Mesmerising Mincemeat

Before we get started you will need a sterilised jar or two to store your cooked mincemeat in. I used a Kilner jar with a one litre capacity.  if your new to sterilising jars I've included a Tips for Dummies guide just for you!

Ingredients

• 250g Dark, soft muscovado sugar
• 250ml Dry cider (I used Henney's)
• 6 Tablespoons of brandy
• Juice and rind of a small lemon
• 1 kg Cooking apples
• 1/2 Tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 Tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 Tsp ginger
• 250g Currants
• 250g Raisins
• 80g Glace cherries quartered
• If almonds don't make your toes curl, you might want to include 75g's of them finely chopped

Method

• Get yourself a whopping big saucepan. Dissolve your sugar and cider over a low heat giving it all a good stir with a wooden spoon.
• Peel and roughly chop the apples and plop them into the saucepan with the sugar and cider mix.
• throw in the rest of the ingredients, save the brandy and give it a good old simmer for 30-40minutes or until it looks almost like a very thick smoothie.
• Take the pan off the heat, and let it all cool down for 3-4 minutes and then glug in your brandy (no drinking it yourself!) and give it a big lovely stir.
• Spoon or ladle the mincemeat into your sterilised jar(s). 
• Squirrel away for a time in the future when you come to make your mince pie's. Until that time smugly display your jar of mincemeat where people can see it and you can casually drop in 'oh that? that's my homemade mincemeat'.

Operation Mincemeat

When I boldly told the world in January that this would be the year I made my own mince pies I hadn't really given much thought to the actual baking of them. While I'm a semi pro at pastry I have no idea how to make mincemeat and had blithely assumed that I could probably buy a jar of gluten free mincemeat, but by the time October rolled round and I gave mince pie making more serious thought and some in depth research of Sainsbury's stock, I realised that 'oh bugger' they don't actually stock gluten free mincemeat. So the quest was then on to find a recipe for gluten free. Luckily for me I'd only been flicking through How to be a Domestic Goddess for a few measly minutes before I came across a recipe for suet-free mincemeat which proved yet again, that my signed (did I mention its signed by Nigella herself?) copy of Domestic Goddess is worth the 6quid I paid for it and so much more, whats more every recipe I've used and adapted from it has been successful, although I've yet to try the mincemeat as its luxuriating in its juices (as old Nige herself would say).
I cant help feel a bit smug that I've already got ahead with my mincemeat and a fair amount of my Xmas shopping, although the next hurdle will be to do all my handmade pressies so I shan't get ahead of myself and flaunt my smugness to everyone who leaves their Xmas shopping til Christmas eve because knowing my luck, I'll be running around like a blue arsed fly on Christmas morning frantically trying to finish it all off. So I'll save my supreme smugness for a later date.
What is really rather grand about this recipe for gluten-free, suet-free mincemeat is that as well as being both of the above is suitable for veggies, vegans, and anyone with a nut allergy as I have omitted the almonds from the original recipe as the texture and taste makes my toes curl, but I'll pop the amounts at the bottom of the ingredients for almonds if you want to include them. Ive also got a Tips for Dummies guide to sterilising jars.

