FILO MINCE PIES

These are always a winner and are made in no time at all. I actually prefer them to proper mince pies. Really easy for the children to help as well. You need:

- a packet of filo pastry
- a jar of mincemeat
- 100 gr of butter - melted
- a muffin tray

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Cut the filo into squares - you will need three squares per muffin hole. Grease the muffin holes with the melted butter. Then 'paint' each of the filo squares with melted butter. Overlap three squares on each muffin hole (see picture). Then fill in each case with the mincemeat. Finally take a little bit of the remaining filo and cut it into little squares (do this with scissors), cover the little squares with butter and sprinkle them on top of the mincemeat (you can avoid this step, but it gives it a nice crust). Bake in the oven for12-13 minutes. Sprinkle with icing sugar.

BEETROOT SOUP

I love this soup. As indeed anything beetroot. Making this with children, though, means getting their hands ( and yours) stained with pink (a colour that my children are not very fond of) I bought once latex gloves for all, but it makes a bit of a scary picture. This is a better trick: if you get your hands stained, get an orange and rub your hands with the white side of its rind - magic.

You need:
- 4 beetroots
- 2 tablespoons of oil
- 2 cooking apples ( diced)
- 2 onions ( diced)
- 2 teaspoons of dill
- 500 l of water
- salt
- one tablespoon of vinegar

Wash carefully the beetroots, put them in a pan, cover them with water and boil them for 30 minutes. Then put them under the cold tap of water and get rid of the skins (this is the 'scary pink' bit).

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onions, beetroots (quartered) and apples. Fry for 5 minutes. Then add the salt and water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-17 minutes. Add the vinegar and blend it. Serve with a bit of dill on top.

CHICKPEAS WITH SQUID

I was served this dish earlier this week at a business working lunch in Madrid. I was dying to ask the waiter for the recipe, but did not dare to do it out of concern that asking for a recipe at a business lunch where everybody else was male would make me look fluffy... I know... all that talk about feminism… Still, I have tried to replicate the recipe and tested it on some female friends (who are as 'up there' on gender rights as I am, but agree it is not OK to ask for recipes at business lunches...though they actually think it is OK to talk about football!)

You may think I am being immodest, but this is even better that the dish I tried.  So perhaps not asking for the recipe was not a bad idea after all...

You need:
- 200 gr chickpeas (soak them in water overnight)
- two table spoons of oil plus more oil for frying the garnish squid.
- half a green pepper
- a tomato (peeled)
- an onion (quartered)
- a quarter of a teaspoon of paprika (pimenton)
-900 ml fish stock (I do not often use stock but it actually makes a big difference here)
- a bay leaf
-a teaspoon of parsley
- two squids (cut it in mouthful pieces)
- 3 tablespoons of flour (or even better, 1 tablespoon of plain flour and 2 of chickpeas flour)
- salt

Put the stock, green pepper, tomato, onion, bay leaf, parsley and oil in a pan and heat it until it gets warm. Then add the chickpeas and salt. Let it boil and then simmer for 1.30 hours.  Take the tomato, onion, pepper and a cup of water out of the pan and blend it. Put it back into the pan and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Separately heat a pan (do not add any oil). Reserve the 'legs' of the squid and two squares of squid per person for the final garnish. When the pan is hot add all the squid except for the garnish and wait for  2-3 minutes so that they get a hard consistency. Add the squid to the pan with the chickpeas and boil for 10 more minutes.


Finally heat olive oil, coat the squid with the flour/s and fry them until they are golden on all sides (3 minutes in total)

Serve the chickpeas in bowls and add the fried squid on top of the soup as garnish.

The children liked seeing the change of texture of the squid when they are put on the pan. And my little ones never fails to enjoy any blending.

MINCE PIES

Now that you know how to make mincemeat, this is the way to use it. Invaluable for all those Christmas Carol services and school events.  I like them with very thin pastry: the key to this is to roll the pastry between two pieces of cling film. It allows you to roll it really thin and it also means you will make very little mess.

The rule for the pastry is twice the amount of flour for the amount of fat. We use:

- 140 gr plain flour

- a pinch of salt

- 70 gr butter (it is even better if you do half butter and half vegetable shortening) 

- 2.5 table spoons of cold water

-15 g of butter to grease the tray 

- a jar of mincemeat

- 2 tablespoons of milk

- a mould for muffins or tartlets 

Put the water into the fridge.

