BEST BANGERS MASH AND ONION GUINNESS GRAVY EVER

Comforting Food

Outstandingly lip smacking can't stop eating British bangers and mash with the best ever onion gravy.  Gorgeous succulent sausages with decedent rich buttery and creamy mashed potatoes finished off with butter softened onions and a braised onions in Guinness reduced with beef stock and more butter gravy, yep this is comfort food at its best.

Cooking Time 40 minutes

Ingredients 

(serves 4-6)

12 British Pork Organic Sausages

1.5kg King Edwards or Maris Piper potatoes

6 onions peeled 3 sliced for fried onions

1 bottle Guinness 

500ml beef stock

175g butter 

100ml double cream

1 flat tbsp flour

100 ml olive oil

Himalayan sea salt 

Fresh ground black pepper 

Pre heat your oven to 160 degrees C, this is a cook everything at the same time dinner first toss the sausages in a glug of olive oil and place in a roasting tin, pop in the oven to cook, the sausages will take around forty minutes to cook turning over half way through.

Peel the potatoes slice in half or threes if large potatoes place in a large pan of boiling water with a pinch of salt and simmer until fork tender, drain and leave to steam in the colander until the potatoes have dried out well.  Place the empty pan back on a low heat add 100g of butter and the double cream once melted add the potatoes, Himalayan sea salt and black pepper mash the potatoes, then using a wooden spoon cream the potatoes (basically beat) for a few seconds now I like to add a tablespoon of white wine vinegar it's something my man always did and it turns out it lowers the glucose effect on your blood sugar, I love old wives tales there is always a shred of truth in those tales.  I leave the potatoes on the lowest heat to keep warm until I'm ready to serve.

Place the three whole peeled onions in a saucepan with the Guinness and beef stock, bring to a simmer and leave to cook for thirty minutes until soft in the centre.

Place 25g of the butter in a pan with the remaining olive oil add the sliced onions and gently soften for ten minutes without colouring to much, reserve to one side in the pan until serving, when ready to serve pop back on the heat for a couple of minutes to warm through.

Once the Guinness onions are cooked remove the onions from the pan slice and add back to the Guinness and beef stock keeping the gravy at a simmer, in a separate pan melt the remaining 50g of butter in a pan add the flour and stir together this is your roux for thickening the onion gravy if you want to.  To thicken the gravy add half the roux and whisk until smooth if your gravy is at your desired thickness if not add the remaining roux and gently simmer  out the roux flavour for five minutes and your good to serve up.

WOOD FIRED FLAT BREADS

Great gorgeous flat breads full of wood fired flavour, this dough is my all time favourite go to for all dough based recipes, it's that good!  These flat breads are so versatile from using as a tear and share garlic bread, for scooping up a tarka dhal, stuffing with curry or loading up with a wood fired kebab and all the toppings to using as a sandwich wrap, oh and perfect pizza bases.

This outstanding dough recipe is a life saver in the kitchen, you can prove the dough at room temperature for up to 12 hrs in advance or prove the dough in the fridge for up to 24 hrs before you need it, great for when my teenager wants his mates over for a wood fired pizza party, I can do all the prep days ahead at my own pace so they can be in charge of the kitchen and cooking the pizzas.  Finally this dough freezes brilliantly as a whole or as I like to divide into balls ready to go, just bring up to room temperature before rolling out.

Prep time 10 minutes

Ingredients 

500g 00 caputo Italian flour

10g Himalayan sea salt 

50g extra virgin olive oil 

15g yeast

320g water

Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and either by hand or by machine with a dough hook mix for seven minutes, then dust a little flour over the dough mix and gently form into a ball, cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave in a warm area to prove for 1-2 hours until doubled in size if you want to use immediately, then other options are leave to prove slowly in the fridge for 24hrs, this is what I do as it gives me much more control over time and usage, this will keep for 48hrs in the fridge ready to go when you are, you can also freeze any left over dough at this stage, then when ready to use remove from the freezer defrost and once up to room temperature use as you would fresh.

 Take a oversized golf ball piece of dough, dust your work top with a little 00 flour, roll into a ball and roll out a large disk no bigger than your skillet, heat to a hot heat, place the flat bread in the pan and cook for one and a half minutes on each side, best served warm but are almost as good used later the same day, to use the following day dip the flat breads in water and pop in a pre heated oven foe 3-5 minutes and Ta-Da almost as good as fresh, brilliant.

