Food & Drink section.qxp_Layout 1 21/10/2021 15:26 Page 18
MENDIP TIMES
With KATY BEAUCHAMP
FOOD & DRINK
This month we welcome a new contributor to our Food and Drink pages: Katy Beauchamp, of Oakhill. Katy, born and brought up in Somerset, has many years’ experience in catering backstage at music festivals and at private functions and parties for both children and adults. Katy’s philosophy is to create easy and convenient, yet wholesome food. Many of her recipes can be made from scratch but, for those in a hurry, ready-made bases and other shop-bought ingredients offer an ideal substitute. With her experience in catering for functions, many recipe ideas contain ingredients which can be easily scaled-up in amount to cater for larger numbers of people. Many are also suitable for vegetarians and vegans!
CARROT AND CHEESE PATE
PIZZA PINWHEELS
Carrot and cheese pate
This recipe is one my mum, Sally, used to make me and my sisters when we were young. She used carrots, but it works just as well with pumpkin – a great way to use up the scooped-out the flesh from making Halloween lanterns – and it makes a great vegetarian starter served with crudites or bruschetta. METHOD Fry the onions and grated carrot (pumpkin) in the oil and butter in a large frying pan for five minutes, add garlic, cumin and salt and pepper and cook for a further 2 mins, add just enough water to cover ingredients and simmer gently until all the liquid has been absorbed. Leave to cool for ten mins before blending it with the cheese and dash of soy sauce until smooth, divide into four ramekins and put in fridge to cool completely. Serve with anything you fancy; mum used to give it to us on toast! INGREDIENTS (For four) Tablespoon of olive oil Tablespoon of butter Three medium carrots (grated) or the equivalent of pumpkin flesh Half a chopped onion One clove of garlic One heaped teaspoon of cumin Dash of light soy sauce 100 grams Red Leicester cheese (but any hard cheese will do)
“TOFFEE” APPLE CUPCAKES Toffee apple cupcakes
Chilli pinwheels You can make these as homemade or as shop-bought as you like! METHOD Place a rolled sheet of pizza dough on a chopping board and slightly stretch it in the corners to make it square-ish. Next, spread the beans or chilli over leaving a border of one inch all the way round. Sprinkle the grated cheese over and roll it up into a big sausage roll. Cut into one-inch slices and lay them on a baking tray with space around each wheel and bake for 15-20 mins at 200° degrees. Wrap them in foil and napkins to eat at your local fireworks event. INGREDIENTS Readymade pizza dough – but homemade is better, if you have time! Three quarters of a tin of baked beans (for veggies or vegans) or a homemade chilli 100gms of grated cheese of your choice
You can use any flavoured sponge for these treats. I’ve used a Victorian Sponge recipe.
METHOD Beat together butter and sugar until pale in colour. Beat in the eggs and fold in the flour. Put a heaped teaspoon of the mixture into a cake case, add half a teaspoon of apple sauce and a square of fudge on top, along with a tiny sprinkling of flaky salt). Cover with another teaspoon of cake mixture. Repeat until all the batter is used up and bake at 180° for 12-15 minutes. NB: let them cool as the insides will be hot!
INGREDIENTS (For two) 120gms butter 90gms caster sugar 2 eggs 120gms self-raising flour (add some green food flavour colouring if you fancy!) Five teaspoons stewed apple (can be from a jar) Shop-bought fudge (the soft, chewy kind – supermarkets often sell their own brand wrapped individually – I tried toffee but it didn’t melt in time)
Save your little tins eg. tuna, half tins of beans etc. for next month’s easy Christmas cake recipe to make, bake and gift! PAGE 18 • MENDIP TIMES • NOVEMBER 2021
