Category: Make Ahead

Roast Tomato Chutney

A tomato chutney that does justice to the sun ripened tomatoes we know and love in this part of the world. Spiced with hot smoked paprika, coriander, a lot of fresh ginger and a few other treats too. Golden sultanas add more sweet and the sour is provided by apple vinegar. This version is made with grape juice concentrate and fruit sugar but regular sugar will work just fine.

Its brilliant with cheddar, adds zing to a ham sandwich and gives fried eggs a little “shakshuka” treatment.

Ingredients

This makes quite a lot of chutney 15-16 small jars but it is a good use of a glut of tomatoes and so far, a very popular chutney; it just seems wrong to give smaller quantities!

  • 2.5kgs of sun ripened tomatoes, halved, roasted until semi dried. Passed through a food mill to yield 1.5kg of tomato puree
  • 200g of organic tomato concentrate
  • 1 x 300g jar of organic sun dried tomatoes finely chopped or coarsely pulsed
  • 500g of white onions
  • 1 head of garlic – approx 8-12 cloves
  • 200g golden sultanas
  • 600g of grape juice concentrate and 400g fructose or 800g regular sugar
  • 600ml apple vinegar
  • 200g fresh ginger
  • Spices: 3tbsp ground coriander seeds, 2 tbsp hot smoked paprika, 2tbsp fennel seeds, 1 tbsp turmeric, 1 tbsp fenugreek, 1tsp ground cardamon, 3tbsp Nigella seeds, salt and pepper

How To

Making chutney is a slow affair and this is no exception. First roast the tomatoes very slowly so that they lose approx half their weight. I roast mine at 90C iin a convection oven. If you do not have a food mill then take out the seeds first. (A food mill makes like a lot easier as you simply pass the tomatoes through and a fine puree results)

Make a paste of the onions, garlic and ginger by processing in a blender with a couple of tablespoons of water.

Dry fry the paste together wth all the spices to fully develop the aromas

Now add all the wet ingredients, the sultanas and the sugar/ fructose and bring to the boil. Then turn down and simmer very very gently for 3-4 hours until reduced and thickened. Leave overnight or for 1 day in the fridge.

After one day bring to the boil again and pot in sterilised hot jars.

Pea, ham and mint quiche

Old school all the way from the combination of flavours to the all butter pastry and double cream filling. This is a comfort quiche perfect for evoking memories of damp picnics, bistro lunches or family get togethers. Add a tangy potato salad and some crisp bitter leaves like frisee,radicchio or chicory.

Ingredients

For a 23cm 3cm deep quiche

1 quantity Very Buttery Pastry 

150g dry cured ham (“crud uscat”)

4 eggs and 300ml double cream

salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg

3 spring onions, small bunch of parsley, 3 stalks of mint – leaves only

100g frozen peas – the smallest you can find

50g of parmesan grated or shaved

How To

Blind bake the pastry case and make sure it is pricked with holes as for shortbread (to prevent it ballooning).  I use a metal tart tin with a removable base but if that makes you nervous, a ceramic dish is fine.

Cut the ham into strips and scatter over the base of the pastry case with the peas.

Cut the onions and herbs roughly. Scatter over the ham and peas.

Beat the eggs, cream, salt pepper and nutmeg together. Pour gently over the ham, peas and herbs. With a fork, push the herbs and cheese underneath the egg and cream mixture.

Bake at 170C until browned on top. When cooled slightly remove (carefully) from the tin. Note. If you did have any cracks in the pastry, the egg mixture will have created a “superglue” to scupper pristine quiche removal. Either serve from the tin with a smile or wield a boning knife between the tin and pastry with nerves of steel and surgically remove.

Serve warm (after baking) or cold. Refrain from reheating egg laden pies and tarts!

Apricot, White Chocolate & Lemon Curd Tart aka “the Brian Tart”

The idea here is to create a kind of lemon curd filling that sets on cooking, encasing the apricots and melted white chocolate. The lemon juice and zest help keep things from veering off in an overly saccharine direction.

For a 23cm tart tin with a removable base:

Ingredients

Filling

250g fresh, or 225g dried apricots, chopped roughly

225g best white chocolate. Please do not use inferior quality chocolate – the tart chemistry simply won’t work. Roughly chopped. I have often used the white Toblerone bar

4 eggs

110g sugar

110g melted butter

Juice and zest of 2 lemons

Pastry

350g plain flour

225g butter 82%

110g sugar.

How To

  1. To make the pastry, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then stir in the caster sugar. If you have a food procesor or mixer then either blend or use a K beater – I have used both methods and the hand method. By hand is a bit more “stony” (as pictured) , with a mixer will give you a fine sandy, crumbly affair
  2. press the mixture into the tin by hand, line with crunched up baking paper and either ceramic baking beans or salt or rice ie “baking blind” bake in an oven preheated to 180°C until solid – approx 12 minutes.
  3. Remove the baking beans (or salt/rice) and for a perfect baked blind case paint the base with an egg yolk and re-bake a further 2-3 minutes

3. Place the chopped apricots and chocolate into the tart case.

4. Mix together the eggs, sugar, melted butter, lemon juice and zest. Pour into the tart case. Cook at 160C for 25 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

Improvs and Ideas

There is talk of a peach version…. I think it would work well. Me…I am mulling over a version where the apricots are first macerated in amaretto

There is a prune and dark chocolate version and I do recall a party buffet once where I made both.

As a tip….. there is a risk the curd filling splits in the cooking or doesn’t set – I often stir it with a fork during cooking but it is a bit of a faff. Cooking the filling first as if it was a lemon curd, until creamy consistency, pouring over the filling should work and I may try next time I make.