WOOD FIRED LAMB KOFTE

Cooking over open flame I will never tire of the joy it brings me, such satisfaction and outstanding flavour from the fat dripped erupting flames of flavour basting the meat as it slowly cooks you just can't fake that flavour.  What's more a gorgeous wood fired cooked flat bread stuffed with crisp red onions, iceberg lettuce, pickled kebab chillis, hot homemade chilli sauce, olive oil mayonnaise and a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice, in all a private eating moment shared with family who won't judge your and their lip smacking stuffing in you face eating!  Perfick.

Prep time 5 minutes / Marinating time 1 hr + / Cooking time 30 minutes 

Ingredients 

(serves 8)

The Marinade 

1 leg lamb diced

100ml olive oil

1 lemon zest and juiced

4 cloves garlic chopped

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt 

1 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp fresh oregano chopped

Place all the marinating ingredients in a large bowl or zip lock food bag massage all the marinade over the meat.  Leave to infuse in the fridge for 1-24 hrs.

The Flat Breads

500g 00 Capatuo pasta flour

15g yeast

10g Himalayan sea salt 

50g olive oil

320g water

Next make the dough for the flat breads, place all the ingredients in a large bowl and combine until you have a dough ball, knead for seven minutes until the dough has a spring back when touched, leave to prove covered in a bowl for about an hour.  You can use this dough immediately but it has a even better texture if left to prove.  Divide the dough in to eight balls, roll out to around the thickness of a pound coin, cook on your fire pit or heat a cast iron skillet hot and cook for approx one minute each side, wrap in a tea towel to keep warm.

Fire Pit Cooking

Fire up your pit, grill or oven, skewer the chicken and your ready to cook.  I like to have  couple of bricks eithe side of the fire pit so that I can control the cooking temperature by raising the kebab up away from the direct heat or floor of the wood fired oven as cooking slower gives you a juicy succulent meat with that all important char.  Turn the kebab every five minutes until cooked all the way through around thirty minutes.  Leave to rest while you cook the flat breads.

Served stuffed in to a warm flatbread with all the fixings to your likin, for my guys that would be fresh red and white cabbage slaw, red onion, pickled kebab chillies, crisp salad, fresh chillies, then tzaziki, or garlic mayonnaise, hot chilli sauce and fresh coriander to finish.

Homemade Tzaziki Sauce

1/2 cuecumber peeled de seeded

1/4 iceberg lettuce

1 clove garlic

4 tbsp homemade mayonnaise 

1 small bunch fresh mint leaves choppedIn a blender blitz the cuecumber, garlic and iceberg lettuce until smooth, pour in to a mixing bowl and mix with the mayonnaise and mint leaves, pour in to a ball mason and keep in the fridge for up to one week.

Homemade Mayonnaise 

1 egg yolk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

200-300ml extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

1 pinch black pepper

Place the egg yolk and apple cider vinegar in a large deep jug, start to drizzle the olive oil in very very slowly, whisking all the time, once you see the yolk and oil emulsify you can add the oil in much quicker, stop adding the olive oil when you have ribbons, whisk in the mustard, salt and pepper, this will keep,in the fridge for a week in a ball mason jar.

Hot Chilli Sauce

6 fresh tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato purée

1 fresh hot chilli

1/2 small onion

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp sumac 

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

1 pinch black pepper

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse together, that's it.  If you use a magic bullet or stick blender you will lose the vibrant fresh red texture and flavour the sauce becomes more like a salsa.  Keep in a ball mason jar in the fridge for up to one week.

WOOD FIRED CHICKEN KEBAB

This is one of the best cooking ways to enjoy truly outstanding gorgeous flavoured meats, due to high winds I decided to experimented with mainly a wood fire and a few charcoals in the established wood fire pit this time, the wind was really high and we being true Brits were not going to let the rain and wind stop our planned family fire pit cookout day!  I've learnt in the past our large pit struggles with such winds so thought the coals would retain some heat for in directly cooking, worked a treat.

