Tanya's Warming Winter Recipes

Well hello everyone. New Year - new challenge. The lovely Jo has asked me if I'll open my little red book of recipes and share some ideas to keep you warm this month. So whilst Jim'll is staring mournfully at the blue tarpaulin that's covering the leaky shed roof and asking me when the soup's going to be ready, I'll dust off a few tried and tested favourites to use up some of the apples and veggies that we harvested towards the end of last year. I tend not to follow the books too closely so please feel free to adapt, alter and dabble until each one suits you and your family. Oh, and we'd love to hear your ideas too so please drop us a line with your tried and tested favourites.

Winter vegetable pie

This pie is great hot with stir-fried kale or spinach or sliced up cold for a quick lunch at the lottie - and it's perfect for using up leftovers. You'll need an oven at about Gas Mark 5/190c. It will take about 40 minutes but keep an eye on it as ovens vary!

For the shortcrust pastry

We like a herby pastry but it's just as nice with a plain one. Exact quantities will depend on the size of your pie dish but the quantities given fit an 8 inch one. Don't forget to grease and flour your dish otherwise it'll be a pain to serve!

• 10oz plain flour (white or half wholemeal/half white)
• 5oz fat (I use a vegetable margarine but butter makes it lovely and rich)
• 1 tablespoon dried herbs (mixed works fine or go for a single flavour - either thyme or sage works great)
• pinch salt to taste
• cold water to bind (how much will depend on your flour and fat!)

Sieve the flour into a nice big bowl. Chop the fat into little pieces and then rub into the flour 'til it looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the herbs. Then slowly (tablespoon at a time works well if you've not done this before) add the cold water until the pastry dough comes together. It should be smooth and pliable but not too sticky - now this is good home cooking so don't panic if it is a bit sticky, just add a little more flour to balance it out. Once your dough is made cover it and set it aside in a cool place for a while to rest (you can use it straight away if you are in a hurry but resting does seem to make it easier to work with) and once the filling is cool you'll be ready to roll!

For the filling

Now there's no real science to this bit and exact ingredients tend to vary according to what I have in the fridge but a favourite combination is cooked potato, onion, parsnip, carrot and winter squash in a cheesy sauce so this is what you are getting here!

• 1 medium onion, chopped finely
• 2 medium potatoes, boiled & chopped into about 1" cubes (or could be left-over roasties!)
• 1 medium parsnip prepared as above (leftover roasties especially good)
• 2-3 medium carrots, prepared as for the spuds
• 1-2 slices of roast (or steamed) squash, cubed

In a large pan, sweat the onion in about a tablespoon of oil, or a knob of butter if you prefer. Then add the other vegetables, stirring gently - you just want to warm them through and not break them up too much.

At this point you can either make half a pint of proper white sauce in a separate pan using a roux method or use my cheat's method below.

To the pan of veggies add a knob of butter or vegan margarine and let it melt - don't let it get too hot and go brown though - then stir in a dessertspoon of flour. Stir this gently around the veggies to coat them well and ‘cook' the flour. Now slowly add the milk (or soya substitute) of your choice, stirring gently all the time as it thickens and goes all gloopy and yummy! You will end up using about half a pint but you'll need to judge the thickness as you stir. Once the sauce is sufficiently gloopy (or your expertly made white sauce in the other pan is ready to pour onto the veggies) take off the heat and add a handful of grated cheese (a tablespoon of herbs works well if you don't eat cheese). Set aside to cool.

Once you have done the washing up (or had a nice cup of tea) the filling should be cool and the pastry rested.

Pop about two thirds of the dough onto a cool floured surface and roll out so that it is of sufficient size to cover the bottom and sides of your pie dish and have a bit of overlap over the top. Line your dish and then spoon in your cooled filling. Trim the edges of the pastry so you don't have any hanging over the side but do have an edge to stick the lid to! Set to one side.

Now roll out the rest of the pastry till it's big enough to cover the pie. Next, using either a little bit of water or the old favourite, milk, slightly dampen the edges of the pie case ready to stick the lid on. Lay it gently over the top of the pie and gently pinch the edges together using either your thumb or a fork so that the top sticks to the base. The last job is to pop a couple of holes in the pastry lid to let the steam escape. If you wish you can brush the top with milk or beaten egg to create a pretty glazed effect, but I just pop it in the oven at this point as I don't see the sense in wasting eggs or milk! Pop in the oven and cook until the pastry is a lovely golden brown. Enjoy!

Well that's Dinner taken care of. Next stop Pudding. Or Tea if you prefer! About this time of year the last of our apples are in need of using up and this cake is a great way of doing just that. Cookers are best for this but I use whatever I have left over and it still turns out just fine and rarely lasts long enough for me to put it in the cake tin!

Spicy apple cake

Heat the oven to about Gas Mark 4/180c. Grease and line (or grease and flour) an 8 inch cake tin.

• 10oz apples, peeled and chopped
• 1tsp mixed spice
• 1oz brown sugar
• 12oz self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 5oz margarine or butter
• 5oz demerara sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 8 tablespoons milk (or soya if you prefer)
• ½ oz demerara sugar and ½ tsp mixed spice for topping

Pop the apples in a bowl with the spice and sugar. Stir so that the apple gets coated nicely and set to one side. Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl and rub in the margarine or butter. Now add the demerara sugar, eggs, milk and the apple mixture. Blend everything together thoroughly and you should have a lovely gloopy batter. Spoon this into the lined cake tin. Spread flat on top and sprinkle with about ½ oz of demerara sugar mixed with a ½ tsp of spice so that you get a crunchy topping. Now bake for about 1 and a quarter hours or until firm. This is a proper tea-time cake once cooled but is also delicious served warm with either custard or vanilla ice cream as a pud.

Happy cooking and I'll see you next month.

Tanya

Apple photo (c) Jilly Graham 2010

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