Hi People – please feel free to Join the community and submit your own favorite recipes!

All Submissions gratefully received

Please help us make this a Community success…

Just like a regular chilli con carne – but just add a chunk of milk chocolate for each diner!!! (We use Cadburys Milk Chocolate) – Yum!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1. 200g plain flour
2. salt and freshly ground pepper
3. groundnut oil, including plenty for frying
4. about 250ml good beer

mixed fish of your choice, such as fillets of plaice, pouting or whiting, squid rings, even scallops or oysters

Method: How to make beer battered fish

1. Sift the flour into a bowl, or put it in a bowl and whisk it. Add 2 tbsp groundnut oil then gradually whisk in the beer, stopping when you have a batter with the consistency of thick emulsion paint. Beat it well to get rid of any lumps, season well, then leave it to rest for 30 minutes or so.

2. Heat a good 10cm depth of oil in a heavy-based pan until it reaches 160deg;c, or until a cube of white bread dropped in turns golden brown in 2-3 minutes.

3. Dip your chosen chunks of fish into the batter and lower them into the hot oil. Do this in batches, so as not to crowd the pan. Fry large pieces of fish for 4-5 minutes, and smaller items, such as squid rings, for 2 minutes or so, or until golden brown and crisp.

4. Scoop them out and transfer to a warm dish lined with kitchen paper. Keep them warm while you fry the remaining fish, then serve straight away with tartare sauce.

225g (8oz) Sugar
300ml (½ pint) Cold Water
1 tbsp Golden Syrup
1 tsp Warm Water
½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
½ tsp Cream of Tartar

Place the sugar, water, golden syrup and cream of tartar into a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat gently until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Boil the mixture without stirring, to a temperature of 154°C (310°F).
Remove from the heat to prevent further cooking.
Quickly mix the bicarbonate of soda with the warm water and add to the sugar mixture, stirring gently.
Pour the mixture into a 18cm by 28cm (7inch by 11 inch) non-stick baking tray to a depth of at least 2.5cm (1 inch).
Allow to cool for a few minutes before marking into bars or squares.
Eat as soon as cool, as if kept it becomes soft and sticky.

Put the pork skin side up on a rack in a large roasting tray and cook in a cool oven – 150C/fan 130C/gas 2 for about 31/2 hours.

Meanwhile, put the shallots (with skin) in a pan, cover with water and bring to a simmer. Cook for 1 hour, then drain and cool.

Cut each shallot in half lengthways through the root. Peel off the skin – still leaving the ‘half’ root in place.

Heat a little oil and butter in a large pan and fry the cut side of the shallots until they are nicely browned. Turn and colour the other side. Serve with the pork.

Ingredients
1 punnet strawberries
A dash of sugar
a dash of port
meringues, broken up
cream, softly whipped

Method

1. Mash the strawberries with a little sugar and port, and fold in broken meringues and softly whipped cream.

SERVES 4
PREPARATION 10 MINS
COOKING 35-40 MINS

You Will Need:

450g (14oz) plain flour
450g (14oz) soft light
brown sugar
1½tsp ground ginger
375g (12½oz) chilled
butter, diced
100g (3oz) flaked almonds

1. Place the plain flour, brown sugar, ground ginger and cold, diced butter into a large food processor and process using the pulse action until the mixture begins to resemble coarse breadcrumbs and starts to clump together. Stir in the flaked almonds.

2. Divide the mixture into 4 portions. The mixture can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw the mixture before using.

3. To use, sprinkle the prepared crumble topping mixture evenly over a deep dish of prepared fruit and press down lightly. Place the dish on a baking sheet and bake in an oven heated to 180°C (gas mark 4) for 35-40 minutes, or until the top of the crumble is golden.

MAKES 12 CHUNKY PIECES

INGREDIENTS

• 200g (7oz) dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

• Half a fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

• 100g (3 1/2oz) mixed unsalted nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios or pecans

• 1tbsp sunflower or pumpkin seeds

• 100g (3 1/2oz) mixed dried fruit, such as golden raisins, dried mango, dried sour cherries or cranberries, larger bits chopped

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Smash up the chocolate and melt it in a heatproof glass bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

Once the chocolate is smooth and melted, remove the bowl from the heat and put to one side. While the chocolate is melting, put the chopped chilli pieces on a baking tray with the mixed nuts and the seeds.

Place in the hot oven for 5 minutes, until the nuts are toasted and shiny. leave to cool for a few minutes, then roughly chop everything together on a board and mix with the dried fruit in a bowl.

Put a large handful of this fruit and nut mixture to one side, and tip the rest into the bowl of chocolate. Stir well until everything is completely coated.

Line a baking tray with a piece of greaseproof paper or baking parchment and spoon the chocolate mixture on to it, using the back of a spoon to smooth it out to the sides.

Sprinkle the reserved fruit and nuts evenly over the top, and leave in a cool place or in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.

Once the rocky road has set, smash it up into bite-size or larger pieces and pile up on a serving plate. Lovely with a cup of coffee, or even finely bashed up over some good-quality vanilla ice cream.

These Swedish meatballs are cooked on stovetop then finished in the oven.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs, about 3 slices bread

• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion or 1/4 cup finely chopped onion

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

• 3/4 cup milk

• 2 pounds ground beef

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 1 can (10 1/2 ounces) condensed beef broth

• 1 cup half-and-half or light cream

Preparation:

Combine bread crumbs, onion, salt, pepper, nutmeg and 3/4 cup milk in a large mixing bowl. Let milk soak into crumbs for a few minutes. Gently stir in ground beef until well blended; form into balls about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Brown meatballs in butter and oil in a large skillet; remove with a slotted spoon to a 2 1/2-quart baking dish. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of drippings; stir flour into drippings. Cook, stirring constantly, until bubbly. Stir in beef broth and cream. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and boils for a minute. Pour over Swedish meatballs in baking dish. Bake Swedish meatballs at 325° for 35 to 45 minutes.

Swedish meatball recipe serves 6.

Ingredients

2 large eggs, cracked open
1 tsp vanilla essence
125g/4oz caster sugar
125g/4oz soft margarine
125g/4oz self-raising flour
To decorate (optional)
tubes of writing icing
marshmallows, white and coloured
food colouring, for icing
coloured sweets

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and beat them together until the mixture is smooth and slightly lighter in colour.
2. Line a bun tin or cupcake tin with paper cake cases and half-fill each case with the cake mixture.
3. Cook the cakes for 18-20 minutes. You can tell they are done when they have risen up, are golden in colour, and spring back into shape when lightly pressed.
4. The cupcakes can be decorated using a basic icing, plus marshmallows, writing icing, food colouring and coloured sweets. You can even make a cupcake farm with animals such as sheep, piglets and dogs.