Tina's chestnut stuffing and other secret and not so secret recipes

Eggs not ends!

Re Brownies- if you can't eat gluten, do Nigella's flourless brownies- basically melt plain chocolate and butter, add sugar, ends and ground almonds. Have been asked to make these for people who can eat gluten!

Any veg chilli is improved by stirring in a tablespoon of marmite. Then when it is pretty well cooked, take a third of the bean mixture and whizz it briefly in the food processor (or mash with a potato masher) to give a rough mince like texture.

I'm gonna try the chicken with jerk chicken and ketchup, have just got some chicken out the freezer, looking forward to it!

Penne alla vodka. Gives a great kick - just don't drive afterwards!

@NUFC69 thank you

@Bufferingkisses that’s made my day to know that. Thank you so much.

@TawnyPippit yes it’s very meatloafy in texture.

Bluefringe that does look delicious - could almost have it as a meatloaf??

Someone mentioned in passing the Mary Berry express lasagna w/sausagemeat, which I will second. Its very low faff (for a lasagna) and tastes much nicer than the effort that goes into it. You can just google it. i would ideally make up a quick tomato sauce rather than just using plain passata.

My favourite recipe ever is a Nigel Slater brownie one, which I've adapted over the years. It's a bit of a mess to make (chocolate everywhere) unless that's just me, but every time I've made them, people go all funny and then nag me for months later to make them again. I added more chocolate to his original, and used an even number of eggs (he had extra egg yolks, which was a pain imo).

They're really simple - lots of chocolate, no faffing around with extra bits or nuts or syrup or caramel or anything fancy. Just ridiculously dense sticky gooey chocolate brownies.

I can tell what a good recipe is, the page in my notebook is covered in splodges of cocoa.

Oven to 180C
Cream 300g golden caster sugar with 250g butter
melt 250g dark chocolate in a bowl
add 3 eggs to the butter/sugar
add melted choc to the mix
add 60g plain flour and 60g dark cocoa
add 1 teaspoon baking powder
add 50g ish dark chocolate chunks (roughly chopped)
bake in a square tin for 30ish minutes
(if a skewer comes out wet - it's not ready, if it's clean then too late :( and if it's all sticky and gooey, then hurrah, it's perfect!)
leave to cool for a bit if you can - they're good, but they're 10 times better after an hour or two in the fridge.

Oh @bluefringe I make a special stuffing every Christmas, it is always a hit, last year was walnuts, cranberries, apricots etc. This year is your Mum's, thank you

Bluefringe, Thank you for sharing.

Catalan chicken stew

Brown chicken thighs in an oil and butter mix

Remove and put in a casserole dish.

Fry a chopped onion and garlic in the same oil, then deglaze the pan with a good splash of Sherry. Add half a chorizo sausage and fry. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, a drained tin of 5 bean salad, a heaped teaspoon of fajita seasoning, salt and pepper. Pour this over the thighs, with a splash of stock if needed. Cool at 180 for a good hour.

Another slightly pathetic offering because I've only got to page three and I need to go and eat something...

grated orange rind in your pastry for many sweet things. My mum used to make her mince pies with orange pastry (made with all butter of course) and they were spoken of through the region.

I'm having to stop reading this thread now as I'm fasting today. What was I thinking opening it? I feel sick with hunger now!

@steppemum Have you got any Asian or World Food shops near you? My mum (who is Indonesian) gets kecap manis from a local Chinese mini mart type place.

Otherwise (online) try TokoIndo, TokoIndonesia, Tradewinds Oriental Shop or WingYip

Also add a bit of sugar (or sweet - maple syrup etc) Especially if you don't want to use too much salt

Ok this is a bit weird but I have this recipe that currently only I have. It was passed down from my uncle to my DM who died recently. We have barely any family left so I’ll only be able to pass it on to DD, but it’s so good that I think it needs to be out there in the world. I’ve only ever given it to people one to one before... but here goes.... in honour of my wonderful DM who’s no longer here to make it with me...

