Category: Mr Greedy’s Kitchen

 

 

A MR GREEDY TIP:

Cooking flan – Line the flan tin with the pastry but leave excess over the top of the tin. Trim the pastry to the top of the tin after blind baking with a good sharp knife. Pastry shrinks when it's cooked. this will leave a good flush top.

 

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Glazed Plum Cake Courgette, Basil and Ricotta Tart

375g ready rolled puff pastry

1 x 250g tub ricotta

3tbsp grated Grana Padano cheese

! large egg beaten

handful of fresh basil

3 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

75g thin parma ham, sliced into strips

1 large clove of garlic, crushed

3 med courgettes cut into thin slices

2tbsp pine nuts

Remove pastry from the fridge 10 min before using. Preheat oven to 180c fan. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Unroll the pastry and place on the baking tray. Score a 1cm border around the edge with a sharp knife. In a large bowl, mix the ricotta, 2 tbsp of the cheese, egg, spring onion, parma ham, garlic and most of the basil [keep some for the top-ping]. Spread the mixture over the pastry, avoiding the border. Arrange the courgettes over the top of the tart, overlap if required. Scatter the remaining cheese and basil over the top. Bake for about 20 – 25 mins. Sprinkle over the pine nuts and return to the oven for a further 5 mins until golden brown.

 

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Glazed Plum Cake

 

200g softened butter

8 red or purple plums

140g golden caster sugar, + 1 extra tbsp

grated zest of 1 large lemon

6 tbsp full cream milk

85g blanched almonds, chopped, not too small

6 heaped tbsp redcurrant or plum jelly

3 eggs, lightly beaten

175g self-raising flour

2 tbsp cassis or port

Heat oven 160c fan. Butter a 23cm spring form tin, line base with baking paper and butter the paper. Halve, stone and slice the plums. In a mixer beat the butter and sugar [not the extra] together until pale. Beat in the eggs and zest. With mixer speed reduced beat in the flour and milk. Stir in the almonds and spoon into the tin. Lay the plum slices on the top of the cake mix, over lapping them in circles. Sprinkle with the extra sugar and bake for about 55 – 60 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove the cake and leave to cool on a rack for about 15 mins. In a small pan, melt the jelly and cas-sis or port with 2 tbsp of water until reduced to a thick syrupy glaze, about 5 mins. Brush over the cake and leave to set. Repeat if required to use all the syrup.

 

Mint and Courgette Cake with Soft Cream Topping

155ml sunflower oil, plus a little extra
230g self-rising flower
1tsp baking powder
11/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
230g light brown muscovado sugar
zest of 1 orange
100g pecan nuts coarsely chopped
3 large eggs beaten
300g coarsely grated courgettes [squeeze out excess liquid]
2 – 3tbsp coarsely chopped mint leaves

Topping

50g butter softened
200g full fat cream cheese
150 icing sugar
Preheat oven to 165C, Oil and line the base of a 18cm spring form cake tin. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into a large bowl, mix to combine together. Add the sugar, zest, pecan nuts and grated courgettes, stir well to combine. Stir in the beaten eggs and oil, again mix well to combine. Pour into prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
For the topping, use a hand mixer. Beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add the cream cheese and beat again until well mixed. Sift the icing sugar over the cheese mix and beat until well mixed. Cover with cling film and store in the fridge until needed. Once the cake has cooled down, spread the topping over the top,

cut and enjoy.

 

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Gruyere Biscuits

125g plain flour
100g unsalted butter, diced
1/4 – 1/2 tsp chilli powder
100g finely grated gruyere cheese
a little milk to brush the tops
dried rosemary to decorate

Put the flour, butter and chilli in a food processor and blitz until the mixture resmbles breadcrums. Add the cheese, pulse again to bring the dough to-gether. Shape into a flat disc, wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge for about 1 hour. Heat the oven to160C, line two baking trays. On a lightly floured board roll out the mixture to a thickness of 5mm. [do this in two hits] Cut out biscuits with a 5cm plain cutter. re-roll any trimmings and cut. Place on the baking trays, brush with a little milk and sprinkle with the rosemary. Bake for about 12 -15 minutes until golden.

 

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Chicken in Lemon and Garlic

4 large skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
5 tbsp olive oil or lemon flavoured oil
1 onion, finely chopped
6 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
grated rind of 1 lemon, finely pared rind of 1 lemon and the juice of both lemons
4 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Heat the oil in a large pan or wok, add the onions and fry for about 5 mins or until softened, not browned. Add the garlic and fry for about 30 secs. Add the sliced chicken and fry for 5 – 10 mins, stir-ring from time to time until chicken is just brown and tender. Add the grated lemon rind and the lemon juice and let it bubble. While cooking deglaze the bottom of the pan and stir into the juices. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the parsley and season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Transfer the chicken to a warmed serving dish. Sprinkle with the pared lemon and serve piping hot.
Serve alongside pitted Spanish olives, sun dried to-matoes, lemon wedges and fresh crusty bread to mop up the juices, and not forgetting a good Spanish wine. Enjoy the evening air, CHEERS.

