Author: Craig

This year we are offering a bespoke Christmas menu of 4 courses for your perfect Christmas party. Below is our delicious sample menu.

Various dates available and prices available on request. Contact office@atthekitchen.co.uk for more information.

A restorative chicken soup perfect served with cheese and mustard toasties!

Serves 6
Hands on time – 20 minutes
Total time – 40 minutes

1 x 1.2kg free range chicken
3 carrots
2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
2 onions
1tsp black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
½ bunch flat leaf parsley
3 sprigs rosemary
1 bulb garlic, halved
1tbsp olive oil
knob of butter
2 leeks , finely chopped
150g green beans, topped and tailed
grated zest and juice ½ lemon
150g medium egg noodles

1 Place the chicken in a large saucepan with one of the carrots, all the celery, 1 of the onions, halved , the peppercorns, bay leaves,  half the parsley, saving the other half for adding at the end,  and rosemary and halved garlic bulb. Season with a teaspoon of salt and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer very gently for 1 hour until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the heat and leave to cool until possible to handle. When cool enough remove the chicken from the stock and set aside to cool further.

2 Whilst the chicken is simmering away chop the remaining carrots and onion into small cubes. Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan and add the leeks and the chopped onion and cook gently for about 5 minutes until beginning to soften. Stir in the carrots and cook for a further 5 minutes .

3 Strain the chicken cooking liquid and measure out 2 1/2 litres and pour into the saucepan with the leeks and carrot and bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. You can freeze any remaining stock.

4 Remove the meat from the chicken and chop into pieces. Add this and the green beans to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.

5 Crush the egg noodles into pieces and add to the pan and simmer for a further 5 minutes until softened. Finally stir in the lemon juice and zest and taste for seasoning, adding a little more salt or pepper if needed.

6 Finely chop the remaining flat leaf parsley. Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle the flat leaf parsley over the top to serve.

Apricot and Orange Flower water Fool

Serves 4

• 500g ripe fresh apricot, halved and stones removed
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
• 140g golden caster sugar
• 150ml water
• 1/2tsp orange flower water
• 500g carton mascarpone
• 142ml carton double cream
• 2tbsp finely chopped pistachio nuts to serve

Method

• Put the apricot halves in a saucepan with the orange zest, juice, sugar and water. Shake the pan to combine, then simmer, uncovered, over a medium heat until the apricots are soft. This should take about 10-15 minutes.
• Tip the contents of the pan into a blender or food processor and whizz to a purée. Decant into a bowl, stir in the orange flower water and leave to cool .
• Soften the mascarpone in its tub by whisking it vigorously with a fork. Whip the cream in a bowl – you want it softly whipped not stiff. Fold in the mascarpone with a large metal spoon, then lightly swirl in the apricot purée to make a pattern.
• Spoon the mixture into six wine glasses. (At this point, they’ll keep in the fridge for up to a day.) To serve, scatter over the chopped pistachio nuts .

Peach and Raspberry Friands

Makes 9

• 100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 125g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 25g plain flour
• 85g ground almonds
• 3 medium egg whites
• finely grated rind1 unwaxed lemon,
• 85g raspberries
• 2 nectarines or peaches, halved and finely sliced

Method

• Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ 200C/gas 6. Generously butter nine non-stick friand or muffin tins. Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
• Sift the icing sugar and flour into a bowl. Add the almonds and mix everything between your fingers.
• Whisk the egg whites in another bowl until they form soft peaks. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, tip in the egg whites and lemon rind, then lightly stir in the butter to form a soft batter.
• Divide the batter among the tins, a large serving spoon is perfect for this job. Gently press in a few of the raspberries in the top of each along with a few slices of the nectarines or peaches. Bake for 15-20 minutes until just firm to the touch and golden brown.
• Cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack. To serve, dust lightly with icing sugar.

Almond Baked Golden Nectarines

The filling for these nectarines is a delicious almond frangipane using crushed amaretti biscuits . Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6

• 6 nectarines, halved and stones removed
• 100g amaretti biscuits
• 100g butter, softened
• 60g ground almonds
• 60g caster sugar
• 1 medium egg
• 3tbsp flaked almonds
• juice 1 large orange
• 4tbsp dry Marsala

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/gas 6. Place the nectarines in a single layer in a shallow roasting tin cut side up.
• Place the amaretti biscuits in a food processor and blitz until you have coarse crumbs. Or place in a plastic bag and seal .Then , using a rolling pin crush the biscuits until you have coarse crumbs. Place in a bowl and add the butter, ground almonds, sugar and egg and mix together well.
• Spoon the mixture into the cavity of the nectarines piling high and then scatter the flaked almonds over the top. Pour the marsala into the bottom of the tin with the orange juice and about 100ml water then bake uncovered for 20 minutes until the topping and filling is golden and crunchy and the nectarines are tender.
• Serve warm with the juices spooned over with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Roasting beetroot and Carrots really intensifies the sweetness which works wonderfully with the cumin and lemon. Pack up any remaining salad for your lunchbox the next day.

Serves 4

Prep 15 minutes

Cook 40 minutes

Ingredients:

350g beetroot

500g carrots

1tbsp cumin seeds

3tbsp olive oil

200g Quinoa

225g pack Halloumi cheese, sliced into to 8 pieces

grated zest and juice from 1 lemon

28g pack flat leaf parsley

40g flaked almonds

 

1 Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Wash and remove the tops from the beetroot and carrots and dry with kitchen paper. Cut each beetroot into quarters and chop the carrots into thick rounds and place in a roasting tin . Add the cumin seeds and a tablespoon of olive oil and toss everything together well. Roast for 35 – 40 minutes until the beetroot and carrots are golden and very tender.

 

2 Meanwhile place the Quinoa in a saucepan and cover with water measuring about  4cm above the Quinoa. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until all the water has been absorbed. Turn of the heat , cover and set aside.

 

3 Heat another tablespoon of oil in a non stick frying pan and add the halloumi cheese in a single layer and cook until golden , about 2 – 3 minutes then turn and cook the other side .

 

4 Place the roasted vegetables in a large bowl . Fluff up the Quinoa with a fork and add to the bowl with the lemon zest and juice, the remaining tablespoon of olive oil , the chopped flat leaf parsley and toasted flaked almonds. Season to taste and toss together gently. Serve spooned onto serving plates with a few slices of the halloumi cheese on top and a spoonful of thick Greek yoghurt.

For more recipe inspiration or just delicious food served to you, check out our classes and events here