Sweet Potato Gratin

SWEET POTATO GRATIN WITH Cheese

prep time: 30 minutes

cook time: 50 minutes

total time: 1 hour 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

1½ cups double cream
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/8-inch thick (easiest to do in food processor)
1½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1tsp dried thyme
salt
ground black pepper
grated cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. In a small pot bring cream and garlic just to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside. Butter a shallow casserole dish or gratin dish of similar size and set aside. Stir the cooling cream occasionally to help prevent skin from forming.

2. Build the Gratin: In the buttered casserole dish, spread one quarter of the sliced sweet potatoes out in a single, overlapping layer. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt, pepper, and thyme and then some grated cheese. Using another quarter of the sliced sweet potatoes, build a new overlapping layer. Again sprinkle with the seasonings and shredded cheese. Using half of the remaining sliced sweet potatoes, make another layer and sprinkle the last third of the seasonings and more cheese. Use the last of the sweet potatoes to make one final layer on top. Stir the garlic cream mixture then pour it evenly over the top of the gratin, being sure to cover the top layer of sweet potatoes. Shake the dish gently to distribute the cream. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.

4. Cover the dish with foil and bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, move the gratin to the top 1/3 of the oven and bake, uncovered, for an additional 20 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and the potatoes are tender when pierced with a sharp knife. You may also place it under the broiler for a few minutes if you wish the top to be a deeper brown (but watch it closely!). Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes (or not!) before slicing.

*Note: Make Ahead! You can slice your potatoes and completely submerge them in ice cold water, cover and refrigerate up to a couple of days. Then drain, pat dry and assemble the dish

We first ate this in a local restaurant. quite rich and very moreish

Damp lemon and almond cake

225 g soft unsalted butter

225 g castor sugar

4 large eggs

50 g plain flour

225 g ground almonds

zest and juice from 2 lemons

Butter and line a 21 cm cake tin. Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cream together the butter and sugar until almost white. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a quarter of the flour after each addition. When all the eggs and flour have been incorporated, gently stir in the ground almonds, then the lemon zest and juice.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for about 1 hour. Cover with foil after about 30 minutes, once the top is lightly browned. The cake is ready when the top is firm, and a skewer, inserted, comes out cleanish - you want dampness, but not gooey batter. Take the cake out and let it stand for 5 minutes or so in the tin. Then turn it out on a wire rack and leave till cool.

This cake lasts well, and even possibly improves, over the next two days, if wrapped well in foil. Sift icing sugar over the top when serving, and add raspberries and perhaps creme fraiche if they're on hand.

Chicken in dried mushroom and tomato sauce

adapted from Marcella Hazan

25g dried italian or french mushrooms

4 chicken thighs, skinned

8 tablespoons dry cider or dry white wine

1/2 tin chopped tomatoes

butter or oil

Place the dried mushrooms in 150mls lukewarm water. Allow to soak for 15-20 minutes. Line a sieve with a piece of kitchen paper. Filter the water in which the mushrooms have soaked into another container. Rinse the soaked mushrooms, making sure to remove any grit, then chop into small pieces.

Heat oil or butter in frying pan. Brown the chicken pieces on both sides. Add the cider and turn up heat to evaporate. Then add the chopped mushrooms, the soaking water, chopped tomatoes and salt and pepper. Cover the pan and cook gently for about 30-40 minutes, until chicken is tender.

This is another quick and easy dish. The dried mushrooms, cider and tomatoes give it a lovely rich flavour. We eat it with plainly cooked Basmati rice.

CHRISTINE'S BROWNIES

adapted from Nigella Lawson

375g unsalted butter

200g Fairtrade or Green and Blacks milk chocolate

200g 70 per cent dark chocolate

6 large eggs

15mls vanilla extract

500g castor sugar

225g plain flour

2.5mls salt

300g chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 180degC. Line pan with baking parchment. Melt butter and chocolate together in a heavy pan or microwave. In another bowl beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla.

When the chocolate and butter have cooled a little, mix in the eggs and sugar and then the nuts and flour and salt. Pour into the lined pan.

Bake for 30 minutes until the top is crackled brown and the top gives slightly when pressed. Cut into pieces when cool.

I use a roasting pan measuring 14" long, 12" wide, and 2" depth. This mixture makes a lot of brownies. They freeze very well. I use 2 types of chocolate because I find it too intense with just the 70% chocolate.

Peppers and tomatoes

A simple vegetable side dish

I used 1 green, one yellow and one red pepper. Cut into strips, fry in a small amount of olive oil until starting to blacken and caramelise. Then add cherry tomatoes cut into half- about the same quantities as the peppers. Cook for about another 10 minutes.

Simple, but very nice- nice mixture of coloured peppers and syrupy tomatoes.

Yoghourt marinated spiced chicken

This makes a mildly spicy, creamy, tomatoey dish. I didn't use a recipe, but was thinking of chicken korma.

Marinade:

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2" knob fresh ginger, peeled and crushed

1 sliced onion

plain yoghourt, enough to cover chicken pieces

Other Ingredients

4 free range chicken thighs, skin removed

garam masala, 10mls

turmeric, 5mls

ground dried coriander, 10mls

ground cumin, 5mls

paprika, 5mls

salt and pepper

6 cardamon pods

1tin chopped tomatoes

200mls double cream

chopped coriander leaves

Put the chicken and marinade into a china bowl. Mix around well, and leave to marinade at least 6 hours. You can prepare it in the morning, or the night before.

When you are ready to cook, take the chicken out of the marinade, removing any bits of onion. Pat the pieces dry on a piece of kitchen towel. Put all the ground spices onto a large plate, mixing them together. Pat each side of the chicken pieces in the spice mixture. Meanwhile heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan. When just smoking, put the chicken pieces in and brown lightly on each side. Take the chicken out of the pan. Reduce the heat and add the cardamon pods. After a couple of minutes add the yoghourt and onion marinade. Cook gently for about 15 minutes until onion softened. Then put the chicken back into the pan, add the tomatoes and a little water. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat, cover and cook gently for about 35-40 minutes. 5 minutes before end of cooking add the cream and let it bubble into a delicious sauce. Just before serving add chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with rice and green peas.

Vegetarian supper tonight. Every year around this time I like making harissa vegetable stew. Harissa is the delicious spicy red paste from North Africa. This is not an exact recipe and quantities and ingredients can be varied. Sometimes I add chickpeas, sometimes a handful of chopped coriander leaves. 1 teaspoon harissa paste is fairly mild. Lemon juice is another nice addition.

Harissa vegetable stew

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

8 small potatoes peeled and diced

2 small courgettes cut into small chunks

1tsp harissa paste

1 tsp ground coriander seeds

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tin tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

handful of green beans cut into short lengths

handful of cooked haricot and kidney beans

feta cheese, cut into dice, or grated parmesan

First soften the onion and garlic in a little olive oil. Put in the harissa paste and spices and stir briefly. Add all the other vegetables except for the green beans. Add the tin of tomatoes and enough water to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer 15 minutes. Add the green beans and the haricot and kidney beans. cook for another 15 minutes. For serving, use soup bowls and scatter the feta on top.