It’s this time of year that always seems magical. Trees have an abundance of Autumnal toned leaves, as they tumble around like confetti on the breeze, swooning in swathes wherever they land. Late blooming flowers appear, their vibrant blossoms adding some freshness to the greenery that remains. Although it’s November, the sun shines just as brightly as in earlier months, spilling spectacular shades across the skies as it arrives & departs each day.
It’s also a great time of year for those comforting dishes, the ones that really hit the spot when you need it. Sumptuously slow-cooked stews, deeply filled fruit pies & crisp flaky pastries. We all have our favourites, 
especially those childhood dishes that evoke fond memories of deliciousness. The mere mention of puff pastry takes me to a stool in my Mum’s kitchen, watching her create all kinds of pastry treats & especially savoury pasties. She would make shortcrust pastry ones, filled with her heavenly homemade stew (our version of a Cornish pasty). Leftovers would be lovingly wrapped in fabulously flaky pastry parcels, deliciously warm & comforting. And then there were my favourites – crisp buttery puff pastry packed with mashed potatoes, cheese & onion. There would always be some mashed potatoes leftover from the previous night’s dinner, just enough to make a few pasties for lunch the next day.
Now you all know that I prefer homemade puff pastry (all butter & no unnecessary ingredients!), but we don’t always have the time. This recipe is one that was passed on to me & one I make often for both savoury & sweet treats. It’s a faster flaky pastry with all the buttery crispness of puff pastry, but takes much less time to make. Also, don’t worry about special pastry cutters or equipment. All you need is a small side plate or saucer & a sharp knife. You should get eight good sized pasties from this recipe, so plenty to go around. Ready to bake it happen? Hands washed, aprons on & here we go!
What you need:
For the Pastry:
8oz Self-Raising Flour (plus additional for dusting your worktop)
5oz Salted Butter, cold from the fridge or at least chilled so it’s firm
100ml Cold Water
1 large Egg, beaten (for glazing the pasties)
1/2oz Melted Butter (for the tin)
For the Filling:
Approx. 8oz Potatoes, peeled & chopped into small chunks
1 tablespoon Semi-Skimmed Milk
1/2 a teaspoon Sea Salt
2oz Butter
4oz Cheese, grated (I use whatever I have in the fridge)
1 medium Red Onion, finely chopped
Freshly ground Black Pepper & a little Sea Salt
Fresh Thyme leaves (just a couple of sprigs)
What to do:
First, let’s make the pastry. Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces, dropping them directly into the flour.
Using your fingertips, rub the butter chunks into the flour a little – we don’t want it like fine breadcrumbs, more like a rough rubble texture with plenty of lumps. This is just breaking down the butter a bit to make rolling easier.
Using a round ended knife, stir the water into the flour mixture to form a soft dough – the bowl should be clean when you’ve finished.
Tip the dough onto a lightly floured worktop & shape into a rough rectangle. Dust your rolling pin to stop it sticking & roll out the pastry until about half a centimetre thick.
Fold into thirds (fold one end into the middle, then the other over the top), turn it 90 degrees, then roll again (remember to re-dust your work surface to stop it sticking). Repeat this once more, then very loosely wrap in a sheet of greaseproof paper & place in the fridge for about 15 minutes or so. This will allow it to rest & the layers to form.
While the pastry is resting, make the mashed potatoes. Fill the kettle with water & put it on to boil. Cut the potatoes into small chunks, about a centimetre (this will help them cook faster) & chuck in a deep saucepan.
Add the sea salt & carefully tip on the boiling water from the kettle (no standing around waiting for the pan to heat up), just enough water to cover the potatoes. Put the lid on & simmer for about 8-10 minutes, until soft enough to cut easily. Drain well into a colander over the sink. Give the empty pan a quick wipe with a cloth to remove any moisture, then tip the potatoes back into the pan, ready for mashing.
Add the semi-skimmed milk & butter, then get mashing! It’s up to you how mashed you want them (personally, I prefer a bit of texture to my mash & always use a manual hand-held masher). Leave to cool with the lid off (don’t be tempted to put the lid on, as it forms condensation & you’ll end up with watery spuds).
