Well, this is the magic of British Christmas.

Mincemeat is the basic preserve you need to make amazing Christams sweets and treats in Britain, such as pies or puddings. I fell in love with it when I lived in London years ago. The taste feels something like Grandmother’s ovens. In origins it was made with fruits, sugar, vinegar, wine, fat and meat. Yes, meat (the name tells it all!). Today meat is rarely part of the recipe, pork suet instead is the only fat (so a connection with its meaty origins is still there).

Mincemeat is in the category of preserves and must be consumed in pies or puddings and if you want also with very savoury cheese.

It preserves like this up to 6 months and as per all preserves the more it ages, the more it gets better. Vegetarians can substitute suet with vegetable suet.

Makes 20 pies (7 cm diameter)

Ready in 1H30

400 grams all purpose flour

80 grams caster sugar

300 grams unsalted butter

80 grams cold water

a pinch of salt

filling

500 grams mince meat (recipe here)

1 apple, peeled and grated finely

zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange

juice of half lemon

Pre-heat a traditional oven to 180° C (or 170° C if using a fan oven).

In a bowl mix all dry ingredients for the dough. Add the cold butter and with your fingertips start to mix them adding the cold water little by little, knead rapidly until the dough is firm and compact. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile mix all the ingredients of the filling. And butter the tins (in the pictures they are 7 cm diameter).

Roll the dough to 3 mm thick. And cut circles (in size with your tins). Crop also some other shapes (with a biscuit cutter at your choice – I picked a star biscuit cutter), to create the “lid”.

Line the tins with the dough, fill it in with the filling and close the top with the lid.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden. Let them cool before taking them out from the tins. Dust them with icing sugar before serving.

Well, this is the magic of British Christmas.

Mincemeat is the basic preserve you need to make amazing Christams sweets and treats in Britain, such as pies or puddings. I fell in love with it when I lived in London years ago. The taste feels something like Grandmother’s ovens. In origins it was made with fruits, sugar, vinegar, wine, fat and meat. Yes, meat (the name tells it all!). Today meat is rarely part of the recipe, pork suet instead is the only fat (so a connection with its meaty origins is still there).

Mincemeat is in the category of preserves and must be consumed in pies or puddings and if you want also with very savoury cheese.

It preserves like this up to 6 months and as per all preserves the more it ages, the more it gets better. Vegetarians can substitute suet with vegetable suet.

230 grams sultanas

330 grams currants

250 grams pork suet

200 grams grated apple

200 gr brown sugar

90 grams mixed candied peels

130 ml brandy

1 lemon (garted zest and juice)

1 tsp ground nutmeg

half tsp ground cinnamon

a pinch of ground chives

mix the fruits with 100 ml of brandy and set aside for 1h. Drain the fruits and squeeze them with a cloth (retain all the liquids in a separate bowl and add the brandy left over – 30 ml).

Add to the fruits the rest of ingredients (excluding the drained juices). Mix well and put in a heat-proof container. Heat in oven at 100° C for 2H15 (the suet will melt down completely).

Take out from oven. Drain the exceeding fat (but retain it in a separate bowl). Let cool. Add the juices+brandy mixture, mix well and pot the mixture in a airtight container, press well and cover with 1 cm of retained fat (discard the rest). Seal the containers and set aside.

Consume after 1 week and within 6 months (it keep well preserved in a cool and dry place).

serves 2

ready in 30 mins

5 tbs rolled oats

1 glass of milk

1 grated apple

1 banana in chunks

2 tbs sultanas

2 tsp honey

3 tbs fresh cream

Soak the rolled oats into the milk and mix well.

Add honey (at your choice).

Add the apple and the banana.

Soak the sultanas, drain them and add them into the mixture.

Refrigerate for a couple of hours (better overnight).

Add fresh cream and the seeds at your choice before serving.

