Handmade Chocolate Truffles

I haven’t finished buying my presents, I'm the most disorganised I have ever been. Trying to panic buy imaginatively on a shoe string budget is difficult to say the least. Count yourself lucky if I bought your present in advance! The ones still to get are going to be interesting to say the least! I was reading in the papers today about the worst Christmas presents ever which included a brother wrapping up a half used bottle of washing up liquid for his sister and another brother giving his sister a cereal bowl from the kitchen that he just went through and got when it was his turn to hand out gifts... Another boy got a shirt from his uncle in the post, but it was old and worn and not even clean, and brown with brown stripes... haha!

So I must try harder than that. Making things is the answer I think, I have a plan I think, and in case any of you are in the same predicament I thought I'd share these chocolates which I made last year and are pretty tasty, make them boozy and they are even better... You just need some chocolate and some cream and whatever flavours you choose, pop to the shops and start melting...

They are a Nigel Slater recipe that you can mix and match in coatings and flavourings to suit. I made rum, cardamom and plain versions, rolled in icing, chopped nuts and cocoa...

 

Chop 225g of good quality dark chocolate into small pieces and put it into a heatproof bowl. Heat 135ml of cream gently in a pan then when it is hot pour it over the chocolate and stir until it is melted. Put the mixture in the fridge to chill, for about an hour, then remove heaped tablespoons and roll very gently into little balls. Then roll them in cocoa, icing or chopped nuts, chocolate sprinkles or dip them in melted chocolate and leave to harden into a crisp chocolate shell... whatever you fancy... This will make about 25 little truffles.

 

For flavoured truffles add the flavour to the cream while you are heating it. You can use spices; some crushed cardamom seeds, a cinnamon stick or a vanilla pod, allow the cream to cool with the spices still in, then strain it and reheat to add to the chocolate. Or you can add booze, a splash of brandy or rum, whatever takes your fancy. People may enjoy them more than used washing up liquid or dirty shirts...

Stilton, Walnut and Honey Chicory Cups

It's started hasn’t it... The decadent Christmas onslaught of eating and drinking. I've had to print off a wall-chart of December to keep track of everything going on, most of which seem to be eating and drinking in different locations at all hours of the day... I've already had a work Christmas party which basically involved hours and hours of wine, I’m still feeling the after effects; another drinks party in the country, more civilised this time... and I have four more parties before the weekend even begins... I need to eat fruit and sleep lots to last the distance I think... 

I like the amount of tradition at this time of year, everyone seems to have little things set in stone that they always do and places they always go, different from each other. I like to invent new traditions too, Christmas Eve Eve supper is one of mine, by the fire in the house. Twixmas is another, a few friends and family over for a lunchtime drink and bite to eat between Christmas and New Year.

I'm looking forward to it all though, it's lovely seeing lots of friends and being all festive. I have food plans for some more potted pheasant, some smoked pheasant terrine, pickled grapes and roast duck. Some Christmas hot toddies and a few new canapés too. I'm going to read recipe books and watch television and cook, I'm quite excited...

These are my new favourite seasonal canapé, I think I have persuaded myself they are healthy because they aren't something balanced on fried bread, or something stuffed in a mini Yorkshire pudding... A little chicory cup laden with Stilton, honey and toasted nuts. Do not underestimate a canapé in a salad cup, they are really, really delicious! And they have the added bonus of being very simple, you just toast some nuts, sprinkle some Stilton and drizzle some honey... easy!

Simply toast some walnuts in a dry pan until they begin to brown, 50g will make about 20 canapés. Then divide 3 chicory heads into separate leaves, you can use red or white chicory, both are delicious. Roughly crumble about 50g of Stilton equally between the leaves. Then top the walnuts and Stilton with half a teaspoon of honey per leaf. You can add a tiny pinch of rock salt too if you fancy... The bitter chicory is delicious with the creamy cheese, sweet honey and toasted crunchy nuts, simple but amazingly tasty...

 

Roast Topside of Beef with Black Pepper, Mustard and Celery Seeds

I have some new butcher friends, they popped up to say hi on Twitter a while ago now and invited me to go and have a look round their place, which I gladly accepted. I've always been interested in butchery and have long harboured intentions of taking some kind of course one day, to learn the basics at least... 

 

Freeman’s started as a family business in South Shields in 1953 and is still run by the grandson's of the founder, albeit as a much bigger operation in the middle of Team Valley these days. Robert showed me round, to where the meat arrives, how it's labelled and tracked so they know exactly which farm every piece has come from, which abattoir it was slaughtered in and when it arrived with them. Into the giant fridges with huge cuts of meat hanging from rails, followed by a demonstration from butcher Darren of how to cut out a sirloin steak and how to cut a Barnsley chop. I had a lovely time, and sadly couldn’t stay long enough to see more, but will definitely return... 