Marinating time 24 hrs / Cooking time 30 minutes 

Ingredients 

(serves 10)

Marinating Ingredients 

16 chicken thighs cut in half

100ml olive oil

4 tbsp full fat yogurt

8 cloves garlic finely chopped

1/2 tsp turmeric

4 tbsp fresh oregano 

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt 

1 tsp black pepper

Flat Breads

500g 00 Capatuo pasta flour

15g yeast

10g Himalayan sea salt 

50g olive oil

320g water

Kebab Stuffing

Homemade hot chilli sauce

Homemade tzaziki sauce

Homemade olive oil mayonnaise 

(recipes below)

 Iceberg lettuce finely sliced

Red and white cabbage slaw

Red onion sliced

Kebab pickled chilli's

Place all the marinating ingredients in a large bowl or zip lock food bag massage all the marinade over the meat.  Leave to infuse in the fridge for 24 hrs. 

Next make the dough for the flat breads, place all the ingredients in a large bowl and combine until you have a dough ball, knead for seven minutes until the dough has a spring back when touched, leave to prove covered in a bowl for about an hour.  You can use this dough immediately but it has a even better texture if left to prove.  Divide the dough in to eight balls, roll out to around the thickness of a pound coin, cook on your fire pit or heat a cast iron skillet hot and cook for approx one minute each side, wrap in a tea towel to keep warm.

Fire up your pit, grill or oven, skewer the chicken and your ready to cook.  I like to have  couple of bricks eithe side of the fire pit so that I can control the cooking temperature by raising the kebab up away from the direct heat, cooking slower gives you a juicy succulent meat with that all important char.  Turn the kebab every five minutes, until cooked all the way through around thirty minutes.  Leave to rest while you cook the flat breads.

Served stuffed in to a warm flatbread with all the accompaniments to your likin.

Homemade Tzaziki Sauce

1/2 cuecumber peeled de seeded

1/4 iceberg lettuce

1 clove garlic

4 tbsp homemade mayonnaise 

1 small bunch fresh mint leaves chopped

In a blender blitz the cuecumber, garlic and iceberg lettuce until smooth, pour in to a mixing bowl and mix with the mayonnaise and mint leaves, pour in to a ball mason and keep in the fridge for up to one week.

Homemade Mayonnaise 

1 egg yolk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

200-300ml extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

1 pinch black pepper

Place the egg yolk and apple cider vinegar in a large deep jug, start to drizzle the olive oil in very very slowly, whisking all the time, once you see the yolk and oil emulsify you can add the oil in much quicker, stop adding the olive oil when you have ribbons, whisk in the mustard, salt and pepper, this will keep,in the fridge for a week in a ball mason jar.

Hot Chilli Sauce

6 fresh tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato purée

1 fresh hot chilli

1/2 small onion

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp sumac 

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

1 pinch black pepper

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz together, that's it.  Keep in a ball mason jar in the fridge for up to one week.

CHIPOTLE SAUCE

A new Winning Dinner Done...brilliantly versatile chunky sauce that you can enjoy freshly made and also preserved from the glut in the garden for the rest of the year without any compromise to the flavour or your free time, super flavoursome dinner done in an instant!  I am rather chuffed at this recipe, so simple and bursting full of flavour this chunky sauce is going to be great over pan seared chipotle chicken, grilled fish, stuffed in to a burrito or topped over scrambled eggs, a winner winner dinner sauce...

Prep time 15 minutes / Cooking time 30 minutes / Canning time 20 minutes

Ingredients

(makes 5 x 240ml jars)

1/2 aubergine sliced

14 large fresh tomatoes halved

3 bulbs garlic

1 tbsp coconut oil

4 onions sliced

4 dried chipotle peppers

1 dried Arbol pepper

1 guiallio pepper

4 limes juiced (1 zested)

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp white pepper 

1 tbsp chipotle powder

1 cup chopped fresh coriander

If you are planning on canning any left over sauce, which I whole heartedly recommend if it even lasts that long, you will need to have your clean jars ready to hand, a pan of boiling water ready and a pre heated oven at 380 F / 180 C.

Take the dried chipotle peppers and pour over enough boiled water to just cover the chillies  to rehydrate, leave to one side until needed.

Pre heat your oven 380 F /180 C, place your skillet on a medium high heat, add the coconut oil and place the aubergine slices in the skillet to char up a little on both sides, meanwhile while the aubergines are charring cut the tomatoes in half and place in a roasting tin along with the garlic, drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven for 25 minutes to cook.

Remove the aubergines and place in a food processor and leave to one side, next in the skillet throw in the onions and char up a little too, not to much, remove and place in the blender with the aubergine and leave to one side.