While the mash is cooling, pre-heat the oven to 220*C & prepare your baking tray. Line it with a sheet of greaseproof paper, lightly brushed with the melted butter (the butter will add colour & crispness to the underside of the pasties as they bake).
Add the finely chopped onions & grated cheese to the potatoes, along with a little seasoning & a sprinkling of Thyme leaves. Give everything a good stir & have a quick taste to make sure you’re happy with the filling (this takes restraint, because I could just eat it from the pan at this stage). Set aside.
By now, your pastry will be ready to roll. Lightly flour your work surface & rolling pin, then roll out the pastry to about half a centimetre in thickness. Make sure it’s nice & even, but don’t worry about being too precise.
Place your saucer or plate on the pastry, cutting neatly around the edge & repeat until you have cut out as many as you can. Where you have leftover pieces of pastry, place them on top of each other, reshape & roll out again. Sometimes, I’ll just shape these last ones with my fingers rather than cutting them out again (trust me, it will all be fine once they’re baked).
Take one of the circles & roll lightly from top to bottom, to make a more oval shape. Place a couple of spoonfuls of the potato mixture onto the lower half of the pastry, leaving about a centimetre edge of pastry uncovered. Repeat until you have all your pasties made.
Brush a little beaten egg around the edge of the pastry & fold the top half of the pastry over, pressing the edges together to seal in your filling. From one corner of the pasty, gradually squish the edges together to form a crust, finishing at the other corner. Lift onto your prepared baking tray, prick holes with a fork in the top. Repeat this step, until you have all your pasties made.
Brush them well with the beaten egg & sprinkle on a little black pepper (or grated cheese if you like). Bake in the centre of the oven for about 25-30 minutes until gorgeously golden topped & piping hot.
Place on a cooling rack for a few minutes – even if you’re eating them warm, they will be like the surface of the sun right now & melt your mouth. While they’re cooling a little, grab a few crisp salad leaves or some chunky chips (or both), pile them on a plate & tuck in!
Fabulously flaky pastry, filled with fluffy cheesy potatoes & crisp red onion, these delicious savoury pasties are perfect for a light lunch or lazy supper. If you do have any leftover pasties, they can be frozen once completely cooled & reheated when you fancy one (pop them in the oven at 200*C, for about 15-20 minutes until piping hot again).
These delicious pasties also make fabulous flaky finger-foods, great for picnics & parties – just make smaller nibble-sized ones & add a spicy tomato dip for dunking! I use my tomato sauce recipe for meatballs & add a pinch of cayenne to give it a kick (recipe link here: https://hopeyourehungry.co.uk/having-a-ball/). Next time you have a cheesy comfort food craving, try my easy cheesy mashed potato pasties! Stay hungry! Aimee 😉 x
Gazing into the garden while sipping my first coffee of the day, there is an Autumnal air about it. The early sunshine is just peaking over the rooftops, causing the dew laden lawn to shimmer in the sunlight & perfectly summing up the Summer.
inbetween. The poor plants don’t seem to know which way to turn & our multi-tasking willow tree has been happily soaking up the excess water, whilst providing welcome cool shade to the local wildlife. There are baby olives on our little olive tree trying to ripen, green tomatoes just starting to blush red & a bounty of blackberries waiting patiently to be plucked. The garden seems to be clinging on by it’s very leaf-tips to the last days of Summer, as Autumn has quietly arrived & begun to unpack her colourful attire across the landscape.
us, just waiting to be turned into tasty transitional treats. Some of my best ideas come from mooching around the markets, shopping when everyone else is sat in traffic (or still in bed), & picking up some fabulous bargains. The early bird always catches her worm & although thankfully not very worm-like, earthy foods have caught my eye recently – the beautiful but humble mushroom.
amazing! From the tiny to the tawny, closed cup or open, the frilly or the flat, these fabulous funghi are just waiting to be turned into delicious dishes!
stems work well), along with any mushroom stems, parsnip, bean or pea trimmings – wash everything well to remove grit & dirt, then chuck them all in a roasting tin with 2-3 pints of cold water, a splash of olive oil & a few good grinds of black pepper & sea salt. Cover it with foil to seal in all the juices & bake at 200*C for just over an hour, then strain & that’s it. Use it fresh, stick it in the fridge for a couple of days or freeze it. Save the veggies to whizz up into soups or sauces & pour any leftovers into jars for the fridge or ice cube trays to freeze.