 

So as if that wasn't good enough already, this week Robert turned up with a Christmas meat hamper for me... Christmas come early! This is the first year that they have sold hampers on line, you can have a look at the whole range here, from little ones to huge ones, full of turkey, gammon, topside of beef, duck, pork loin, sausage meat and pigs in blankets. All delivered to your door for free, if you order before the 21st December.

 

So this weekend I roasted the beautiful piece of topside beef. I crushed a tablespoon of black peppercorns and bashed them up in a pestle and mortar with a tablespoon of mustard powder, a teaspoon of dried thyme, a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of celery seeds, then mixed it all with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and spread it all over the outside of the meat. I roasted it at 190°C for 47 minutes... That is 12 minutes per 450g for medium rare, mine was possibly more on the rare side but that's how I like it. Make sure you rest it properly, covered in foil for 30 minutes. I served it with a big dish of Pan Haggerty potatoes, the little pigs in blankets and lots of vegetables, followed by an apple and walnut crumble. It felt almost like Christmas...

 

 

Mini Butternut Spice Muffins

These little muffins have been popping up all over in the past few weeks. I think I can make them with my eyes closed now. I have served them at both Supperclub nights, with an array of other little puddings alongside them such as tiny boozy Campari jellies and Chocolate and Chestnut pots... Then when The Journal got in touch to say they would like me to put together some Christmas canapés for their next edition of Taste I thought they would be perfect as a tiny sweet canapé.

 
I created four different canapés for the article, a chicory leaf cup with Stilton, toasted walnuts and honey, a mackerel and horseradish pate, a parma ham and chestnut pastry roll and these little fellas. So even though it was early November I was up in the loft looking out the Christmas decorations and setting my dining table with a Christmas party scene, ready for the photographer on a Sunday afternoon, it all felt a little bit surreal! The photos all looked lovely, much better than mine, and you can see the full article and all the recipes here.

I fed the photographer as many as I could, but then owing to the fact that it wasn't Christmas and there was no actual party happening TLI and were left staring at about 80 tiny bite size pieces of food... We made a little dent in them, but ended up taking the rest to work, as much as I love canapés it was just too much, even for me...

 
So to start preheat the oven to 200°C degrees and grease your mini muffin tin with a little butter. Then peel and chop half a butternut squash into chunks and put it in to roast for about 15 minutes or until its soft, it doesn’t need any oil or anything on it. You can also use pumpkin or sweet potato too, I've used an onion squash also which was lovely...
  
This makes about 24 mini muffins or 12 large ones, I prefer the tiny cute ones. Next mix together 125g of plain flour, 110g of sugar, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, ½ a teaspoon of ginger, ½ a teaspoon of nutmeg and ½ a teaspoon of salt. Cut 50g of room temperature butter into small pieces then mix it through the flour and spice mix with your fingers until it's like breadcrumbs.

 
When the butternut squash is done mash it with a fork and allow it to cool. Then in a separate bowl, mix together the squash, 120ml of evaporated milk and 1 beaten egg. Pour the squash mixture into the flour mixture and add a handful of raisins, then fold gently until mixture is just combined. Pour the mix into the greased muffin tins, about half 2/3 full into each. Then sprinkle the tops with a mix of cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg. Then bake for about 15 minutes, until golden.
The spices are delicious in the warm little butternut buns, sweet bites of raisins and a crunchy sugary spice top make them my favourite little pudding at the moment.

Supperclub Number Two

Supperclub time came around again so quickly, it's like a little whirlwind new project that is yet to get any less exciting... This time all twenty places sold out in a few hours... The venue was the same, Ouse Street Arts Club, it's a perfect spot, cosy and inviting and all the guests seemed to love it. I served pulled pork again, with all the trimmings, homemade beans and buns, my own BBQ sauce and coleslaw with apple and toasted seeds... To start the smorgasbord had a new star, juniper and wood home smoked potted pheasant, a bit of a triumph if I do say so myself, I'm very glad I made too much and have a few pots left to see me through the festive season...

So I thought I would share a few pictures, I'm already planning the next one so watch this space for details. I also need to share the recipes for the mini butternut muffins, my new favourite tiny pudding, as featured in last weeks Journal Taste. And not forgetting the hot toddies with whisky, ginger, spices and citrus, perfect winter party warmers...

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