Plum & Blueberry Upside Down Cake

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Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Serves: 10

Ingredients

  • 175g butter at room temperature 200g
  • soft brown sugar, plus 2 tbsp
  • 600g plums halved and stones removed
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 125g self-raising flour
  • 100g ground almonds
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • A pinch of salt
  • 125ml milk

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 /ESSE dial guide MODERATE (Aim for the dial reading to be at the top end of MODERATE or very low end of HOT. In a small pan, melt 50g of the butter and mix with 2 tbsp of the soft brown sugar.
  2. Line a 22cm cake tin with baking parchment. Pour the butter mix into the base of the tin and make sure it is well-covered. (If you are using an oven-proof frying pan, the butter can be melted in it).
  3. Arrange the halved plums, skin-side down, in the bottom of the tin. Cream together the rest of the soft butter with the remaining sugar and vanilla essence until pale and fluffy. Separate the eggs, set the whites to one side and add the yolks one at a time to the creamed mix, beating well after each addition.
  4. In a bowl, sift the flour into the remaining dry ingredients. Add this to the wet mix a third at a time, folding through with a little milk at each addition. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites just until they are soft peaks. Add a third of the whites to the cake mix, stirring through, before tipping in the rest and folding in gently. The cake mix should fall off a spoon easily.
  5. Spoon the mix over the plums and bake for 50 minutes, or until the top is firm to the touch or an inserted knife comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave for about 10 minutes before turning out on to a plate.
  6. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe by Jane Baxter – demonstrator of ESSE electric range cookers at Humble by Nature.

Chicken Stock

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Makes

1 – 1.5ltrs

Ingredients

  • 1 cooked chicken carcass
  • the neck and giblets from the chicken, but not the liver
  • 1-2 onions, roughly chopped
  • 1-2 large carrots, roughly chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • a few black peppercorns
  • 3-4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
  • ½ a large leek, roughly chopped
  • a few chunks of peeled celeriac or parsnip (optional)
  • 1 sprig of thyme (optional)
  • a few parsley stalks (optional)

Pam Corbins Cider Apple Butter

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This is one of my favourite recipes. The sharp-sweet quality of cider helps make this old-fashioned apple butter a sensational fruity spread to daub over hot buttered toast or crumpets making it a wonderful wintertime teatime treat.

Makes

5-6 x 225g jars

Ingredients

  • Makes 5-6 x 225g jars
  • 1.5kg cooking apples
  • 600ml dry or medium cider
  • Granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

There is no need to peel or core the apples. However, if you’re using windfalls (and this is a very good recipe in which to do so) cut away any damaged or bruised bits. Chop the apples into fairly big pieces (about 8 to each apple). Place in large pan with the cider and 600ml water. Cook gently until soft, then remove from the heat.

Push the apple mixture through a nylon sieve or use a mouli to reduce it to a puree. Weigh the fruit pulp and return to the cleaned-out pan, adding 340g sugar for every 600g fruit pulp.

Add the cloves and cinnamon. Slowly bring to boiling point, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Rapidly boil for 10-15 minutes until the mixture begins to splutter and is thick and creamy.

Remove from the heat and pour immediately into warm jars (it’s best to use small jars as this low-sugar preserve has a relatively short shelf life, once opened).

Seal immediately. Use within 12 months and store in the fridge once opened.

Bacon and five root soup

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This is not a smooth blended soup, but a broth packed full of little pieces of root veg. Their flavours remain more distinct this way, which is very pleasing. Enriched with plenty of smoky bacon and finished with grated cheese, this is a fabulous, sustaining, salt-of-the-earth sort of dish. Make sure you cut the vegetables small, and keep the pieces all the same size.

Serves

Four people

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 200g smoked streaky bacon or pancetta, cut into small dice
  • 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 150g carrots, peeled and cut into small dice
  • 150g swede, peeled and cut into small dice
  • 150g potatoes, peeled and cut into small dice
  • 150g parsnip, peeled and cut into small dice
  • 150g celeriac, peeled and cut into small dice
  • 1 litre light vegetable, ham or chicken stock
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • About 100g grated mature cheddar, to garnish

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the bacon and sweat gently until the fat runs and the bacon starts to turn golden. Add the chopped onion and sweat gently for another 10-15 minutes, or until soft and golden.

Add all the diced root vegetables, cover the pan and let the whole mixture sweat and soften for 10 minutes or so. Then add the stock, bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes, or until all the veg are tender. Taste the soup and season accordingly.

Ladle into warmed bowls, top each with a little pile of grated cheese and serve straight away, with some thick pieces of toast.

Cream of Jerusalem artichoke soup

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This fantastic rather usual vegetable makes the delicious soup.