Potato and Tomato Tortilla

1kg new potatoes, Jersey Royals scraped or washed, cut into small cubes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large bunch spring onions, chopped

120g cherry tomatoes, halved

6 eggs

3 tbsp milk

2 tbsp fresh parsley

salt and ground black pepper

Boil the potatoes in salted water until just tender. Drain and set aside. Preheat grill to medium. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the spring onion and fry until just soft. Add the potatoes and fry for about 3-4 mins, until coated with oil and hot. Smooth the top and scatter over the tomatoes. Beat the eggs together then add the milk, parsley and S & P in a bowl, then pour over the potato mixture. Cook over a low heat for about 10 – 15 mins, until tortilla looks fairly set. Place the frying pan under the hot grill and cook until the top is brown and set. Leave to cool before sliding out onto a chopping board, Cut into wedges and serve.

 

This month 2 easy Veggie recipes.

Wild Mushroom Tartlets

375g block of all butter puff pastry

25g butter

300g pack mixed wild mushrooms, wiped clean, [don’t wash]

50g parmesan, finely grated

Handful of chopped parsley

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 egg beaten

1 small ciabatta roll, blitzed to crumbs

100g pitted green olives, finely chopped

Roll the pastry on a floured surface and cut out 4 cir-cles about 15cm in dia. leave to chill on a lined baking tray in the fridge for about 15 – 20 mins. Heat the oven to 180C Fan. Heat a large frying pan add the butter and gently fry the mushrooms for about 5 mins until all liquid has left the pan, [don’t burn the butter]. Re-move from the heat, season, add half the parmesan and the garlic. Score a 1cm border around each tartlet and divide the mixture between them. Mix the crumbs, olives and the remainder of the parmesan, sprinkle over the mushrooms. Brush the edge of each tartlet with beaten egg, then bake for about 20 mins until puffed and golden. Serve with buttered baby new pota-toes and green peas.

Re-roll the pastry into a rectangle, sprinkle with more parmesan and black pepper. Fold in half and re-roll. Cut into stripes twist a few times and bake alongside the mushroom tarts

Leek, Ricotta & Gruyere Tart

500g pack all butter shortcrust pastry

Butter

2 large leeks, thinly sliced

250 ricotta

100ml double cream

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp chopped tarragon

100g gruyere cheese grated

Heat the oven 180C fan. Butter a 23cm loose base tart tin. Roll the pastry, line the tin, prick the base and blind bake on a baking sheet for about 10 mins. Re-move the parchment and beans and cook for a further 5 mins until golden in colour. Reduce oven to 160C. Melt the butter in a large pan and gentle cook the leeks for about 10 mins until softened. Beat together the ricotta, cream, eggs, tarragon, salt, black pepper. Stir in the leeks and the grated cheese [leave enough cheese to scatter over the top]

Pour the mixture into the tart case and scatter the re-maining cheese over the top. Bake for about 25 – 30 mins until set. Leave to cool and remove from tin. Serve warm

 

Special Chocolate Easter Cake [no cooking]

100g butter, plus a little extra fo greasing

150g bar of dark chocolate with nuts, broken into pieces

2 tbsp golden syrup

50g hazelnuts, halved

5g pine nuts

175g soft almond amaretti biscuits, broken into chunky pieces

100g dried soft figs, chopped

300g Belgian chocolate sauce [M & S] 2 tbsp Amaretto or Disaronno Liqueur Mini chocolate eggs and cocoa powder to decorate

Soak the figs in the Liqueur and set aside for about 30mins. Dry roast the nuts in a small pan until toasty brown, set aside. Butter and line the base and sides of a loaf tin [ 19 x 9.5 x 5cm ] with baking paper or cling film. In a basin set over a pan of simmering water, melt the butter, chocolate and syrup. Stir to combine and set aside. Combine the melted chocolate mix, nuts, biscuits and figs together, and spoon into the tin, packing down firmly at the base, smoothing the top. place in the fridge to set for about 2 – 3 hours. Turn out onto a flat cake plate or board. Drizzle over the chocolate sauce so it trickles down the sides. Decorate with the chocolate eggs and a sifting of cocoa powder. Use any left over choc sauce with a slice of the cake