#18 Marzipan, #19 Royal Icing

Finished off the cake yesterday, and it looks as though it is a success. It was all pretty straight-forward really.

First (#18) Marzipan; sieve 8 ounces of icing sugar into a large bowl containing a pound of ground almonds. In a small bowl, beat an egg with 3 or 4 tablespoons of lemon juice. Use a wooden spoon or the beater attachment on a food mixer to form a paste. Use a knife to cut off the top of the Christmas Cake so that it is nice and flat on top. Knead the marzipan a little while and then roll two thirds out using icing sugar instead of flour to form a top circle, gluing it in place with some warmed apricot jam. The Grigson gave a handy hint at this point – roll everything out on a bit of greaseproof paper to prevent it sticking and falling to bits. She is a star! Now roll out an oblong of marzipan to wrap around the cake, again sticking it with apricot jam.

FYI: Marzipan originated in Persia (now Iran/Iraq), but its name originates from the German for 'March bread'.

(#19) Royal Icing was quite exciting to do; whip two egg whites until foamy but not stiff. Stir in two teaspoons of lemon juice and then, bit by bit, sieved icing sugar until a glossy spreadable icing is formed. Spread it over the marzipan using a palette knife, dipping the knife in water to prevent the icing from sticking. I have no piping bags - nor have I ever used one - so I did a lovely festive snow effect by gently whacking it with a palette knife! It looks very impressive even if I do say so myself. I forgot to buy decorations though! Poo!

#17 Quince Cream

Found a couple of quince recipes. The first is (#17) Quince Cream. Seemed easy enough. In reality it was a massive ball-ache. The quince is one of my favorite fruits - I don't know why they aren't sold in more greengrocers or supermarkets. It may be that you have to cook them to eat them. They combine the best of apples and pears and go a beautiful golden-orange colour when cooked. They were used in medieval times as a jam or jelly - the word marmalade comes from the French (I think) for quince! Weird to think of our lovely English marmalade wasn't made from Seville oranges (which are Spanish). Anyway. It all seemed like it would be easy. Chop up two quinces, add a little water, and stew until soft. Push through sieve. Add cream melted butter, an appropriate spice said the Grigson, so I used cinnamon. Add sugar to taste, plus egg yolks to thicken. I took about an hour and a half to sieve the fucker! I broke one sieve in the process too. Next time I'll use one of the alternative fruit suggested.

Luckily for the Grigson it tasted nice! It was creamy but light. I'm going to have to try and reduce the amount of cream and butter in my diet though! I can feel my arteries harden as I type!

Greg says:

Quince Cream - The smell of quince is a joy and something brand new to me. This dish was lovely, another heart attack masquerading as 'fruit' but it was quite noisy during the preparation thereof, I couldn't hear The Simpsons and had to close the door while Neil scraped away at boiled fruit in the next room. Hush please! It was sloppy and fruity and rich but when I attempted to eat more the following day it had become porridge so I don't care what she says, eat it all on the day! 7/10.

#17 Quince Cream - 7.5/10. Anything with quince is OK by me! I'm starting to get sick of all these calories though!

#16 Palastine Soup

OK. Something with Jerusalem artichokes...
...(#16) Palestine soup. Brilliant. FYI Jerusalem artichokes have nothing to do with Jerusalem or artichokes. It was thought that they tasted similar to artichokes, but I don't think they do. Jerusalem is a corruption of the word Girasole, which is the Italian for sunflower. (I used to grow them in the garden of my old house, and their flowers are like tiny sunflowers.) They are a much under used vegetable - at one point, before the domestication of the potato, it was attempted to make the Jerusalem artichoke a staple crop. It was considered too strong in flavour, and what a shame!

The soup was pretty easy; start by blanching a pound of Jerusalem artichokes in boiling salted water so that the knobbly skins can be peeled away. Place the peeled artichokes in the cooking water to prevent them discolouring. Meanwhile, gently cook 4 ounces of chopped onion, a crushed garlic clove and an ounce of chopped celery. When soft, add two rashers of streaky bacon and then after two minutes add the artichokes and 2 ½ pints of chicken stock. Simmer until the artichokes are tender then blitz. Finally stir in two ounces (!) of double cream and two tablespoons of chopped parsley. And then serve, under the strict Grigson rules, with croutons. It made a lovely soup - really brought out the earthy flavour of the Jerusalem artichokes. It's the best Grigson soup so far. I made a veggie version for Greg too using veggie bacon (!) and vegetable stock. It tasted as good as mine.

