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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.

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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.

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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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This is a fantastically warming way to cook purple sprouting broccoli and delicious either on its own as a starter, or with roast lamb or mutton.

Serves

Four people

Ingredients

  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 dried chillies
  • Olive oil
  • 6- anchovy fillets
  • White wine or marsala
  • 400ml double cream
  • 500g purple sprouting broccoli
  • 100g grated parmesan

Method

Peel and thinly slice the garlic. De-seed and chop the chillies. Set a medium-sized, heavy-based pan over a medium heat and heat a good slosh of olive oil.

Throw in the garlic, chilli and anchovies. Fry until the garlic takes on a golden tinge around its edges.

Add a splash of white wine or marsala, boil for a few seconds and then add the double cream. Bring to a simmer and turn the heat down. Cook until the sauce is reduced by a third.

Blanch the purple sprouting broccoli in boiling water for a minute.

Drain and allow to steam dry. Lay the broccoli in an ovenproof dish, pour over the cream sauce and scatter with grated parmesan. Bake at 190°C/Gas Mark 5 for 10-12 minutes until golden and bubbling.

Try the same recipe with curly kale in the winter months.

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You will also need 6 individual ramekins

Serves

Serves 6 people

Ingredients

  • Juice and grated zest of 2 lemons
  • Up to 75g of golden syrup
  • 100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g self-raising flour, sifted
  • pinch of salt

To Serve

  • Double cream, chilled

Method

Stir together 2/3rds of the lemon juice and the golden syrup.

Heat the mixture gently over a medium heat. Tip it into the pudding basin. Cream together the butter, lemon zest and caster sugar until it’s really light and fluffy. Beat in one egg at a time, adding a spoonful of flour with each, then fold in the remaining flour. Finally stir in the last of the lemon juice.

Spoon this mixture into the ramekins, the lemon juice and Syrup mixture will rise up the sides of the basin – don’t worry about this, and don’t attempt to stir it in with the batter.
Half fill a roasting tin with hot water; it needs to be big enough to fit the ramekins’ in.

Place the puddings in the roasting tin, the water should be coming half way up the sides of the puddings, close the door. The top oven should be reading ‘Hot’ on the dial.

Bake gently 45 minutes or until the puddings are cooked and well risen.

The ESSE is perfect for this type of cooking as it keeps in moisture which is perfect for delicate baking.

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This soft, moist, dense almondy cake can be served warm for pudding, with lashings of cream, or cold, with a cup of tea or coffee. Firm conference pears should work a treat here.

Serves

Six people

Ingredients

  • 350g unsalted butter, softened
  • 250g caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp
  • 4 eggs
  • 150g whole blanched almonds or ground almonds
  • 150g self-raising flour
  • 5-6 pears, firm but not too hard, peeled, cored and quartered
  • Cake tin about 20cm in diameter and 5cm deep (a springform one is best)
  • Baking parchment

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Your esse dial wants to read hot but not the far side of hot. Grease a 20cm diameter, springform cake tin with a little of the butter and line the base with baking parchment.

Put a saucepan over a medium heat and add 25g of the butter. When it’s sizzling, add 1 tbsp sugar and stir until it dissolves. Add the pear quarters and fry in the buttery caramel for a couple of minutes, until they start to brown. Put the pan to one side to cool a little.

Put the remaining butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy. Beat in the two eggs, one at a time.

Whiz the whole blanched almonds in the food processor for about a minute to grind them. Tip them into the cake batter (or add the ready-ground almonds), then sift in the self-raising flour and fold in gently. Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin. Arrange the pieces of pear on top of the cake. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a knife pushed into the centre comes out clean.

Place the tin on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or cold.

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Yorkshire Bonfire Toffee (also known as treacle toffee, Plot toffee or Tom Trot) is a hard brittle toffee associated with Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night. It tastes strongly of molasses or black treacle and easy to make at home.

I think it is wise to make with a sugar thermometer since you can be assured of the brittle texture that comes with the hard-crack stage of cooking but it isn’t essential – patience is! The traditional version is hard, shiny and brittle but if you want a softer, chewier version (and have good strong teeth) then boil to the soft-crack stage.

Tip 1
Do take enormous care when preparing this toffee – the sugar syrup becomes extremely hot. It’s not a recipe for children to make although they can certainly help with measuring out the ingredients.

Tip 2
Cleaning the pan and the thermometer is made so much easier if you fill the pan with hot water and immerse the thermometer in it as soon after cooking as possible. Leave to stand for a while before washing in warm soapy water.

