Red Cabbage, Apple and Mustard Recipe

The flavor of cabbage and apple complement one another beautifully and the addition of mustard seeds adds a bit of bite to this easy to prepare dish. Try serving this cabbage recipe with roast pork. If you want to increase the peppery taste of the mustard, you can add another ½ tsp. mustard seeds towards the end of the cooking time. If you don’t have any mustard seeds, cook the cabbage and stir in 1-2 tbsp. wholegrain mustard.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 fl oz. /250ml unsweetened apple juice

• 8 oz. / 250g red cabbage washed and thinly sliced

• 2 tsp. mustard seeds, lightly crushed

• salt and ground black pepper

Preparation:

Pour the apple juice and water into a pan and bring to the boil. Add the red cabbage and crushed mustard seeds. Season well and bring back to the boil. Cover and simmer over a low heat for 10-12 minutes until the cabbage is tender, stirring occasionally. Drain and serve.

Lemon Roast Chicken Recipe

If I am cooking a whole chicken, my favorite is this Lemon Roast Chicken recipe. It is one of the best I have ever cooked. The chicken remains moist and succulent with soft flavors of lemon and garlic.

It is simple to make and makes a great roast for a Sunday lunch served with Yorkshire Puddings or cold for a summer lunch or picnic.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 3 lb. 5oz/ 1.5kg roasting chicken

• 1 stick/110g butter, softened

• 1 medium lemon, halved

• 1 bulb garlic, skin on and halved across the bulb

• 3½fl oz. /100ml dry white wine

• ½ pint/200ml chicken or vegetable stock

Preparation:

• Heat the oven to 400°F/200°C/Gas 6.

• Place the chicken breast side up in a deep roasting tin. Massage the softened butter all over the chicken breasts, legs and sides.

• Tuck one half of the lemon and one half of the garlic into the chicken cavity. Squeeze the juice of the second half over the chicken breast, and pop the squeezed lemon into the roasting tin with the second half of the garlic bulb.

• Place the roasting tin into the oven and cook for 1 hr. 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the tin and wrap tightly in aluminum foil and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

• Place the roasting tin on a medium heat on the stove top and bring the juices up to a gentle simmer. Raise the heat to high and add the white wine. Stir the wine and juices thoroughly and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the chicken or vegetable stock, stir again and simmer until reduced by one third.

• Unwrap the chicken and add any juices released by the chicken into the sauce and bring back to the boil. Remove from the heat, and strain into a warmed sauceboat or jug.

• Serve the chicken immediately with the sauce on the side.

Pastry

Tips for Making Shortcrust Pastry

This is the easiest pastry to make. It is a versatile pastry as it can be used for both savory and sweet dishes. Shortcrust pastry is a mixture of flour - usually all-purpose/plain flour and a fat, either butter, lard or a mixture of both. These are bound together with either cold water or with egg for a richer pastry.

Pastry Calculator - work out how much pastry to make.

Golden Rules for Making Pastry:

1. There is an old saying that cold hands make good pastry. The first golden rule of making shortcrust pastry is kept the ingredients, the bowl and the hands as cool as possible.

2. In the US, mix equal quantities of all-purpose flour with cake flour to create a lighter pastry.

3. Sieve the flour to add extra air and lightness to the pastry.

4. Work quickly, this keeps the pastry cool and prevents the gluten in the flour developing too quickly – which will make the pastry too elastic and difficult to roll, cause shrinkage, and create a tough end result.

5. Handle as little as possible. Too much handling will make the fat soft and the pastry greasy.

6. Always wrap the pastry dough in saran wrap/clingfilm and chill for at least 30 minutes if possible.

7. Chill again after rolling out to prevent shrinkage in the oven.

8. Roll pastry on a cool surface (a marble slab is perfect), dusted with flour.

9. Lightly dust the rolling pin also with flour to prevent sticking.

10. For a crisp base on tarts and pies always cook on a preheated baking sheet in the oven.