Fullers Folio Blog - Fullers Folio

Recipe Blackberry Whiskey

11/7/2013

Blackberries

Friends, this is my last recipe in my blackberry collection for this year, and this is one that takes a bit of time to come to fruition. It takes a fine drink to a new level of enjoyment.

Ingredients
2 kg washed blackberries
1 lemon
250 g sugar
1 bottle of blended whiskey. (It can be made with a bottle of Vodka instead of whiskey if you prefer this as a drink)

Method
Put the blackberries in a large glass jar that can be sealed. Eg a Kilner jar, or glass sweet jar.
Chop up lemon and add to mixture
Add sugar
Pour in the whiskey
Shake up
Put in a cool dark cupboard
Every couple of days give it a shake
After a couple of weeks, or when the sugar has completely dissolved shake then once a week

It will be just about drinkable after three months but improves greatly if left for a year. It makes a fine Chr
Strain through fine sieve and bottle.
Drink sensibly and enjoy

Recipe – Blackberry Ice Cream

10/22/2013

Friends, this continues my mini series of a meal that uses blackberries, we have had the main course of venison with blackberries and red cabbage and half the desert of blackberry and apple cake To go with this we now have blackberry ice cream.

This is a very easy recipe, and produces a very rich tasty ice cream, that goes well with the cake … This requires an ice cream machine to make it.

Ingredients

500 g blackberries
1 lemon
150g sugar (icing sugar makes it quicker to make)
300 ml double cream

Optional

Up to 3 tablespoons of port

Method

Wash blackberries and lemon.
Put lot into liquidizer and whisk to a pulp
Put liquid through a fine sieve or muslin bag (Make sure squeeze all juice out) collecting the juice in a microwave proof jug/bowl
Warm juice in microwave for about 30 seconds
Add sugar to warm juice – make sure fully dissolved (If did not use icing sugar may need to warm for a few more seconds)
Allow to cool
Turn on ice cream machine
Add cream to bowl in ice cream machine
Add blackberry juice with dissolved sugar.
Add port if going to.
Leave machine to do its work freeze churning the mixture

When made serve with blackberry cake or fresh fruit and enjoy.

Recipe Blackberry and Apple Cake

10/18/2013

Friends continuing on my theme of recipes using blackberries. This is one of Paulines and is a great favourite. It works just as well with frozen blackberries if there are no fresh around.

Ingredients

3.5 oz butter
2 medium eggs
5 oz sugar
2 oz ground almonds
4 oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 chopped cooking apple
4 oz blackberries

Method

Beet butter, eggs and sugar together in a large bowl
Fold in flour, baking powder and ground almonds
Peel core and chop apple into small bits. Gently stir apple and blackberries into cake mixture
Put into a loaf tin
Bake at 180 centigrade for 45-60 minutes (test with skewer if comes out clean then cooked)

Blackberry and Apple Cake

Let to cool and enjoy.

Recipe Venison with Blackberries and Red Cabbage

10/15/2013

This year we have been very fortunate with our blackberry harvest and have picked over 10kg so far. I thought it would be a good idea to share some of our more favourite recipes that use blackberries.

This is the recipe for venison with blackberries and red cabbage. It is a very easy recipe though it does take just over an hour to prepare and cook.

Ingredients

1 medium chopped onion (can be red if prefer)
½ a red cabbage, chopped to same size as a blackberry. - There should be around 1.5 times the amount of red cabbage to that of onion.
1 teaspoon mixed spice
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
175g washed blackberries
1 tablespoon olive oil
100ml stock
300g venison either venison stakes, sausages, or burgers
4 to 6 sliced potatoes (You need enough sliced potatoes to cover the casserole dish)

Optional items
2-5 teaspoons sugar – depends on how sweet your tooth is
up to 1 glass red wine

This makes a generous amount for two.

