In The Restaurant @ The Mill it’s about fine dining, but chef Ben loves to rustle up some of the old-fashioned, hearty recipes that people often yearn for when it’s cold, wet and windy outside… So curl up for a rustic lunch with restaurant owners Ben and Hilary – it’s their day off and they are in the mood to indulge and try out author Janice Horton’s Haggis Bake and my own Heavenly Crepes!

Well, what better winter warmer could you possibly ask for? And this is a lady who lives in the wilds of bonnie Scotland and really appreciates food that warms from the inside out…

Janice Horton lives a cottage on the side of a hillside in Scotland. Previously traditionally published and now writing as an Indie, Janice writes contemporary fiction with humour and heart.
Look out for her Amazon Kindle bestselling ebooks ‘Bagpipes and Bullshot’ and ‘Reaching for the Stars’ and her voodoo romance series of novellas.

Janice has also written a guide for authors ‘How To Party Online’. She is a member of the Romantic Novelist’s Association and Associate Editor of the innovative Loveahappyending Lifestyle Magazine.
Janice is a regular blogger and you’ll also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Haggis Bake

You will need:
One large haggis (I’m using a traditional Macsween of Edinburgh haggis).
1kg lean Scottish steak mince.
One large onion.
Two tbsp plain flour.
Tin of chopped tomatoes.
One and a half pints of beef stock ( I used OXO cubes x 3)
Potatoes (peel as many as you think you will need to cover a large shallow oven dish) then slice lengthways into medium thick slices and part boil.

Method:
Brown the minced beef in a large pan with the chopped onion. Add the flour. Stir and cook until the flour is absorbed. Add the tinned chopped tomatoes and the beef stock. Turn down the heat to a simmer and cover.
Cook the haggis by following the instructions on the wrapper. For this recipe I used the microwave method. Chop up the cooked haggis and add to the minced beef and gravy. Stir and add boiling water if more liquid is required. The oats in the haggis will absorb a lot of the liquid and you should allow for this. You probably won’t want to season the mixture as the haggis is well seasoned.
In a separate pan, parboil the sliced potatoes for about 5 minutes. You want them half-cooked and still firm. Drain in a colander. Transfer the beef mince and haggis mixture to a large shallow oven dish and arrange the slices of potato on top.
Brush with melted butter and pop into a moderately hot oven. This would be the middle shelf of the roasting oven for an range cooker or 190 degrees/ gas mark 5 for a conventional oven. Bake until bubbling and golden brown for approx 30-40 minutes. Serves 8-10 generously. Enjoy with seasonal vegetables like ‘neeps’ and carrots.

Website/Blog: www.janicehortonwriter.co.uk
Twitter @JaniceHorton
www.facebook.com/JaniceHortonAuthor

And next:

Heavenly Crepes!

Serves: 4 people – make them the day before and keep in the fridge

Crepe batter:

4oz.  plain flour
Pinch of salt
Grated rind of half a lemon
1 egg
1/2 pint milk
1/2oz. butter, melted
Butter for frying
For orange butter sauce:
5-6 white sugar cubes (very important)
3oz. butter
2oz. caster sugar
2 large oranges
1 tbsp. juice of an orange
1 tbsp. cointreau
1 tbsps. brandy

Sift the flour and the salt; mix in the grated lemon rind. Add the egg and beat into a smooth batter. Add the milk and melted butter, beating well. Heat a small knob of butter in a 7″ frying pan until hot, pour off any surplus into a small dish. Pour in enough batter to cover the pan thinly and cook until golden brown. Turn using a palette knife, and brown the other side. 

As the crepes are ready stack them on a large plate. Leave to cool, then wrap in cling film and place in the fridge.

To make the orange buttery sauce, rub the sugar cubes over the skin of the washed orange until each cube has absorbed the oil in the skin. Crush the cubes in a pestle and mortar. Beat the butter until soft, add the crushed sugar cubes and add in the caster sugar. Beat until soft and creamy, then add in the orange juice and Cointreau. Mix well, cover and pop into the fridge.

To assemble the dish (same, or next day): take one crepe and place a little of the orange butter sauce in the middle, fold into four and repeat, arranging the crepes in a shallow ovenproof dish. Melt the remaining orange butter in a small pan and pour over the crepes. Put the dish in the oven for about 20-30 minutes 180ºc, turn down the temperature a little if the edges start to over-crisp. At the table, place the dish on a warming dish (the sort with tea lights), pour the brandy into a tablespoon or serving spoon and heat the bowl of the spoon with a long-stemmed match or lighter. Pour over the crepes in the dish and ignite the brandy. Serve at once. Delicious served one crepe per person, with a scoop of good quality, vanilla ice cream.