Next, although I have used two types of pastry (shortcrust for the base & puff for the lid), you could use shortcrust all over or just use shop-bought puff lids if time is limited – please make sure it’s proper all-butter puff to do your pie proud. If you do fancy having a go at making your own, here’s the link to my puff pastry recipe: 
Sprinkle in the plain flour around the pan & stir fry everything together until the flour has disappeared. This is going to make a roux in the pan, as it will absorb the butter & oil in the mixture, thickening everything up nicely.
Tip the mushroom pie filling into the pastry lined tin & spread out well. Dip your finger in a cup of cold water & run it around the edge of the pastry.
Put the pie tin on a cooling rack for a few moments to relax before serving. That’s it! Just get everyone around the table & dig in! Meaty but meatless, this mushroom-packed pastry goes well with either a generous scoop of cheesy mashed potatoes & steamed crisp vegetables, or a zesty green salad scattered with a few spots of aged Balsamic vinegar & toasted pine nuts. Slice it up cold for a luscious leftover lunch or freeze in slices for indulgent lazy suppers after a long day at work.
Driving home this morning, seeing the luscious much-needed rain has brought the gardens back to greenery & lowered the temperature slightly, I felt rather peaceful. Pretty flowers were less wilted & seemed to flourish, the herbs were more fragrant & our beloved willow tree had perked up again, waggling it’s beautiful branches in the Summer breeze.
hands are cool, after washing them run your wrists under the cold tap for a few moments (trust me, it works).
Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl & add one of the butter pieces. Rub it into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Turn out your pastry onto a lightly floured worktop & shape into a rectangle. Roll away from you into a long piece, about a centimetre thick. Try to keep the edges as straight as you can, but don’t worry too much or you’ll drive yourself loopy! Using a dry pastry brush, dust off any excess flour as you go, especially when folding the layers (otherwise it may affect the recipe & you want flaky pastry, not floury).
Take one of the three pieces of butter & cut into small chunks of about 1cm (you can just pull it apart, but the heat from your hands might melt it).
Dust the worktop with a little more flour. Turn the pastry one turn to the right & roll out again, just as you did above.
Lay your pastry on a piece of greaseproof paper, fold the top of the paper over your pastry & put it on a plate in the fridge for an hour (you might need to leave it longer during this heatwave we’re having, so probably add another ten minutes if you’re not sure – I’ve left it a couple of hours before & it didn’t do any harm). Get yourself a cuppa, put your feet up & read a book or something (if you’re like me, you’ve probably been whizzing around, so relax for a bit).
Cut into two equal pieces & on one of them, brush a little melted butter all over the top & sprinkle on two thirds of the cheese.
Brush the top of your cheesy pastry with beaten egg – just the top, not the edges, otherwise your pastry won’t rise properly.
Place on the baking tray & repeat with the rest of the pastry, until you have a couple of trays of twirly swirls with about half an inch between them.
Bake in the centre of the oven for about 10-12 minutes, until they have risen & turned a gorgeous golden hue. Carefully transfer them onto a cooling rack using a pallet knife or thin spatula. Remember the crunchy cheesy chips? Shake them into a dish for sprinkling on salad as a crispy garnish or just eat them as they are – Chef’s perks!
Serve your cheesy sticks either on their own or maybe dunked in an oozy, warm baked Camembert with a glass of chilled wine (you’ve worked hard & deserve a treat). I doubt they will last long, but if you do have any leftover just pop them in an airtight container (they will keep for a couple of days, so I’m told).
If you want to make an alternative to cheese twists, just make cheese “sausage” rolls – instead of cutting into strips, cut into wide ribbons. Lay grated cheese across the top half of the pastry ribbon, brush a line of beaten egg on the opposite edge of the pastry & roll over, carefully encasing the cheese inside. Press lightly to stick the roll together, then cut into inch long pieces & brush with egg. 
