off the tips of the asparagus and set aside for later, then roughly chop the stalks and add both them and the stock to the softened veg. Simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat and purée with a hand blender. Season with salt and pepper to taste, add the asparagus tips to the pan and return to the hob on the lowest heat.

4. Meanwhile, set a large pan of water to boil, and toast your ciabatta.

5. Crack the eggs into the boiling water and poach for a couple of minutes so cooked but with a runny yolk.

6. Ladle the soup into bowls and add the poached eggs directly into the soup. Serve with ciabatta on the side and a drizzle of olive oil on the bread and top of the soup. 

Prawn and Rocket Summer Spaghetti

This is a very summery tasting dish, with bright, fresh flavours! It's dead quick and easy too! I'll be making this again! 

Ingredients

(Serves 5)

500g spaghetti

3 cloves garlic 

1 red chilli- medium heat

600g raw, peeled prawns

1 glass white wine 

3 heaped tbsp sundried tomato purée

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

3 handfuls rocket

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

1. Finely slice the chilli and garlic, and finely grate the zest from the lemon, set aside.

2. Set the spaghetti to boil in well salted water.

3. Add the garlic and chilli to a medium- hot frying pan with a splash of olive oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes until the garlic is a pale golden brown.

4.  Add the prawns to the pan and sauté until pale pink in colour.

5. Add the wine and sundried tomato purée to the pan. Sizzle away until reduced a little and the alcohol from the wine has evaporated.

6. Squeeze in the lemon juice, folk the spaghetti to the prawn pan with a solash of pasta water to loosen the sauce, and stir through the rocket. 

7. Serve up with a sprinkle of the lemon zest on top, and a hunk of focaccia... If you're feeling particularly greedy... Like me! 

Pan Fried Sea Bass, With Ratatouille, Jersey Royals and Asparagus

Delicious fresh sea bass, a nod to the mediteranean, and fresh in season British veg! What more could you want? Get cracking...

Ingredients 

(Serves 2)

2 fillets sea bass, skin on, boned.

Approx 10 spears asparagus

Approx 10-12 jersey royal potatoes 

8 cherry tomatoes

1/2 courgette

1/2 red onion

3 cloves garlic

8 green queen olives, pitted 

1 small red chilli, seeds removed

Handful of basil (approx 8 leaves)

Salt and pepper 

Olive oil

10g butter 

Method

1. Finely chop the onion, garlic and chilli, halve the cherry tomatoes and olives, and slice the courgette half lengthways then thinly slice.

2. In a small pan with a little olive oil, begin to fry the onion on a low- medium heat for a few minutes until softened. Add two cloves of garlic and the chilli and fry for a few further minutes, before adding the courgette, tomatoes and olives. Tear in the basil leaves and leave to stew away on a low heat while you prepare the rest of the dish, stiring occasionally.

3. Give the potatoes a wash and set to boil in salted water.

4. Remove the woody ends from the asparagus spears.

Holly's Hints- Hold the spear in the centre with one hand and at the bottom end with the other, then just snap them! They will snap exactly between the woody and good part of the spear!

Then place in a bowl and cover with just boiled water from the kettle, set aside.

5. Slice along the skin of the seabass fillets, then pat the skin dry with some kitchen roll and season with salt.

Holly's Hints- the cut in the skin will stop the fish curling up when you fry it, and drying and salting it will ensure it crisps up nicely. 

6. Prepare some garlic butter by crushing a clove of garlic and stiring it into the butter, set aside.

7. Once the potatoes are nearly done but still a little too firm, preheat a non-stick frying pan to a medium high heat with a very small splash of olive oil. Once got, add the fillets skin side down and leave to fry completely untouched for four minutes. This allows the skin to crisp up. 

8. Drain the potatoes and melt the garlic butter over them, then season with a little salt and pepper. Keep warm.

9. After four minutes, turn the heat on the figs pan to low, and flip the fillets onto the fleshy side. Fry for a further two minutes.

10. Meanwhile, drain the asparagus and dry with kitchen roll.

11. Serve the fillets onto the plate, turn the heat on the fish pan up to high and add the asparagus. Toss the asparagus occasionally whilst topping the fish with the ratatouille and serving up the potatoes.