In a food processor mix the flour, salt and butter and pulse it until it looks like breadcrumbs. Then add the water and pulse again until the pastry comes together into a ball. Cover it with cling film and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven at 200 degrees.

Roll the pastry between two pieces of cling film. Cut it in round shapes with a  cutter or a cup. Grease the tin with the butter, put a round of pastry in each tartlet hole. Put one and a half teaspoons of mincemeat on top. Then cut little starts of the pastry and cover the mincemeat with them (you can obviously do this with a bigger single star cutter or any other shape or none at all) Paint the pastry with the milk. Bake for 25 minutes.    

MINCEMEAT

First Sunday of Advent and rainy weather, so the perfect time to make mincemeat. Over the years we have adapted a recipe that originally came from Delia (we have simplified it a lot) and works very well.

- 1/2 kg of cooking apples (diced)
- 300 g raisins
- 300 g sultanas
- 300 g currants
- 250 g mixed peel
- 300 g brown sugar
- zest and juice of two oranges and two lemons

- 50 gr sliced almonds

-225 shredded suet
- a pinch of cinnamon
- a pinch of nutmeg
- half a glass of rum (or brandy)

Mix all the ingredients in a big pan. Cook on medium heat for 45-50 minutes. Pour the mixture into sterilised jars (see our plum and damson jam recipe). As the jars are cooling down put them upside down so that you get rid of any air. The jars last for a long time (and certainly until Christmas)

PUMPKIN SOUP

This is the first time the picture has been made by my youngest son. In fairness, the overall result is so-so as he managed so kick the plate a few times with the camera and smudge the cream (boys!)  but he was rightly most proud that you could see the detail in the pumpkin seeds.

You need:
-500 kg pumpkin ( you can also do this with butternut squash)
- half a red pepper (diced)
- 2 tablespoons of oil
- 3 onions (sliced thinly)
- a pinch of nutmeg
- 600 ml water
- a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
- 2 handfuls of pumpkin seeds
- 2 tablespoons of single cream

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and fry over low heat for 5 minutes, then add the pumpkin (diced) and the red pepper and fry it all for 10 minutes under medium heat. Add the water, nutmeg, and salt and let it it simmer for 20 minutes. Add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and lt it simmer for a further 4 minutes. Blend with a hand blender. As you are going to serve it add the two tablespoons of cream. Toast the pumpkin seeds by frying them for 2-3 minutes in a pan over medium heat (watch carefully as they burn easily) and scatter them over the soup just as you are going to serve it.

I like this soup very thick, but if you are serving it to children then use 800 ml of water as they seem to prefer it when it is a bit more liquid.

MILK ROSES

This is absolutely scrumptious - delicate but not in a naff way. We got the idea from Martha Stewart, whose website I normally check at this time of the year as we approach the dreadful moment of 'the Xmas decoration homework' at school. It is high up there in my particular scale of homework dislikes in fierce competition with the Eastern hat. Perhaps one day we could all cut the pretending and teachers could simply give the task directly to the parents (or, more pointedly, to the mums!!) Anyway, we have changed the recipe a fair amount, and the individual portions are much nicer than a whole ruffled milk pie.

You need:
- a packet of philo sheets (10)
- 75 gr butter
- 3 eggs
- 375 ml milk
- 100 gr granulated sugar
- a teaspoon of vanilla
- icing sugar for dusting
- a muffin tray

Preheat the oven at 175 degrees. Melt the butter and coat the muffin tray well. Take each sheet or philo and ruffled it along its longest side. You should get a ruffled long, role. Roll this along its shortest side (see picture) and put it into a muffin hole. Do this with all the other nine sheets. Paint the top of the philiopastry with butter and bake for 15 minutes.

While this is in the oven heat the milk until it is about to boil. Separately mix the sugar and eggs and then pout in the milk very slowly while you wish it ( just as if you are doing to make a custard). Add the vanilla and put it in a jar.

Take the muffin tray off the oven and pour the custard in each hole making sure you pour it on one side (so that the top of the philo pastry does not get wet) Fill in each hole to half its size. Put it back into the oven for 15-20 minutes).

When you take them out let them cool down a little. Then run a knife along the sides of each mould so that the roses come out easily. Dust with icing sugar.

Children can do this all, but struggle a bit to pour the custard on the side of the philo roses, as they 'float ' so they wobble. Once they have managed with one they seem to get the hang of it though.