Recipes Galore

Recipes

Queen of Puddings with Lemon and Elderflower Curd

Chef Angela Gray © A L S Photography INGREDIENTS

Custard

Bring the milk, cream, zest of 1 lemon and 25g butter to the boil, then turn off the heat.

Beat the 4 egg yolks with the 100g caster sugar, then strain the hot milk over them, whisking constantly to make a custard.

Push the brioche slices into the ramekins or the base of the chef rings, pour in the custard and let them sit to soak for 5 minutes, then bake for 20 minutes.

When the brioche has 6 minutes left in the oven, spread the sugar for the meringue onto a parchmentlined baking sheet and heat in the oven (the same temperature) for 6 minutes. Remove the brioche bases and the sugar. Whisk the 4 egg whites until they form peaks, then whisk in the hot sugar and continue whisking for a couple of minutes, until the meringue is thick and glossy. Mix the lemon curd with the elderflower cordial and spoon onto the brioche bases. Next, spoon the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, then pipe a ‘Mr. Whippy’ style meringue topping.

Finish the meringue tops by caramelising the outside with a Chef’s blowtorch. If you don’t have one, pop into a preheated oven at 220°C/200°C Fan/Gas 7 for about 7 minutes until they start to colour. If using chef rings, to decant, run a knife around the inside of each ring to release the pudding. Use a spatula to ease onto a serving plate.

Angela Gray’s Spring Recipes is available now

Order online www.graffeg.com or call 01554 824000 • 400ml whole milk • 200ml double cream • 1 medium lemon, zest only • 25g butter (extra to butter ramekins) • 4 large (60g) eggs yolks • (save whites for meringue) • 100g caster sugar • 4 x 5cm thick slices of brioche

Topping

• 140g good lemon curd • 2 tablespoons elderflower cordial • Meringue • 225g caster sugar • The 4 saved egg whites

Serves 4

WHAT YOU DO

Butter 4 large individual ramekins or chef rings (place on a baking sheet lined with parchment) and heat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4.

Pembrokeshire Early Potato and bacon salad with apple dressing

This salad is best served warm but all the components can be prepared beforehand and assembled just before serving.

Serves 4 as a starter, 3 as main course Prep time: 15 mins Cooking time: 20mins

METHOD

INGREDIENTS

• 350g Pembrokeshire Early Potatoes* • 4 slices of smoked bacon • 2 crisp eating apples, cored and cut into wedges • 15g (1 tbsp) butter • 6 handfuls of salad leaves • 50g hazelnuts, toasted • 4 spring onions, washed and sliced • 1 tbsp chopped chives to garnish • Dressing • 2 tbsp apple cinnamon curd • 1 tbsp cider vinegar • 3 tbsp olive oil • Halen Môn Sea Salt and pepper ** 1. Wash and halve the potatoes and place in boiling water until just tender. 2. Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together in a small bowl. 3. Pour half the dressing over the drained warm potatoes and set aside. 4. Fry the bacon for 5 minutes on each side, remove from the pan and cut into bite-size pieces. Add the butter to the same pan and brown the apple wedges in the melted butter. 5. Remove the apples and deglaze the pan with the remaining dressing. 6. In a serving bowl, mix together the potatoes, bacon, apple, nuts, spring onions and salad leaves.

Pour over the warm dressing and garnish with chives.

*Protected Geographical Identification (PGI) **Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)

White choc chip Welsh cakes with raspberry jam and vanilla cream

This is a delicious and fun way to serve Welsh cakes. A great recipe for those who don’t like dried fruit, they look so mouth-wateringly beautiful that no one will ever guess that they’re our simple little Welsh cakes ‘glammed up’. This recipe makes about 20 cakes, depending on size, and should take about 20 minutes to prepare. each cake needs to cook for about 2 minutes on each side. I usually cook 10 at a time. So the whole process takes less than half an hour from washing my hands to my first taste.