Take the tomatoes and garlic from the oven and add to the food processor now add the rehydrated chipotle peppers, sea salt, chipotle powder, coriander and lime juice.  Using the pulse button only, unless you want a purée, hit the button 4 times, just to whiz up the mix.  I like to leave my tomato skins in the mix as they have extra goodness.  Taste your gorgeous sauce and adjust the seasoning if required to our presonal taste with a hint more salt or pepper, lime or chipotle etc...

Take what sauce your are using now and reserve to one side, if you are canning the remainder of the sauce, (if not this sauce willl last for a week or so in an air tight ball mason jar in the fridge).  Place the remainder of the sauce in a saucepan and bring up to a simmer, meanwhile place the jars and lids in the pre heated oven for 5 minutes to sterlize, you will also have your pan of water boiling on the stove at this point too.

Take the jars from the oven, fill with the hot enchilada sauce, pop the lids on and then drop into the pan of boiling water and boil for 10 minutes, remove and leave on the side to cool, this is one of my most favourite sounds the ping ping ping of lids sealing, a very happy sound in my home, organic grown food from the garden for the future.

Enjoy this brilliant chunky chipotle sauce as a dip and topping for lots of your meals.

HOT CHILLI KEBAB CAROLINA REAPER SAUCE

No Cooking Required 

Fresh vibrant and volcanic hot chilli sauce, this is a brilliant chilli sauce to top off your tacos, burger or kebab but also goes great as a insanely hot tomato sauce over chicken and pasta.  Super fast to make means this fresh sauce can have dinner on the table in 10 minutes.

Ingredients 

(makes 200ml)

18 fresh cherry tomatoes 

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 small onion chopped

1 clove garlic 

1 tbsp tomato purée

1 Carolina Reaper chilli

1 tsp sumac

1 tbsp red wine vinegar 

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

1 pinch black pepper

So simple place all the ingredients in your blender food processor and blitz to a sauce, you can finely chop all ingredients by hand too, but using the food processor really improves the consistency and flavour of this sauce.

WOOD FIRED DONER KEBAB

This recipe is awesome!  Gorgeous wood fired cooked lamb doner kebab, how it should be, succulent juicy minced shoulder of lamb seasoned with softened onions, garlic, Kashmiri chilli, turmeric, cumin, fresh oregano, salt and pepper.  The best ingredient is being cooked over open flame in my wood fired oven you can not fake this level of flavour.  Served stuffed in to wood fired slight charred flatbreads with crisp lemon drenched iceberg lettuce, red and white cabbage red onion slaw, drizzled with home made olive oil mayonnaise and a hot tomato chilli sauce then topped off with pickled kebab chilli's, this is a great crowd pleaser and one of those I've got to stuff this in my face eats, probably best eaten in private but you so gotta share this with friends and family!

 Ingredients 

(serves 8)

1.5kg organic minced lamb shoulder

50ml olive oil

1 onion finely diced

4 cloves garlic chopped

1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric 

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp black pepper

2 tsp Himalayan sea salt 

1 cup fresh chopped oregano

Gently heat the olive oil, add the onions and garlic and soften for 10 minutes, don't allow the onions to colour up, leave to cook slightly.  Place the mince in a really large bowl and add the softened onions and garlic along the rest of the ingredients, using your hands mix the seasoning evenly in to the lamb mince.  Form the mince in to one large meatloaf and place in a large roasting tin or on a large strong spit roasting skewer.  If your cooking in a wood fired oven, over hot coals or in your home oven keep the heat to around 200 C / 395 F and roast the kebab for around 30-40 minutes turning 180 degrees every 5 minutes or so.  To check your kebab is cooked all the way through stick a skewer in the centre and leave for 30 seconds, pull out and place the skewer on the end of your nose or upper lip, if it's hot / warm it's cooked.

To Serve...

1 iceberg lettuce finely sliced

1 lemon cut into wedges

1/2 red cabbage finely sliced

1/2 white cabbage finely sliced

2 red onions finely sliced

8 fresh chilli's sliced

1 jar hot pickled kebab chilli's

1 jar homemade olive oil mayonnaise 

1 jar homemade hot chilli sauce

(Both take one minute to make recipes below)

Wood Fired Flat Breads

Ingredients 

(makes 8)

500g 00 Capauto (pasta) flour

15g yeast (optional)

10g Himalayan sea salt 

50g olive oil

320g water

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and using your hands or a dough hook if using a machine bring the ingredients together to form a dough ball and knead for 7 minutes until the dough is smooth and springy to touch.  At this point you can leave the dough to prove for at least one hour and up to four in a draught free place or alternatively you can place the dough in the fridge for 24 hrs to prove slowly, just bring the dough up to room temperature for one hour before use. 