Greg says:
Palestine soup - This is my fave recipe to date I think. I had the girl version which Neil made in a separate pan using veg stock instead of chicken stock and veggie bacon instead of real piggy which meant my soup went a litle bit pink due to the colouring and smelt more like bacon than the real stuff! It was clearly the better of the two though possibly not admissbale under the strict Grigson regime. Anyways, the smoky bacony flavour together with the cream and that very specific Jersualem artichoke flavour was honestly amazing, if I'd had it in a restauarnt I would have been supremely chuffed. The croutons were alright but I could live without em, the fresh parsley is garnish enough. Wonderful . 9/10.

#16 Palestine Soup - 8.5/10. A brilliant winter-warmer! It should be part of everyone's repertoire!

Went on a lovely trip to Unicorn in Chorlton (www.unicorn-grocery.co.uk), Manchester the other day to see if they had fresh yeast and they did. Hurray; I thought it would be a nightmare getting hold of it. Whilst I was there I saw loads of seasonal stuff - it's all lovely and local and organic there too - so I stocked up on Jerusalem artichokes and quinces. I also notice they had Seville oranges there too. I plan to make proper marmalade in the new year and people are sending me empty jars to fill. I would've been fucked if I couldn't get them - they only have a one month season so I would've had to wait a whole year to start tracking them down again. Now I've to find some Grigson recipes with Jerusalem artichokes and quinces. I know that there are some. Also is the plural of 'quince' 'quince' or 'quinces'? Does it actually matter? No.

I am blabbering now - pleased to have cocked up my experiments. Which means I can go home and finish my Christmas Cake. Yum!

Bah Humbug!

I'm getting really sick and tired of all the deadlines and seminars and stuff at work. It's getting me down a bit, and I don't feel in the Christmas spirit at all! My viva is tomorrow and there's a conference tomorrow, but after this week it'll all be over. Then I can get all Christmassy and start thinking about the yummy Xmas food I can make from the Grigson. I've missed a load of stuff cos they need to be made well in advance; I suppose I'll just have to make mincemeat at Easter time instead! However, I am nurturing the Christmas Cake that I made at the weekend - I've been adding brandy by the teaspoon, so hopefully I'll be fantastic on the day. It's started to go all sticky with treacle-goodness. I keep worrying that it'll be raw in the middle. Raw or cooked, I'll be forcing people to eat it!

Off I pop - got students to teach!

#15 Christmas Cake

This is the first time I've been able to add an entry whilst making a dish. Yes, it's time for (#15)Christmas Cake. The idea being I can top it up with brandy throughout December ready for scoffing on the big day (assuming I can wait that long!). It is baking as we speak. It's got all you would expect inside - dried fruit, glace cherries, treacle etc etc etc!!!! God bless Greg for giving me an oven thermometer as an early Xmas pressie. My oven is shite! It took an hour just to get it to the right temperature; I have to set it at 100 degrees to actually get the required temperature of 140! It has to bake for 3 1/2 hours so I'm practising a talk as I wait, and of course, updating the old blog. I can't say what it's like, of course. We shall simply have to wait!

To make the cake you first need a huge bowl. Into it, mix together:

1 ½ pounds of mixed dried fruit;
four ounces of blanched, slivered almonds;
four ounces of chopped peel;
four ounces of rinsed, quartered glacé cherries.

Now add the rest of the dry ingredients:
ten ounces of plain flour;
a teaspoon of cinnamon;
a teaspoon of grated nutmeg;
grated rind of a lemon.

Now cream 8 ounces each of lightly salted butter and soft brown sugar in a separate bowl, then mix in a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a tablespoon of black treacle. Beat in four eggs one by one until incorporated, and the mix in the fruit and the flour. For the final stage, dissolve half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in a tablespoon of warmed milk, stir it in, and then add enough brandy to slacken the mixture slightly, so that it is a ‘soft dropping consistency’.

