Summer Garden Party Part Four -Summer fruit Pudding

Summer fruit Pudding

The Strawberries came out of my garden, and the raspberries were my mother from last year which she had frozen.

I also used a small bag of berries from the supermarket

But you can use

raspberries,

strawberries,

red and blackcurrants,

damsons and blackberries.

 

all you need is 

2 tbsp water

5oz / 150g sugar

1lb/450g washed, mixed summer fruits as available.

4 - 6oz/100 -150g thin sliced white bread, crusts removed

Whipped cream or custard sauce

 

Stir the water and sugar together and bring to a gentle boil. Add the berries and fruits and stew very gently until softened but still retain their shape.

Line a pudding basin with the bread slices ensuring there are no gaps.

Fill with the stewed fruits and cover the top with more bread slices.

Leave some of the juices to one side (to use before you serve)

Place a saucer with a weight on top

And leave overnight in a cool place.

The next day, before serving, turn the pudding out onto a plate and ensure all the bread has soaked up all of the juices (you don’t want to see any white bits of bread) add some of the saved juices to cover up

Serve with the whipped cream or custard sauce.

Summer Garden Party Part Three -Halloumi in red pepper with chilli

Halloumi  in red pepper with chilli

This is  recipe is great for the veggies at a barbecue but every one will love them.

Because you can make them in advance they are a simple alternative to meat.

 All you will need

Red peppers 

block halloumi cheese , sliced into 4

1 red chilli , finely chopped

Grill or roast the red peppers whole until they begin to soften (do not over cook as they will fall apart) and remove the skin.

Try and keep them whole as it will be so much easier when you add the hallomi

Put a slice of halloumi in to each pepper.Add a little of the finely chopped chilli (add as much as you can  handle)

Add to the grill on the  barbecue.

Barbecue the red peppers on both sides for 5

That’s how simple it is

Cheats

There are many ways to cheat with this 

recipe

You can use a jar of red pepers in brine

Or even use chilli dipping sauce instead of the chilli’s 

If I'm doing them just for me then I also add a few slices of chorizo and so I cook it a little longer to ensure the chorizo is cooked through.

Garden party part 2 - White Chocolate Cheese cake

White chocolate cheese cake 

I've been making this chesses cake for years

I have a friend who can not eat milk or dark chocolate so this is perfect for him.

The original recipe has Oreo biscuits for the base, but as this is dark chocolate I changed it to digestive biscuits.

But the Oreo base is much better so I made two this time.

One with a digestive base and one with Oreo’s and digestives

Oreo base 

All you need is 

Base 

250g of either Oreo’s or digestives (most biscuit will do the job (not wafer )

120g butter, melted (the amount you need may vary, depending on the type of biscuits you use)

Filling

375g cream cheese, softened

100g caster sugar

3 large eggs

200g white chocolate, melted

225g Crème fraiche   

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 160 degrees

Line the base of a 20cm or 21cm diameter cake pan with baking paper.

 Place the  biscuits in a food processor until finely crushed

Then add the crushed biscuits to the melted butter and  press mixture over the base.

digestive base 

Then pop in the fridge while you preparing the filling.

Melt the White choclate in a bowl over a saucepan

And while this is melting

Use a electric mixer to beat cream cheese with sugar together.

Beat in eggs one at a time.

 And

add the Crème fraiche   

And then add the melted white chocolate.

 Stirring until smooth.

Add the vanilla extract

And beat until ingredients are combined.

Pour filling over biscuit base and bake for about one hour.

before it goes in the oven 

When you take it out of the oven allow to cool as this will allow the cheese cake to set.

I like to decorate mine with fruit or white chocolate shavings. 

A Summer Garden Party

Recently my parents held a garden party at their home and I helped my mother cater the event.

It was a lovely day with around 50 family and friends and we were so lucky to have the sun come out and stay out.

The idea was I would take lots of photos and share with you what I cooked up, well I started of well but when you are catering for so many people you just get lost in the moment and it was only after it was all gone that I remembered my camera.  (Don’t forget I am new this blogging as it was new years resolution)

So a lot of my recipes don’t show the finished product, but it must have gone well as there was nothing left by the end of the day.