Serves

Four people

Ingredients

  • 50 g butter
  • 1kg Jerusalem artichokes – peeled
  • 350g washed leeks – sliced
  • 100g potato – peeled
  • 2 cloves of garlic – chopped
  • 1 medium onion – chopped
  • 750ml of good chicken stock/vegetable stock.
  • 100ml double cream
  • Salt and pepper

Method

In a large heavy based pan sweat the vegetables in the butter until soft.

Now add the stock, bring the soup to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 20 – 30 mins.

Liquidise the soup until smooth and creamy.

Return the soup to the pan and place back over a medium heat. Season well and stir in the cream.

The soup is ready to eat.

Fish Stock

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Fish Stock

Demonstrated by River Cottage Chef, Andy Tyrell, using an ESSE CAT Gas Cooking Range

This is our basic fish stock, a light, well-flavoured broth that we use as a base for all manner of soups, plus sauces and risottos. It’s particularly good in ‘green’ soups – watercress, nettle or parsley, for example – even if no fish is being added to the soup.

Get into the habit of freezing all your white fish trimmings and you can soon build up a good stash for making stock. You can use the entire fish frame: bones, skin, head and tail – anything that’s not guts or gills. Not only is this good, thrifty cooking but making your own stock also gives you control over its flavour. Indeed, this recipe is only a guide. The more fish bits you pack into the pot, for instance, the more intense your stock will be. You can vary the vegetables too: trimmings of fennel bulbs, celeriac and shallots are all good candidates for inclusion.

The golden rule: all the fish trimmings must be scrupulously fresh (or fresh when they were frozen). A fish that only just passes the sniff test might have fillets that are just about worthy of the frying pan, but its bones will not be worthy of the stockpot.

Ingredients
Makes about 1.5 litres

  • 2kg white fish trimmings, including at least 4 good heads
  • 4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, bruised but not peeled
  • 2 onions, peeled and halved
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 5 thyme stalks
  • A handful of parsley stalks
  • 1/2 teaspoon black or white peppercorns

Method
Rinse the fish trimmings in cold water and put them in a large stockpot with all the other ingredients. Pack them in fairly well and add just enough cold water to cover everything. Bring up to a very gentle simmer. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface, then cover the pan and simmer for half an hour, taking care that the stock doesn’t boil fast at any point. A gentle, popping simmer is all that is necessary – overcooking or boiling can make the stock cloudy and chalky tasting.

Let the stock cool slightly before straining it into a container. You can use it straight away, or refrigerate it for up to 2 days, or freeze it.

Apple on the bottom Creme brulee

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These lovely deserts are great cooked in a medium oven. The ESSE oven stays nice and moist when you cook these little custards in a bain-marie.

Serves

Six people

Ingredients

  • 1 kilo of Bramley apples
  • 400ml double cream
  • 100ml milk
  • 1 fresh vanilla pod
  • 100 g caster sugar plus extra for the topping.
  • 6 egg yolks

Method

Peel, core and slice about a a kilo of Bramley apples, then cook them over a gentle heat with a shake of caster sugar and just a dribble of water to prevent them burning. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the apple pieces have completely dissolved. Go on cooking gently and stirring until you have a thick, slightly translucent purée. Add more caster sugar to taste – enough to achieve a purée that is still tart but not unpleasantly so. Leave to cool.

Divide the purée between 6–8 ramekins or other small heatproof dishes, you want about a centimeter or so of purée in each ramekin, chill thoroughly in the fridge.

Scold the cream, milk and split vanilla pod in a pan set over a medium heat. Allow to stand for 5 mins to infuse.

Carefully scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod into the cream mixture.

Combine the egg yolks and sugar together in a large mixing bowl, but don’t over mix.

Pour the hot cream over the eggs and whisk well.

Strain the vanilla custard through a sieve into a jug.

Pour the custard gently over the apple compote being careful not to break it up to much; I pour it over the back of a spoon set just above the ramekin. Bake the crème Brulee’s in a roasting tin half filled up with hot water (This is called a Bain Marie).

Cook gently for 25 to 35 mins or until just set. You want a hint of a wobble in the centre.

Remove the crème Brulee’s from the oven and chill until needed.

To serve scatter a teaspoon of caster sugar over the top of each ramekin. Flash them under a hot grill or caramelise the sugar with a blow torch until golden and bubbling.

This will set to give a crisp caramel coating.

Wholemeal ESSE Hotplate Pancakes

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This recipe for my little hotplate pancakes is quick, easy and delicious. I use self raising flour which means they rise slightly on cooking, the result being lighter and more textured than traditional pancakes.

This recipe can be customised in many ways. Adding different flavours and spices is part of the fun. For instance, grating a little blue cheese into the batter and serving them with thick slices of roast ham would make a beautiful Sunday night supper. Alternatively adding some cinnamon and a little chopped apple to the batter would make a perfect desert, served hot with vanilla ice cream.

