Melrose - Mum's little helper: Meals, snacks and nibbles

MEALS, SNACKS & NIBBLES

Celebration dinner

soup Menu

Cream of mushrooms soup with bread sticks

Mock Beef Wellington with onion gravy
Roasted baby potatoes with rosemary
Steamed vegetables

Baked chocolate pudding with cream

Cream of mushrooms soup

Everyone will love this soup. This recipe requires a fair amount of chopping with a sharp knife, so work very carefully. You can make the soup the day before and then just reheat and add the cream and sherry on Father’s day.

Serves 6

45 ml (3 T) butter
1 onion, finely chopped
500 g brown mushrooms, finely chopped
125 ml (1/2 cup) sherry
30 ml (2 T) cake flour
500 ml (2 cups) warm chicken stock
250 ml (1 cup) milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
125 ml (1/2 cup) cream
45 ml (3 T) sherry
Chopped fresh parsley, to sprinkle over

In a large saucepan, heat the butter and fry the onions until soft, stirring with a wooden spoon.

Add the mushrooms and fry until soft, stirring often. Add the sherry and cook for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle over the cake flour and heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to bubble.

Add a little of the chicken stock, stirring until it boils and then add the rest of the stock and the milk.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Puree the soup with a stick blender (or leave to cool slightly and ask mom to do it in a food processor).

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Just before serving, add the cream and sherry. Reheat, but do not boil. Serve warm with an extra drizzle of cream (optional) and some chopped fresh parsley.

Breadsticks: Make your own by rolling bits of shop-bought bread dough between your hands to form long, thin strands of dough. Arrange on a greased baking tray and leave to rise. Bake for just a few minutes, until golden brown.
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Mock Beef Wellington with onion gravy

beef Serves 6

500 g lean beef mince
1 onion, grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
30 ml (2 T) Dijon mustard
250 ml (1 cup) fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 roll (400 g) puff pastry de-frosted in the fridge
100 ml (2/5 cup) Melrose cheese spread
1 egg, beaten

Mix the mince, onion, garlic, mustard, breadcrumbs, egg and seasoning together very well and refrigerate for 30 minutes – 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200°C and grease a baking tray with oil or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Roll out the puff pastry slightly thinner on a floured surface and cut it into a neat rectangle (keep any pastry off-cuts for decorating).

Spread the sheet of pastry with Melrose cheese spread.

Shape the beef mince mixture into a rectangular log, shorter and smaller than the pastry sheet and lay it on top of the pastry.

Roll the pastry around the meat, tucking in the sides.

Put the roll on the baking sheet and decorate it on top with pastry off-cuts.

Brush the entire roll with beaten egg and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until cooked through. Serve with onion gravy and roasted potatoes with rosemary.

Onion gravy: Fry 2 thinly sliced onions in 30 ml (2 T) oil and 30 ml (2 T) butter in a medium saucepan, until soft. Add 15 ml (1 T) brown sugar and 15 ml (1 T) balsamic vinegar. Cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes.

Add 750 ml (3 cups) beef stock and bring to the boil. Simmer, uncovered, until the sauce is slightly thickened. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

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Roasted baby potatoes with rosemary

Serves 6

1 kg baby potatoes, washed and scrubbed
60 ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
15 ml (1 T) sea salt
45 ml (3 T) fresh rosemary leaves, plus extra
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Pat the potatoes dry and cut in half. Put them in a single layer a roasting tin and drizzle with olive oil.

Season the potatoes with the sea salt and scatter the rosemary leaves on top. Shake the pan well before putting it into the oven.

Oven roast for 40 – 45 minutes, until the potatoes are crispy and golden brown on the outside and tender on the inside. Season with freshly ground black pepper and scatter over some more fresh rosemary.

ROSEMARY is a woody, fragrant herb with needle like leaves that will grow almost anywhere. The robust flavour of the herb works wonderfully with red meat and venison. You can even use strong sprigs of rosemary as kebab skewers. Strip the leaves from the stems, then use the leaves to flavour the meat and tread the cubes onto the stems.

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Baked chocolate pudding

pudding Serves 6-8

As this pudding bakes, it forms a thick chocolate sauce at the bottom of the dish and a moist chocolate sponge part on top.

Sauce
250 ml (1 cup) water
250 ml (1 cup) sugar
15 ml (1 T) cocoa

Batter
100 g soft butter
180 ml (3/4 k) sugar
1 egg
250 ml (1 cup) cake flour
15 ml (1 T) cocoa
15 ml (1 T) baking powder
3 ml (1/2 t) salt
125 – 180 ml (1/2 – ¾ cup) milk

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a 24 cm deep ovenproof dish.

Beat the soft butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon, until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat well.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt over the butter mixture and pour the milk on top.

Stir until it forms a smooth batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared dish and spread evenly.

Heat the ingredients for the sauce over low heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Ask mom to give you a hand and carefully pour the hot syrup over the pudding batter. Cover with a lid or with foil and bake for 35 minutes, until cooked through.
Serve warm with whipped cream.