Method

Chop and prepare all the ingredients
Fry the venison on each side in a large frying pan in the olive oil, to give it colour. Roughly two minutes per side
Take these from the pan and place in a large oven proof casserole. (This should be large enough to put the meat flat on the bottom )
Warm the oven to 180 Centigrade
Next fry/seal the onion in the frying pan for around 5 minutes
Add the red cabbage and mix well with the onion. Sprinkle the mixed spice over the mixture. Fry for a further 3-4 minutes stirring continuously so the cabbage is completely mixed with the onion.
Add the blackberries to the pan and mixture and stir round for about a further minute
Poor the mixture over the venison
Add the balsamic vinegar to the frying pan to take the oils and spices from it and then pour this and the wine into the casserole
Add sugar if required
Add up to 100ml hot stock. The liquid should be up to the top of the mixture.
Cover the whole surface with sliced potatoes

Put in the warm oven for around 45 minutes. (Time does depend a bit on size of casserole used)
The potato top should be crispy brown and the liquid will have thicken up to a lovely rich gravy.

Serve with fresh steamed vegetables and enjoy

Ham Green Pepper Broccoli and Leek Noodle Recipe

12/4/2012

I had a friend who used to answer when asked what shall we have for tea, “Jump at the fridge door”. They meant that they would look in it and see what jumped out at them. Well the recipe was so inspired.

Normally when I record a recipe on the blog I have tried it a few times, and even sometimes remember to have a camera at hand so can take some shots, but this time this is not the case. Though it was invented, we thought it tasted so good that it should be recorded before forgotten, and as such it may as well be put on the blog.

The idea of the recipe was one that could be made very quickly, and cooks as being prepared. The ingredients given below make a quick meal enough for two. It took the length of time to cook the noodles – I also prepared and lit the fire whilst doing this at the same time so it is very easy!

Ingredients

No more than 3 tsp of olive oil
2 Leeks
1 Head of Broccoli
1 Green pepper
2 Slices cooked roast ham (enough for two)
2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 tsp Soy Sauce
1 tsp Chinese five spice
One good squirt of tomato purée (You could use tomato ketchup instead if do not have any purée to hand)
2 Chopped tomatoes for decoration
Enough noodles for two

Method

Put the noodles in a pan add water and put on to boil (The aim is to have the rest ready by the time the noodles are cooked)
Put a large non stick frying pan on high heat and add 1 tsp olive oil
Finely chop leeks and add to pan stirring as required
Chunkly chop green pepper and add to pan
Add a little more oil if sticking
Chop Broccoli to roughly thumb size pieces and add to pan
As soon as everything coated with oil add Chinese five spice, stirring continuously
Chop the ham into thumb sized strips and add to pan – keep stirring
Add 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar keep stirring
Add 1 tsp soy sauce keep stirring
Add squirt of tomato purée keep stirring
Add 1 more tsp of vinegar and 1 more tsp soy sauce and keep stirring.
(If the mixture is too dry and sticking to the pan you can add a spoon full of water from the noodles)
Noodles should be done by now.
Drain the noodles (if fat is not a worry, put back in warm pan and add 1 tsp olive oil and stir round before serving)
Serve as noodles in a bowl or on a plate with the ham & broccoli mixture on top. Decorate with a chopped tomato.

Enjoy

PS This will give a slightly crunchy texture to the broccoli (The more it is cooked the less good it does you as cooking breaks down the good bits of it). If you add it before the green pepper it will cook a bit more.

Oat and Apricot Cookies Recipe

11/20/2012

This is my take on a popular simple recipe for Oat Cookies, making around 16 cookies

Ingredients

100-125g (3.5 - 4 oz) Margarine or unsalted butter (the more added the softer the cookie)
75g (3 oz) Soft brown sugar
50g (2oz) golden syrup
125g (4 oz) plain flour
125g (4 oz) oats
1 medium egg
50g (2oz) sultanas
50g (2 oz) chopped apricots
50-75g (2 - 3 oz) chopped walnuts (you can play around with the amounts of the sultanas, apricots and walnuts so you roughly have 150-160g in total weight of them)
0.5-1tsp cinnamon (depends how you like your cinnamon)
50g (2 oz) plain melted chocolate

Method

Preheat oven to 170 C (mark 3)
Grease two baking sheets
Mix all together except for chocolate in a large bowl until well combined
Put a large tablespoon full of mixture onto the baking sheet, making sure well spaced apart
Bake for around 15 minutes till golden brown
All to cool on baking sheet for around 15 minutes before putting on rack
Drizzle and decorate with melted chocolate
Eat and enjoy
If you have any left keep in airtight container

