Seasonal cleanse by Amy Chaplin

Seasonal cleanse - Amy Chaplin

13 Ways to Use Lentils.

13 Ways to Use Lentils in Cooking for a Fast, Frugal and Fabulous Meal

Nadiya Hussain Apple Palm Pies.

- Nadiya Hussain Apple Palm Pies Recipe | BBC Time to Eat
Introduction
These are so easy and quick, because there is no peeling of apples, no coring or chopping, so you can have your pie and eat it too.
The filling is a mixture of apple sauce mixed with spices, dried fruit and nuts, then wrapped in filo, perfect enough to fit in the palm of your hand and in your mouth, in a bite, or two.
They freeze well, so when you need pie, be it for yourself or for guests, you’re always one step ahead.

Makes 12 Easy Cook time: 45 min
Ingredients
2 x 285g jars of apple sauce, chunky
0.5 tsp mixed spice
50g mixed nuts, or nuts of your choice, roughly chopped
50g raisins
cooking oil spray
270g pack of filo pastry, or 6 sheets
demerara sugar, for sprinkling

You will need a 12-hole muffin tray.

Instructions
Put the apple sauce, mixed spice, nuts and raisins into a bowl, stir well and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C.
Have a 12-hole muffin tray at the ready.
Spray the inside of each hole liberally with oil.

Unroll the filo pastry on to a work surface.
Using kitchen scissors, cut out all the pastry in one go to make 8 equal squares, which should give you 48 squares in total.
Keep the squares you’re not working with under a tea towel to prevent them drying out.

Take 1 square of filo and spray it with oil, lay another square on top, spray again, then lay another on top and spray again.
You should have three squares oiled together.
It doesn’t matter if the squares are a bit off-centre.
Place inside the oiled cavity of the muffin tray, press down, and repeat this process until you have filled all 12 holes in the muffin tray.

Fill each hole with an equal amount of the apple filling.

Take another square of filo and spray well, then fold in half and in half again to create a small square.
Place the small square on top of the apple mixture and fold the pointy edges inwards.
If any areas feel dry, spray with oil.
Repeat for all 12, then sprinkle with sugar and bake for 14–16 minutes.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.
These are best eaten warm, with ice cream or custard.

Any left over can be cooled and frozen.
I know 12 wouldn’t last very long in my household, so due to the ease of making these, why not double the ingredients and make another full 12 to freeze, providing you have freezer space!

Cheese, pistachio and prune cake. By Rachel Khoo.

- Cheese, pistachio and prune cake recipe - BBC Food
Ingredients
250g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
150g soft goat’s cheese, cut into small pieces
80g pistachios, roughly chopped
100g prunes, roughly chopped
4 free-range eggs
150ml olive oil
100ml oz milk
50g plain yoghurt
1 tsp salt
pinch freshly-ground black pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line a loaf tin measuring 22x11cm/8½x4¼in across the top and 6cm/2½in deep with baking paper.
In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, goat’s cheese, pistachios and prunes.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until fluffy and pale in colour.
Then gradually whisk in the oil, milk and yoghurt.
Season with the salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
Fold the flour mixture into the whisked eggs.
Try not to overbeat as this will make the end result tough (it’s better to undermix).
Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a metal skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin.

Recipe Tips
Use a rubber spatula rather than a whisk to prevent overbeating the flour.

Swedish Meatballs with Orzo.

- Nigella Lawson’s meatballs with orzo recipe | The Sunday Times Magazine | The Sunday Times

For the sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion (approx 150g), finely chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tsp dried oregano
4 tbsp (60ml) red vermouth
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
275g orzo pasta
- Fill a measuring jug with 4 cups of cold water and put near the stove.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based Dutch oven or saucepan that comes with a lid and is large enough to take the meatballs and pasta, too.
Cook the chopped onion over a medium heat, stirring every now and again, for about 10 minutes, or until completely softened, then stir in the parsley and oregano and cook, stirring for a minute or so before adding the vermouth.
Let this bubble up for a minute and then tip in the tomatoes.
Half-fill the empty cans with water from the measuring jug you have at the ready, give them a good swill, and pour into the pan, along with the rest of the water and salt.
Bring to a boil, turn the heat down, clamp on the lid and leave to simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Uncover the pan and drop the meatballs gently into the simmering sauce.
- I have Smorgasbord Swedish Meatballs - ASDA Groceries
Bring it back up to a boil, then turn the heat down again, put the lid back on and simmer the meatballs for 20 minutes.
Remove the lid, tip in the orzo, stir gently and turn up the heat to bring back to a bubble.
Cook at a robust simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked.
You will have to give the odd gentle stir throughout this time to make sure the orzo isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Serve in shallow bowls, sprinkled with parsley, and with Parmesan on the table alongside.