I also set myself the challenge as to use as much as possible from the garden. 

We also got the Chocolate fountain out for the day the kids were a little surprised when the fruit came out, I think they believed it was just marshmallows that you cover in chocolate. 

Waste not want not -Pea-pod soup

Waste not want not 

My peas are finally ready for picking well truth be told I have been picking them for the last week and eating them raw while I’m in the garden.The peas were picked for Sunday lunch with roast chicken but I was I was left with the lush green pods that smelt so good and it would have been a shame just to stick them in a composter so decided to make
Peapod soup 



And it could not of be easier and really tasty
 All I needed was

1 onion (chopped )

2 oz. (60 g) butter
1 large potato, peeled and sliced (mine came out of the garden)
A pint of Chicken stock & Vegetable stock (I used a mixture of both but if you want to use all vegetable then it won’t make much different and vice versa)  
Big handful of left over peapods (Roughly chopped)
Salt and pepper to your taste 

Place the butter and Onion in a saucepan and allow to soften. 4 -6 minutes

Add the potato, stock and peapods and bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.

Take of the heat and place it in an electric blender and purée (go careful very hot).

Then place the soup though a sieve to remove the pod fibres.

Taste and season 

And serve or place in fridge and have it for lunch the next day. 

Baked Smoked Haddock Creams with Lemon-dressed Leaves

Baked Smoked Haddock Creams with Lemon-dressed Leaves

I first came across this recipe in 1992 when the Mail on Sunday was giving Delia Smiths recipes cards out each week.

It’s a tried and tested recipe, which I have cooked over and over again.

Delia recommends it’s as a starter but I think it great as a main course with a few new potatoes and instead of one I have two.

I’m serving mine with lettuce from the garden

Mixed Lettuce 

I have got salad potatoes but I wanted to leave them another week before pulling 

Salad potaoes need a little longer

 But they are great as a starter as well as you can cook them the day before and even make the dressing the day before.

You will need

8 oz (225 g) smoked haddock, preferably undyed

1 bay leaf

5 fl oz (150 ml) milk

5 fl oz (150 ml) double cream

3 large egg yolks

1 level tablespoon chopped chives

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Black pepper

For the lemon dressing:

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1  tablespoon wholegrain mustard

1 teaspoon  Sugar

black pepper

Remove the skin from the fish by making and place the fish in a saucepan with the bay leaf and some pepper, pour in the milk, bring it up to a simmer, then poach for 5 minutes with the lid on.

Remove the fish to a plate, separate it into smallish flakes and divide them equally among the six buttered ramekin dishes.

Add the cream, egg yolks, chives and a little grated nutmeg and whisk them together thoroughly, add the hot milk the fish was cooked in make sure you don’t add  the bay leaf, this can now be chucked  then pour the mixture over the fish in the ramekins.

Ensure the fish pieces are not sitting on the bottom so use a fork to lift up the fish pieces.

Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and cook on a high shelf (mark 3, 325°F (170°C) for 25 -30 minutes until they are set in the centre and the tops are golden brown.
So if you are making them in advance allow them to cool and place in the fridge

Then the next day place back in the oven (mark 3, 325°F (170°C) for 15 minutes

The take them out of the oven 10 minutes before serving 

allow to stand before serving to allow them to harden up

The dressing,
Place all the ingredients into a jar shake it well. Done (This dressing also goes with many different salads )

I serve them on a bed of salad and asparagus and new potatoes

To serve make a bed of salad and run the blade of a knife round the edges, tip each one out into the palm of your hand and turn it the right way up again on to a plate. And add the dressing

Warning very hot not the easier thing to do but it does make it look good  

A Main course

If serving as a starter just the one would do

Summer feeling

I’m trying so hard to remember this is summer and we are in July, but this gives me hope.

Sweet peas & Strawberries 

Picked in the garden at the weekend

Some Sweet peas for the house they smell so lush and look so pretty and the more you cut the more flowers you get as it encourages more growth.

And some nice red strawberries, now I’m currently picking and freezing these at the moment as in a few weeks time I’m having a party and want to make a summer fruit pudding.

I just had to get my lilies in the picture as they are so pretty.