Good food and wine, pleasant company … what more could you ask from a restaurant? But what Hilary finds is that as she looks around it isn’t just celebrations that bring people together around a dinner table. Sometimes it’s the need to get away to talk and sometimes she notices tears, or troubled sighs as she busily flits from table to table. Each couple have their own story to tell and some guests are frequent visitors so in a way, their story plays out in front of her. A young couple who meet, celebrate their engagement and then wedding, and then there’s a baby on the way. But in between there is a tragedy that impacts upon this young couple … it’s all in The Restaurant @ The Mill.

 

This is a good book to curl up with in front of the fire. If you love peeking into other people’s lives then you will be surprised to find that no matter how different their backgrounds, ages or professions – everyone has their our own problems to contend with, they are just all very different!

Read chapter one here

viewBook.at/TheRestaurant

 

The Winter Warmer

recipe booklet will be free to download on

2 February 2014

– so don’t forget to pop back!

 

Every restaurant should have its own signature Apple Pie dish. This one is Hilary and Ben’s, the two owners of The Restaurant @ The Mill. Of course, it’s a fictional story so I’m lending them an old-fashioned favourite that has long been one of my Christmas special puddings.

 

As this Winter Warmer feature continues in celebration of the very romantic new-look cover for this series of love stories, it has taken me back into the world of the characters in this novel. You can read an excerpt here:

Read chapter one here   viewBook.at/TheRestaurant

There is a love story for every decade in life, from a couple in their twenties through to the twilight years. The one thing that connects them all is fine dining at the mill! Food really is something that brings people together and sharing a meal out with someone special is wonderful, but staying in and cooking can be very relaxing too!

Coming soon – Heavenly Crepes and Haggis Bake (courtesy of Janice Horton) and don’t forget that the Winter Warmer recipe booklet will be free to download here on 2 February, 2014. 

So, now onto today’s treat:

Old fashioned Windfall Apple Pie (with a twist)

Serves: 4-6, best eaten hot

Pastry: 4oz plain flour
1oz butter
1oz lard
Juice of half a medium-sized orange

Filling: Grated rind of 1 orange
1½lbs windfall* cooking apples, peeled and sliced
5fl oz of single cream
Juice of half a medium-sized orange
3oz caster sugar

*Peel, core, slice and blanch them in the autumn, then freeze in ‘pie dish’ size portions. Defrost thoroughly before use.

Method:
Heat oven to 200ºC.
Rub together with your finger tips the flour, butter and lard until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Use enough orange juice to bind the pastry together. Chill the pastry in the fridge whilst you prepare the filling.
Put the sliced apples into a 1½ pint pie dish. Add the grated orange rind. Pour on the cream and coat the apples. Add the sugar to the remaining orange juice and sprinkle over the apples.
Gently knead the pastry and roll out to a little larger than the pie dish so that you can cut a narrow strip to line the edges of the pie dish and still have a large enough circle to cover the pie. Wet the edge of the pie dish with a little water and press a thin strip of pastry around the entire dish. Dampen the top of the strip, lift the circle of pastry and lay over the pie dish. Press down the edges and trim, using the handle end of a large spoon press down to make a small pattern on the edge of the pastry and to help seal it.
With any remaining cuttings, form a ball and roll it out. Cut out some pastry leaves. Cut a whole in the centre of the pie and lay the leaves around the hole. Score each of them with a knife to give them the markings of a leaf.
Place in the oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180ºC and cook until golden brown – at least 10-15 minutes.

Serve: best served hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

The very fabulous Caroline James is visiting and sharing a superb recipe that I can’t wait to try!

Caroline’s Red Lentil Dhal

This healthy dish is so simple to make and truly delicious. The flavours are even better the next day (if you can keep it that long!). It’s certainly a winter warmer/comfort food on a cold day. I use chicken stock but for vegetarians substitute a vegetable stock.

