1 x 130g white fish fillet, skinned (Halibut or other sustainably sourced white fish)
1 small shallot, finely sliced (approx. 30g)
5 cherry or small plum tomatoes, sliced
6 black olives, sliced
3 new potatoes, cooked
Few sprigs of basil, chopped
1 small courgette, finely sliced (appox. 35g)
1 bottle of Oldfields Applefresco cider
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Piece of tin foil 40cm by 30cm
Piece of parchment paper 25cm by 25cm
Prepare all of your vegetables and basil so that they are sliced nice and small.
Place them in a bowl and add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, and a good twist of salt and pepper. Mix together.
Lay out the piece of foil and lay the smaller parchment in the middle. Place the mixed vegetables in the centre of the paper and lay the fish on top and add a little extra seasoning to the fish.
Fold the foil and parchment in half, and bring the ends together to cover over the fish. Turn in and fold the sides of the square, so that the sides are closed and the top is still open.
Pour 60ml of the cider into the top and then seal the top of the parcel folding it over twice, checking that all the sides are secure.
Place on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 20 minutes on 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 6.
Pull the tray out of the oven, and carefully cut a hole in the top to reveal your fish!
Serve on a plate and enjoy with the rest of your Oldfields Applefresco cider!
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2 bottles of Dunkertons organic perry (1 Litre / 2 x 500ml Bottles)
300g caster sugar
4 seasonal pears
1 cinnamon stick
Pared zest of a lemon
1 tsp pink peppercorns
6 rasps of fresh nutmeg
Crème fraȋche
½ lemon
Pour the 2 bottles of perry into a medium sized saucepan.
Add the cinnamon stick, lemon, peppercorns, nutmeg and caster sugar to the pan.
Gently stir and melt the sugar on a low medium heat for a minute.
Peel the pear with a vegetable peeler, leaving the stalk in tact. Then rub it with the lemon to prevent it going brown.
Gently lower the pears into the perry liquor and poach for 25 minutes or until the pear is soft and a cocktail stick is inserted easily into the pear.
Take the pears out of the pan and place aside on a plate. Simmer the cooking liquor on a medium to high heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the liquid reduces into a syrup.
Strain the aromatics out of the syrup through a sieve. Place a pear on a plate . Drizzle over some syrup and serve with a spoon of crème fraȋche.
Any leftover syrup will be delicious served over ice cream or swirled through a cheesecake.
Click here to watch on youtube. Alternatively, click here to have a look at other recipes by The Fuss Free Foodie involving ciders from our members!
800g firm potatoes (King Edward), peeled and sliced into rounds
2 tsp of honey
Salt and pepper
Taunton cider gravy:
Cider stock from the lamb (Cool for few hours/overnight so the fat sets)
1 tsp Worcester sauce
1 tsp of honey
20g cornflour, mixed with a splash of cold water
Sprig of rosemary
Salt and pepper
Throw the sliced onions onto a baking tray. Add the garlic cloves, rosemary and then place the lamb on top.
Pour the Taunton vintage cider over the lamb. Season the lamb with salt and pepper, drizzle over the honey and add in the bay leaves. Cover with tin foil and roast in the oven for 3 ½ hours at 170°C/340°F/Gas mark 3
Meanwhile, add the sliced potatoes to a different roasting dish and season them with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Once the lamb comes out of the oven. Momentarily place the lamb onto a separate plate. Then pour the cooking juices from the roasting tray into a separate bowl using a sieve to catch any onions.
Place most of the onions in with the potatoes and give them a mix around, and then sit the lamb shoulder on top of the potatoes. Add 3 tablespoons of the cooking juices onto the potatoes.
Place the lamb back into the oven for 1 ¼ hours at 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4 being sure to cover with a piece of tin foil if it is going too dark on top.
To make the gravy, remove any solidified fat or spoon off the excess fat. Place the juices into a sauce pan and bring to the boil on a medium/high heat and reduce the stock by a third.
Add the Worcester sauce, honey, rosemary, salt and pepper and then add the cornflour and stir. It will start to thicken to a gravy. Add more cornflour if you would like a thicker gravy.
Serve slices of lamb with potatoes and vegetables of your choice, with gravy and mint sauce! Enjoy.
Fuss Free Tips …
When I return the lamb to the oven (uncovered) for a second time, I like to cover any bones that have been revealed with a piece of tin foil to avoid it burning.
This is a great dish to start to prepare the day before up until stage 5, and continue from stage 6 when you are ready.
This dish can be served with the simplest of greens cooked in butter (kale, cavalo nero or savoy cabbage), roasted heritage or chantenay carrots. With the lamb being rich, simplicity works well here!
Click here to watch on youtube. Alternatively, click here to have a look at other recipes by The Fuss Free Foodie involving ciders from our members!
200g chilli cheese, grated (I love M&S Cornish Cove with diablo chilli)
120g tinned sweetcorn, drained
2 medium eggs
225ml sour cream
Recipe is to make 12 muffins.
Preheat the oven to 170ºc, 340ºf, gas mark 4
In a bowl sieve the flour, then add the polenta, salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. Stir gently. Add in the chives, chilli cheese and sweetcorn. Set aside.