I love Scandinavian food and these delicious Smorgasbord Swedish Meatballs (from Sainsbury or Asda) are my favourite.
Made in Sweden to a traditional recipe combination of pork and beef, gluten free, no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives!

But if you prefer homemade then here's a recipe for you:
500g minced beef
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves, plus more to serve
2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
4 tbsp finely grated parmesan, plus more to serve
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

- Line a large baking sheet with plastic wrap, then put all the ingredients for the meatballs into a large bowl and mix together, gently, with your hands.
Don’t overmix, as it will make the meatballs dense-textured and heavy.
Pinch out pieces of this mixture and roll between the palms of your hand to form meatballs that are somewhere between a cherry tomato and a walnut in size, putting them on your lined sheet as you go.
You should get about 30 meatballs.

Greek Moussaka.

Greek Moussaka | KALOFAGAS | GREEK FOOD & BEYOND

Nadiya Hussain's Egg Rolls.

- Nadiya Hussain's Egg and Mushroom Rolls | BBC Time to Eat

Roasted Buckwheat with Mushrooms and Onions.

Roasted Buckwheat with Mushrooms and Onions – Polish Kasha

Sourdough Crumpets with Natural Starter.

Sourdough Crumpets with Natural Starter Recipe | Chocolate & Zucchini

Jam Blackcurrant with oranges.

About the amount of sugar. 
- If you are going to eat jam quickly - you can add just one kilogram of sugar on 1 kg of berries. 
So the jam will be more useful. 
- But if you are going to keep it for a long time - add one and a half kilograms. 
- If you decide to put it in the cellar, it is better to add sugar to two kilograms.

Ingredients:
1 kg of black currant
1 medium orange
1 lemon (optional)
sugar

Method:
Wash currants.
I wash it in the kitchen sink where all the twigs and debris float to the surface.
Or I use a salad spinner.

Oranges:
If necessary, I will remove the white layer and the pulp.

So…
Put the fruit in a saucepan - not because it’s going over any heat, but for the flat bottom surface that makes for easy crushing. 
I like using a potato masher. 
You can also pulse the fruit with an immersion blender or in a food processor, but take care not to over-process it.

Add sugar, mix well with spoon - I prefer a silicone spoon.
Leave the mixture at room temperature for a day.
During this time, you need to mix/stirring the ingredients several times so that the sugar is well dissolved.
Then pour all over the jars.
I sterilize jars in the microwave or jars and lids in the oven to heat it up to 100 celsius and turn it off.
Put the jam in the fridge for a day.
During this time, the jam will thicken.
Then sprinkle the jam in each jar with sugar or use a waxed disc wet in vodka - waxed side down!.
If the jam will be liquid not thicken all the sugar will drown.
I make a uniform layer in half a centimeter of sugar.
So it will be stored longer and will not form mold.
Cover with lids and store in the refrigerator or cold cellar.

The nice thing about these jams is their fresh taste.
Such raw black currant jam with orange is tasty and healthy.

Note:
If you’re going to experiment, start out with a small amount, about 2 cups of crushed fruit. 
If you want to make a larger batch, double this. 
When trying to figure out how much fruit you’ll need, use this rule of thumb: 
400-500 gr of fruit without pits or 600-700 of fruit with pits will give you about 2 cups crushed fruit.

For 2 cups of crushed fruit, use 1/2 to 1 cup of granulated sugar.
You can also use brown sugar and honey, but take into account their stronger and sweeter flavors.

Additional flavorings:
This is where herbs like chopped basil or mint come in.
You can also add a pinch of grated fresh ginger or a dash of cinnamon.
You can also increase the number of oranges as I do - 4 medium orange for 1 kg of berries

Jam can also be put on plastic containers and frozen.

And some of my favorite posts on fruit preserved in sugar, such as jam or marmalade:

- Времена года / Four seasons: Strawberry jam with blackcurrant.