It can be preserved in fridge for 3 days.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

serves 12

ready in 1.5h

220 gr dates

175 gr boiling water

175 gr self-raising flour

vanilla extract

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

85 gr butter

140 gr brown sugar

2 tbs black treacle

100 ml milk

Topping

175 gr brown sugar (or 75 gr muscovado and 100 gr brown sugar)

225 gr fresh cream

1 tbs black treacle

55 gr butter

Chop finely the dates with a mixer. Pour in the boiling water. Add the vanilla extract. Activate the blender until smooth. Set aside.

Coat with butter the small baking tins. Pre-heat the oven to 160° C.

Meanwhile beat the butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs (one at a time).

Add the flour, the bicarbonate, the milk and the dates mixture.

Add the black treacle.

Pour the mixture onto the tins (up to ¾). And bake for 20-22 mins circa. Let cool down for 10 minutes at least (you can prepare them ahead and heat them up in the microwave oven for 60 seconds).

In a casserole, add the sugar, half of the cream and the butter and bring to boil .Let boil for 10 minutes stirring. Take out from heat, add the remaning crea and the black treacle. Set aside and keep warm.

Turn the warm puddings upside down and top them with the warm sauce. Serve.

Chicken and Mushrooms Pie

I SIMPLY LOVE BRITISH FOOD. Provate alla Canteen di Londra, queste Pie sono a mio parere l’esempio più alto della cucina inglese. Spesso erroneamente considerata grassa e indigesta. Trovo che nella ricerca di cose genuine e buone, legate alla tradizione, le Pie meritino un posto in primo piano.

I SIMPLY LOVE BRITISH FOOD. I had them at the Canteen in London. These pies are the best example of british cuisine. When people think that British cuisine is often too fat and wrong, they make the biggest mistake. I think that the pies, should be put on top of all those recipes strongly linked to tradition and authenticity.

Ricetta adattata dal libro / Recipe adapted from “Great British Food” – edited by Canteen

1 cipolla / 1 onion

200 gr di sedano / 200 gr celery

250 gr di porri / 250 gr leeks

2 spicchi d’aglio / 2 garlic cloves

10 gr di dragoncello fresco / 10 gr tarragon leaves

600 gr di petto di pollo / 600 gr boneless chicken

300 gr champignon a fette / 300 gr button mushrooms sliced

30 gr di porcini secchi / 30 gr dried porcini mushrooms

Brodo di pollo / chicken stock

mezzo bicchiere di vino bianco / half glass of white wine

poi / then:

25 gr farina / 25 gr flour

25 gr di burro / 25 gr of butter

200 ml panna da cucina / 200 ml cream

1 cucchiaino senape / 1 teaspoon mustard

700 gr Pasta brisée pronta / 700 gr ready to go puff pastry

Ammollare i funghi in acqua tiepida.

Put the porcini into warm water.

Tritare grossolanamente la cipolla, l’aglio il sedano e affettare i porri. Tagliare il pollo a piccoli pezzetti. Soffriggere la cipolla con olio d’oliva.

Chop roughly the onion, the garlic, the celery and slice the leeks. Dice finely the chicken. Fry the onion with olive oil.

Unire il sedano.

Add the celery.

Unire i porri.

Add the leeks.

Unire i porcini tagliati grossolanamente.

Add the porcini chopped roughly.

Unire il dragoncello tritato. Mescolare bene.

Add the tarragon copped. Stir well.

Unire il pollo.

Add the chicken.

Versare il vino e lasciare evaporare bene.

Pour the wine. And let evaporate well.

Unire ora il brodo di pollo fino a coprire tutto (oppure acqua e 2 dadi). Lasciare cuocere per 40 minuti circa.

Add the chicken stock and cover the meat (or use same quantity of water+2 stock cubes). Let simmer for 40 minutes.

Mettere tutto il composto in un colino all’interno di un recipiente e raccogliere il fondo.

Put the mixture in a colander inside a container and gather the sauce.

