Category / Recipe

Baking Christmas Recipe

Festive Sausage Rolls

I think everyone that I know loves sausage rolls, especially at parties. I make a batch of rolls quite often and keep them in my freezer, so I always have something handy in a party emergency! I use ready rolled shop bought puff pastry as it works very well and is easy and cheap to buy. I buy the one without butter so it can work for vegans too. 

If you want vegan rolls, I use Richmond’s meat-free sausages for the filling and add my own seasoning in the same way as I do use pork sausages. I also seal and glaze them with soya milk. 

I like to jazz up my filling by adding a few spices or fresh herbs. At Christmas time I put a little cranberry sauce in the mixture to add some festive flavours. Sausage rolls are so versatile so get inventive and come up with your own ideas. 

Ingredients 

    • One pack ready to roll puff pastry 
    • One beaten egg 
    • One pack of pork/meat-free sausages 
    • Handful finely chopped fresh parsley 
    • 1 Tbs cranberry sauce 
    • 1 tsp garlic puree 
    • Salt and pepper

    Method 

    Unroll the pastry and cut it into half along the long side.

    Squeeze the sausages out of the skins and place in a bowl. Mix in the other ingredients and then lay the mixture along the middle of each length of pastry. 

    Brush the pastry with beaten egg and then roll the pastry over the filling and seal the edges well. I use a fork to press the seam together to seal.

    Slice into the size rolls you prefer, snip the top of each roll with scissors or slash with a sharp knife.

    Brush well with egg and then bake in a 200c oven for about twenty minutes or until puffed up and golden.  

    by Karen
    Books Camping Recipe

    Meals on the Move: A Campsite Cooking Journey

    I am excited to announce that my new book Meals on the Move: A Campsite Cooking Journey is being released on 12 September 2023 and is available to buy now! You can order it from my shop shop for a 10% discount (and free shipping). It is also available at Alan Rogers, Amazon, Waterstones, and Darling Reads bookshop in Horbury.

    This new book follows the 30-day campsite journey I took this summer through France, Italy and Switzerland. It is not just a travel book but a recipe book too as I share 30 recipes – one for each day of the trip. I created recipes that used local or regional ingredients or were typical of the area of country that we were staying in. All the recipes can be cooked in around 30 minutes, using only basic equipment so that cooking on a campsite can be both simple and delicious!

    The book also includes diary entries for each day of the journey, describing the fun, the stunning scenery, and the highs and lows of the tour. Through this book I hope to give insights and inspiration for both seasoned campsite users and those taking to the road for the first time.

    The book is hardback and has 200 fully illustrated colour pages.

    Fasten your seatbelts, prime your taste buds and get ready to discover Meals on the Move!

    by Karen
    Books Recipe

    The Social Kitchen – available now

    I’m pleased to tell you all about a book collaboration project I’m involved with. The book is called The Social Kitchen and it includes recipes from lots of social media foodies….including me! I have 3 recipes included in the book.

    You can buy it from my website shop, here’s the link.

    The book is published by Meze Publishing and here is what they have to say about it:

    The Social Kitchen brings together a hand-picked selection of stories and recipes from social media’s most influential cooks and foodies. Discover new recipes for home cooking, weight loss, dietary requirements, and stories about each contributor’s journey and inspirations. Featuring Insta and TikTok stars guaranteed to transform your cooking with aesthetically pleasing plates, this brand new cookbook concept aims to build a community of people with a passion for food. So, whether you’re an experienced cook or a culinary novice, stop scrolling and start cooking with The Social Kitchen.

    To see more go to: https://mezepublishing.co.uk/product/the-social-kitchen/.

    by Karen
    Baking Recipe Yorkshire

    Rhubarb and Custard Cheesecake

    I developed this recipe for this year’s Rhubarb Festival in Wakefield. It combines all the classic elements we think of around rhubarb and its pairings. Rhubarb and custard is a great combination and works really well in this dessert. Thanks to Dave G. for encouraging me to post this recipe!

    Ingredients

    Base

    • 300g custard cream Biscuits (crushed)
    • 85g melted butter.

    Cheese Filling

    • 600g full fat cream cheese
    • 60g icing sugar.
    • 300g double cream
    • 400g rhubarb

    Creme Diplomat

    • 6 egg yolk
    • 35g custard powder
    • 75g caster sugar
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • 1 Tbs agar agar
    • 450 ml milk
    • 100 ml double cream

    Rhubarb Puree

    • 400g rhubarb sliced.
    • 200g caster Sugar
    • Juices of an orange

    Jelly

    • Sieved Liquid from puree.
    • 1 Tbs arrowroot
    • Half tsp agar agar
    • Red food colour
    • 1 Tbs aperol (optional)

    Method

    Mix melted butter and crushed biscuits together and press into a greased tin lined with acetate collar. Chill in fridge.