Cooking these pancakes directly on the plate is immensely satisfying and not at all messy. You can make big ones or small, it’s up to you.

I keep a tea towel by my ESSE for cleaning up the plate. Giving it a good firm rub will polish it up perfectly for cooking on.

Serves

Makes around 15 hot cakes depending on size

Ingredients

  • Whole meal self raising flour – 250g
  • Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
  • Caster sugar – 25g
  • Free-range eggs – 2
  • Fresh milk – 275ml
  • Butter (melted) – 25g
  • A pinch of salt
  • ESSE range cooker – simmering plate

Method

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and stir in the caster sugar. Make a well in the flour and break the eggs into the middle. Pour in about half the milk. Whisk, gently at first, and then as you start to get a thick paste, add the more milk and the melted butter. Beat until you get a good, thick creamy batter – you might not need all the milk.

Lift the lid on the right hand plate. Check the temperature, the dial should be reading in the middle of hot. Use a spoon to dollop the batter directly onto the clean plate. You should be able to fit 3 – 4 on at a time depending on the size. After about a minute, little bubbles will start to appear on the surface of the cakes. As soon as they cover the surface, flip them over with a spatula or thin palette knife.

Cook the other side for a further minute or so, then transfer them to a warm plate and cover them with a clean tea towel so they stay soft – or hand over to those waiting eagerly to get stuck in. Cook the remaining batter in the same way, adjusting the area on which you’re cooking over if they are getting too brown too quickly.

Note: For the savoury variation omit the sugar before adding your cheese or chopped bacon or sauté onion etc.

Serve with: Butter and caster sugar, strawberry jam, honey, lemon curd or anything you like.

Traditional ‘flipping’ pancakes

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Pre-fire your ESSE to somewhere between hot and very hot

Serves

Makes around 15 pancakes

Ingredients

  • Plain flour – 250g
  • Free-range eggs – 2
  • Fresh milk – 500ml
  • A little Sunflower oil for frying
  • A pinch of salt

Method

Sift the flour and salt into the mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour and break in the eggs.

Pour in half the milk and start to mix the eggs and milk with the balloon whisk, whisking in the flour from the edges a little at a time. Add the rest of the milk and keep on whisking until there are no more lumps of flour. Pour the batter into the jug. It may still be quite thick at this stage so whisk in extra milk just a little at a time until you get the right consistency – not quite as thick as single cream, but certainly thicker than milk!

Put a non-stick frying pan on the hotter of the 2 plates. Add about a tablespoon of sunflower oil, swirl it round the pan and then pour the excess into the cup so that just a slick of oil stays in the pan.

When the oil is hot pour a little of the batter into the pan. How much to pour really depends on the size of your pan but you need to leave plenty of room for the pancake to spread out (use a ladle if it helps you to judge the right amount of liquid each time). Immediately tilt and rotate the pan so that the batter runs across the base and doesn’t sit in a big lump in the middle.
As the pancake sets, loosen the edge of it with the palette knife. Shake the pan gently so that you know the pancake hasn’t stuck (a bit of work with the knife if it has; don’t worry, the first one often does). Flip the pancake over and cook the other side for a few seconds – the second side is much quicker to cook. (Notice the intricate patterns left behind by the hot oil; each one different, like a fingerprint.)

Slide the pancake out of the pan and on to a warm plate. Cook the rest of the pancakes as before.

Note for ‘Flippers’: Flipping is the best bit so don’t be afraid to give it a go… give the pan a vigorous shake to make sure the pancake is not sticking, then use the side of the pan as a launch ramp and remember it takes less effort than you think. You want to ‘land it’ not attach it to the ceiling! Always use a non-stick pan and make sure it’s not too heavy otherwise you will find them hard to flip. Hopefully you’ll be up for giving the flip a go but if not, you can turn your pancakes with the palette knife or a wide spatula.

Serve with: Caster sugar, freshly squeezed lemon or orange juice, strawberry jam, honey, lemon curd or anything you like.

Mussel and Chard Gratin

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Serves

Four people

Ingredients

  • 50g butter
  • 50g plain flour
  • Whole milk
  • 1 kilo mussels
  • 2 Tbls of white wine
  • 2 Tbls water
  • 300 fresh chard washed and courser stalks removed
  • 4 shallots sliced
  • 1 fat clove of garlic finely chopped
  • Fresh white bread crumbs
  • Half a lemon
  • Grated parmesan (optional)
  • Olive oil

Method

Set a medium sized pan over the hotter of the plates; (make sure it has a lid that fits it snugly). Add the wine, water and bring to the simmer. Throw in the scrubbed mussels. Toss them around the pan and replace the lid. They should open within a minute.

