Rachel Allen - Rachel’s Food for Living

FOR THE APPLE SAUCE

1 large cooking apple (350g/12oz), peeled, cored and roughly chopped

1 tbsp water

Tiny pinch cinnamon (optional)

25–50g (1–2oz) caster sugar

FOR THE PORK CHOPS

1–2 pork chops per person

Olive oil

1First prepare the mash on page 27, then stir in the grainy mustard to taste and add some salt and pepper.

2Next make the apple sauce. Place the apple in a small saucepan with the water. Put the lid on and cook over a gentle heat (stir every now and then) until the apple has broken down to a mush. Add the cinnamon, if using, and sugar to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.

3To cook the chops, remove excess fat from the chops and then drizzle with olive oil and freshly ground black pepper. Place a large frying pan on a high heat. When it’s good and hot, add the pork chops and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Cook for approximately 5 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate, cover and rest in a warm oven for 5 minutes.

4To assemble, remove excess fat from the chops if you wish and place the chops on a serving plate with some mustard mash and a little apple sauce on the side.

These flapjacks really remind me of when I was little, cooking with my sister and mum. The flapjacks were never safe from us – we used to eat most of them before they had even cooled! Perfect with a glass of cold milk.

MAKES 25–30 FLAPJACKS VEGETARIAN

350g (12oz) butter

2 generous tbsp golden syrup

175g (6oz) light muscovado or soft light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

75g (3oz) plain flour

375g (13oz) oats

1Preheat the oven to 180oC (350oF), Gas mark 4.

2Place the butter, golden syrup, sugar and vanilla extract in a large saucepan. Bring up to a simmer and stir, allowing the butter to melt. When the mixture is smooth, take off the heat and add in the flour and the oats. Stir to mix and spread into a Swiss roll tin measuring 25 x 38cm (10 x 15in).

3Bake in the oven (not too close to the top or it will burn) for 20–25 minutes or until golden. Cut into squares or fingers while still warm. Remove from the tin carefully while they are still slightly warm and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Variations

This is a great basic recipe to which you can add the following for a change:

Fruity flapjacks:100g (4oz) of raisins, sultanas or chopped dates – or even chocolate chips!

Banana flapjacks:1 mashed banana added into the wet ingredients (also good with chocolate chips!).

Flapjacks with seeds:75g (3oz) seeds, such as pumpkin or sesame.

Ginger flapjacks:75g (3oz) finely chopped crystallised ginger.

This is a variation of classic basic bread and butter pudding that my mum used to make for me as a special treat, particularly if I was feeling under the weather. The banana flavour isn’t overpowering, it just adds a delicious sweetness.

SERVES 4–6

VEGETARIAN

2 tbsp chocolate spread

12 slices of white bread, crusts removed

350ml (12fl oz) single cream

350ml (12fl oz) milk

4 eggs

Pinch of salt

100g (4oz) caster sugar

2 bananas

2 tbsp granulated sugar, for topping

TO SERVE

Cocoa powder

Softly whipped cream (optional)

1Spread a very thin layer of chocolate spread on the slices of bread. Arrange four slices, chocolate-side down in a 25cm (10in) square or similar rectangular gratin dish, or a similar-sized dish. Top with another four slices of bread, chocolate-side down, and finish with the last four slices, also chocolate-side down.

2Place the cream and milk in a saucepan and bring to just under the boil.

3While they are heating up, whisk the eggs, salt and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Mash the bananas on a plate with a fork and add them to the eggs, then whisk in the hot cream and milk. Pour this custard over the bread and leave to soak for 10 minutes. When you are ready to cook, sprinkle the sugar over the top.

4Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4.

5Place the gratin dish in a bain-marie (a larger ovenproof dish that has enough water in it to go 2.5cm [1in] up the sides of the gratin dish) and cook in the oven for 45–50 minutes or until it feels just set in the centre. Remove from the oven and serve warm with a light dusting of cocoa powder and some softly whipped cream, if you wish.

If you want to prepare this pudding a day ahead of serving, don’t heat up the cream and milk – just pour it cold over the bread and store in the fridge until ready to cook.

‘Balloons’ are like doughnuts and are one of my husband, Isaac’s, very favourite childhood treats. This is a recipe from Isaac’s grandmother, Myrtle Allen, who used to make these with her own mother when she was a child. She made them regularly for all the Allen grandchildren, and she still quite often makes these for the little guests staying at Ballymaloe for children’s tea (and occasionally still for Isaac!). They’re very simple and quick to make.

MAKES ABOUT 12 BALLOONS VEGETARIAN

140g (scant 5oz) plain flour

2–4 tsp caster sugar, plus 25g (1oz) for tossing the balloons

Pinch of salt

1 level tsp baking powder

200ml (7fl oz) milk

1Heat a deep fat fryer to 190oC (375oF). Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to mix. Add the milk gradually, whisking all the time until you have a thick batter.

2When the oil is hot in the deep fat fryer, take a dessertspoonful of the mixture and push it off gently using another spoon, so that it drops in a round ball into the oil. Repeat with the remaining batter to make about 12 balloons. Fry until deep golden, about 4–5 minutes, turning over halfway through cooking. Remove, drain on kitchen paper and toss in caster sugar (I sometimes add some ground cinnamon to the sugar), and serve warm.

If you don’t have a deep fat fryer, you can fry the balloons in a wide sauté pan in the same way as the Sesame Goujons of Fish on page 42.

Rhubarb and custard make such a great old-fashioned combination, and I love making them into a tart. As a child, we always made this with our own rhubarb, fresh from the garden. We always knew summer was approaching when the first rhubarb appeared.

SERVES 4–6 VEGETARIAN

FOR THE PASTRY

150g (5oz) plain flour

25g (1oz) icing sugar

100g (4oz) butter

1 egg, whisked

FOR THE FILLING

4 egg yolks

4 generous tbsp honey (about 100g/4oz)

300ml (1/2 pint) double cream

225g (8oz) rhubarb, trimmed and sliced into 2cm (3/4in) lengths (if the stalks are very wide, cut them in half lengthways first)