    Gently poach the rhubarb in a pan with the sugar and orange juice. Drain off the fruit and conserve the liquid.

    To make the crème diplomat, whisk egg yolks, sugar, custard powder and vanilla in a large bowl. Bring the milk to a boil and pour over the egg mixture stirring constantly. Return to pan and bring to a boil, mix the agar agar with a little water and stir into the pan. Tip the custard into the bowl. Chill in the fridge.

    Whip the double cream and mix into the custard once the custard is cold.

    Beat the cream cheese, cream, and icing sugar together. Stir through the cooked and cooled rhubarb. Chill in the fridge.

    In a pan bring the rhubarb liquor to a boil, add a bit of food colour. Mix the arrowroot and agar with a little water to make a slurry. Add slurry to the liquor and stir it through, remove from the heat and add the aperol. Allow to cool and thicken.

    Assembly.

    Spread the rhubarb cheese mixture over the biscuit base and smooth the top.

    Pour over the Diplomat cream and smooth the top.

    Pour over the jelly and allow to set in the fridge.

    by Karen
    Recipe

    Marry Me Chicken

    Around Valentines Day I saw lots of social media posts about this dish and couldn’t resist giving it a try. It is supposed to be so delicious that you may even get a marriage proposal! This works well with mashed potatoes and green beans or it would be delicious over pasta.

    Ingredients (serves 2)

    • 1 tbsp oil
    • 1 knob of butter
    • 2 chicken breasts
    • Handful of halved button mushrooms
    • 2 garlic gloves (crushed)
    • 1 tbsp tomato puree
    • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
    • 1 tsp dried oregano
    • 1 tsp chilli flakes
    • 200ml chicken stock
    • Half a jar of sundried tomatoes (drained)
    • 100ml double cream
    • Handful of grated parmesan
    • Parsley and lemon juice to garnish

    Method

    • I sliced chicken breasts in half on the horizontal to make thinner slices and then browned them in a large frying pan using some olive oil and a knob of butter.
    • I removed them from the pan to a plate and then I sliced a few mushrooms and cooked them in the pan with a few cloves of crushed garlic.
    • I added a tablespoon of tomato puree, some smoked paprika, oregano and chilli flakes before pouring in 200ml chicken stock.
    • I returned the chicken to the pan and bubbled it until the volume of liquid had reduced by half.
    • Finally, I added half a jar of sliced sundried tomatoes to the mix and a good splash of double cream and a handful of grated parmesan cheese. I stirred everything through, seasoned to taste,

    by Karen
    Recipe

    Vegan Cottage Pie

    It is Veganuary again so I fancied making a classic dish but doing it Vegan. I chose cottage pie as it is an all time classic comfort food. It was easy and tasty and here is what I did. This is a cross between and British classic and and Irish / Greek dishes, the addition of cabbage to mashed potato is called Colcannon in Ireland and using oil, garlic and vinegar instead of butter and milk in Greek makes it Skordalia.

    Ingredients Base

    • 400g pack of Meatless Farm Mince,
    • 1 chopped onion,
    • 1 diced carrot,
    • salt and pepper,
    • vegetable stock 500ml,
    • splash Henderson’s relish
    • Tbs oil

    I sautéed the vegetables for a few minutes in the oil and then added everything else and cooked until most of the liquid had cooked off. I place it into an oven proof dish.

    Ingredients Topping

    • 4 baking sized potatoes, peeled and cubed
    • salt and pepper
    • shredded cabbage
    • squeeze of garlic puree
    • 2 Tbs white wine vinegar
    • 3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 sliced tomato

    Boil the potatoes until soft and drain them. Cook the cabbage in a little water until soft and drain. Mix the potatoes and cabbage together. Add all the other ingredients except the tomato and mash really well. add more oil if its too dry.

    Place the potato mixture on top of the filling and spread it all over the filling using a fork to rough up the surface. Top with slices of tomato and bake in a pre heated oven at 180c until it is bubbling and the top is browning in parts.

    by Karen
    Baking Christmas Recipe

    Vegan Wellington

      • dav
      • dav

      I made this recipe as a main dish for our Vegan daughters Christmas meal. The pastry I made from scratch but most shop bought Puff Pastry is vegan so its easy to use that too.This is what I did.

