Classic fruitcake

	10"		80%	70%	60%	50%	40%	30%	20%
Plain flour	875	g	700	612.5	525	437.5	350	262.5	175
Mixed spice	2.5	tsp	2	1.75	1.5	1.25	1	0.75	0.5
cinnamon	2.5	tsp	2	1.75	1.5	1.25	1	0.75	0.5
nutmeg	0.75	tsp	0.6	0.525	0.45	0.375	0.3	0.225	0.15
butter	625	g	500	437.5	375	312.5	250	187.5	125
muscovado sugar	625	g	500	437.5	375	312.5	250	187.5	125
eggs	10	pcs	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
lemons (zest, juice)	2.5	pcs	2	1.75	1.5	1.25	1	0.75	0.5
Almonds	125	g	100	87.5	75	62.5	50	37.5	25
brandy	15	tbsp	12	10.5	9	7.5	6	4.5	3
Currants	875	g	700	612.5	525	437.5	350	262.5	175
Raisins	570	g	456	399	342	285	228	171	114
Sultanas	570	g	456	399	342	285	228	171	114
candied peel	180	g	144	126	108	90	72	54	36
Glace cherries	250	g	200	175	150	125	100	75	50
(Fruit total)	2445	g	1956	1711.5	1467	1222.5	978	733.5	489

Mary's Pork Loin Tenderloin and Caprese

Big thanks to my writer friend MaryAnn Unger over in sunny Las Vegas for this recipe! Her plates are prettier but this is the one I cooked, so here we are. Less fuss than a poached egg for this dinner.

Loin: slather in seasoning and yogurt, then roll in breadcrumbs, then bake, about 45 mins (I chose lowish heat). The caprese speaks for itself. I added a few capers just to up a little zing. Olive oil and balsamic to dress.

Might try the loin with a bit of carb and some zingy dressing at another date. It's soft and not dried out at all in the oven - something I didn't think was possible. Healthy as.

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls

For the dough:
55ml warm water
210ml milk
1 egg
20g melted butter
450g flour
50g sugar
35g custard powder
3tsp dried yeast

Put ingredients into bread machine and make dough. (Or do it by hand).

For the filling:
2tsb cinnamon
1tsp mixed spice
150g sugar
30g melted butter

Roll out, spread with filling, roll up, slice, lay on baking sheets, bake.

For the topping:
100g cream cheese
30g melted butter
150g icing sugar
maple syrup
lemon juice

Drizzle over the top.

Moroccan Chicken

The original recipe does this in a tagine, with a whole chicken. For ease of eating I boned and portioned the chicken prior to marinating/cooking, but next time will only use thigh meat. The breasts get too dry being cooked for so long. The rest is good.

Marinate your chicken in a puree of:

• turmeric
• ginger
• cumin
• coriander
• garlic
• onion 
• preserved lemon 

(Don't bother to salt it as the lemons will do the job)

Add

• pureed onion and chicken liver. 
• more chopped onion
• rough diced aubergine
• some chicken stock. 

Cook in a moderate oven for at least an hour. Serve with cardamom rice and Moorish Crunch Salad. The pic is not mine, as you can guess by the fact that the bird is whole. Mine is eaten. Oh and the original recipe had olives in it but I gave up on that one for the kids.

Moorish Crunch Salad

Nice one to have with the Moroccan chicken (next post).

Slice up:

• Apples 
• Carrots 
• Radishes (I couldn't find them so used 'crunchy combo' sprouting beans, was good) 

Add and toss with:

• raisins
• parsley and mint
• tahini and sherry dressing 

Sprinkle with:

• Sesame seeds. 

The pic is from the original cutting (from the 90s) but I'll take one of my own next time I make it. Hopefully. Everyone liked this one... apart from Flash who wouldn't get past the notion of having apple in a salad.

Chocolate Cinnamon Crumb Squares

Wouldn't rave about these but they do stick to yer ribs and they are chocolaty. Need some cream to go with them. Frankly can't taste the cinnamon.

For the crumble topping 

• 50g plain flour 
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder 
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 50g light muscovado sugar 
• 50g butter

For the cake 

• 200g plain chocolate 
• 175g softened butter 
• 200g light muscovado sugar 
• 3 eggs 
• 175g self-raising flour 

Make the crumble first and set aside. Make the cake (cream butter and sugar, melt chocolate, add, etc.). Pour into 20cm square tin, top with crumble, bake at 150 for 40 mins, until skewer comes out clean. Cool in tin for 10 mins then dust over with icing sugar and cut into squares.

Tahini chicken and pumpkin salad

Marinade your chicken thighs (original recipe was breast but who grills breast FFS) in lemon juice, tahini and seasoning.

Bake your pumpkin slices (original recipe also to grill - grilled pumpkin is TRULY a bad idea) and layer over a salad with some nice tangy bits - original had mint but it wasn't nearly strong enough.

Make up some dukka with nuts and pank and seasoning.

Microwave up a pack of mini popadums to serve on the side.

Dress the salad, cut and put chicken on top, sprinkle on the dukka (or mix the dukka straight over the chicken after cutting. Or both.) .

Got good marks from the kids. A do-again.

Satay Pork Patties and Udon Noodles

Make pork meatballs with satay sauce and diced fried onions. Next time I might put some panko in them as they were a bit too soft to handle easily. Fry, set aside.

Fry up some suitable veg for Chinese style, add the rest of the satay sauce, add prepped udon noodles, serve with meatballs on top.

This won several hoofs up, so next time I'll try to take a pic.

Pork san choy bau

Trim a pork loin (or two) and slice thinly across the grain. Marinate in a sauce, on this occasion made from:

• plenty of honey 
• five spice 
• cumin 
• coriander
• hoi sin sauce 
• salt, pepper 
• chili
• soy sauce 

Cut up a bunch of veg suitable for a quick fry. Cook the meat on high very briefly, remove. Cook the veg (also briefly), combine the two. Serve on lettuce leaves, with rice, topped with peanuts and fresh coriander.

Chicken tikka pittas

A variant on the chicken and falaffel wraps meal that's not unwelcome. Marinate the chicken in tikka paste before grilling and cutting up to serve, with salad, pittas and a yogurt, mint and lemon sauce.

Ricotta Lemon Cake

Kinda chewy but zesty. I made a quarter batch of this only,in muffin pans, and covered it in lemon and sugar syrup. A bit dry otherwise.

500g flour
250g sugar
250g Ricotta
125ml lemon juice
3 egg yolks
3 whipped egg whites
15g baking powder
125g softened butter
powdered sugar
salt

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Whip butter and sugar, add and whip egg yolks, and lemon juice. I had to add a heap more milk because it all got very stiff. Combine. 180 for about 40 mins. After that I recommend soaking in lemon syrup.

Moroccan Lamb Filo Parcels

Three layers each of filo pastry, with cooked Moroccan-style lamb mince, fried with onion and pine nuts inside. Served with a mixed salad and a yoghurt and mint sauce.

This was the first time I made this (no pics yet) and I think it needs work. The original recipe said to add the onions in AFTER the mince, which I don't think went well at all. The spices need to be quite heavy, and I think a vegetable component like aubergine/spinach inside will do well to break up the heaviness of the lamb. I am thinking of making the filling fatter, and possibly putting in a small layer of Panko at the bottom, as in a strudle, to soak up excess fat.

Further updates when tried.