Bake at 220*C for about 10-12 minutes, until golden & risen. Transfer to a baking tray to cool for a few minutes before serving. Great for lunches, nibbles or parties.
hearts in their hundreds as treats for people to give to their beloved, dipping each one in melted chocolate, decorating them by hand & turning my kitchen into my own little chocolate factory! By the time I’d finished, I really didn’t want to see, smell or taste chocolate for a few weeks after! Last year, my Husband was suitably spoiled as always, with a selection of his favourite handmade chocolates decorating a rather large, milk chocolate frosted heart-shaped chocolate cake (I think there was just enough chocolate in it!).
This year, I wanted to do something a bit different & as it was birthday 
achievement (they’re quite fiddly & I’m not very patient). I won’t bore you with the details, but as it took me about a couple of hours to create each one from scratch (not including the centres), you can appreciate that I couldn’t watch them being eaten (the Husband kept wandering into another room every time he ate one, so I wouldn’t see).
Bake them all for about 8-10 minutes, until golden & then gently transfer them to a cooling tray. These will be crisper than the other recipe, so they should be firmer.
Remember all the little heart centres that you baked? Simply pipe a small splodge of buttercream into them & make little layered lovehearts, for bite-sized treats. You can always drizzle melted chocolate over the top of these if you want to make them extra special.
Any leftover jam can be put back in the jar & left in the fridge until you need it (don’t throw jam away!). The same goes for the buttercream – just wrap up the end of the piping bag & fold over the snipped end, then keep it in the fridge to use on random cupcakes or chocolate puddings. If you’re really feeling adventurous, tip it into a bowl & add more icing sugar until a bit firmer, then use it to pipe some buttercream roses onto cookies (if you make a mistake, scrape it off, shove it back in the bag & start again – great for teaching kids & keeps them entertained for ages).
For Christmas, I simply used a tree cutter & drizzled them with melted chocolate (mix a little milk & plain chocolate together for a richer flavour), then simply adorned them with some sugar sprinkles. Why not try making cute reindeer cookies too! Simply use an upside-down gingerbread man cutter to shape your cookie dough & decorate with rolled out fondant or modelling chocolate. They are so easy to make & perfect treats for sharing.
so I don’t have to do much apart from put them on a plate. Then there are perfectly plump pancakes. I’m not talking about the delicately thin, elegant crêpes we usually eat on Pancake Day though. Breakfast pancakes are duvet-like delicacies – substantially thick, warming & with a fluffy filling. What they shouldn’t be is fiddly, time-consuming & boring! Now I’m not saying you need to be standing around the stove, flipping fluffy pancakes for all you’re worth at stupid o’clock (as if I would suggest such a thing!). The best way to get your pancake fix without the faff is to make a batch in advance & keep some ready made in the fridge (or freezer if you really want to be organised).
Heat up a large skillet or frying pan on a medium heat – your pan needs to be nice & hot before you start cooking your pancakes.
Remove each pancake, one at a time & lay on the plate with a strip of greaseproof paper in between each one to separate them.
If you’re serving them immediately, cover the plate with an upside-down mixing bowl to keep them warm & transfer to the table. If not, leave them to cool & wrap a couple at a time in clingfilm, then put them in the fridge or freezer. You can put them in an airtight container too, just keep them separated with the greaseproof paper strips, then serve when you want some. To reheat your pancakes, simply pop a couple in the toaster for about 30 seconds to warm through & that’s breakfast prepared!
These fabulous fluffed up pancakes don’t have to be dull either! They are perfect with an array of fresh fruit, beautiful berries or just a squeeze of fresh lemon juice & a drizzle of golden syrup. If I have a couple of punnets of fresh berries going spare, I’ll put them in a saucepan with some golden syrup & simmer gently until they become soft & squishy, making a warm fruit sauce to pour on top. These soft little flatcakes also taste scrumptious with scrambled eggs – great if you fancy something a bit more exciting than cereal (which is obviously for midnight snacks).
