Recipe: Pear Jelly, vanilla bean ice cream, ginger syrup

Ingredients

375ml sweet pear wine
150ml stock syrup
5 leaves gelatine
3 pears chopped

Method

Bring the wine and the stock syrup to the boil and remove from the heat
Add the chopped pears and infuse for an hour
Pass the mix through a fine sieve
Place the liquid back on the heat
Soak the gelatine in cold water until soft
Squeze the water from the gelatine and add to the pear liquid
Whisk and ensure the gelatine is desolved
Pour the mix into glasses and set over night in a fridge

This is a very simple and full of flavour, i like it served with a good Vanilla bean icecream and a thick ginger syrup.

Recipe: Braised feather blade of beef

Ingredients

2 kg featherblade of beef
3 carrots
2 sticks celery
1 onion
Beef stock
4 potatoes
1 courgette
4 small carrots
6 pieces tenderstem
4 2" marrow bones

Method

Cut the celery, onion, 3 carrots and saute until tender, add the stock and boil.
Slice the blade of beef in half lengh ways and roll in cling film to create perfect tubes of beef.
Place the beef in the hot stock and cover with a lid, braise the beef for 4 hours at 160c
Once the beef is cooked, remove from the stock and chill over night, reduce the stock and make a gravy.
The following day slice the beef in to healthy portions
With the potatoes, make chunky chips
Slice the carrots, courgette, tenderstem, put to one side
Bake the bones in a hot oven until the marrow is cooked, reheat the beef in its own juices, pan fry the vegetable garnish, reheat the chips.
To serve, place the vegetable garnish on the plate, place the beef on top, spoon over gravy, put the chips in a basket and season with Rosemary salt, place a spoon in the morrow bone and put on the plate.

Recipe: Pistachio Biscotti

Ingredients

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pistachio nuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 teaspoon shortening

Method

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs with spoon. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nuts.

Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead 15 times until smooth. On ungreased cookie sheet, shape half of dough at a time into 10x3-inch rectangle.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center  comes out clean. Cool on cookie sheet 15 minutes. Cut rectangle crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Place slices, cut sides down, on cookie sheet.

Bake about 15 minutes longer, turning once, until crisp and light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and shortening uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds or until melted; stir until smooth. Drizzle chocolate over biscotti. Place on waxed paper until chocolate is set.

Recipe: Pear and Almond Frangipane

Ingredients

For the pastry
100g Butter
Two eggs
two drops of Vanilla extract
175g Sifted plain flour

For the frangipan
200g unsalted butter
200g sugar
Four eggs
100g ground almonds
50g plain flour
One pear-peeled, halved lenghways

Method

For the pastry
Pre-heat the oven to 150c
ina mixing bowl, cream the butter with the eggs until smooth. Gently fold in the flour and vanilla extract. Wrap in cling film and rest for 45 minutes. Roll out and line an eight-inchpastry ring or flan dish. To bake blind, cover the pastry on th bottom and sides of the flan with foiland wieght down with a handful of dried beans or pasta and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, remove from the oven, lift of the foil and allow to cool.

For the frangipan
pre-heat the oven to 180c
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter with the sugar , then beat in the eggs individually using a metal spoon, gently fold in the ground almonds followed by the flour

Half fill the pastry case with the mix and fan the pear slices on top. Then fill the pastry case with the remaining mix. place in the oven and bake until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean- about 20-25 minutes

Serve with Mascarpone and fresh berries