October recipes

Now autumn is upon us and the nights are drawing in I decided for this month to include a couple of simple but tasty recipes, comfort food at its best.

Field mushrooms stuffed with chicken livers and bacon

This recipe can be served with a leafy salad as a starter or as main meal with creamy mashed potato and broccoli

Serves 4

8 large flat mushrooms

Olive oil

8 bay leaves

16 sprigs of thyme

Salt &pepper

225g or 8oz chicken livers

16 rashers of pancetta or streaky bacon (rind trimmed off)

1 white onion

50ml or 2 floz dry sherry

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 oc (400 of) gas mark 6.

Wipe the mushrooms and then brush liberally with olive oil.

Arrange on a greased baking tray placing a bay leaf underneath each one.

Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.

Place the chicken livers inside the mushrooms then sprinkle over half of the sherry.

Arrange the pancetta slices on top.

Peel the onion and chop finely, scatter on top of the mushrooms and then add a couple of thyme sprigs.

Add the remainder of the sherry onto the tray and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.

Serve two per person with the juices from the tray.

Enjoy!

Toffee apple cake with blackberry cream

For the cake

2 eggs

4oz self raising flour

4oz soft butter

4oz caster sugar

50ml Toffoc (toffee vodka!) available from good supermarkets

3 peeled and chopped desert apples

Grated rind of half a lemon

For the toffee drizzle

4oz caster sugar

5oml water

Squeeze of lemon juice

For the blackberry cream

1 pack of blackberries

284ml double cream

2 desert spoons icing sugar

Method

Apple toffee cake

Cream together the butter and sugar until pale.

Add flour and eggs mix until well combined.

Add Toffoc, lemon rind and chopped apple, mix gently until the apple is evenly distributed.

Put mixture into a greased and lined 8inch cake tin.

Cook for about 30 mins until golden brown in a preheated oven around 160oc.

Meanwhile prepare the blackberry cream

Whisk the cream with the icing sugar to form soft peaks then gently stir in the blackberries.

Place the bowl in the fridge to set slightly.

Once the cake is cooked make the toffee drizzle

Place the sugar, water and lemon juice in a heavy based pan.

Put onto a low heat until the sugar is dissolved; stirring frequently.

Simmer for about 4 – 5 mins until the sugar begins to colour take off the heat and stand in iced water to prevent further cooking.

Drizzle over the cake and serve with a dollop of blackberry cream – Yum Yum!