Chocolate Brownie – Low Fat Recipe

11/12/2012

We have now made these several times and their only fault is that they taste delicious so you want to eat more of them

Ingredients

130 gms (5 oz) plain flour
40 gms (1.5 oz) cocoa powder (Not sweetened hot chocolate powder)
100 gms (3.5 oz) soft brown sugar (can reduce this to 70 gms 2.5 oz if do not have a sweet tooth)
30 gms (1.25 oz) dry milk powder
130 gms (5 oz) apple sauce (unsweatened)
1tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp baking soda
1 medium size egg white beaten

Optional extra - can add 70 gms 2.5 oz chopped dark chocolate to the mixture

Method

Lightly grease a medium sized baking tray (will rise so needs to be around 5cm (2 inches) high
Preheat oven to 180 °C (350 °F )
Sift the flours, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a large mixing bowl
Add the chopped dark chocolate
Beat together in a separate bowl (or use food processor) the brown sugar, milk powder, apple sauce
Add the lightly beaten egg white with a spoon until all mixed
Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until fully combined
Spread evenly into the prepared baking tin
Bake for 20-25 minutes in oven. Check with fork or skewer (insert into centre and if comes out clean then cooked)
Cool on a wire rack
Cut into squares.
Keep cool in airtight container (With padlock!! to stop instantly vanishing)

Enjoy..

Spicy Beetroot and Lentil soup – Thai Style- Recipe

3/22/2012

I had some potatoes and beetroot that needed eating up and rather than just make a plain vegetable soup I thought I would experiment with a Thai version that is full of good things. The fact that my three monthly medical check-up may have had something to do with this. With a quick search on the internet - Some of the key ones are listed below.

Coconut – good at reducing body fat - One of the reasons why coconut is effective in reducing body fat and lowering weight is because it contains fewer calories than any other fat. For this reason, it has gained the distinction of being the world's only natural, low-calorie fat. Medium-chain triglycerides in coconut are smaller than other fats and, therefore, digest very quickly, so quickly in fact, that the body uses them as an immediate source of fuel rather than pack them away in storage inside our fat cells. MCT are used to produce energy much like carbohydrates and, therefore, they do not circulate in the bloodstream like other fats. For this reason, they do not supply fat to fat cells or contribute to weight gain.
Beetroot – high in anti-oxidants - Beetroot (along with carrots) are abundant in beta-carotenes, the red/yellow/orange anti-oxidants that are especially good in helping ward off colds.
Lentils – source of vitamins and fibre – Lentils provide B vitamins that are fantastic for energy, immune health and mental clarity. They contain fibre to help keep you regular and bind with toxins and waste products from the body for elimination. Lentils also contain amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, a source of which is very important for those following a vegetarian and vegan diet.

Ingredients (this makes enough for 2 good portions or 4 smaller ones)

100g lentils
500g chopped potatoes
500g raw beetroot, scrubbed and coarsely chopped
sea salt, and freshly ground pepper
a dash of olive oil, for shallow-frying
600 ml vegetable stock
400 ml coconut milk – This can be made from dried grated solid coconut, or a tin of coconut milk
juice of 1 lime
1 large onion, finely chopped (can be red onion if prefer)
5 g cumin seeds (ground) or 1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp curry powder/paste

For the garnish: (this makes enough for 2 good portions or 4 smaller ones)

up to 100 ml cider vinegar,
1tbsp balsamic vinegar
a sprinkling of brown cane sugar if have a sweet tooth – but not really needed
½ cucumber, finely diced
½ red pepper, finely diced
50 g, finely chopped walnuts
2-3 spring onions, finely diced
1 chilli, finely chopped
fresh mint leaves, finely chopped (Can be 1 tsp dried if don't have fresh)
fresh coriander, finely chopped (Can be 1 tsp dried if don't have fresh)

Method

In a large heavy bottom pan add the oil, chopped onion cumin and curry and fry until transparent
Add chopped beetroot , and chopped potatoes and briefly stir so coated in the spicy mixture
Add vegetable stock
Add lentils, and bring to boil gently
When simmering add coconut milk, bring back to the boil and simmer for about an hour – depends on size of chopped beetroot (Top up with water if necessary) - till beetroot is soft
When beetroot soft put the whole mixture in food processor and blitz
Put back in pan and bring to a gentil boil, add lime juice and salt pepper as required (It will be quite a thick red/pink liquid).

