Long Evenings and Leftovers

Potato and Celeriac Gratin

We enjoyed this over twix-mas and we all went back for a second helping.

Ingredients

600g Waxy pots

600g Celeriac

250 ml of Double cream

1/2 nutmeg grated

30g unsalted butter

Good handful of whatever cheese you have left over to melt across the top

Heat oven to 180 deg C

Peel your potatoes and celeriac and slice thinly on a mandolin and wash well  then mix together well and roughly dry. Cover your chosen dish with a layer of the veg leaving no gaps, keep on layering until all the veg is used. Season your cream and addd your nutmeg if using and pour it over the sliced veg. Chop your butter and dot it over the top and bake for 45 minutes. 5 minutes before it’s ready scatter your handfuls of crumbled or grated leftover cheese for added flavour. Let it cool for 10 minutes whilst you make a crunchy green salad. You can use veg stock instead of cream for a healthier version but no doubt you will have some cream leftover too.

Pjs and Pancakes

The kids seem to request pancakes more than anything else at the moment. On Christmas morning knowing we weren’t eating until late afternoon I agreed to make pancakes. Once the requests for another one slowed down I knew there was going to be batter left over for the adults. Hooray! There was a jar of mincemeat on the side and for some reason I was tempted to dollop it onto a hot pancake with natural yogurt. It was a revelation and I’m recommending you try it.

Ingredients

135g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp caster sugar

130ml milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Sift the dry ingredients together, make a well, then add the wet ingredients and whisk to combine. Use a ladle to 1/2 a scoop of the batter onto a hot frying pan. I use a tiny bit of sunflower oil to just coat the pan. Then cook for two to three minutes, then flip once you see lots of bubbles. Once they are nicely browned on both sides dollop a bit or warm mince meat and some natural yogurt on top.

If you’re looking for a fun interactive kids cookbook I can recommend Pancakes by Lotta Nieminen. 

‘Oh so moreish’ Mincemeat Florentines

These came about after a gift of M&S mini Christmas florentines seemed to disappear in my mouth before others even spotted them. They were heavy on the cirtus peel which germinated the idea that our Boozy, boozy homemade mincemeat with it’s heavenly citrus scent may make fabulous florentines. It took a couple of attempts to nail the recipe,  but as we always say ‘you can eat any of the ugly bicuits and no’one is any the wiser’.

Ingredients

50g unsalted butter

50g golden caster sugar/muscovado

50g golden syrup

50g plain flour

100g mincemeat

75g flaked almonds

175g dark chocolate to decorate (optional – they are just as good without)

2 large baking trays, lined with silcon or bako-glide ( 3 smaller ones)

cooling rack is essential

Preheat oven to 180 deg C/160 deg Fan/GM4

Melt the butter, golden syrup and caster sugar in a pan over a medium heat whilst stirring. Once all combined, remove from the heat and whisk in the flour, then stir in the mincemeat and almonds and stir well to combine.

Then working quickly, since the mixture will harden, use two t-spoons to place a tsp size blob of mixture about the size of 50p and flatten. Place blobs at large intervals  – these spread hugely when cooking.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until caramel colour. Remove from the oven and leave to harden for ~2 minutes until you can use a palette knife to gently lift the florentines onto the cooling rack.

Once completely cool, the florentines will be crisp now, melt the cocolate over a pan of steaming water (ensure no water gets into the chocolate). Spoon chocolate over the bottom of the florentine and spread as evenly as you can. Leave to cool and firm up. These store for ~1 week in a tin – you’ll eat them way before this!