International Woman of Mystery

The week with my beloved is now over and I waved tearfully from the platform as his trained rolled off into the distance. OK, that's a lie, I went back to the car and we drove home because it was freezing and I was wearing leggings and there's a hole in the sole of my Ugg's.
We had a great time as per, and had a lovely shopping day in Brighton where we discovered a bakery that does gluten free cakes, but more on that later.
People often ask me  how The Boyf and I cope when we live so far apart, especially after going from being at uni together and sharing a flat for 3 years to not seeing each other for weeks on end, but to be honest aside from the fact we miss each other and obviously would rather be together in one place we actually appreciate each other much more when we see less of each other, sort of like Carrie and Big's arrangement in SATC2.
They say spontaneity is the spice of life, but I tend to thrive on routine and predictability, probably because The Other Bowel Problems are anything but. The Boyf is much the same (good match us!), and his visits tend to run on the same vein of shopping, dinner, DVDs and cooking, and it suits us down to the ground.
We had dinner out on Tuesday night and I got to finally wear my leopard print asos top that Ive been squirrelling away for a nice occasion and then Thursday we had a long leisurely day in Brighton, trotting round the Laines, drinking coffee and having lunch at Donatello's, where The Boyf stole my after dinner mint and I went nuts much to the amusement of the french couple sitting on the table next to us.
Down the Laines we discovered a fab little bakery called Cloud 9. I'm not sure how long its been there because I have the attention span of a gnat so it could have been there since the dawn of time, but I suspect its new. It was so cute inside and they did the yummiest choccy cake/brownie thing I have ever tasted (and you know how I feel about brownies) and also a few other gluten free bits and pieces. The girl who served us kindly let me take some snaps for my blog,which I've posted at the bottom for you viewing pleasure.
Saturday I awoke to find the ever-so-lovely Becky at Dietary Specials had popped a box of Tru Free (Dietary Specials sister company) mince pies in the post for me, which couldn't have come at a better time really since I discovered that Sainsbury's have well and truly ruined Xmas this year by stocking icing topped mince pies instead of the usual pastry tops ones. That's killed Christmas. I've got a little review lined up for the Tru Free mince pies though so stayed tuned.
I'm finally getting into the swing of preparations for Xmas now, and have written up a Kate's Master Christmas Plan which will hopefully keep me organised and on track with all my present giving, food making and card sending. Not that I'm generally unorganised but I like to have a list to keep me on the straight and narrow when theres lots to think about. I've cleaned out the news agents buying foodie mags for Xmas dinner ideas as well as home made gift ideas, the only trouble is I flick through them and get all excited for Xmas and then I cant sleep and when I do sleep I have nightmares that its Christmas morning and I haven't done any Christmas shopping. Dreadful.
Sunday was dominated by Formula 1, Motor GP and Rugby, none of which I have much interest in, expect maybe Formula 1 but that's mainly because my dad conditioned me to like it from a young age.
So I decided to whip up a round of cupcakes (what else) and also brew up a batch of mincemeat for my homemade mince pies. Accordingly to Nigella (whose has signed my copy of Domestic Goddess  by the way, just in case you missed my first overexcited post on the matter) you should make your mincemeat a good few weeks in advance of when your going to use it so that the flavours can infuse and so everything can get all nice and syrupy and lovely. It's a majorly easy recipe (do I ever do anything but?) and only takes around 30-40minutes. So after you have perused this post and the accompanying pictures, one of which is an ACTUAL picture of me on our way out to dinner, which I included as I was starting to feel like the Scarlet Pimpernel, international woman of mystery.

The Gruesome Twosome.

Cloud 9

To the right, the yummy gluten-free choccy cake.

Cloud 9

Cloud 9. I was never going to resist a pink bakery.

Reading material for my Xmas prep

Outrageously Oaty, Sultana and Cinnamon Biccies.

I adapted this recipe from ye old faithful Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook who's cakes and biccies are on a par with my one and only Nigella.

Ingredients
Makes 20

• 270g Soft butter
• 160g Caster sugar
• 160g Soft brown demerara sugar
• 2 Large eggs
• 1/4 Tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp of vanilla essence
• 380g Plain Flour (as always Doves Farm are great, but any plain flour mix works just as well)
• 1 Tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 Tsp salt
• 1/2 Tsp cinnamon
• 110g Rolled oats (omit if you can't tolerate oats)
• 220g Sultana's 

Note: I use Sultana's in this cookie recipe becauseIi think they're not so shriveled as raisins and tend not to burn as easily either, but feel free to use raisins if you prefer.


Method

• Whack your oven up to Gas 4/180.
• Cube the butter up and throw into a food mixer and blend with the caster and demerara sugars until soft, smooth and well mixed.
• Mix in an egg at a time, making sure it's all thoroughly combined. next add your vanilla and give it all another good blitz.
• With your wet mix done you can get on with the dry ingredients. Sift your flour, salt, bicarb and cinnamon into a large bowl and then adding the oats, giving the whole lot a good stir so the oats and raising agents are distributed well into the mix.
• Stir the butter mix through the dry flour/oat mix and give it all a ruddy good mix, you don't want any dry pockets in the mixture where the flour hasn't been mixed through properly so give it some wellie.
• Add your sultana's or raisins to the mix and give it all one final big mix.
• Spoon onto baking trays lined with parchment, these babies spread faster than swine flu so make sure they're all evenly spaced so you don't end up one with big giant cookie.
• I found that these cookies needed longer than Hummingbird's allotted time of 12minutes, it was more like 20-30 minutes and I had to up the temperature from gas 3 to 4. My advice would be to start off on gas three and check the biscuits after 12 minutes and go from there.  They should be firm, and golden (slightly darker round the edges) when they're cooked.
• Once cooked, take them out the oven and leave to cool for 2-3 minutes before you pop them onto a cooking rack.
• Enjoy with a glass of full fat milk or a hot chocolate with your feet in your favourite slippers, your nose in your favourite book and my favourite cookie in your mouth!