- Времена года / Four seasons: Pam’s delicious autumn preserve recipes.

- Времена года / Four seasons: Carrot Jam.

- Времена года / Four seasons: Ten steps to jam-making.

- Времена года / Four seasons: How to make perfect strawberry jam.

- Времена года / Four seasons: How to Make No-Cook Freezer Jam.

- Времена года / Four seasons: Plum Strawberry Jam. By David Lebovitz.

Dom's Kefir FAQ in-site

- Dom's Kefir FAQ in-site
- Is cold milk straight from the fridge OK to prepare kefir? or does the milk need to be warm?
Cold milk is fine.

- Dom's Kefir-cheese in-site
Kefir Butter can also be prepared with Kefir-SourCream.
This is best prepared with the simplified version above.
Hand beat Kefir-SourCream with a spatula until the butter comes [granulation of milk-fat with the separation of buttermilk].
The milk fat-granules are further beaten to form a thick mass.
The butter is washed with the addition of water with a few ice cubes, and then the liquid is poured off.
More icy cold water is added, and the butter is folded and cut with a spatula with the cold water to further wash the butter of any buttermilk, which is again poured off.
A little salt to taste may be added at this point and folded into the butter.
The butter is placed on a wooden board put on a slant to let any water left in the butter drain away, as the butter is worked by folding and flattening with a flat spatula or with traditional Scotch Hands [see third photo in slide below] to force as much water out of the butter as possible.
It is worked to form a block of fresh butter.
Alternately, the butter may be put in a rectangular wooden form and pressed with a weight to form a block of butter.
Wrap the butter in waxed paper and refrigerate.
It should keep fresh for at least 4 weeks.

Sourdough pancake.

- Sourdough pancake recipe | Food | The Guardian
Break three whole eggs into a large bowl and whisk.
Add
- 170ml whole milk and
- 120ml sourdough, two
- 2-finger pinches of salt,
- 100g plain white flour and
whisk all together.
Then, melt a big knob of butter in a large frying pan and whisk into the pancake batter.

Now, fry the pancakes in the large frying pan, tossing occasionally until they are golden on both sides.
Lubricate your frying pan between pancakes with a little oil on kitchen paper.
Serve while still warm.

OR:
Ingredients for the fluffy sourdough pancakes:
1 cup sourdough starter-mine is 80% organic white wheat and 20% wholegrain spelt, 80% hydration.
1 large egg
2 tbsp coconut sugar (or any other whole foods sweetener that you like)
1/3 tsp Himalaya salt or fine sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp organic baking powder
a pinch of vanilla powder
2 tbsp butter

OR:
2 large eggs
245g (1 cup) whole milk
61g (1/4 cup) Greek yogurt (optional)
250g (1 1/2 cup, stirred down) sourdough starter
4g (1 teaspoon) vanilla (optional)
180g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose, einkorn, or a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat, flour
6g (1 teaspoon) baking soda
4g (1 teaspoon) baking powder
5g (1 teaspoon) sea salt
50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
63g (1/4 cup or 1/2 stick) melted butter

Tender lamb shoulder by Jamie Oliver.

- Tender lamb shoulder | Lamb recipes | Jamie Oliver recipes
Ingredients
500 g dried chickpeas
2 preserved lemons , (20g each)
1 kg ripe plum tomatoes
1 x 2 kg lamb shoulder , bone in
2 heaped teaspoons ras el hanout

Method
Pour the dried chickpeas into a 30cm x 40cm roasting tray.
Quarter the preserved lemons and trim away the seedy core, then finely chop the rind and add to the tray with a good splash of liquor from their jar.
Roughly chop the tomatoes, adding them to the tray as you go.
Drizzle the lamb with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then rub all over with the ras el hanout and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper.
Sit the lamb in the tray, pour in 1 litre of water, cover tightly with tin foil and place in a cold oven.
Turn the temperature to 170ºC/325ºF/gas 3 and leave the lamb in there for 6 hours, or until the chickpeas are cooked through and the lamb is pullable – after 3 hours, stir a splash of water into the chickpeas, covering tightly again with foil.
To serve, taste the chickpeas, season to perfection, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, then pull the lamb apart with two forks.

