Jane’s Borscht

Serves 6

500g. / 1lb. 2ozs. raw beetroot, peeled and grated (or finely chopped into small cubes)
500g. / 1lb. 2ozs. red cabbage, finely shredded
3 tbsps. tomato puree
2 tbsps. red wine vinegar
125g. / 4 1/2 ozs. butter
1.2 litres beef stock (use vegetable if preferred)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, grated
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. brown sugar

To garnish

275mls. / 1/2pt. soured cream

Put the beetroot and red cabbage into a large saucepan.  Stir in the tomato puree, vinegar, half the butter and the stock.  Cover, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 hour.

Melt the remaining butter and saute the onion and carrot until soft.  Add to the beetroot and red cabbage mixture, cover and simmer gently for a further 15 minutes.  Taste for seasoning and add the brown sugar.  Serve garnished with sour cream.

Carrot Puree

This works well as a sauce for lamb meatballs, but is also delicious as a dip with pitta bread or spread over barbecued kebabs.

4 large carrots
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
juice of 1/2 lemon
a few sprigs of fresh mint
4 tbsps. natural yoghurt
freshly ground black pepper, sea salt
2 garlic cloves

Peel and chop the carrots.  Place in a pan with water and bring to the boil.  Simmer until they are very tender.  Drain away the water and return to a low heat.

Add the olive oil and the caraway seeds and sweat for a moment.  Cool before blending with half the lemon juice and then add the mint leaves.  Add more oil if needed.  Turn into a bowl.

Beat the yogurt with some salt and pepper, remaining lemon juice and the crushed garlic.  Make a well in the centre of the carrot puree and put the yogurt mixture into this. 

NOTES

I tried this puree without the mint leaves with beetroot and it was lovely but took longer to soften the beetroot than the carrots.

Caraway seeds can be found at Handley Organics, they have a very distinctive flavour which I really like.

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 tbsps. olive oil
2 medium lamb shanks, about 425g. each
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 leek, trimmed, halved lengthways and chopped
2 medium parsnips, about 250g., chopped into 1cm. cubes
250g. peeled celeriac, chopped into 1cm. cubes
350g. carrots, chopped into 1cm. cubes
2 bay leaves
3 tbsps. thyme leaves
100g. pearl barley, rinsed
2 tbsps. tomato puree
1 x 500ml. bottle of ale
1.5ltr. vegetable, chicken or lamb stock
150g. shredded kale

For the cheddar puffs:

1 x 320g. sheet ready rolled puff pastry
100g. mature cheddar, grated
3 tbsps. milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C / fan 130C / gas mark 2. Heat 1 tbsp. of the oil in a large, heavy based casserole.  Season the lamb shanks, brown them all over on a high heat and remove to a plate.
2. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan with the onion and leek and cook for 4 – 5 minutes until starting to soften. Tip in the parsnips, celeriac, carrots, bay leaves and thyme with some seasoning and cook for 2 – 3 minutes.
3. Add the pearl barley and tomato puree and cook for 1 minute, stirring. Pour in the ale and the stock and return the lamb to the pan,  The pearl barley will absorb a lot of the liquid.  Bring to the boil, then cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours.  The vegetables, barley and lamb should all be tender, with the meat coming off the bone easily.  Cook for another 15 – 30 minutes if necessary.  Remove the bay leaves, check the seasoning and add the kale and stir through.  Return to the oven for another 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, unroll the pastry sheet and give it another roll with a rolling pin until it is quite thin. Cut the pastry in half, scatter most of the cheese over one piece, and put the other piece on top.  Roll together to seal in the cheese and using a 6cm. cutter stamp out 18 or so rounds and place on a lined baking tray.  Brush with the milk and sprinkle the tops with the rest of the cheese.
5. Remove the casserole from the oven and increase the temperature to 200C / fan 180C / gas mark 6. Bake the puffs for 12 – 15 minutes until crisp and golden.
6. Lift the lamb shanks out on to a board and use 2 forks to pull the meat apart into large shreds. Stir back through the casserole.  Ladle into bowls and serve topped with the cheddar puffs.

Tips

You can vary the vegetables used e.g. use swede instead of celeriac if preferred.  Portions can be adjusted if cooking for less than 6.  I would just use one lamb shank if I was feeding 4 but probably stick to the same number of vegetables, stock etc . as it could always be eaten the following day as a hearty soup.

I have spoilt you and given you two recipes this month, one sweet one savoury!

MINCEMEAT PANFORTE

Makes one 20cm. panforte

100g. plain flour
40g. cocoa powder
good pinch of salt
1 tbsp. gd. cinnamon
2 tsps. gd. ginger
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. freshly gd. black pepper (optional but gives good heat)
300g. assorted whole nuts (I used almonds and hazelnuts)
100g. candied peel
100g. dark chocolate buttons, or dark chocolate chopped
200g. caster sugar
100g. runny honey
200g. mincemeat

Preheat the oven to 170C / 150C fan / Gas 3 1/2 and line a 21cm. round, loose-bottomed or springform tin with baking parchment.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, salt, spices, nuts and candied peel.  Mix to combine.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of boiling water or use a microwave set to low-medium, giving the chocolate short, sharp bursts until melted.

Heat the sugar and honey in a small pan over a moderate heat, stirring to help the sugar dissolve, then rapidly boil for 45 to 60 seconds.

Remove from the heat, stir in the mincemeat and pour this mixture over the melted chocolate, stirring to combine.

Pour the mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well.  The mixture should be very sticky and dense.  Tip into the prepared tin and press to flatten it out (use wet hands if you like).

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is firm to the touch and no traces of chocolate are left on your hand when you touch it.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before removing from the tin.  It will keep for a month in an air tight container.  Wrap whole or in wedges to give as a gift. 

SPICY TURKEY FAJITAS – Serves 6

A good way to use left over turkey.  Marinate it for up to 24 hours before cooking.

about 700g. cooked turkey, cut into thin strips
juice of 2 limes
a dash of Tabasco
2 tbsps. olive oil, plus a little extra
salt and pepper
12 fajitas or tortillas
8 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
1 large red pepper thinly sliced
3/4 tsp. each of gd. coriander, turmeric and paprika

To serve:

soured cream or creme fraiche, romaine or Cos lettuce, mango chutney

Preheat oven to 160C / 140C fan / gas 3.

Marinate the turkey with the lime juice, Tabasco, olive oil, salt and pepper, for at least 30 minutes.  Wrap the 12 fajitas or tortillas in foil and heat for 5 minutes in the oven.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the spring onions and pepper until cooked.  Add the turkey to the pan with the spices and fry for a further few minutes.  Pour over any remaining marinade and cook for a further minute.

Put the soured cream or creme fraiche, lettuce and mango chutney in 3 separate bowls.  Transfer the fajitas to a basket and spoon the meat into a warm serving dish.  Everybody helps themselves.  Spread half the fajita with mango chutney, sour cream, lettuce and turkey and vegetables.  Roll up and enjoy. 

Here’s wishing you all a happy Christmas and good cooking.

Best Wishes,

Liz