In a separate bowl break the eggs and whisk. Add the sour cream and whisk again. Add this to the dry ingredients bowl. Pour the Healey’s Rattler cloudy Cornish cyder into the bowl as well.
Stir until all the ingredients are just incorporated. Do not over stir else the muffins will be dry!
Fill each muffin case with an equal amount of mixture and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden. Cool for a minute in the muffin tray, then cool on a rack.
These are delicious warm, but also great cold for picnics. They reheat well with a quick 10-20 seconds in the microwave. They also can be frozen!
Click here to watch on youtube. Alternatively, click here to have a look at other recipes by The Fuss Free Foodie involving ciders from our members!
375g eating apples (3), peeled, cored and finely diced
120g dark muscovado sugar
¼ tsp powdered ginger
½ tsp garlic salt
¼ heaped tsp mixed spice
¼ tsp chilli flakes
4-5 rasps of nutmeg
Place all the ingredients in a large pan. Bring to the boil and keep on a medium to high heat for the first 15 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes or so.
Reduce the heat to medium and keep it bubbling away so that it starts to reduce. Keep stirring the relish every 5 minutes.
The relish is ready when it goes darker in colour and the liquid evaporates. This should take about 45 -55 minutes. Allow the relish to cool. Serve in a pretty bowl or jar on a cheese board along with your favourite crackers.
Fuss Free tips!
If the relish needs to reduce to a darker colour and there is no liquid left add a splash of hot water. If you wanted to make enough for just one event you could halve the recipe and it will cook in 30 minutes.
If you wanted to store the relish for a longer period, follow your usual preserving methods or sterilize some jars by placing glass jars in an oven for 15 minutes at 150˚C/300˚F/Gas Mark 2 and boiling the lids in water. Place the relish in the jars whilst they are hot and place wax paper over the top.
Click here to watch on youtube. Alternatively, click here to have a look at other recipes by The Fuss Free Foodie involving ciders from our members!
Thanks to the Fuss Free Foodie for her latest creation withMerrydown Vintage!
Serves 3-4
Chowder
85g shallots or onion, finely diced
20g butter
285g potatoes, peeled and diced
200ml veg stock
200ml Merrydown Vintage Original cider
250g mussels, debearded and cleaned
2 corn on the cob, corn sliced off the cob (retain cobs)
250ml whole milk
150ml double cream
200g cod fillet, cut into large chunks
150g haddock tails, cut into large chunks
2 bay leaves
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
Crispy cayenne leek garnish
25g leeks, finely sliced
½ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp garlic salt
2 tsp plain flour
4-5 tbsps. oil for frying
Optional Soup thickener
15g plain flour
15g butter
Place the cider and stock into a medium sized pan and bring the liquid to the boil. Add the mussels and cook them on a high heat with the lid on for a few minutes or until all the mussels are open.
Remove the mussels from the pan and set them aside and place the corn cobs into the pan and simmer to extract the flavour.
Meanwhile, add 20g of butter to a large pan and melt on a gentle heat. Add the onion/shallot and sweat for 6-8 minutes until they are translucent and soft. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes.
Remove the corn cobs from the stock pan and sieve the liquid into the onions. (Do not add the last 2 tablespoons in case gritty from the mussels).
Add in the diced potatoes and bay leaves. Simmer for 5-8 minutes with the lid on until almost cooked and soft to the touch.
Pour in the milk, cream, sweetcorn and season with white pepper and salt. Warm the chowder for 2 minutes.
Take 3-4 ladles of the chowder out of the pan and blitz it with a stick blender or food processer until smooth. This will give your chowder a thick, velvety texture. Be mindful not to blitz the bay leaves! Then add the blended chowder back into the pan and stir and set aside on minimal heat.
Prepare a frying pan with the oil and heat on a medium to high temperature ready to fry the leek garnish. Place the leeks into a bowl and add the flour, cayenne and garlic salt. Rub the leeks into the seasoning and when the oil is hot drop the leeks in to the oil and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden and crispy. It’s best to do this in 2 batches. Set the leeks aside to drain on kitchen roll. Retain the spiced oil for later.
When you are ready to finish the chowder. Bring it back up to a gentle simmer. Check the seasoning at this point and adjust if needed. Remove the bay leaves and add the fish to the chowder. Depending on the thickness of the fish it will only take a short time to cook, just 3 or 4 minutes. Add in the mussels and warm through for a minute.
Ladle the chowder into some warmed bowls. Sprinkle with the leek garnish and a little of the cayenne oil.
Fuss Free Tips!
It’s is best to cook the fish slightly under (looking translucent) as it will cook on in the chowder. It should take a few minutes. It should feel firm to the touch but not hard. Just keep an eye on it!
If you want to prepare this ahead of time, you can, just prep up until stage 8. When you are ready to eat, start again on number 9.
If your chowder is not thick enough, rub together 15g of butter and 15g of plain flour to make almost a dough/paste. Drop little lumps of this into the chowder and it will make it rich and thick.
Feel free to use a can of tinned corn to make life more fuss free!
Click here to watch on youtube. Alternatively, click here to have a look at other recipes by The Fuss Free Foodie involving ciders from our members!