To make the garnish – This is the raw ingredients that are added to the centre of the soup when in the bowl which a contrast of texture/taste to the food

In a medium sized bowl add the chopped, cucumber, red pepper, spring onions & chilli and stir round until mixed together
Add mint and coriander – making sure evenly spread throughout the mixture
Add balsamic vinegar, stirring well
Slowly add the cider vinegar spoonful at a time siring well– amount does depend on wetness of resultant mixture – you do not want to flood it
Finally add nuts again mixing well
Taste – can add the sugar if needed, or some more lime juice
Leave to stand for at least 15 minutes

To serve – place hot soup in large bowl then spoon garnish gently into centre of soup. Some will sink but some will remain on the top of the soup. Serve with warm crusty bread enjoy..

Low Fat Stuffed Chicken Breast with Plums Grapes and Marmalade Recipe

2/18/2012

This is a very simple recipe that can be cooking whilst the rest of the meal is being prepared.

Ingredients (enough for 2)

2 Skinned Chicken Breasts (or could be turkey)
8 Chopped & stoned plums
12 Chopped grapes
1 Small finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon of Italian herb mix (or mixed herbs)
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1 drizzle of olive oil
2 teaspoon of marmalade
1 sliced lemon

Method

Mix the chopped fruit, onion, herbs curry powder and one teaspoon of marmalade together in a bowl,
Cut the chicken breast almost in half along its long axis, keeping just enough meat to hold one side together so it forms a pocket
Stuff the breast with the fruit and onion mixture – half in each breast
Put half a teaspoon of marmalade on the outside of each breast, then give a drizzle of olive oil (1 teaspoon max)
Place on a baking tray and place slices of lemon on top of each breast.
Cover with foil and cook in oven for 30 minutes at 200 degrees centigrade

This goes nicely with salad, new potatoes, or a pepper/rice/soy sauce mixture

Pasta De Sardine (Pasta in a Sardine sauce recipe)

1/18/2012

This recipe is just for Colin who was complaining that I had not posted any recently.. Though we had this last night for tea, I forgot to take any snapshots of it so you will have to imagine the beautiful pasta covered in the rich fishy sauce..It only takes about 15 minutes to cook, and a couple of minutes preparation. This makes enough for 2 people

Ingredients

1 Can of sardines
1 Can anchovy fillets
1 Can chopped tomatoes
2-3 Coarsely chopped baby tomatoes – not necessary but look good as decoration
1 Onion finely chopped
1 Pepper finely chopped
1 Chilli finely chopped – can be reduced or missed out if don't like spicy hot food
1 table spoon of capers
1 tbs dried basil or handful of fresh basil laves chopped
A drizzle of olive oil, just enough to fry the onions and peppers stopping them sticking to the pan
a dash of balsamic vinegar
Enough dried pasta for two
a vegetable of choice, eg broccoli, or peas, or chopped carrots
Seasoning of salt and black pepper
Grated parmesan – if not on a low fat diet

Method

Remove the backbones from the sardines
Lightly fry the onion, chilli, capers and peppers in frying pan for around 5 minutes
Remove from heat and place in food processor
Add sardines, anchovies, and chopped tomatoes
Blitz in processor for a couple of minutes till have a semi smooth sauce
Pour back into pan and set at gentle heat
Put the dried pasta on to cook
Add basil
Add a dash of balsamic vinegar to sauce and stir to prevent from burning
Start cooking vegetable of choice preferably steaming it
Taste sauce and add seasoning as required – probably black pepper

When pasta and vegetables are cooked transfer all the ingredients to a large bowl and using tongs or 2 spoons, gently combine everything until the pasta is coated in the sardine sauce and the vegetables are evenly distributed. (Add the coarsely chopped baby tomatoes and a little more chopped fresh basil if using them as a decoration and sprinkle with grated parmesan if not on low fat diet) and serve immediately. Goes well with a bit of fresh crusty bread but not if on a diet.

Enjoy...