Proving the dough in the fridge the day before gives the flat breads a chewer texture which I prefer and is a step ahead if your entertaining.  To cook divide the dough in to eight balls, roll out to the thickness of a pound coin or two quarters thick.  If you don't have a wood fired oven or fire pit to cook over then heat a skillet hot and cook the flat breads for around one minute on each side until puffed up and slightly charred, wrap in a tea towel to keep warm until needed.

Homemade Mayonnaise 

1 egg yolk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

200-300ml extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

1 pinch black pepper

Place the egg yolk and apple cider vinegar in a large deep jug, start to drizzle the olive oil in very very slowly, whisking all the time, once you see the yolk and oil emulsify you can add the oil in much quicker, stop adding the olive oil when you have ribbons, whisk in the mustard, salt and pepper, this will keep,in the fridge for a week in a ball mason jar.

Hot Chilli Sauce

6 fresh tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato purée

1 fresh hot chilli

1/2 small onion

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp sumac 

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

1 pinch black pepper

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz together, that's it.  Keep in a ball mason jar in the fridge for up to one week.

WOOD FIRED ROAST BBQ CHICKEN

There is something very comforting about cooking with an open flame, whether it is in a wood fired oven or around a fire pit it fills me with great satisfaction even if I set fire to the meat!  It must stir some redundant Cave Woman gene somewhere deep inside of me!  From starting the fire to keeping it going long past cooking there is something quite mesmerising about it.  Slow wood fired cooking not only gives you the most moist succulent meat but adds a great depth of flavour you can not achieve any other way and has given us some of the best tasting cave man cooked dinners.

Ingredients 

1 organic chicken

4 tbsp webbers BBQ seasoning

(make your own recipe below)

BBQ Spice Rub

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sweet paprika

1 tbsp Himalayan sea salt 

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp chipotle chilli powder

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix all the ingredients together, any left over keep in a ball mason jar for up to three months.

FIRE UP YOUR PIT

Over excited husband!

Once your fire has been established for around an hour or so and you have white wood coals with a glow of red your ready to cook.  Rub the BBQ spice rub all over the chicken, place on a decent strong skewer directly to one side of the heat, this will give you more control with the temperature or place the chicken in your wood fired pizza oven, or alternatively I cooked this chicken on a steel plancher with a dome lid over the fire pit, all cooking methods work the same, turn the chicken regularly to ensure even cooking, moving the chicken away from direct heat and back over more direct heat to control the temperature, alternatively you can leave your chicken where it is and cook the Gaucho way by keeping the main fire going away from the pit and shovelling in white wood coals to keep the heat even around the meat as and when needed.

I find the chicken approximately 1.5kg cooks within 45 minutes, leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving this ensures the most juiciest succulent chicken.

JALAPEÑO POPPER STUFFED FRIED CHICKEN

Oh my gosh this is one of those I can't stop eating and not going to share winner dinners.  Crispy Southern fried chicken stuffed with fresh jalapeños, hot cream cheese, gooey mozzarella and warm fresh burst of home grown cherry tomatoes, my family wolfed these down and the few extra I had planed for fridge raiding!

Prep time 15 minutes / Cooking time 10 minutes

Ingredients 

(makes 4)

4 large chicken breasts

8 fresh jalapeños 

1 lrg tub soft cream cheese

2 balls mozzarella 

12 cherry tomatoes

1 cup AP flour

1 tbsp Himalayan sea salt 

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tsp baking powder 

2 eggs beaten

1 ltr frying oil

8 cocktail sticks

Fill your skillet two inches deep with oil and slowly bring up to 170 C / 338 F temperature.

Take the thick end of the chicken breast and on the side push a sharp knife in three quarters of the way in and then work the blade down the inside centre of the breast not piercing through the chicken, you a creating a pocket inside the chicken breast.

Deseed the jalapeños and slice them, depending on how hot you like your poppers mix the seeds and sliced jalapeño in to the cream cheese, divide by four and stuff in to each breast, push in three cherry tomatoes and then half a mozzarella ball.  Use two cocktail sticks to pin the pocket hole closed.