Line an eight inch cake tin with greaseproof paper and pour the mixture in, hollowing the top a little to compensate for the rising. Cover with a layer of brown paper to prevent scorching and bake for 3 ½ hours at 140⁰C. Test it after 3 hours though just in case. When done, leave to cool in its tin overnight. The cake needs to be kept for a month or more as you’ll need to sprinkle it with brandy every now and again. Eventually, the cake needs to be finished with marzipan and royal icing (see later posts!)

#14 Leek and Onion Pudding

It was a weird one, but Greg and I are running out of veggie recipes.

Start by making a suet pastry as for a steak and kidney pudding (I used veggie suet, natch). Line a 2 ½ pint basin with the dough. Chop a large onion and a couple of leeks. Layer up within with onion, leek, plenty of seasoning, butter and dried sage. Make a lid from pastry and steam for 3 hours. That’s it!

Sounds awful, bland and stodgy doesn’t it? Well, it was great. Surprisingly tasty. We had it with butter beans and onion gravy. Sorry for the rubbish picture - we only realised we hadn't taken one til we were on second helpings. The video is true excitement, don't you agree? Deffo a nominee for Best Short at the BAFTAs methinks!


Greg says:
#14 Leek and Onion Pudding - Witness how stupidly excited we are on the video. I didn't quite accept that you could make pastry out of steam, apparently you can. The pudding is yum, the pastry is really flowery, as opposed to floury, because of the herbs, and the long slow cook just brings out the ordinary flavours of everything in abundance. I would never have the patience to make it myself though, obv. 7/10

#14 Leek and Onion Pudding: 8/10. Lovely crispy herby crust, surprisingly yummy within.

#13 Pancakes for the Rich

Greg and I thought we needed to stuff our faces with animal fat and sugar so (#13) Pancakes for the Rich (or a Quire of Paper; whatever that means!) was called for. It made 10 pancakes - which were very difficult to fry:

To make the batter beat together 3 ounces of flour, four ounces of melted butter, half a pint of single cream and a large egg along with two tablespoons of brown sherry, a teaspoon of rose or orange-flower water and half a grated nutmeg. Coat a skillet or pan in a very thin layer of oil and fry on both sides until brown. They didn't go firm like normal pancakes, but squidgy and caramelised because of the butter and the very little egg. After wrestling with them - in order to turn one we had to slide it onto a plate, and upturn it back onto the pan, otherwise they ended up a sad blob of batter. We served some up with sugar; as Grigson suggests, but also had some with lemon juice too.

Was it worth it? Not sure; i think I might prefer poor-man's pancakes. I think I'll try her recipe for them soon. But Pancakes for the rich were interesting, particularly for the addition of the beautifully fragrant orange-flower water.

Greg says:

#13 Pancakes for the Rich - Pretty much ditto what he said, they're nice but really not a patch on pov pancakes which may say more about our working class palate than anything else. Mostly though they're a bitch to turn, I am the king of tossing pancakes and these buggers weren't for flippng. But they are tasty and if you're attempting to put on a lot of weight in a very short time, whcih we apparently are, these are for you. 6.5/10.

#13 Pancakes for the Rich: 6.5/10. Delicious, but a big old faff and a bit too rich - even for me!

Another rainy day in Manchester...

On Saturday I completed my Continuation report for my PhD. I quite pleased with it - it could have done with one more draft but since my PC crashed after I'd spent 2 hours making corrections on the previous draft, I could not be ARSED! Anyway, it meant that me and Greg had a whole day together without me doing work - the only problem was it was chucking it down with rain - "it's like stair-rods" as my Dad would say! Rainy day = Grigson extravaganza. I decided that I'd make a Christmas cake and make some nice stuff to eat. We decided on (#13) Pancakes for the Rich for a naughty lunch and (#14) Leek and Onion Pudding for tea in the evening. Didn't have time to make the cake. It was nice going through the book choosing what to make - obviously we were restricted with the savories, but the puddings and teatime treats chapters give me a food boner! It is sad, I know; but there is something therapeutic about looking through cookbooks. Or may be it's just me... I'm really looking forward to making some traditional Christmas fayre. I am gonna be sooooo fat!

#12 Orange Fool

Dessert.

Not sure if I made it properly to be honest; tasty though it was. It's like no fool I've ever heard of. A fool is normally pureed fruit stirred into whipped cream. Not this one, this one’s more like a custard.