When the mussels are just opening remove them from the pan and set aside until they are cool enough for you to pick the meat from the shell.

Set a medium sized pan over the hotter plate. Add a splash of olive oil followed by the sliced garlic and sauté, just as it’s starting to colour throw in the washed chard and wilt it with the garlic for 2- 3 mins.

To make the Béchamel – melt the butter in a medium sized pan.

When it’s foaming add the flour and stir well. Combine the cooking liquor from the mussels with enough milk to give you 500 ml of liquid. Warm this in a pan and pour over the roux mixing all the time until it is smooth and creamy. Cook the béchamel for 4- 5 mins before removing from the heat.

Fry the shallots in a little olive oil over a medium heat until soft and golden.

Fold the shallots, picked mussels and cooked roughly chopped chard in to the béchamel.

Season with freshly ground black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Divide the mixture between 4 shallow oven proof dishes. Top with bread crumbs and cheese if you like and trickle over a little olive oil. Bake in the middle of the top oven reading middle of very hot, for 10 – 12 mins or until golden and bubbling.

Serve with crusty bread and butter.

Spicy lentil soup with cumin and tomato

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Serves

N/A

Ingredients

  • 1 small knob of butter
  • 2 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large or 2 small onions finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic sliced
  • 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 300 g red lentils
  • 1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1 tin chopped tomato’s
  • Salt and freshly grilled
  • Fresh coriander
  • 250 ml natural yoghurt

Method

Place a medium pan over a medium heat. Add the butter and the oil to the pan; throw in the onions, garlic, coriander and cumin. Fry gently without colouring for 5 mins.

Add the stock and lentils and cover with a lid, bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 10 minutes then add the tomatoes, cook for a further 15 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

Puree the soup with a stick blender or in a jug blender.

Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.

Roughly chop the coriander, and stir it through the yoghurt.

]Ladle the soup into warmed bowls. Finish the soup by spooning over the coriander yoghurt, followed by drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of ground toasted cumin.

Warm Salad of roast squash and pan fried mushrooms

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Serves

Four people

Ingredients

  • 1 medium squash
  • 12 sage leaves
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • Olive oil
  • 50 g butter
  • 250g of fresh ceps or other boletus
  • Small bunch of wild rocket washed
  • 200g soft blue cheese such as Roquefort or Saint Agure
  • French dressing to serve

Method

Peel a large squash, such as Butternut or Crown Prince. Cut into 1 inch chunks, and place in a roasting tin along with the bruised sage leaves, the garlic, peeled and thickly sliced, 150ml of olive oil and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.

Roast the squash in a pre-heated oven, set at 200 degrees, for 45 mins or until soft and coloured round the edges. Add 1 Tbls of olive oil along with the butter to a frying pan set over a medium heat, throw in the mushrooms that have been trimmed and cleaned and sliced, season them lightly with salt and pepper, fry for 4-5 mins or until cooked through. In a large mixing bowl combine the cooked squash, mushrooms, rocket and cheese. Lightly dress with the vinaigrette. Toss this all together and divide between the plates.

Wild Garlic Soup with Chorizo and Bread

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I’m finding wild garlic is around earlier with each coming year. We had some on the menu at River cottage in January. This wonderful plant, also known as ‘Ramsons’ can be found in the dappled shade of established woodlands, in damp meadows, along stream banks and in shady hedges. When its young it’s sweet and its emerald green leaves are unmistakable.

Wild garlic gives this soup great flavour and if you can get the tiny little bulbs at the base of the plant then so much the better.

Serves

4 – 6 people

Ingredients

  • A little olive oil
  • 1 large or 2 smaller onions finely sliced
  • 4 or 5 wild garlic bulbs, cleaned, trimmed and sliced
  • 200g chorizo sausage sliced into rounds
  • 1 litre of good light chicken stock
  • A handful of freshly picked wild garlic leaves shredded
  • A handful of young kale leaves shredded
  • 4 – 6 slices of 2-3 day old sourdough or similar
  • Flat leaf parsley chopped
  • Salt and pepper

Method

Warm a heavy based saucepan on the hot plate; fry the sliced chorizo with a little olive oil. After 2 or 3 minutes add the sliced onion and sliced wild garlic bulbs (if you have them) and season with salt and pepper. Continue to fry off without colouring for a further 7- 8 mins or until soft.

Add the chicken stock and bring to the boil.

Simmer gently for 15 – 20 minutes, mean while toast the pieces of sour dough on each side. This can be done directly on the Esse hot plate.

At this point you can add the garlic leaves and kale to the simmering pan. Cook for 5 minutes. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning.

To serve, place a piece of toasted sourdough in a large soup bowl and ladle over the hot soup. Finish with a trickle of good olive oil and some chopped flat leaf parsley.

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