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!
Thanks to the Fuss Free Foodie for her latest creation with Friels Vintage Cider!
Serves 2
160mls Friels Vintage cider
600mls vegetable stock
35g butter (15g/20g)
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 small onion, finely diced (approx. 50g)
150g risotto rice (I used carnaroli)
150g butternut squash, peeled and finely diced
40g Parmesan cheese
45g goats cheese, diced
Salt and pepper
Pangrattato
8-10 sage leaves
20g walnuts
20g stale bread
¼ garlic, grated
¼ lemon, zest grated
2 tbsps. olive or rapeseed oil
Add the stock and cider into a pan and bring to the boil. Set aside.
In another pan add 15g of the butter and melt. Add the onion and cook on a low to medium heat for about 8 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 2 further minutes.
Add the rice to the pan. Stir and coat it in the butter. Season with 3 or 4 twists of salt and 2 or 3 of pepper. Add in the diced squash and stir, then add 2 ladles of stock and stir again.
Stir the pan every 3 or 4 minutes until the stock has disappeared, then add 2 more ladles. I don’t stir continuously! Continue repeating this process for around 20-22 minutes.
Whilst the risotto is absorbing the stock, make the pangrattato. On a board, chop the bread, walnuts and sage as fine as you can (or pulse in a small blender). Add the garlic and lemon and chop through one more time.
In a frying pan on a medium to high heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the pangrattato mixture and stir it into the oil. Stir regularly to avoid it burning for 5 or 6 minutes or until it is golden brown. Set aside.
After around 20-22 minutes and the stock has nearly all been used, try 1 grain of rice and assess the texture of the risotto rice. If there is a chalky bit in the middle, the rice needs to cook for a couple more minutes. If it has a firm bite without it being crunchy, the rice is ready. You don’t want a mush, so keeping checking every minute or two until you reach the ‘al dente’ texture.
Add the remaining butter (20g) to the risotto and stir until it is melted and mixed in. Take the risotto off the heat now and stir in the Parmesan. If the risotto is too thick, add a little more stock if there is any left. You want the risotto to fall easily off the wooden spoon. (Use a splash of hot water if the stock has run out).
Serve the risotto onto your dish or plate. Add the goats cheese on top, then sprinkle over the pangrattato; This will add a lovely additional dimension to each mouthful of the risotto!
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 involving Strongbow Dark Fruits!
275ml Strongbow dark fruit cider
6-7 slices of thick cut, sourdough bread
Pared rind of small lemon
Pared rind of ½ an orange
100g caster sugar
300g blackberries
130g raspberries
200g strawberries, tops removed, chopped in half if large
1 tsp of butter for lining the bowl
1litre pudding bowl
Rub the bowl with butter to help the pudding leave the dish easily.
Cut the crusts off the bread and cut the bread to fit the sides of your bowl. Fill any gaps with smaller cut pieces. Push the bread into the sides of the bowl and where the bread slices join each other to make slight seal.
Cut a piece of bread for the bottom of the bowl and place in the bottom. Fill any gaps with smaller pieces of bread then cut a lid and reserve until later.
Place the Strongbow cider in a medium sized sauce pan, along with the lemon, orange and caster sugar. Stir briefly. Place on a medium to high heat and boil for 2-3 minutes.
Reduce the heat and take out the lemon and orange rind. Add all the strawberries and half of the blackberries and simmer for 2-3 minutes then take off the heat.
Add the raspberries and the rest of the blackberries to the saucepan and stir. Using a ladle, spoon the fruit into the bread lined pudding dish. Once in, add the bread lid on top and fill any gaps with bread cut to the right size to make a complete covering over the top.
Gently pour the remaining juice over the top of the bread and encourage the bread to soak up the liquid by gently pressing down with a fork.
Place the pudding bowl onto a plate, and then place a smaller plate on top. Weigh it down with a can of Strongbow or a tin!
Place in the fridge for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight.
When you are ready to serve the pudding, gently run a knife down the sides of the pudding dish to release the pudding. Place a plate on top of the pudding dish and turn out the pudding onto the plate.
Decorate with any extra fruits and cut with a sharp knife, spooning over any extra juice.
Fuss free tips: Use the best quality bread you can afford. A quality sourdough will soak up the juice and retain its shape and give the best structure for your pudding.
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 The Fuss Free Foodie for this delicious recipe that includes Cornish Orchard’s Heritage Cider!
Pork tenderloin (approx. 440-500g), excess fat and sinews removed
250ml Cornish Orchards Heritage cider
1 medium onion, diced
1 can butterbeans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp plain flour
1 heaped tsp hot or sweet smoked paprika
6-10 sage leaves
150ml veg stock
2 tbsp thick cream
2 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
Cut the pork into 1cm medallions.
In a bag, put the flour and paprika. Add the medallions to the bag, hold tightly around the top and shake the bag to coat the pork all over. Place the medallions on a plate.
Add 1 tbsp of the oil into a large saucepan and place on a medium-high heat.
Add the medallions to the pan but do not overfill. Best to do 2 separate batches.
Fry on each side for 2 minutes to add a little colour, then remove to a clean plate.
Add 1 tbsp of oil to the pan and then add the chopped onion. Reduce the heat to low-medium and gently fry the onions for 5-8 minutes until they are translucent.
Add the Cornish Orchards Heritage cider to the pan and increase the heat so it bubbles for 3 minutes and reduces.
Add the sage, butterbeans and the pork (and any resting juices) to the pan. Add the stock and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 8 minutes.
Remove the pork and butterbeans to a serving dish, leaving the sauce in the pan. Add the cream, stir and bubble on a medium – high heat for 2-3 minutes to thicken.
Pour the thickened sauce into the serving dish over the pork and butterbeans. Serve with seasonal vegetables and bread or new potatoes.
Always remember to wash your hands and boards when handling raw meat!
To watch this video on youtube then please click here. If you wish to browse other recipes involving ciders from our members then please follow this link.
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