Ingredients:

1 Onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
550ml chicken or vegetable stock
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
5cm piece root ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 tsp tumeric
2 tbsp medium curry powder
110g red lentils
50g puy lentils
1 large butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into small chunks
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into small chunks
4 large tomatoes – sliced thinly

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/ fan 160 degrees C / gas mark 4

• Add olive oil to a pan and gently sauté the onions and carrots, cook until slightly softened.
• Add the garlic, chilli and ginger and cook for one minute before adding the tumeric and curry powder. Blend together then pour in the stock and bring to the boil
• Add the red lentils and puy lentils
• Place the squash and carrots in a large oven proof dish and pour the lentil mixture over.
• Arrange tomatoes on top and cover
• Cook for an hour and a half on a low shelf

Serve with rice and a side dish of plain yogurt with a little chopped coriander or basil

©carolinejames

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caroline has been busy with the release of her smash hit So You Think You’re A Celebrity … Chef? She also had an exclusive interview on Loveahappyending Lifestyle magazine with Downton Abbey food stylist, Lisa Heathcote. A big THANK YOU for being my guest today on Winter Warmers!

Find out more about Caroline:

Facebook: Caroline James Author on Facebook
Twitter Account: @CarolineJames12
Author Blogs: carolinejamesblogspot
Author’s Website: www.carolinejamesauthor.co.uk

 

When it’s cold outside and I’m looking for hearty, winter dishes – this is the one I pull out of the freezer and it’s a fitting one for the Winter Warmer series! It’s perfect for when the family come home after a long walk on a cold, wintry day …

Pork and Stuffing Casserole

– best served reheated the next day

Serves 6 people

1 pork loin joint to serve 6
10 fl oz of red wine and 30 fl oz water
1/2 packet (or 40g)  of dried sage and onion stuffing mix
A selection of winter vegetables (3 large x carrots, 1 x swede, 3 x parsnip, 1 x  medium turnip)
2 medium size onions
Freshly ground salt and pepper
2 packets of pork gravy mix
A little olive oil
Dried sage
2 bay leaves

Method:
Wash the joint of pork and place in a large saucepan. Whisk the two packets of gravy mix with the wine and water in a jug and pour over the pork. Add two bay leaves. Simmer, covering with a lid, for 90 minutes and until the meat is tender. Place the meat on a platter to cool and then cut into 6 slices. Keep the cooking liquid but remove the bay leaves.

Slice and dice the onions and saute them in a little olive oil for ten minutes, until they go slightly brown and put to one side. Dice the vegetables into 2-3cm pieces and place is a large saucepan. Add the liquid from the pork – the red wine and the water – to the vegetables and season with salt, pepper and dried sage. Add half a packet of dried sage and onion stuffing mix. Stir well and bring to the boil, add the onions, then simmer gently STIRRING FREQUENTLY SO THE STUFFING DOESN’T STICK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SAUCEPAN. The vegetables should still  be whole and slightly ‘al dente’ – about an hour. Add additional water if the gravy becomes too thick.

To serve: If using small earthenware, single portion dishes  – place one slice of pork in the bottom and one very generous ladle of vegetables/gravy over the top. Pop in the oven for 30 minutes to finish cooking; if you are going to cool and freeze some of the portions then cover those with silver foil.

Best either a) reheated the next day in the oven, 200ºC 30-40 minutes until bubbling OR  b) frozen, defrosted and then re-heated. Serve with green peas and a side of mash, or with sliced potatoes (below). Alternatively, add a dumpling to each dish as a substitute for a potato side dish.

Sliced potato dish – cut some small potatoes lengthways, part-boil them, baste with olive oil and season with freshly ground pepper, sea salt and a sprinkling of mixed herbs. Cook in the oven alongside the Pork and Stuffing Casserole.

Note: If freezing do this in individual portions and don’t forget to defrost thoroughly before re-heating.

This is a dish that chef Ben might serve in The Restaurant @ The Mill as a main course following scallops in a saffron broth. The stuffing would be handmade, of course, and the casserole would be served in a small dish with a lid. He might add ‘winter greens’ mash, piped into delicate rosette shapes on the plate.

But what is it like to be a chef? In Ben’s case, he’s a chef who defends his kitchen as his domain and prefers his own company. Could it be that he’s running away from his emotions? To give up his life in London as a chef at a top restaurant and go into partnership with someone he only knew by reputation – unless, of course, they had met in the dim and distant past. But if that was the case, wouldn’t Hilary have remembered – especially if they had spoken? And what of his relationship with his father and brothers? Why is his mother the only one who stays in touch … Ben’s life unfolds and Hilary is in for a few very unexpected surprises!

Read chapter one here

viewBook.at/TheRestaurant

Thank you for joining me in my kitchen and I’ll be back with more Winter Warmer recipes. Don’t forget to come back on 2 February 2014 to download your FREE copy of the recipe booklet! Perfect for those family meals around the table on a wintry evening!