to serve them is to splodge spoonfuls of apricot jam in between the layers with whipped cream, top with a couple of fresh raspberries, then drizzle with pureed peaches – open a tin of peaches, chuck them in the blender, whizz up with a squeeze of lemon juice & pour into a serving jug! If you don’t want to use cream, maybe use strawberry or raspberry ice cream instead. These sumptuous stacks of sweetness look impressive & are really quick to assemble (especially if you have a few pancakes already made). There would have been pictures, but they never last long enough!
until it was silky smooth (although simple to make, profiteroles need strong arms & plenty of stamina). Once baked & filled, these piled up plump little pastries would be generously glazed with glossy, rich chocolate sauce & adorned with sparkly spun sugar. I would watch in amazement as my Mum swiftly whipped a sugar-dipped fork through the air & glittery, golden sugar strands would appear as if by magic! Although I don’t tend to make spun sugar very often, I do still make proper profiteroles & once you have tried them, you’ll be hooked too. So, hands washed & aprons at the ready!
Once cooled, your profiteroles are ready! If you are preparing them in advance, you can freeze them a few at a time in a single layer – they crisp up beautifully after a few minutes in a warm oven & you’ll be able to dish up a dessert at a moment’s notice.
Generously drizzle warm, chocolate sauce over them & serve! You want the recipe for chocolate sauce, don’t you? It’s really easy to make & one of my favourite “chuck it all in a pan” recipes. I make jars of this & store it in the fridge or the cold pantry, then warm it up to make it runny enough to pour over cupcakes (it tastes fabulous spread on hot toast too). Here it is!
the leaves, all the way around & it should come out. The more ripe the strawberries, the easier it is.
When you’ve finished, you should have a beautiful strawberry sponge square cake (yes, I’m aware it’s not square, just go with it). Dust lightly with icing sugar all over the top (use a tea strainer for this & you only need about a teaspoonful of icing sugar to do the whole thing) & serve immediately.
could just hide the rest in the fridge for nibbling on later (I think you’ve earned it!). If you don’t like strawberries, use blueberries or even your favourite jam. One of my favourite variations is to make a tiramisu filling instead of using cream, then mix some Sherry or Brandy with an equal amount of espresso coffee to drizzle over the sponge & replace the icing sugar on top with finely grated dark chocolate. Decorate with a few coffee beans & a sprig of fresh mint.
the end of November, I had already chopped, mashed & stashed an array of side dishes in readiness, cramming pots of fluffy potatoes, gorgeous gravy & cauliflower cheesiness into my freezer. Most of us work & don’t have the time to faff around in the kitchen, so a bit of prep now will make all the difference. It’s like giving yourself the gift of time! Because I’m covering a few things here, you will need some strong coffee to keep you going & a few Little Helpers to share the load (bribes at the ready if necessary!). This also works for Thanksgiving too.
exception. A week or two before, I make a mountain of mashed potatoes & a giant cauliflower cheese (sometimes with broccoli), then freeze them in two-person portions (for the recipe, click on this link to my blog: 
completely & I started making my own from scratch. It’s so simple, you can make it in advance & freeze it until you need it! If you prefer it inside the bird, just make your stuffing the day before, cover it & leave in the fridge. Depending on the size of your dinner party or the size of your bird, just increase quantities as required (I say “bird” because not everyone eats turkey, my family included, as we prefer chicken). Hands washed, aprons on & here goes!
1 large Onion, finely chopped
Sprinkle the Sage & Rosemary into the pan with a pinch of Thyme, add the breadcrumbs & stir well. The residual heat from the pan will bring everything together nicely, so just mix well. Season with a little sea salt & black pepper, stirring well again. If you’re adding the roasted chopped chestnuts or lemon zest, do this now.
If you’re making stuffing balls, get yourself an ice-cream scoop (spring-loaded will make your life easier & will also ensure they are all roughly the same size). Put some of the mixture into the ice-cream scoop (you don’t want to damage your pan by scraping it!) & press it in gently. Release the ball from the scoop, shape it into a nice sized ball in your hand & place on the greaseproof paper. Repeat until you’ve used the whole lot.
oven for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top, turning halfway. Once cooked, either serve immediately with your roast dinner, or place on a cooling rack (still on the greaseproof paper) & leave to cool completely. These can then be frozen & reheated on the day you want them. That’s the stuffing stuffed!