Saltare gli champignon in padella per 10 minuti con un filo d’olio.

Fry the mushrooms in a pan with a bit of olive oil for 10 minutes.

In una padella sciogliere il burro con la farina e preparare il roux.

In a pan, melt down the butter along with the flour and prepare a roux.

Aggiungere il fondo della carne. Lasciare sobbollire per un paio di minuti. Aggiungere la panna e la senape. Aggiustare di sale.

Add the meat sauce. Let simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the mustard and the cream. Season.

Unire la carne sgocciolata. Mescolare bene.

Add the drained meat. Mix well.

Unire gli champignon. Mescolare bene e lasciare raffreddare.

Add the mushrooms. Mix well and set aside.

Foderare uno stampo da 28 cm oppure 8 mini-stampi da 12cm di diametro cadauno con la pasta brisée.

Coat with the puff pastry a baking pan (28 cm diameter) or 8 x12 cm diameter small-moulds.

Riempire con il composto.

Fill them in with the mixture.

Coprire con altra pasta e sigillare con un rosso d’upvp sbattuto.

Cover with some more puff pastry and seal with some beaten egg yolk.

Informare a 180° C per 30-40 minuti (o finché dorati in superifice).

Bake for 30-40 minutes at 180° C (until golden brown on top).

Sformare e servire caldissimi.

Unmould and serve hot.

Red Velvet Cake

Ti servirà uno stampo da 20 o da 23 cm di diametro

You will need a baking tin 20 or 23 cm diameter.

225 gr burro / 225 gr unsalted butter

4 cucchiai di acqua / 4 tbs water

55 gr cacao / 55 gr cocoa

125 ml di latte / 125 ml milk

125 ml yoghurt bianco / 125 ml plain yoghurt

vanillina / vanilla flavour

2 cucchiaini colorante rosso / 2 teaspoon red colour

280 gr farina / 280 gr all-purpose flour

55 gr maizena / 55 gr corn starch

1 cucchiaino e mezzo lievito / 1 and half tsp baking powder

280 gr zucchero / 280 gr granulated sugar

Copertura / Topping

400 gr formaggio spalmabile / 400 gr cream cheese

80 gr burro / 80 gr unsalted butter

6 cucchiai zucchero / 6 tbs granulated sugar

vanillina / vanilla flavour

In un recipiente messo a bagno-maria sciogliere il burro con il cacao e l’acqua.

In a container put in bain-marie melt the cocoa with the water and the butter.

Sbattere leggermente le uova con lo zucchero.

Beat lightly the eggs with the sugar.

Unire il colorante in polvere rosso.

Add the red colour powder.

Unire il composto di cacao e burro.

Add the cocoa-butter mixture.

Unire le farine e il lievito.

Add the two flours and the baking powder.

Ora unire il latte e lo yoghurt mesolcate precendentemente assieme.

Now add milk and yoghurt mixed together beforehand.

Versare nelle tortiere metà composto in 2 infornate se usate lo stampo da 23 cm oppure 1/3 dell’impasto in 3 infornate se usate lo stampo da 20 cm.

Pour into the baking tin 1/3 of the mixture (for 3 discs if you use a 20 cm tin) or half of it if you use a 23 cm tin (in this case you will have 2 discs).

Cuocere a 170° per circa 30 minuti. Fare raffreddare.

Bake at 170° for 30 minutes circa. Cool down.

Preparare la crema di formaggio mescolando tutti gli ingredienti assieme.

Prepare now the cheese cream by mixing all the ingredients together.

Spalmare 1/4 della crema sul primo disco, coprire con un altro disco, spalmare ancora 1/4 e finire con il terzo disco.

Spread 1/4 of the cream on the first disc, put another disc on top. Spread another 1/4 of cream and finish with the last disc. 

Fissare con 2 spiedini. E con la crema restante coprire tutta la torta.

Block the cakes with a couple of skewers. And with the remaining cream top the whole cake.