      Pastry

      Ingredients

      250g strong white bread flour

      200g Vegan block (must be hard/solid, I bought mine from Sainsbury)

      1 Tsp lemon Juice

      1 tsp salt

      150ml chilled water

      (extra flour for dusting/ rolling)

      Soya milk (for brushing to seal and glaze)

      Method

      Pre heat oven 20 210c

      Place flour, salt, lemon juice into a mixing bowl. Chop the vegan block into dice and add to the flour. Stir it around to coat with flour. Add about two thirds of the water and mix to form a soft dough, add more of the water if needed. At this point we do not want to blend the vegan block into the flour. Just ball it all up with cold hands, wrap in film and place in th fridge for half an hour.

      Remove from fridge onto a well floured surface and roll out to about an A4 rectangle. keep dusting the pin and surface to stop it sticking. Keep the edges neat. Fold the top third down and the bottom third up to cover the top. Wrap in film and chill for half an hour.

      Repeat the above twice more. Then keep in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

      Filling

      1 peeled and chopped onion

      3 Portobello mushrooms sliced

      1 Tbs oil

      1 tsp Marmite

      salt and pepper

      Half a peeled and diced butternut squash

      2 sweet potatoes unpeeled and diced

      1 pouch cooked lentils

      1 pouched cooked chestnuts (chopped roughly)

      2 tsp chia seeds

      1 cup pumpkin seeds

      1 grated nutmeg

      fresh sage and rosemary chopped

      zest and juice of 1 orange

      1 Tsp English mustard

      2 Tbs balsamic vinegar

      1 small jar cranberry sauce

      Method

      Preheat oven to 180c

      Soften the onions and mushrooms in a frying pan in the oil, add marmite and salt and pepper.

      Roast the butternut squash and the sweet potato until tender.

      Remove from the oven and place into a large mixing bowl, add the onion and mushroom mixture and all the other ingredients. Stir well and chill.

      Assembly

      Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out to a large rectangle about 5 mm thick. Using a pizza roller cut the pastry into two strips horizontally. The base bout a third of the pastry and the top about two thirds.

      Place the base pastry on a greaseproof sheet on a baking sheet.

      Mound the filling along the pastry leaving a cm uncovered all the way around.(a margin) Spread the cranberry sauce on top.

      Brush the pastry margin with soya milk and the lay the top pastry over everything. Press down well to join the bottom pastry to the top and crimp with your fingers and a thumb using both hands. Brush the whole thing with soya milk and place back in the fridge to chill for about half an hour. Brush again with soya milk and bake for about 40 minutes until golden and puffed up. Any bits of pastry left can be place on the wellington before cooking as decorations.

      Ape Gallery: You didn’t select any Ape Gallery item in editor. Please select one from the list or create new gallery
      Ape Gallery: You didn’t select any Ape Gallery item in editor. Please select one from the list or create new gallery

      by Karen
      Baking Christmas Recipe

      Yule Log

      The Yule log or Buche de Noel is a traditional Christmas bake. Going back many centuries the Yule Log was an actual log felled at the time of the Winter Solstice when days were short and cold and at Yule time a bit of warmth from an open fire was something everyone looked forward to. This cake is decorated to resemble a log and is quite easy and fun to make.

      It comprises as Genoese style cake baked on a flat sheet and rolled prior o being filled so that it remembers to be a log shape. It is then filled with either whipped double cream, buttercream or chocolate ganache. The final stage is to cover the filled cake with chocolate ganache and a sprinkling of snow (icing sugar) and a sprig of holly.

      I

      Recipe

      Sponge

      3 Eggs

      75g caster sugar

      70g plain flour

      20g cocoa

      (1 Tbs caster sugar and cocoa mixed together for dusting)

      Method

      Grease a 26cm x 36cm baking tray and line the bottom with greaseproof paper. Preheat oven to 190c.

      In a large bowl mix the eggs and the sugar with an electric mixer until very light, frothy and doubled in size. Combine the flour and cocoa and sift over the egg mixture. Using a large metal spoon carefully fold in the flour and cocoa making sure not to deflate the mixture, so be gentle. Por the batter into the tray and bake for about 8 minutes and remove from the oven.

      Sprinkle the cocoa and sugar onto a sheet of clean greaseproof paper and invert the sponge on to it. peel off the paper it has been cooked on and discard it.

      with a blunt knife run a line (do not cut right through the sponge) 2 cm in from one of the short ends. and roll it up with the fresh paper rolled inside it. Leave it to cool completely.

