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

My shepherd pie (I make it the Irish way)

Once your onions are cooked and lamb mince is added and browned, add frozen peas and a big knob of butter - melt the butter into the mince, then add a big tablespoon of flour and mix through.

Then I add red wine, Worcester (?) sauce, tomato puree and a squirt of tomato ketchup before covering with mash and cooking

I swear the butter/flour bit makes ALL the difference

Coffee mouse

Softly whip up a pint of double cream with a few spoons of coffee extract (you can make this by mixing 3 teaspoons of Nescafé with a splash of water)

Add about 8-12 crumbled meringues and scoop them through the mixture until it’s nice and thick.

Put it large dish, or individual ones, and refrigerate for a few hours

People always ask the recipe. Then they faint when I tell them. So now I don’t

I just made a cake with Russian buttercream which is just butter (whipped up for a good five mins) and a tin of condensed milk. I could eat it with a spoon. Nowhere near as sickly as normal buttercream.

Not a secret recipe but a find I was pretty chuffed with!

Watching this thread!

Not a secret recipe, but something simple that I get asked for the recipe of whenever someone tastes it because who doesn't love an easy dinner:

Pork chops or other cut (like slices of pork neck I think it is), about 1 kg
300 ml cream
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp of sambal oelek or to taste
A pressed garlic clove if you want
Jaysus add some thyme or something if you feel like it, I don't mind

Pork chops in pan, mix the rest, pour on top, in oven at 175 degrees for about 1-1,5 hours. Although IMO it's often done earlier, but those were the original instructions. Easy way to feed a lot of people.

Mine is a two for one Christmas recipe: Christmas pudding vodka and bombe

300g mixed dried fruit
75g granulated sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons ground mixed spice/pumpkin spice/lebkuchen spice
6 cloves/2 cinnamon sticks/some ground nutmeg
Grated citrus peel if you have any (optional)
75cl bottle of vodka (doesn’t have to be super posh, but not meths)

In a large bowl (or massive jar), mix the dried fruit with the sugar, spices. Pour the vodka into the bowl, give everything a stir and cover. Place in the fridge and leave for 3 days, stirring once every day.
Line a sieve with a double layer of cheesecloth and place it over a large jug or bowl. Pour the vodka mixture carefully into the sieve and allow it to drip through, then pour the strained liquid into a clean, dry bottle (a funnel helps here) and seal the lid. You could also use coffee filters if you want it extra clear.

That's the vodka.

Now pick out any hard bits (cloves, cinnamon sticks etc) from the boozy fruit mix and chuck those away. Put the fruit mix into a bowl and add equal parts double cream and condensed milk
(I usually just fill the tin of condensed milk up with the cream to use the tin as a measure). Mix thoroughly then pour into a loaf tin lined with plastic wrap (or a silicone tin). Cover. Freeze at least overnight and you'll have a hugely alcoholic, sliceable dessert that is not for kids.
Or drivers - it's pretty potent, does dessert and after dinner drinks in one.

Both can be stored for up to 3 months.

Cheesecake, I've put the recipe a few times and I don't know why people ahh over it, it's refrigerator cheesecake.

Cheese straws

One packet of ready rolled puff pastry
Dijon mustard
Parmesan

Lay out the pastry in one sheet.
Use a butter knife to score the pastry into 'straws'.
'Butter' with the mustard, not too thick.
Sprinkle parmesan over (over cheeses do work but need to be strong).

Bake in a hot oven for 10-15 mins.

Allow to cool and 'snap' into straws.

All of those sound amazing! My friend eats a Keto diet and loves making caramel sauce simply by melting sugar free worthers originals into cream. Sometimes she has it by itself, over various things and even made millionaires shortbread with it!

I don't make anything that people always love

Heinz BBQ sauce on a pizza base instead of passata.

Taking skins of raw sausage and putting the meat in canneloni shells.

Easy Chicken Curry - Fry off some diced carrot, sometimes I use one of those frozen diced onion veg base mixes, add diced raw chicken, thigh or breast. Add jar of aubergine pickle and a tub of full fat Creme Fraiche. Absolutely delicious and so easy.

My pineapple salsa

Cubes of pineapple
Halved cherry tomatoes
Sweet pepper - diced
Juice of 1 lime
The juice from the can of pineapple
A splodge of honey
Salt & pepper

Slowly cook until jammy (about 1hour).

A spoon or two of mango chutney improves almost any curry.

Nigel slater tip....anything savoury (within reason) if it feels like it is lacking a bit in taste, add a bit of vinegar (not malt unless it’s fish and chips).

Loving this thread.
Everyone always loves my vegetable soup. It's never the same twice.but always has a few spices (cinnamon, coriander, cumin and turmeric) and a good chunk of creamed coconut. Works particularly well with squash and / or sweet potato.

My ice cream is revered - although it does need an ice cream maker! Technically it's gelato...

480ml double cream
250ml milk
170g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract

Dissolve the sugar into the milk as much as possible, then mix in the cream. Pour into the ice cream machine and churn for half an hour, mixing in any other fillings in the five minutes before it's done.

Hot cheese dip - mix together 1 pkg of cream cheese, one jar of salsa and about 2 cups (or more) of grated cheese. I usually use cheddar but it could be whatever you have on hand. Bake it in the oven until it's hot, about a half hour. It is also delicious stuffed into jalapeno peppers and baked or spread on toast the morning after the party

Doner kebabs that taste (and smell) totally authentic...
Pack of minced lamb, tbsp cumin, tbsp coriander, 1 tsp each of garlic, onion powder, chilli powder. Blitz in mixer till smooth, shape into roll, wrap in foil and bake 30 mins. Cool, then slice thinly and put in fridge. When ready to eat, fry the slices briefly to heat and add a little colour, before serving with pittas and salad.

Best tomato sauce for pasta ever

1 tin of tomatoes, for 2 people
6tbsp butter

Cook slowly over the hob for about 1hour

I always make sausage rolls with stuffing (Paxo) make the stuffing and them mush it into the sausage meat.

Turkish chicken traybake - this was a recipe from a magazine, and never fails

You need a tub of Greek yoghurt, chicken, courgettes, garlic, a couple of peppers, an onion, a tub of passata, tomato purée, feta cheese, and this www.chileseeds.co.uk/shop/kirmizi-biber-2/

Pop the yoghurt in a big bowl
Add two chopped garlic cloves, and a teaspoon of the chilli pepper, a glug of tomato purée, and your chicken - I use a breast per person, but you could use any cut
Mix it all up, and stick it in the fridge for at least an hour
Chop your veg and stick it in a baking tray. Layer the yoghurt/chicken on top. Add the passata over it, and a half glass of water, then a glug of olive oil - shake it all up
Stick it in the oven for 30 minutes, then take it out and crumble feta cheese over it
Put it back in for ten minutes, then serve with crusty bread. You could add olives too, my my DP hates them!

The Ivy's frozen berries with hot white chocolate sauce - easiest impressive pudding ever!

You basically melt together equal quantities of white chocolate and double cream, then serve by pouring over (unthawed!) frozen berries. The sharp and the sweet, the hot and the cold, it's amazing!

Recipe at www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-ivys-iced-berries-with-white-chocolate-sauce-69rclkrrw3r

Marry berry’s sausagemeat lasagne, which I was told about on mumsnet. Hope it counts. Makes every day a good day for DH.