To coat the chicken take two bowls, in one mix the all purpose flour, salt, pepper and baking powder, in the second bowl add the beaten eggs and season with salt and pepper.   First toss the breasts in the flour, then the egg and then back in to the seasoned flour coating throughly.  

Place the breast in the oil and leave for two minutes, turn and leave for a further two minutes repeat again cooking in total for approx 8 minutes.  To check if the chicken is cooked all the way through take a metal skewer and instert in the thickest part of the chicken, leave in for a few seconds, remove and touch the skewer to the tip of your nose or upper lip if its warm/hot your chicken is cooked.

Remove from the oil, place on paper roll and rest for a minute, serve with comforting buttery mashed potatoes.

QUESO DIP WITH SPINACH AND CHORIZO

It is always a pleasure to dive almost face first in to a warm skillet of creamy queso, it is one of those dishes that once you start to eat you're not gonna stop until that skillet is licked clean!  Queso is not just great on its own as a dip with just a spoon! but equally brilliant over pan seared chicken, steak or as a nacho sauce.  

Ingredients 

(serves 1-2)

1 small onion finely finely chopped

1 clove garlic finely grated 

1 glug olive oil

1 tsp butter

1 chorizo cooking sausage finely chopped

8 slices sweetcure bacon finely chopped 

300ml double cream

100 g cheddar cheese grated 

50g Parmesan grated
50g emmental cheese

1 fresh jalapeño chopped

1/2 tsp chipotle powder Or...

1 fresh jalapeño charred and diced 

6 fresh cherry toms diced

Heat your skillet to medium hot heat, add the olive oil and butter, once melted add the onions and garlic, soften for five minutes then add the chorizo, bacon and cherry tomatoes cook for a further five minutes until the bacon and chorizo are slightly crispy, reduce the heat to medium low and add the double cream, bring to a low gentle simmer and add all three cheeses, the jalapeños and chipotle powder, leave on a really low heat to gently bubble away for a few minutes and that's it.  Season with fresh black pepper and Himalayan sea salt if needed to taste.  Spoon, dip or pour over everything and anything! 

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS OR SCONES

Is it a British scone or an American biscuit, it's a British scone, I think there is a slight difference in the method not the ingredients!  Either way these cheese scones are great thickly buttered and stuffed with fresh ham off the bone and a mild cheddar cheese.

Ingredients 

(makes 12)

600g plain AP flour

190g cold grated butter

40g baking powder

80g caster sugar

200g grated cheddar cheese

160g milk

160g double cream

1 egg wash beaten 

Pre heat your oven to 220 C / 450 F and when ready to cook reduce the oven to 200 C / 400 F.  Rub the butter and flour together, stir in the baking powder, sugar and almost all the cheddar cheese, reserving a little for sprinkling on top, then add the milk and cream and bring the dough together until it just forms a ball.

Turn out on to your work top and using the heels of your hands press the dough out to around two inches thick.  Fold the dough in half, turn 90 degrees and press out again then fold in half and again turn 90 degrees, you guessed it repeat two more so you have done this four times.

Leave the dough to rest for 20 minutes then press out to your desired thickness, I like big scones so I left my thickness at around 2-3 inches.  Cut your scones how you want them, if your using a round cutter then do not twist the cutter just go straight down and up this ensures a better rise.

Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle over the remaining cheese, bake for around 20 minutes until golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.  Enjoy within half an hour for the best scones ever.

GLORIOUS SUMMER PEA AND GORGONZOLA SOUP

Fresh from the garden this is a gorgeous bright vibrant soup elevated with the rich salty creamy bursts of Gorgonzola, served hot or chilled either way it's a perfect summer days lunch.

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 5 minutes

Ingredients 

(serves 2)

500g petite pois peas

1 tsp butter

1 tsp olive oil

1 small onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic chopped

1 ltr chicken stock or water

50g Gorgonzola 

Himalayan sea salt 

Fresh black pepper

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a saucepan add the onion and garlic and soften for 5 minutes, add the peas and chicken stock and bring to a gentle simmer for around five minutes.  Take off the heat and using a stick blender blitz the soup until smooth, taste and season with salt and pepper to your likin.  Ladle in to your serving bowls and crumble half the blue cheese in leave it for one minute for the cheese to soften and start to melt and draw a figure of eight through the soup to create and lovely Gorgonzola swirl.  This will give you pocket bursts of flavour as you enjoy this gorgeous soup.