No sugar thermometer?
It is possible to make this toffee without a sugar thermometer but you will need to check that the correct stage and temperature has been reached. This is easiest done if you drop just a small amount of the cooked mixture into a bowl of iced water. When it cools (which is quickly) lift it out and bend it. If it snaps easily then the hard crack stage has been reached. If it bends into pliable strands then the soft crack stage has been achieved.

Makes about 500g

Ingredients

  • Oil for greasing
  • 450g dark brown sugar
  • 125 ml hot water
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • 115g black treacle
  • 115g golden syrup

Method

Line the base and sides of a 30 x 21 cm shallow tin with non-stick parchment and then liberally grease with oil.

Place the sugar and hot water in a heavy-based pan and heat gently to dissolve the sugar. Don’t stir the sugar at any time just tile the pan from time to time to mix and move around.

Add the cream of tartar, treacle and syrup. Again tilt to mix but do not stir. At this stage add the sugar thermometer if using.

Bring to the boil and boil until you reach the hard-crack stage on the thermometer (149 C/300 F). This will produce a brittle toffee typical of that from Yorkshire. If you prefer something softer and chewier then boil until you reach the soft crack stage (140 C/279 F). This may take from 30 to 45 minutes so you need to be patient but do not leave the pan unattended as things can change quickly. When the desired stage is reached, pour into the prepared tin and leave to set.

Once cool, remove from the tin and break into pieces with a toffee hammer or rolling pin. Store in an airtight tin or wrap in cellophane for gifting if liked.

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Ive already posted a Redcurrant jelly recipe but, as I’m trying to make the most of the wild larder here’s another one that can be made right now.

You can make great preserves on the Iron Heart.

The solid plates transfer a wonderful, consistent and even heat into the base of your preserving pan, and its at this time of year that ill have the fire going daily so perfect for the gentle simmering of preserves, jams and chutneys.

I love an autumn forage with the family, and its been a great year for it, crab apples, blackberries, rose hips, sloes and damsons, They have all be found in and around our garden and the woods that surround the us.

This preserve is amazing with pork and chicken but just as good spread on drop scones or crumpets. If you cant find enough crab apples you can makeup their weight in good old Bramleys.

Ingredients

  • Makes 4-8 small jars
  • 1kg crab apples or cooking apples
  • 1kg blackberries, rosehips, haws, sloes, elderberries or rowan berries granulated sugar

Method

  1. Roughly chop the apples (no need to peel or core them) and put in a preserving pan.
  2. Add the berries. If you are using rosehips, chop them roughly first (you can do this in a processor), taking care because the tiny fibres they contain are an irritant.
  3. Add enough water to almost cover the fruit.
  4. Bring to a simmer then simmer gently until all the fruit is soft and pulpy.
  5. Tip the mixture into a jelly bag and leave to drip for several hours or overnight.

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Mouthwatering vegetarian recipe for your ESSE Range Cooker from Tim Maddams
February representative demonstrations prepared by Tim Maddams of Green Sauce

Ingredients

  • 6 large flat mushrooms
  • 1 onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 pint dark beer
  • Guiness etc
  • Fresh thyme
  • A small pinch of caraway seeds
  • Salt and pepper

In a casserole dish that is stove top safe, begin by frying the sliced onions in plenty of olive oil. Add shopped thyme, garlic then the mushrooms, a few at a time. Once everything is ticking over add the caraway and then the beer, season well and bring to the simmer and then transfer to your low oven or cook at ESSE dial guide COOL to MODERATE (150) for at least an hour.

Diced pancetta can be added if meat as required, this should go in at the start with the onions, around 100g.

For the polenta:

  • 1lt milk
  • 1 clove garlic
  • Chopped fresh rosemary – 1 teaspoon
  • A pinch of chilli flakes
  • Salt to taste
  • 200g quick cook polenta
  • 100g extra mature organic cheddar – or Lancashire!

Warm the milk with everything except the cheese and the polenta until its just simmering, add the polenta and stir, it will cook in around 10 minutes and have the consistency of a very thick porridge. Season well, adding more milk if needed, then grate the cheese and add half of that to the polenta.

For the greens

  • A few stems of cavolo nero, kale or a bit of good old savoy cabbage
  • Olive oil
  • Fresh lemon
  • Salt, pepper and English mustard.

Wash the greens well and de stem if they have tough stems. Chop finely and dress in a little olive oil, mustard and lemon juice, season with a little salt.
Plate the dishes up, starting with the polenta, then the mushrooms and a little cheese, finish by sprinkling with dressed greens.