      Ganache

      250ml double cream

      250 g dark chocolate

      In a medium pan warm the cream a tiny bit with the chocolate, just enough to melt the chocolate and then stir it all together. Leave to cool and set to the consistency of soft butter.

      Assembly

      Unroll the sponge and fill with a smooth layer of a filling of your choice. Roll the sponge back up and cover with the ganache. use a fork or the back of a knife to give a log like appearance. Dust with a little icing sugar.

      by Karen
      Christmas Recipe

      Frangipane Mince Pies

      Everyone in my family loves a mince pie including me. I am also very partial to anything involving marzipan so I like to top my pies with frangipane instead of pastry.

      The mincemeat recipe is already on this site under its own post so check that out if you want to make mincemeat or you can buy a juicy jar most places around Christmas.

      Pastry

      200g Plain Flour

      115g g cold cubed butter

      50g caster sugar

      1 beaten egg

      1 tsp almond essence

      Method

      Place the flour and butter into a mixing bowl and rub the butter in using fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Add the beaten egg and essence and using a flat bladed knife mix around until it starts to clump together, Use hands to bring it together into a ball and wrap in kitchen film. Chill in the fridge for thirty minutes.

      Frangipane

      100g softened butter

      100g caster sugar

      2 beaten eggs

      100g ground almonds

      1 Tbs plain Flour

      1 tsp almond essence

      Flaked almonds for decoration

      Method

      Cream the butter and sugar together using an electric whisk. Add all the other ingredients and mix well.

      Assembly and Baking

      Pre Heat Oven to 180c

      Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface until the pastry is about the thickness of a pound coin. Using a 3,5inch round cutter stamp out twelve discs. Ease the discs into the greased holes of a deep cupcake tin. Place a tablespoon of mincemeat into the bottom and top with frangipane. Smooth the surface. scatter a few flaked almonds onto the top and bake for about 20 minutes until the frangipane has set and is golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes and the carefully ease them out and leave to cool or eat warm with a dollop of cream! Don’t forget to leave one out for Father Christmas!

      by Karen
      Recipe

      Sausage Cobbler

      At this time of year, when the days get shorter and the trees are starting to drop their Autumn leaves, we often look forward to making and enjoying comfort food. Most people consider comfort food to be hearty casseroles, stews and pies. This recipe is a cross between a casserole and a pie, it is easy to make and will appeal to people of all ages. It can easily be made vegetarian and with a few specialist ingredients, vegan too. The gravy is an interesting combination of sweet and sour using cider and balsamic vinegar as its base. Apple juice can easily be substituted if you don’t want to use alcohol.

      Ingredients (serves 4)

      1 tablespoon oil

      8 thick pork sausages

      1 large onion sliced thinly

      3 carrots sliced or diced

      2 sticks celery chopped

      1 parsnip chopped

      1 small leek sliced into rings

      1 eating apple cored and chopped

      500ml cider

      2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

      1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard

      1 heaped teaspoon honey

      1 stock cube

      200ml water

      Salt and pepper

      1 Tbs cornflour mixed with water

      Cobbler

      200g SR Flour

      50g soft butter or margarine

      Salt, pepper, mustard mixture (tsp each)

      1 egg beaten with 50ml milk

      Method

      Pre heat oven to Fan 180 or regular 200, gas mark 6

      Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the sausages. Cook for a few minutes until well browned, do not prick the skins as this will keep the sausages juicy inside. When the sausages are a good colour remove to an ovenproof casserole dish. In the same frying pan add the onions (a little more oil if required) and cook until starting to look translucent then add all the other vegetables and the apple and cook stirring frequently for a few minutes. This will start to soften the vegetables. Add the salt and pepper to taste and the mustard and the honey. Add the contents of the pan to the casserole dish. To deglaze the frying pan, add the cider and bring to the boil, add the vinegar and the water, sprinkle on the stock cube. Pour this liquid into the casserole dish. Stir the contents of the casserole dish and cover with a lid or tin foil and place into the oven. Bake for about 45minutes until the vegetables are tender.

      During this time make the cobbler. Add the butter to the self-rising flour and rub in with fingers tips, Add the seasoning and mustard. Add the egg milk mixture bit by bit until you can form a dough that will roll out. Reserve a little egg mixture for glazing. Pat or roll the dough until it is about 2 cm thick and cut out rounds using a small cutter.

      When the vegetables are tender take the casserole out of the oven. Remove the lid or foil and pour in the cornflour water, stirring it all around. This will thicken the gravy. Place the cobbler rounds around the circumference of the dish. Brush the tops with a little egg mixture. Put back into the oven and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the cobblers are risen and golden brown.

      by Karen