Riskin' it for a biscuit.

It's a spanking nice day here in my little house by the sea. The sun is shining, I've got my cosy winter slipper boots on and its the perfect day for baking. The day is oh-so much sweeter as The Boyf will be here by eight-thirty tonight and we get to spend a whole week doing lots of nice smug couple things like shopping in The Laine's, going out for dinner at our favorite restaurant and watching our favourite telly programs in our PJ's.
Today's recipe is for one of my most favourite all time biscuits. I don't often have much need to make cookies or biscuits as there's such a vast range of gluten-free biccies in the shops that I only tend to make them when it gets to seven in the evening and theres nothing sweet to eat in the house. I should really make them more, because they're one of the easiest G/F items you can possibly make.
This recipe is for an oatmeal and sultana cookie. If you read my July post To Oat or Not to Oat you will know that oats are not suitable for all Coeliac's, if your sensitive (you poor lamb) to oat's this recipe isn't for you as it uses pure rolled oats, they're pure in the sense that they are processed in a factory which doesn't handle wheat or gluten and are therefore considered 'clean'. However, these biscuits are just as yummy without the oats so feel free to omit them.
In other G/F news, good old Phil Vickery has got a new book out, Seriously Good! Gluten-Free Baking, which will be worth at good butchers at I should imagine, also in the Telegraph recently (hark at me with my broadsheets!) there was a little article by Xanthe Clay (what a name!) on Phil's new book and is worth a little read as well, I'll put the link under Links to Love so you can peruse at your leisure.
It was also bought to my attention that annabelkarmel.com now do gluten free items, including some oh-so-cute gluten-free pasta stars (which are suitable for 7months+ by the way so I think we're all in the clear there). They also do some really very sweet baking sets, which I really shouldn't be coveting as they're for children, but what can I say, I cant resist the lure of tiara shaped cookie cutters.

A Crafty, Katie-Boo Christmas

This year I've decided to supplement my Christmas gift giving with homemade wonders hand made by yours truly. I've been inspired by Katie at What Katie Found and her take on a truly handmade, homemade christmas, check out her blog for some super cute gifts and ideas.
Annnnyway. I know the general consensus is that giving homemade gifts at Christmas as actually a majorly cheap skate way to run things, and I guess if you have a friend like Nigella, anything less than her entire kitchen collection would be a very scrooge like indeed, but I'm a lass with a cash flow problem goddammit so I shall beseech friends and family who are in receipt of said gifts to take into account im practically destitute and humbly except whatever they receive from me.
I'm getting a wriggle on early so that I'm not frantically tearing at my hair a week before Christmas trying to turn out 400 mince pies. I'm planning on using my newly relocated sewing skills in order to make some hand crafted lovelies for the ladies in my life, I'm also getting my jam making groove on and brewing (do you brew jam?) to pop in the hampers my mum makes for the old folk in our family.
For the first time ever I'm going to attempt mince pies, as I shall probably shrivel up and die from mince pie deficiency before sainsbury's get their gluten free mince pies on the shelves. I'm prepared with my suet-free, gluten free mincemeat recipe,which I'm brewing up next week so it's ready and waiting for when I start churning out the mince pies. I'll post the entire mince pie recipe including the mincemeat recipe up after I've had a chance to test the recipe. Can't let you use a rubbish mince pie recipe can I?
Despite probably coming across as a bigger brat than Lindsay Lohan, I'm actually rather easy to please. My Mum always says I'm the easiest person in the world to buy for, that the problem isn't not what to get for me, but when to stop. I'm generally a socks, pants and new mug kinda girl around Xmas time, but I have spotted a few bits and pieces, pricey and cheap which will defiantly be making my Christmas list...so if you fancy buying your  favourite blogger a present..here's a few idea's ;)

Milk Jug from WeLoveBritish.co.uk

Baking Kit from John Lewis

Eco-Tea mugs from EcoTea

Egg Timer by strawberryfool.co.uk

Pink mixer from Kenwood

Whats on your Xmas lists this year?