Did you miss – Winter Sausages and Easy Apple Muffins and Kedgeree?  

Celebrating a brand new romantic look for The Restaurant @ The Mill with a ‘Winter Warmer‘ feature!

This is week 2 in an 8 week series of recipes to ward off those winter blues and warm you up from the inside out!

Along the way there are a few guests who will be bringing their own winter favourites too. Look out for the free downloadable Winter Warmer recipe booklet available here on 27 December 2013!

Winter sausages – hearty food for hearty people!

Serves 4 people

8 sausages
Two large onions (one white, one red)
3 medium size sweet potatoes (or two large ones)
2 large carrots
2 large parsnips
Olive oil
Fresh rosemary and two bay leaves
Freshly ground salt and pepper and some mixed herbs

Method:
Peel and cut into 1 inch pieces the sweet potatoes, parsnips and carrots, bring to the boil in a pan of salted water for about 10 minutes so they are still ‘whole’ and firm. Drain.
Peel and chop the onions into four quarters.
Pop sausages into a pan of boiling, lightly salted water. Simmer gently for ten minutes, cool slightly and remove the skins, but leave whole.
Place the sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips and onions into an ovenproof dish. Pour a little olive oil over the top, add the seasoning and herbs, mix lightly with your hands.
Cook at 200ºC in the centre of the oven. After 10 minutes add the sausages and cook for a further 35-40 minutes (turn the sausages half-way through the cooking time) until everything is golden brown.

Note: Simmering the sausages first enhances their flavour – you will be surprised at the difference it makes!

Serve:
1) Delicious with a hunk of crusty granary bread and a home-made tomato sauce on the side, or
2) Serve with cauliflower cheese for a hearty meal, or
3) Serve it in a large Yorkshire pudding and top with red wine gravy

Whichever way you serve it, this really is winter comfort eating!

Sharing a meal with friends and loved ones is special; meals are for sitting around a table enjoying good food and good conversation. It’s about laughter and love – whether you are in a restaurant or at home.

What do you drink with this hearty dish?

I suppose my love of food and the social element is exactly why I wrote The Restaurant @ The Mill. The building featured in the story is a composite of two mills I have visited and between them they combined to create the perfect setting.

The owners, Hilary and Ben, met up because of their professional aspirations. A perfect partnership, as Ben is an exquisite and talented chef, whilst Hilary’s management as the charismatic front of house and incredibly efficient ‘mâitre d’‘, sets their restaurant apart.

Add in the fact that they were both tired of the hustle and bustle of London … and the rolling farmland and greenery of Gloucestershire beckoned. They both fell in love with the old mill the moment they stepped out of the car and looked up at the wonderful old building.

But what makes the restaurant come alive are the diners. It IS Ben and Hilary’s story, but as the lives of some of their guests unfold the picture begins to open up. What links them all isn’t JUST The Restaurant @ The Mill, but life – love in all its forms; happiness, sadness and hope … It’s a snapshot over time – autumn to autumn. The diners vary from the newly-weds to those in their twilight years; they come from all backgrounds. But lurking beneath the surface of their lives is a melting pot of emotion …

Read chapter one here

Follow the series – it runs for 8 weeks, until  27 Dec, 2013, and I can promise you some very tempting and easy to cook recipes to ward off those chilly days.  I’ll also be pulling them together into a free downloadable document you can save on your desktop and refer back to or print out. Perfect for those family meals around the table on a wintry evening!

http://smarturl.it/InLovewithLoveBk3

There are more recipes to come – and the Winter Warmer recipe booklet will be available to download or print out, here on 2 February, 2014!

I’m celebrating a brand new look for:

The Restaurant @ The Mill – no, it’s not a refurbishment, but it has a lovely new cover, courtesy of Sapphire Star Publishing. To mark the occasion I’m launching a ‘Winter Warmer’ feature. Over the next two months I will be sharing some home-cooked recipe. I’ve always been one of those home chefs who enjoys experimenting. I love winter because it’s an excuse to cook up some fabulous casseroles, but I’ll also be featuring some festive puddings and a tipple or two along the way … Plus there will be some very special guests!

I’ll be drafting in a few friends to help and asking them to bring along one of their own concoctions to share.

