Bakewell Tart

For the short crust pastry

• 175g Plain Flour
• 75g Chilled Butter
• Two-Three Tablespoons of water

For the filling

• One to Two tablespoons of raspberry jam
• 125g Butter
• 125g Caster Sugar
• 125g Ground Almonds
• One Egg, Beaten
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Almond Extract
• 50g Flaked Almonds (optional)

For the icing

• 80g Icing Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons of water

To make the pastry
To make the pastry, measure the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the water, mixing to form a soft dough.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface and use to line a 20cm/8inch flan tin. Leave in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

Preheat the oven to 200

Line the pastry case with foil and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for about 15 minutes, then remove the beans and foil and cook for a further five minutes to dry out the base.

For the filing, spread the base of the flan generously with raspberry jam. Melt the butter in a pan, take off the heat and then stir in the sugar. Add ground almonds, egg and almond extract. Pour into the flan tin and sprinkle over the flaked almonds.Bake for about 35 minutes. If the almonds seem to be browning too quickly, cover the tart loosely with foil to prevent them burning.

Meanwhile, sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Stir in cold water and transfer to a piping bag.
Once you have removed the tart from the oven, pipe the icing over the top, giving an informal zig zag effect.

Beetroot Relish

What you will need

• 1kg of beetroots, cooked, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 800g onion, finely chopped
• 225g caster sugar
• One tablespoon of rock salt
• One teaspoon of ground allspice
• 500ml Malt vinegar

The beetroot I used for this recipe was from my back garden that I grew myself, but you can purchase beetroot from farmer's markets, supermarkets ect.

I started off by washing and scrubbing them in cold water, Cleaned the tips by only slightly and neatly cutting them. Before cooking

 

Mix the chopped beetroot and onion together , add the sugar, salt and allspice and 375ml of the vinegar and put into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

Mix together a tablespoon of flour with the remaining vinegar , whisk together well, to ensure no lumps. Add to the beetroot mixture, Stir until it is all well blended and thickened. Place into sterilized jars.

 

Flavoured Oils

These can be used on salads, finishing off dishes, cooked meat and fish.

Herb Oil

Makes 250ml

• 25g  Fresh flat leaf parsley
• 10g Chives
• Basil Leaves
• Fresh spinach
• 250ml Vegetable oil

Blanch the herbs and spinach for 1 minute in boiling water.
Remove, Drain well , place with the oil in a liquidiser and blitz until combined.
Pass through muslin cloth and store in sterilized long neck bottles.


Mint Oil

Makes 150ml

• 100g Mint
• 150ml Oil
• Three tablespoons of salt

Blanch mint in boiling water for 30 seconds.
Refresh and squeeze the water out.
Place in blender and slowly add the oil.
Allow to se overnight and decant into bottles.


Garlic Oil

Makes 250ml

• 250g of vegetable oil
• Three tablespoons of crushed and chopped garlic

Heat the oil in a pan, add the crushed garlic, heat until the garlic has become golden in colour and then allow to cool.
Add to the oil.
Decant into sterilized bottles.

Vanilla Oil

Makes 200ml

• 200ml vegetable Oil
• Five whole, vanilla pods
• Two , Vanilla pods used
• 50ml of Vanilla extract

Warm the oil to about 60c or there about.
Add the vanilla , To extract most flavour from the vanilla, Scrape the seeds out!
Decant into sterilized bottles.

Smoked Salmon Quiche

What you will need

For the pastry

• 225g Of ready made short crust pastry
• One egg, beaten

For the filling

• 175g of chopped smoked salmon
• 100g of smoked bacon lardons
• Three free range eggs, beaten
• One tablespoon of freshly chopped dill
• 200ml of Crème faiche
• One medium sized onion, diced
• Two medium sized red peppers, roasted and sliced thinly

Preheat your oven to 180
Roll out your short crust pastry on a floured surface until it is slightly larger than a 25inch loose bottomed cake tin.
Line the tin with some grease proof paper, or grease with some butter.
Prick the base of the pastry with a fork, line pastry case with greaseproof paper and dried beans, and bake for 20 minutes.
While your  pastry is baking, Add your bacon lardons to a medium sized frying pan and cook until crispy, Add your diced onion and cook for 4 to 5 minutes alongside with half a clove of finely minced garlic. set aside to cool
Remove the greaseproof paper with the dried beans. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and return to the oven for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl combine the crème fraiche , 3 eggs, seasoning, smoked salmon and bacon  and onion mixture. Mix well.
Pour the filling into the pastry case, Season with black pepper and add sliced roasted red peppers on top.
Transfer the quiche to the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes, Until the egg mixture has set.
Allow to cool , Serve with a dressed side salad.