Seasonal Recipes

These recipes have all been sent in by members - therefore tried, tested and found delicious!

1. Oldbury Tarts 6- 8 portions (May/June)

1 lb hot water crust pastry

1 ½ lb prepared gooseberries

6oz Demerara sugar

Oven 400F gas mark 6 30-40 minutes

Method

Prepare the pastry and use two thirds to make up eight small pie shells. Fill these with the gooseberries, sprinkle with the sugar and fit on the lids. Bake until golden brown and serve warm or cold, with a jug of cream.

Hot water crust

1 lb of plain flour

4 oz lard

½ pt hot water

Sift the flour into a warm bowl and make a well in the centre. Boil the lard in the water until melted and pour into the flour; mix quickly with a wooden spoon.

Knead the dough by hand while the mixture is still warm, until all the flour is worked in and the pastry is smooth and free from cracks. Use while still warm and before it hardens. It cannot be stored at this stage although it may be stored after moulding to the desired shape.

2. Yablochniy Pirok "Charlotka" (Russian Apple Pie) (Sep/Dec)

Ingredients:

250g white self-raising flour

200g sugar

3 eggs

2 large or 3 medium cooking apples (Such as Bramleys)

1 1/2 teaspoonful salt

1 teaspoon with pinch of soda plus few drops of lemon juice

1 bowl of water

Method:

1. Warm oven for ten minutes at 220 degrees C

2. Grease baking pan thoroughly with butter

3. Break eggs into large bowl and mix thoroughly

4. Add sugar to bowl and mix thoroughly

5. Add salt, soda & lemon juice to bowl and mix thoroughly

6. Add flour to bowl and mix thoroughly

7. Peel and core apples, then chop into small pieces of very approx. 1 cm.

8. Add apples to bowl and mix thoroughly

9. Put mixture into baking pan

10. Put baking pan into hot oven and cook for for 15 minutes

11. Put bowl of water into oven (To make cake moist)

12. Reduce temperature of oven to 200 degrees C and cook for further 20 minutes

13. Take cake out of oven.

3. Creamy Roast Butternut Squash (Sep/Oct)

Time From Cupboard-To-Table around 35 minutes. Serves 4 as a large side dish.

Ingredients
1 butternut squash
8 tablespoons double cream

Method

1.   Pre-heat the oven for 10 minutes at 180 - 200 C.
2.    Peel the squash with a potato peeler, chop off the stalk and flower
end.
3.   Chop the squash in half and then use a spoon to remove the seeds.
4 .  Chop the squash into 2cm cubes.
5.   Put the squash into an oven-proof dish.
6.   Put the oven-proof dish into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
7.   Take the dish out of the oven.
8.   Pour the cream over the part-baked squash and then mix well.
9.   Put the mixture back into the oven for an additional 15 minutes.
      NB: Until the squash is soft and the cream has thickened)
10. Remove the oven-proof dish from the oven and serve.