Once you’ve got your sides sorted, Christmas Day becomes a doddle – just take them out of the freezer the night before, pop them into an ovenproof dish to defrost & that’s it, prep done! They can be reheated in the oven while the bird is resting & the veg are roasting. This is also handy when unexpected extras turn up for dinner, because you’ll have a spare pot you can defrost (making you look like the most organised person ever & score major Brownie points!).
quality one that you like, then pimp it up with a few little tweaks. Simply scoop the whole lot into a small saucepan & break up with a wooden spoon, heating very gently. Add a shot of Sherry or Port, stirring carefully into the cranberry sauce. Sprinkle a little orange or lemon zest into the pan, about half a teaspoon, & stir gently for a minute or two. Pour it into a small dish to cool, then cover & put in the fridge until you’re ready to serve!
a pint into a jug. To remove any fat from the stock (that’s the golden bubbles you can see here), get yourself a few sheets of kitchen paper & touch it gently on the top – the grease will attach itself to the paper, which you can then throw away (no faffing around trying to separate it).
Remove from the oven & tip them onto a cooling rack. Either pile them up onto a plate for your dinner guests or let them go cold, bag them up & pop them in the freezer. Then when you fancy a Yorkshire pud, put them on a tray in the oven for about 4-5 minutes to reheat & crisp up – I like to use the residual heat from the turned off oven after cooking dinner. They’re also rather nice with a spoonful of jam & a drizzle of single cream (or tinned evaporated milk).
Firstly, apologies for the delay in writing my blog, as we are in the process of having a new kitchen fitted (week three, yay!). As you’re probably aware, the kitchen is my sanctuary, my haven of foodliness & culinary creativity. It’s one of my favourite places when life gets stressful, where I go to take my mind off things & create sweetness when there is none (or knead the crap out of some dough for a bit to de-stress). When I can’t cook or bake, I tend to get a bit tetchy! I started the first week like SpongeBob on his first day at the Krusty Krab (“I’m ready!”), but rapidly transformed into Donna Corleone by the end of the second. It’s never straight-forward when you’re having building work done, even a small kitchen & no matter how organised you think you are, you’re not. As I discovered, even the most perfectly planned projects can go a bit awry & bring out your inner DeNiro.
Until Friday morning of the second week, there was no working sink, no oven, no hob, no washing machine in place & no wine, which even for the most patient of people starts to get a bit much. None of this was made easier by sharing our lounge with most of the large kitchen appliances (which was everything but the fridge), a dining table & six chairs, along with all the usual furniture one has in a lounge & everything the cat owns too (along with one rather disgruntled cat, who was having to share with “the staff”). The kettle, microwave, toaster & slow cooker were all perched rather precariously on the dining table & washing machine, just across from the sofa. It was very cosy!
midway into week three, with various as yet unresolved issues (such as a gaping chasm in the ceiling where the old oven fan used to be, no hob as yet & a couple of minor head injuries from the low oven vent, which has a tea towel on to cover the blood), you can imagine that we’re getting rather vexed & I’m suffering from serious Spaghetti alla Carbonara deficiency. Note to self: remember wine next time & double it, with a few whiskey chasers!
Before the chaos began, I prepared a few meals in advance & filled the freezer with lots of luscious treasures to keep us going. Firstly, I made my staple Italian favourite: an enormous lasagne al forno. This was 
baked 
of Parmesan & Cheddar, which works really well. To give it a crispy topping, roughly grate half a crust of bread over the top & spread liberally. It can be chunky or fine, it really doesn’t matter. Sprinkle a pinch of Oregano on top, some freshly ground black pepper & bake it in the middle of the oven at 200*C for about 20 – 25 minutes. It will be crispy on top, the cheese will go golden & all that gooey cheese sauce will plump up the veg, infusing them with cheesiness. Leave it to go cold, slice into portions & freeze in individual tubs. This tastes amazing on it’s own too & is quite filling (we had it with chips from our local Chinese takeaway – gorgeous!).