Mix three large eggs with half a pint of double cream, two ounces of sugar and the juice of three oranges in a basin along with some ground cinnamon and nutmeg until very thick. Place the basin over a pan of simmering water and whisk until it has thickened. After stirring it for about 15 minutes, I realised it as never going to become even a little bit thick! Oh dear. I soldiered on - the Grigson Padawan always ensures that the show still goes on. Poured it into wine glasses for that 70s kitschness. Top with candied peel and a sprinkle of orange flower water. The delicately perfume flower water made the whole dish very exotic, and although the fool wasn't (in my humble opinion) a fool, or thick. It was pretty special. Very rich and creamy, but the acidic orange juice that cut through the richness allowed you to keep on eating!!


Simon says:
For dessert an orange fool was served up. It did not last long for no sooner was it tasted than it was finished. Sweet and rich, smooth and thick, the glasses were licked clean. 8/10

Then we got pissed in Levy with a dinner lady and her god-awful son. Woo hoo!

I say:
#12 Orange Fool: 7/10. I cocked it up, but not even I can totally spoil a Grigson pud!

#11 Braised Beef with Carrots

Second course. This one couldn't be simpler either - all you need is time...and thyme too.

I got a piece of brisket from Savin Hill Farm (http://www.savin-hill.co.uk/), who have a stall from the farmers' market in Manchester. Brown it in lard and put it into a flameproof casserole. Add loads of sliced carrots, and inch or two's depth of chicken stock and a big sprig of thyme. Cook on a very low heat, topping-up the stock and adding more carrots for about 2 hours. I served it, as the Grigson recommends, with boiled potatoes. I have to say, I'm going to have to give this one mixed reviews. The carrots cooked with the beef and in the thymey stock were beautifully tender. The beef itself was extremely tasty; really....er....beefy! When I bought it, it was a deep red colour with a little bit of marbling. I don't think I've actually cooked brisket before, and tasty though it was, some of it was pretty tough. The Grigson did say you could use the more expensive cut, silverside. Perhaps I should've. I'm sure it wasn't down to Savin Hill's produce. FYI: rolled brisket is the strip of muscle from the breast of the cow rolled up. It is one of the 8 primal cuts of meat. I found out that apparently you've to cook it fat facing upwards to make it lovely and tender. Oh well - next time it'll be better!

Simon says:
A main course of beef with carrots was greedily consumed. The carrots were outstanding, cooked in the meat stock and packed full of thyme flavour. The beef was tasty but rather tough in parts: questions were raised over Grigson's suggested cut for the dish. Served with good peas and spuds. 6/10

I say:
#11 Braised Beef with Carrots: 6/10. I agree with Mr. Simon on this one. Have a feeling it may be my naive beef cookery!

#10 To Make a Nice Whet Before Dinner

Yes, you heard! It's from 1769, you know.

Simon came over and I did a 3 courser and this was the starter! Fried bread (in butter!), anchovy fillet, then grilled with a shed-load of Cheshire cheese on the top. That's it. Quite possibly one of the most delicious (and fattening) morsels I've ever had - I know I keep saying these things on the blog...

Simon says:
The starters was as delicious as it was unhealthy. Butter-fried bread with anchovy fillet and Cheshire cheese. So simple, so tasty. We were drinking red wine but this dish would make a fine accompanyment to a good beer. 9/10

I say:

#10 To make a Nice Whet Before Dinner: 10/10. Delicious, simple, what can I say?? I'd eat it every day if my arteries could cope!

A note on meat...

As well as trying to get to the bottom of what English Food actually is and perhaps discovering some lost foods, it's also important that the food is as close to how it should be eaten. What do I mean by that? I mean the meat, eggs, etc. should come from good quality, healthy, free-range animals. This does of course mean that things are rather more expensive that if I'd go to the supermarket and buy those alarmingly white chicken breasts or surprisingly bright blood red pieces of meat in plastic boxes. However to do the English thing, animals will be eaten, so it is important that they were at least happy. Of course healthy animals with no stress hormones or antibiotics running through their veins are tastier. So I shall get meat, poultry and game from reputable butchers and farms (and fishmongers of course). I will give out their details, like websites, etc., as I go.