Высыпьте dried chickpeas в противень размером 30 х 40 см.
Четвертинки консервированных лимонов без семян, с мелко нарезаной кожурой добавить в лоток с жидкостью из банки.
Нарежьте помидоры, и добавьте их в лоток.
Сбрызните ягненка 1 столовой ложкой оливкового масла, затем разотрите с помощью ras el hanout и щепотки морской соли и черного перца.
Поместите ягненка в лоток, залейте 1 литром воды, плотно накройте фольгой и поставьте в холодную духовку.
Поверните температуру до 170ºC / 325ºF / газ 3 и оставьте ягненка там на 6 часов, или пока нут не будет прожарен, а ягненок не будет мягким - через 3 часа, добавьте воды в нут, снова плотно прикрывая фольгой.
Попробуйте нут, доведите до совершенства и сбрызните 1 столовой ложкой оливкового масла, а затем вытащите ягненка на две вилки.

Courgette and Lemon Risotto

From James Martin chef

50g butter
200g risotto rice
400g courgettes, diced
1 shallot, peeled and diced
1 clove of garlic, chopped
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
50g mascarpone
100ml wine
25g Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), grated
2 lemons, zest only

For the dressing:
1 tbs Dijon mustard
1 tsp water
50ml vegetable oil
25ml white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
1 frisee lettuce centre only

- frisee lettuce

- Place a pan over a medium heat and add the butter.
When the butter is melted add the garlic, shallot, rice, a splash of wine and ¾ of the stock.
- Bring to the boil then allow it to simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the courgettes for the last 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile whisk all the ingredients together for the dressing.
Break up the frisee, add to the bowl and mix so the frisee is coated in the dressing.
- To finish the risotto add the mascarpone, lemon zest and parmesan (or vegetarian alternative).
- To serve, spoon the risotto into bowls, top with frisee, a drizzle of herb oil and chervil.

My sourdough with bran

My sourdough with bran

Beehive Sweet Buns.

- Beehive Sweet Buns | Beyond Kimchee
brioche-style buns
288g all purpose flour uk
Dough = 560g : 19 = 29g each bun








- Honeycomb Buns Recipe | King Arthur Flour

Bearnaise sauce recipe | BBC Good Food

- Bearnaise sauce recipe | BBC Good Food

Shepherd's Pie

- Mary Berry's shepherd's pie recipe

- The perfect ... shepherd’s pie | Felicity Cloake | Food | The Guardian

- Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

Mushroom Barley Soup.

- Mushroom Barley Soup - Comforting Deli-Style Soup Recipe

Ricotta and oregano meatballs by Yotam Ottolenghi.

Serve four.

5 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm dice (optional)
2 large stalks celery, cut into 1cm dice (optional)
8 whole sprigs fresh oregano, plus 10g chopped oregano leaves
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
500ml chicken stock
Salt and black pepper
500g minced beef
100g freshly made breadcrumbs
250g ricotta
60g grated parmesan
1 egg
20g chopped parsley

First, make the tomato sauce.
Heat half the oil in a large sauté pan for which you have a lid.
Add half the onion, half the garlic and all of the carrots, celery and oregano sprigs.
Place on a medium-high heat and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring a few times, until the vegetables have softened without taking on any colour.
If need be, put the lid on the pan, to help prevent the onions from catching and burning.
Add the tomatoes, sugar, half the stock, half a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper.
Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring from time to time, to give the sauce a chance to thicken gradually.

Meanwhile, make the meatballs.
Put the remaining onion and garlic in a large bowl with the beef, fresh breadcrumbs, cheeses, egg, oregano leaves, parsley, three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper.
Mix together with your hands, then shape into 12-14 balls weighing about 70g each.

Heat a tablespoon and a half of olive oil in a large frying pan and, when hot, add the meatballs.
Sear for two minutes on each side.
(Depending on the size of your pan, you may have to do this in two batches, adding the remaining tablespoon of oil before cooking the second batch.)

Remove the whole oregano sprigs from the tomato sauce, then gently press the seared meatballs into the sauce.
Pour over the remaining stock, or just enough almost to cover the meatballs; top up with a little water, if need be.
Cover the pan and cook on a very gentle simmer for 30 minutes.
If the sauce needs to thicken more after this time – you want a thick, pasta sauce-like consistency – remove the lid and increase the temperature a little so everything bubbles away.
Remove the pan from the heat and set aside for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with orzo or tagliatelle, warm or at room temperature.