The next day, I prepared a couple of fresh chickens by filleting, skinning & cutting them into portions. This provides four chicken breasts, four legs & two carcasses with the wings on. Have a read of my article 
smoked bacon before being cooked, then frozen individually. The carcasses went into the oven with some veg, herbs & water to make stock (which was also frozen for future risottos when we have a hob). The chicken breasts were divided into two to make chicken pies & kievs, stuffed with homemade garlic & smokey bacon butter.
a month, I buy a big pack of smoked bacon, split it into 4 or 6 rasher batches & freeze them, so I’ve always got smoked bacon for risotto or cacciatore – now I have it for garlic butter too. I have also used Proscuitto di Parma when I have leftover slices – it crisps up perfectly when fried. It makes more sense to make a large batch of the butter, rather than faffing around with piddling portions just for two kievs. The measurements are general here, depending on how much garlic you like, so go easy if you’re unsure.
inch above the edge of the paper, leaving a couple of inches either side to twist together afterwards. Roll away from you & keep it tight, smoothing the paper with your fingers to make a sausage of butter, tucking the edge of the paper underneath it. Roll evenly until completely rolled up & twist the edges together. Wrap in clingfilm & twist the edges again. Pop it in the top freezer drawer & leave it to set for at least an hour. This will become firm & easier to slice. Once ready, cut a couple of slices & put to one side ready for stuffing, then put the rest in back in the freezer. When you need to use it again, leave it out of the freezer for about ten minutes to soften slightly before slicing.
Using the same hand you did for flouring, sprinkle & pat the breadcrumbs onto the chicken, ensuring it is thoroughly coated on all sides. Shake off the excess & place in a plate (sprinkle a few breadcrumbs onto the plate before you do this). Repeat this process for the other chicken kievs, then cover the dish with cling film & put in the bottom of the fridge for an hour or so – raw meat should not be next to cooked or be above anything else, so I always use the bottom shelf.
carefully, replacing them in the oven to finish cooking. Once cooled, pop a couple in a tub & freeze (pour over any escaped butter & crispy bits from the tin too). They reheat well once defrosted too – just put them in a dish in the oven at 200*C for 20 minutes or so. Make sure they are piping hot before dishing up – stick a metal skewer in the 
centre & if it’s hot to the touch, they’re ready. They go great with a huge salad & proper chunky chips. If you’re not keen on bacon or garlic, try using different stuffings in your chicken – maybe some sundried tomatoes, a couple of slices of Mozzarella & some fresh Basil leaves, or shredded spinach, Ricotta & chopped pine nuts.
So who had breakfast this morning? No, “just a coffee” won’t do. I mean food, whether it’s porridge, a bacon butty or a boiled egg, some kind of sustenance to keep you going. A bit of toast maybe? Or did you grab something sweet at your local shop or a flat pack snack from the petrol station on your way to work? Oh dear, you really do need something a bit perkier than forecourt fayre, especially if you’re going to stop your stomach doing dragon impressions at your desk (which is never a good look)!
This morning, after I had been chocolatiering all week, I really couldn’t face 
Once cooked, it may look slightly risen on top – don’t worry, this will go down as it cools. Place the dish on a wire rack & while it’s still warm, run a knife around the edge of your oaty bake. Leave the whole thing to cool for about five minutes (remember, jam is like molten lava & will melt your mouth, so be patient – go & wash up or something while you wait). When cool, the jam becomes a thick, gooey & ever so luscious layer of fruitiness, so it is worth the wait.
After it has cooled, run a knife around the edge again to loosen the slice & tip very carefully onto a chopping board (it will still be quite soft). Cut into even sized slices & it’s ready to eat! If you’re not comfortable with the tipping out method, just cut it in the dish & use a spatula to lift them out individually. I get 16 good sized slices from one lasasgne dish, so there are plenty for everyone.
If you’re taking them on a picnic, why not add a few ripe raspberries to the jam layer & drizzle swirls of melted white chocolate over the cooled slices. They make a nice alternative to a dessert & you don’t need plates or spoons, just a napkin (you all know how much I adore washing up!). These will make you very popular though, so I advise that you keep a small stash for yourself in the back of the cupboard!