12. Finally, serve up the asparagus into the plate. Then you're ready to go! 

Victoria Sponge

Quite literally the Queen of cakes... The classic Victoria sponge, is a light, delicious, simple sponge, (or rather 2), sandwiched together with jam and often cream. The traditional way would be raspberry jam and no cream, but over time it has evolved and now often contains whipped cream or buttercream as well as jam of various varieties, and even fresh fruit. It would also originally have been dusted with caster sugar, but is now more commonly decorated with a dusting of icing sugar instead. It is named as it is because of Queen Victoria's fondness of the cake during her reign from 1837-1901. One of the Queen's ladies in waiting, Anna, the Duchess of Bedford is said to have invented the tradition of taking afternoon tea, as she invited friends to join her for an additional meal of sandwiches, cakes, other sweets and tea at 5 o'clock. It is thought that these parties sparked Queen Victoria's love of this ever popular sponge, and by 1885 the Queen was regularly holding afternoon tea parties herself. The first widely published recipe for the cake was in the book published in 1861, 'Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management', and it has since turned into a recipe book staple! I made mine with buttercream, strawberry jam and fresh strawberries! Here's how to rustle one up yourself...

Ingredients

For the cake...

200g beaten eggs (approx 4 medium eggs)

200g butter at room temperature

200g caster sugar

200g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder 

2 tbsp milk 

For the filling...

80g butter

160g icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

5 tablespoons good quality strawberry jam

Fresh strawberries or other fruit (optional) 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C fan and grease and line 2x 20cm round cake tins with greaseproof paper.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. This can be done in a stand mixer or with an electric hand whisk in a large bowl.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat, at a slightly lower speed at first. Then increase the speed until light and fluffy again, almost mouse-like. 

Holly's Hints- As there is the same weight of each ingredient, the mixture shouldn't split or curdle at this stage, but to be safe, add just a teaspoon of flour after each egg to prevent this. 

4. Add the milk, flour and baking powder, half of the flour at a time, and either fold in gently by hand, or stir through with the mixer on it's lowest speed. Taking care not to knock too much air out of the batter. 

5. Spoon the batter into the two baking tins, and bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes. When it's done the cakes will be golden brown, spring back to the touch, and a wooden skewer after inserted will come out clean.

6. Turn the sponges out onto a cooling rack, and in the meantime prepare your buttercream. Beat the butter at increasing speeds until fluffy, then add the vanilla extract and the icing sugar just a little (about 2 tbsp full) at a time, and continue to beat at a medium- high speed until smooth and creamy. 

7. Once the cakes have cooled, spread one side with the buttercream, and the other with the jam. If using, lay the fruit on top of the bottom sponge too, then sandwich the two together. 

8. Use a sieve to dust the top with icing sugar, and serve it up with a cup of tea! 

Spatchcocked BBQ Chicken

This is actually much easier to do than it sounds, you just need a strong stomach, but if I can do it with a history of 7 years of vegetarianism... I'm sure you can too! And it's well worth it! The chicken will cook through much quicker than a whole bird in it's natural shape, and there's plenty of surface area to smother with flavoursome marinades and absorb smokey flavours from the BBQ! 

Here's how...

What you need

A whole chicken... Or two!

2 skewers per chicken, metal or bamboo is fine.

Your favourite marinade or rub. Nandos marinades are a regular feature in my house!

A good strong pair of scissors, ideally poultry scissors.

Hot BBQ! 

How to do it

1. Sit the chicken back bone up, snip off any excess skin around the neck, then take the scissors and cut along one side of the spine, along the full length of the chicken.

2. Cut along the opposite side of the spine, and remove it completely.

3. Turn the chicken over, and give it a good press to flatten it out.

4. Take a skewer, pierce through a thigh, continue pushing through the breast, then through the opposite wing, so the skewer runs diagonally through the chicken.

5. Repeat with another skewer, starting with the thigh on the other side, working your way across the bird diagonally in the opposite direction to before. The skewers hold the chicken out flat, and help you handle it as you cook it.

6. Smother with your favourite marinade or rub and leave it to soak in and flavour the meat for as long as you can, up to 24hours.

7. Pop them on a hot BBQ, skin side down at first to get the skin crisping up. Keep a close eye on it for around 15-20 minutes, before flipping them over and cooking for the same time the other side. Check it's cooked through by slicing into the breast and leg before serving. The meat should be white and juices clear. 

8. Serve as you wish. The chickens can easily be halved by removing the skewers and cutting down through the centre of the breast bone with your scissors, or quartered by then cutting through between the breast and thigh too. Tastes great with a fresh salad, or nandos style sides such as spicey rice, chilli and mint peas, corn on the cob, mash, chips... the choice is yours!