‘The Restaurant @ The Mill ‘Winter Warmer Recipe Booklet’ will be available to download free, here on 2 February, 2014, but today we’re looking at one of the easiest recipes you can find. An apple muffin that freezes well and tastes divine! And author Emma Calin has dropped by to share one of her favourite home-cooked recipes – Kedgeree. Banish those winter blues … in the kitchen! Both of these are lovely served at breakfast or brunch.

Easy Apple Muffins with a touch of spice – or not!

2oz margarine
2oz caster sugar
1 egg
4 oz plain flour
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
3fl oz milk and water (half and half)
1 medium apple – peeled, cored and finely chopped
Either a) 1 level dessertspoon of caster sugar + ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon or b) a sprinkling of granulated sugar for the topping

Cream the margarine and caster sugar, then beat in the egg. Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and add to the mixture. Gradually add small amounts of water and milk to the mix  until everything has been combined. Fold in the apple and spoon into buttered, individual muffin tins/moulds. Mix together a) 1 level dessertspoon of caster sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of b) shake a little granulated sugar over the top to give a ‘crunch’.

Bake at 220ºC for 15 minutes. Cook until golden brown. Make large quantities as these freeze well. Serve: No need … they disappear!

A HUGE welcome to my guest today, author Emma Calin. Emma has a poet’s heart, writes gritty, urban stories that are often hard-hitting and is a self-confessed Francophile! Spending her life split between homes in the UK and France, when it comes to recipes Emma is prepared to experiment. Today it’s a dish that she’s made her own…

Kedgeree

Serves 4

Kedgeree is an old-fashioned savoury warming winter breakfast dish, although we often eat it for supper and it would make a nice lunch too. It became popular during Victorian times – a colonial class favourite. It’s roots lie in India – hence the curry powder – although although I think that the Scots claim to have invented it too. It’s ideal for using up cooked rice (providing you have cooled it and refrigerated it quickly – we don’t want any food poisoning here!).

Ingredients:
300g uncooked rice (or about 600g cooked rice if you have some left-overs!)
500g smoked haddock
120g butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
4-5 black peppercorns
1 green chilli, finely chopped without the seeds
1.5 tbsp curry powder
4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
Fresh flat leaf parsley & coriander (cilantro) chopped – about 2 tbsps of each.
1 lemon cut into 8 thin wedges
Salt and pepper

Method:
1. Wash and boil the rice according to the instructions on the packet. (If you are using left-over rice, reheat until piping hot by adding a ladle of boiling water, covering and microwaving for the time recommended in your oven instruction booklet. If you do not use a microwave oven, you could equally cover it and reheat in the oven – which can be a bit drying, or steam it over a saucepan of boiling water.)
2. Put the smoked haddock, bay leaves and peppercorns in a pan, add water to cover, simmer gently for 10 minutes with a lid on the pan. Remove fish from the water and allow to cool enough for you to remove the skin and break into large chunks/flakes.
3. Meanwhile melt the butter and soften the onions until clear and just turning golden brown – about 4 minutes. Add the curry powder and chopped chilli and continue to cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the fish to the onion and spices and heat gently for a couple more minutes.
5. Add the hot rice and gently mix the fish and vegetable spice through the rice.
6. Taste and season with extra salt and pepper if necessary (the smoked fish is quite salty so I prefer not to add any additional salt).
7. Share between 4 individual bowls/plates, put 4 egg quarters on top of each and sprinkle with the coriander and parsley.
8. Add a couple of lemon wedges to each plate to finish.

Bon appetit!

Website/blog: http://www.emmacalin.com/Welcome.html

Twitter: @EmmaCalin FB: Emma Calin

THANK YOU, Emma, for sharing such a fab recipe! Off to cook some rice ready for brunch tomorrow …

Of course, a restaurant is about more than just the food – it’s the ambience, too. The Restaurant @ The Mill has a ghost, her name is Sarah and she loves to visit and watch the diners. She doesn’t understand much of what she overhears, or the rather bizarre way they dress because Sarah is a Victorian lady. Her husband is the mill owner and she frets that he’s working too hard, so she likes to keep an eye whilst she waits for him to come home to her …

Read chapter one here

Follow the Winter Warmer recipe series and I can promise you some very tempting and easy to cook recipes to ward off those chilly days.  I’ll also be pulling them together into a free downloadable document you can save on your desktop and refer back to, or print out. Perfect for lifting the spirits during those long, winter months!

viewBook.at/TheRestaurant

Come back soon – next up will be Winter Sausages – this dish can be served three ways – something for everyone!