INGREDIENTS

• 225g (2 cups) self-raising flour • 110g (. cup) salted butter • 80g (. cup) caster sugar • 50g (. cup) white chocolate chips • 1 egg • a drop of milk • butter and caster sugar to serve

METHOD

the mixture. Then work it into a dough. If the dough is a little dry add a drop of milk. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a thickness of about 5mm and cut out small circles or hearts or any shape you like, using a cookie cutter. Place onto a hot bakestone, griddle or frying pan, turn once and cook until golden. Add a little butter, sprinkle with caster sugar, and serve warm if possible. To make a cream tea, slice the cooled Welsh cakes to create two rounds. Layer one side with raspberry jam and whipped vanilla cream (see below), replace the other half, and serve like scones.

Vanilla cream

To make vanilla cream, whip up a small carton of double cream and sweeten with just a level tablespoon of icing sugar and a cap full of vanilla extract. Whip again to mix the ingredients. Store in the fridge until needed. Recipe courtesy of Food & Drink Wales: https://businesswales.gov.wales/ foodanddrink/about-us/recipes

Recipe courtesy of PGI Welsh Beef: https://eatwelshlambandwelshbeef. com/en/recipes

Caribbean Mini Welsh Beef Topside Joints

Serves 4 Cooking Time 50 mins

Ingredients

• 450g (1lb) approx lean Welsh Beef mini topside joint* • 30ml (2tbsp) white wine vinegar • 30ml (2tbsp) soy sauce • 2.5ml (½tsp) ground ginger • Pinch ground allspice • 2 garlic cloves, crushed • 300ml (½pt) mango and orange fruit juice (or similar) • 15ml (1tbsp) sweet chilli sauce

Method

1. Place lean mini beef joint into a large shallow dish and add white wine vinegar, soy sauce, ground ginger, ground allspice, garlic, mango and orange fruit juice and sweet chilli sauce. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 1 hour. Drain and retain marinade.

2. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4-5, 180°C, 350°F.

3. Place in a preheated oven directly onto the wire shelf or cook on a barbecue with a lid for about 50 minutes for medium cook.

4. Place marinade in a saucepan and thoroughly boil to reduce slightly.

5. Serve beef thinly sliced with griddled fresh pineapple, rice and beans, plus a seasonal salad.

*Protected Geographical Identifi cation (PGI)

Croque Monsieur crêpes

Ingredients

Classic French crêpes

• 3 large eggs • 21/3 cups of milk • . cup of sugar • 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence • a pinch of salt • 21/3 cups of fl our (300g) • some butter for the pan

Need a quick and simple supper? Roll up some ham and cheese in a pancake for a delicious yet simple meal. Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°C (fan) / 400°F / gas mark 6.

Ingredients

Easy ham and cheese sauce

• 1 tablespoon of butter • 1 tablespoon of cornfl our • 1 cup (240ml) of warm milk • black pepper • 1 cup of cooked ham, chopped • 1 cup of mature Cheddar or Parmesan cheese, grated

Method

Simply combine all of the above ingredients in a large bowl and whisk well to form a batter. Allow to stand for 10 minutes or so for the fl our to fully absorb the milk and for any lumps to disappear. Th e addition of sugar in this recipe helps the crêpes to colour nicely and obviously gives a lovely sweetness to the pancake. Don’t try and make them too small. Fill the pan and spread to cover the whole base. Turn them once when the underside is golden. For traditional crêpes, don’t roll them, but fold them.

Make a batch of crepes using the recipe above, then add some delicious ham and cheese sauce (recipe below) to the centre of each pancake, roll up and place on a baking tray, sprinkle with some grated Cheddar or Parmesan and bake for 10 minutes or place under the grill until golden. Simple!

Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Pour in the milk and the cornfl our and whisk until smooth. Th en reduce the heat to low and stir with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Add the ham and cheese and stir well. Set aside.

Optional: Add a tip of a spoon of mustard. Stir in a handful of spinach with the ham and cheese and cook for 1 minute, or place the cheese mixture on top of the spinach before grilling. Healthy and nutritious!