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Mouthwatering vegetarian recipe for your ESSE Range Cooker from Tim Maddams

ESSE February representative demonstrations prepared by Tim Maddams of Green Sauce

Ingredients

  • 4 large flat mushrooms
  • 1/4 onion, a little chilli
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • Cumin seeds and caraway seeds
  • 1 dessert spoon smoked paprika
  • 1 small pot of natural yoghurt
  • A few salad leaves
  • A sprig of fresh coriander

For the tortillas

  • 300g of white spelt flour
  • A splash of water (around 150 ml)
  • Teaspoon of veg oil
  • Teaspoon of veg oil
  • Good pinch of salt

Work into a soft but pliable dough, rest.
Roll out thinly and cook briefly in a hot frying pan with no oil until puffed up and lightly coloured.

For the mushrooms

Toast the spices and lightly crush, cut the mushrooms into slices, slice the onion, chop the garlic and chilli.

Sauté the onion and mushrooms in a hot frying pan with the spices, and a little oil, chilli and sauté for another minute or two.

Finely grate the garlic and add it to the yoghurt to serve with the wraps.

Serve with the tortillas and lashings of natural yoghurt, sprinkle with plenty of fresh coriander and make sure you have some nice winter leaves to hand.

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Bacon and fresh eggs topped with creamy hollandaise sauce – eggs benedict, the perfect brunch dish.

River Cottage’s Senior Chef, Andy Tyrrell, demonstrated how, by highlighting the benefits of the ESSE CAT Gas Cooking Stove at our recent dealer day.

For the Muffins
“A muffin – split, toasted and buttered, is my very favourite bread to have with eggs for breakfast. If you own an ESSE, then lucky you – muffins were made for cooking straight on the top. This dough is soft, so you might prefer to use a food mixer to knead it.” – Gill Meller

Ingredients

  • 500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 5g powdered dried yeast
  • 10g fine salt
  • 325ml warm water
  • A drizzle of sunflower oil, plus extra for coating
  • A handful of semolina flour, for coating

Method

To knead by hand: mix the flour, yeast, salt and water in a bowl to form a sticky dough. Add the oil, mix it in, then turn the dough out on to a clean work surface. Knead until smooth and silky. Or, to use a food mixer: fit the dough hook and add the flour, yeast, salt and water to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until combined, then add the oil and leave to knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and silky.

Shape the dough into a round, coat with a little extra oil and place in a clean bowl. Leave to rise, covered with a plastic bag, until doubled in size. Tip the dough out on to the work surface and press all over to deflate. Divide into 9 pieces, shape each into a round and flatten to about 1–2cm. Dust them all over with semolina flour; this gives a lovely texture to the crust. Leave to prove on a linen cloth or wooden board, covered with a plastic bag, until doubled in size.

Cook the muffins directly on the ESSE warm plate for up to 15 minutes, giving them a quick blast on the hot side at the end, if you think they need it. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

For the Hollandaise
Ingredients

  • 1/2 pack of butter – diced
  • 2 egg yolks
  • Juice of about ½ a lemon
  • Salt and pepper

Method

In a small saucepan (ideally with sloping sides) add your egg yolks with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt. Start whisking over a medium heat. You want to get some air and volume into the yolks and also lightly cook them. Keep whisking right into the edges of the pan. You are looking for the yolk mixture to dramatically thicken as the temperature gets to around 85°c. You should have a smooth thick voluminous mixture.

Now start to add the diced butter, slowly at first, just one piece at a time. Waiting for each piece to melt before you add the next, after the first 4 or 5 pieces you can add a little more with each addition. Remember you are in control so sometimes you’ll be moving the pan away from the heat then returning it to the heat as you need it.

When all the butter is used and you are happy with the quantity you have to taste for seasoning check the temperature (it should be warm) and serve.

For the poached egg

Ingredients

  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 slice of bread or hot muffin
  • Butter
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Pour a 4–5cm depth of water into a saucepan and bring to the boil.

Meanwhile, break the egg carefully into a mug or small jug, taking care not to damage the yolk.

When the water is at a rolling boil, stir it fast in one direction with a wooden spoon to create a vortex or whirlpool in the centre. When you have a distinct vortex, remove the spoon and immediately tip the egg straight into the centre. Turn off the heat, put a lid on the pan and leave it for exactly 2½ minutes. Meanwhile, lightly toast your bread and butter it.

Remove the lid. Use a slotted spoon to carefully scoop up the egg.

Check that the white is set, with no jellyish clear bits left – if there are, return it to the water for 30 seconds. Give the egg half a minute in the spoon for the water to drip and steam away. You can dab carefully with a piece of kitchen paper to help get rid of the water.

Slide the egg carefully on to the hot muffin or toast, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and serve.

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