Morish Mushroom & Bacon Pasta With Homemade Pesto

Ingredients

For the Pesto

• 112g/4oz Basil
• 300ml Olive oil
• 90g/3oz Toasted pine nuts
• 4 Peeled garlic cloves
• 100g/3 1/2oz Grated Parmesan

For the pasta

• 400g/14oz Of any pasta you like, I use Dietary Specials Fusilli or Penne pasta, but you could use Spaghetti if it takes your fancy, it makes no real difference to the recipe so don't fret.
• 8 Rashers of bacon, you could also use a chuck of chorizo if your not keen on bacon. If your vegetarian you could replace the bacon with another veg such as red peppers.
• 250g/2oz Mushrooms, button mushrooms are best, although you could use chestnut or normal mushrooms.
• 200ml Of creme fraiche, if your on a pre-chrimbo crash diet, you can use a half fat version
• 3-4 Tbsp's pesto.

Method

• Start off by making your pesto. Whizz all the pesto ingredients, bar the Parmesan together in a blender until you've got a nice chunky paste. Stir through in a bowl with your grated Parmesan until well mixed and spoon into sterilised jars or leave in the bowl, covering with clingfilm until you need it later.
• Boil your pasta up in accordance with the instructions on the pack.
• While your pasta is bubbling away, slice your mushrooms up and cube your bacon up with kitchen scissors.
• When your pasta is cooked, drain and set it aside in the pan. Keep around half a cup of the water the pasta has been boiling in and set aside with the pasta. 
• Turn your hob up high and fry your bacon and mushrooms up in a large pan for 5mins or until golden and the bacon is cooked through. You won't need to use oil, enough fat will come out of the oil for the bacon and mushrooms to cook in.
• Throw your cooked pasta and the water in the pan with the 'shrooms and bacon and stir over the heat for around a minute or so. 
• Finally take the pan off the heat, stir through the creme fraiche and 3-4 tbsp's of your pesto and give it all a big stir with a  a wooden spoon or spatula. 
• If you want to be a big old fancy pants, garnish with a sprig of basil.
• Serve in big pasta bowls, marveling at the swiftness and ease with which you cooked up a yummy dinner for you and yours!

The Italian Job

Hurrah! Thankfully there was no 'act of god' or natural disaster in my neck of the woods in the night so as promised here I am to get a post up.
Before I start I have to tell you about the amazing discovery I made yesterday. There I was flicking through my six quid bargain copy of Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess, and O.M.G if the lady herself hadn't signed one of the title pages! I'm wondering if maybe there's some of her DNA on the page and maybe I could clone myself a Nigella.
Moving on.
In Brighton there's a FAB family run Italian called Donatello's. Its down the wibbly wobbly Brighton Laines and you can smell the waft of garlic ages before you see the actual restaurant. It's one of my favourite haunts and the Brucie Bonus is, is that they have gluten free pasta on the menu, hurrah!
As my friend SarahB likes to remind me, there was once a time when I couldn't even cook pasta, or anything else for that matter, but five years at uni made me quite a pro at pasta cooking, because it was cook pasta or starve. Spaghetti Bolognese was the first meal I ever cooked for The Boyf and it remains to this day, our anniversary dinner (none of that Claridge's crap for us).
What is so down-right-fan-dabby-dooby about pasta is its so quick and easy to make and there's so many variations on it that, no matter how fussy you are theres a pasta dish out there for you somewhere. Unless you don't like pasta. Oh.
My dad fancies himself a Heston Blumenthal type cook and makes all sorts of weird and wonderful pasta concoctions, but he gave me this great recipe and it turned out to be yum, and not so weird at all.
The recipe includes instructions on how to make homemade pesta which is included in the dish, although feel free to crack open a jar, but do be careful as not all pesto's are gluten free.
Pesto will until the end of time remind me of my flatmate at uni, Becky. she used to use whole jars in her pasta and the smell takes me back to days trying to cook on The Worst Hob In The World, in a kitchen which often reached temperatures hotter than the sun.
This recipe is grand if your a girl or guy on a budget and is also good if you have a lot of hungry gobs to feed. The pesto makes a fair amount, enough to bottle up and keep in the fridge for a few weeks so in times of economic strife it should stretch to a further two or three meals depending on how much you use.