Shortbread

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

Everyone said this is the best shortbread they've tasted and better than from a shop!

I’ve only made shortbread once before and I used Stork margarine which didn’t work at all! So I’ve learnt you must use butter, preferably unsalted, and these are really nice when they’re rolled quite thin, about 5mm thick.

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• You will need: a large mixing bowl, lightly greased baking sheets, a rolling pin, a 5cm fluted cutter

Ingredients:

• 100g (4oz) butter, softened
• 50g (2oz) caster sugar
• 175g (6oz) plain flour
• extra caster sugar to dip

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Sift the flour in a little at a time and mix to a stiff dough. Knead lightly until smooth.
4. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured board to 5mm thick (if your dough is cracking then just ease the dough together and be delicate with the rolling pin!).
5. Using a fluted cutter, cut circles approximately 5cm in diameter.
6. Place on the prepared baking sheets and prick lightly with a fork.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown.
8. Cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute, then place upside down in the caster sugar so that the biscuits are well coated.
9. Cool on a wire rack.

River Cottage Scones

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

I saw these being made on River Cottage recently and they looked truly delicious, so I had to try them as all the scones I’ve made in the past were quite heavy and stodgy. But these are light and crumbly and absolutely AMAZING! Easily the best scones I’ve ever made and possibly eaten! They are not for anyone on a diet as they contain double cream, but they are well worth making and doing a bit of exercise to burn the extra calories!

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
I will admit I forgot to glaze them with milk as I was too busy thinking about sprinkling them with demerara sugar, which is my own addition to the recipe, as I like the crunchy sweetness it gives. They still came out brilliantly without the milk.

• Makes: 8 scones
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C
• Oven shelf: upper-middle
• You will need: large mixing bowl and a baking tray, lightly greased
• Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 300g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt (optional, I didn’t use this as I used salted Anchor butter)
• 75g unsalted butter (at cool room temperature), cubed
• 50g caster sugar (on TV they used 100g but I found 50g enough)
• 1 egg
• 120ml double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional, I only used ½ tsp)
• Milk, for glazing (optional)
• Demerara sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C and lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub in with your fingers until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, do this in a food processor before transferring the mixture to a bowl. Either way, then stir in the sugar.
3. Beat the egg and cream together, with the vanilla extract too, if you’re using it. Stir the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and bring together lightly with your hands into a dough. Turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead very briefly to form a fairly smooth ball (it will be a bit sticky so just dust with a little bit of flour).
4. Pat or gently roll the dough out to a thickness of about 4cm. Use a 6-7cm diameter cutter to stamp out scones from the dough (I used a 7cm cutter and only managed to get 7 scones).
5. Put them on the prepared baking sheet, brush the tops with a little milk or demerara sugar, and bake for about 15 minutes until risen and golden.
6. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes, then serve slightly warm. Scones do not keep well so eat them up quickly!

Duck Puffs

MUNCH RATING: 3/5 

 

This is Ching-He Huang’s recipe, but I have adapted it slightly to suit the ingredients I had.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

Ching’s original recipe says it makes 10 Duck Puffs, but you will have lots of filling leftover, which is fine as I used it in some stir-fried some noodles (the duck tastes like Aromatic Crispy Duck so would be nice in wraps with cucumber and spring onion).

 

I have also changed the way the pastry is rolled out, as Ching’s way results in a lot of wasted pastry, so if you do it my way then you should get 16 Puffs out of 1 block of pastry.

 

They were quite time consuming to make, but I think they would be good for a dinner party as they can be prepared in advance and then popped into the oven for the last stage. I served them with cucumber and carrot matchsticks.

 

TASTE TEST:

The duck filling is gorgeous, but the puff pastry makes them a bit dry in the mouth. I would prefer to just serve the filling in wraps.

 

• Prep: 30 mins plus 20 mins marinating time
• Cook: min 1 hr 50 mins
• Can be frozen before baking

 

Ingredients:

• ½ finger-length piece fresh root ginger, grated
• 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons plum sauce (I used Hoi-sin sauce instead)
• 1 tablespoon groundnut/vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons clear honey
• 1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice (this is my addition)
• 2 duck legs, skin on (make a few cuts into the skin & flesh)
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced (I didn’t have any!)
• 1 340g block ready-rolled puff pastry (I used Jus Rol)
• a little flour, for dusting
• 1 egg, beaten

 

Directions:

1. Marinate the duck: Mix the ginger with the soy and plum sauce (or hoi-sin), oil and honey (and Chinese 5 spice) in a deep dish, then add the duck legs, turning to coat. Cover and chill for at least 20 mins.
2. Cook the duck: Heat oven to Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C. Lift the duck legs onto a non-stick baking tray, then roast for 1½ hours until crisp and golden. Meanwhile, tip the remaining marinade into a small saucepan and simmer for 2 mins, then cool. When the duck is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and finely shred the meat. Mix with the cooled marinade and spring onions.
3. Prepare your pastry: Take your block of pastry and cut it into 16 even pieces. Dust your board and rolling pin with a little bit of flour and then roll each piece of pastry into a square.

YOU CAN MAKE TWO DIFFERENT SHAPES FOR YOUR PUFFS:

• Triangles: put 2 tsp of the duck filling in the middle of each square, brush the edges of pastry with a little egg, then fold the pastry squares in half, pressing to seal so you have a triangle shape.
• Half-moon: using a 9-10cm round cutter stamp out a circle from each pastry square. Put 2 tsp of the duck filling in the middle of each circle, brush the edges of pastry with a little egg, then fold the pastry circles in half, pressing to seal so you have a half-moon shape

To cook:

Transfer the puffs to a lightly greased baking sheet and brush with more egg. Bake at Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C for 15-20 mins until golden (I turned up the oven to Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C for the last few minutes to make them golden brown).

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• If you need to re-roll your puff pastry, stack the trimmings on top of each other to keep the layers.
• Freezing: Can be frozen for up to 1 month. Cook for 5 mins longer from frozen.

 

You might also be interested in: Hoi-sin Pork