It has no exact measurements (the ‘packs’ are just as bought in Asda lol) and contains about every food group in it. It’s a meal in itself. But also amazing on a Christmas dinner:

TINA'S CHESTNUT STUFFING

Chestnuts x 2 pack roughly chopped

Chopped Bacon x 2 packs

Peppers x 3 chopped

Onions x 1 bag pre chopped

Egg x 1 or 2 (to bind)

Breadcrumbs x 2 tubs

Sausage meat x 2 packs

Chorizo x 1 sausage chopped

Garlic x 3 cloves chopped

1. Pan fry chopped bacon & chopped chorizo. Set aside to cool

1. Pan fry chopped onion & chopped peppers. Set aside to cool

1. In a bowl mix sausage meat, chopped garlic, breadcrumbs and egg.

1. Add sprinkle of salt and pepper

1. Add bacon, chorizo, onion, peppers and chestnuts to the bowl. Mix in with hands until all blended.

1. Put in oven tin. Greaseproof paper lining helps. Press with fork and score the top.

1. Bake at 180/200 until top is dark brown and crispy.

1. Allow to cool then slice. It cuts easier when cold but delicious hot or cold.

Merry Christmas DM

Not as exciting as the others but when I make eton mess it's cream, meringues, halved grapes and as many smashed up Crunchies as possible.

Chop chicken thighs into decent sized strips (about four per thigh). Get a full fat yogurt (Fage is good), mix in cumin seeds, bit of garam masala, turmeric, garlic paste, salt, pepper, lemon juice and marinate the chicken in it for an hour or ideally longer. Roast in a hot hot oven (220ish) ideally in a skillet, on a skewer, for 20-ish minutes (your oven might be different from mine). Tender and juicy, either ready to put into a curry, or served with salad.

I've got a blank notebook upstairs and am going to spend tonight writing all these down, they sound fab!

More a trick than a recipe. My butter icing gets rave reviews and requests for the secret.

The secret is to mix up the icing sugar and butter to something like crumble crumbs before adding 1-2 capfuls of milk (literally used the top of the milk bottle for this) and whisking til it's a slightly stiff but still spreadable paste. Saves your whisk on the butter and stops it going gloopy from too much milk. Anything that calls for mixing a recipe before you add anything liquid, I usually do by hand now!

Can't tell you the Chocolate Truffle Brownie secret though.

DMs secret is proper gravy- she buys gravy salts on Amazon. All other gravy is shite compared to DMs.

Thai Satay Sauce (Easy cheat version)

1 x tin of full fat coconut milk

1/2 - 3/4 of a jar of chunky peanut butter

2 teaspoons of Lazy Garlic

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1-2 teaspoon sweet chilli sauce

Mix it all together and bring to simmer until it’s the right thickness.

Divine dipping sauce.

Great thread!

Indian style lamb meatballs - Adjust chilli powder & fresh chillies according to heat preference
500 gram lamb mince, 1 onion, green chilli, 2 tsp ginger & garlic paste
1 tsp chilli powder, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp garam masala, salt to taste, handful mint, few coriander leaves, 1 large egg, juice of half lemon

Sauce
olive oil, 1 large onion finely chopped, 1 x 400 gram canned tomatoes or 5-6 fresh tomatoes (grated or pureed in a food processor)
2 green chillies, 1 tsp ginger & garlic paste, 2 sprigs curry leaves - optional, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 sprig of thyme
Salt

Instructions
To make the lamb meatballs add onion, green chilli, ginger/garlic paste, chilli powder, cumin, garam masala, salt, mint and coriander to a food processor and process until it resembles a rough paste or smooth if you prefer. Add mince and egg and mix it well. Divide the mixture into equal sized ball. Fry the meatballs in oil and set aside.

Sauce
Heat oil over medium, add onion, chillies, curry leaves and thyme. Sauté until the onion is slightly brown. Add garlic and ginger and fry for a minute. Add the chilli powder, garam masala, tomatoes, season with salt and simmer until the tomatoes are cooked.
Add the lamb kebabs and heat through. Garnish with coriander and serve with roti or fresh crusty bread.

instead of meatballs swap for lamb chops or sausages

I don't have a tip/recipe but I've just tried the mayo frying pan toastie and it was amazing!