#9 Manchester Pudding

First of all I'd like to apologise for the time lapse between making some food and then blogging it! I'm busy! busy! busy! these days. Anyway. I did #9 Manchester Pudding last Thursday as Joff was coming round. Me and Greg cooked a store-cupboard style tea so I thought I'd do a pud that seemed straight-forward enough. On the bus home I flicked through the tome and saw Manchester Pudding. I should have cooked it first, being in Manchester! I'd had Manchester tart before - shortcrust pastry, a thin layer of jam, then thick custard to the brim and sprinkled with dessicated coconut. This pudding was sort of similar:

Line an eight or nine inch tart tin with some puff pastry and spread it with either greengage, strawberry or apricot jam (I went for strawberry). Next put ½ pint of full fat milk into a pan with the pared rind of a lemon and two ounces of white breadcrumbs. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Remove the lemon rind and stir in two ounces each of butter and caster sugar, 2 egg yolks and two tablespoons of brandy. Pour into the pastry case bake for around 30 minutes at 180⁰C until almost set. Meanwhile whisk two egg whites until they’ve got to the stiff-peak stage and spread them smoothly over the tart. Sprinkle over a tablespoon of caser sugar and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes until the whites have turned golden brown. Serve warm.

It was lovely! We scoffed the whole thing between the three of us - so quick, in fact, I couldn't take a photo of it's innards! It was proper poor people's food made slightly posh with the addition of meringue and brandy.

Greg says:
See I reckon there is a difference between Manc tart and Manc Pudding, to me the tart has to have coconut on top as Char mentioned. Regardless, the pudding was amazing! When it came out of the oven after the first baking it was completely alive! It breathed and pulsated like something from Dr Who. Basically it was a textbook dish, and felt quintessentially English too I thought, it had swollen to twice the original size after the second baking and we demolished it quick sharp with knives and spoons, dry-humping accordingly. Neil let me put the jam on so the jam was the best bit. 8/10

I say:
#9 Manchester Pudding: 8/10. Can't knock it really! I'd give it more but I reckon there's better ones out there!

#8 Chocolate Pie

The first Grigson for a bit. Although it's no excuse I've been rather busy doing a PhD. I did the pie for dessert at Greg's auntie's. It was great to be baking again. My mum used to be a baker and me and my brother spent many an afternoon when we were little 'helping' mum make crumbles, turnovers and all sorts of stuff. As a grown-up, I find it extremely relaxing and therapeutic doing some baking as it takes me right back to those times. Anyway, enough of this schmaltz...

#7 Chocolate pie - a crust make from ground almonds, sugar and egg white blind-baked in the oven; an eighteenth century recipe apparently. Fill it with a ganache - nineteenth century recipe - top with sweetened whipped cream laced with rum. If I wasn't following the recipes exactly, I would have missed out the rum - I'm not a fan of spirits in sweets. I'm glad I did though - I used dark rum (she didn't say which type to use) and it was absolutely gorgeous! It was the richest dessert I think I've ever had. I'm writing this 4 days after making and eating it and I still feel pleasantly nauseous. My tastes are obviously changing; think I'll put alcohol in everything. Gin and apple crumble or sambuca trifle anyone!?

Here's what Greg says:
Chocolate pie chocolate pie! This is the best thing he's made so far hands down. Dark chocolate, cream, booze, icing sugar sugar, almonds, it's all your favourite things in one giant ganache of nauseating lurve. Despite what the book says about eat within one hour, we had some the next day and it had settled into a firmer lush cheesecake-like texture and was divine so don't feel duty-bound to wolf the whole thing at once, not hat you could, it's VERY rich. Sounds fairly easy to make but looks so impressive. Pics to follow. Yummmm. 5/5.

#8 Chocolate Pie: 4.5/5 - it's got all the essential ingredients: crispy, nutty crust, loads of chocolate and a pint of cream. The best chocolate dessert I've had for ages - and that includes restaurants!

Ratatouille

Obviously this is not English Cookery at all! But it is one of the things I do off the top of head these days as I've cooked so many times. I'd like to point out that whenever I've had a ratatouille made for me it's always been rather insipid, watery and tasteless, but yet I've understood this because I love all the ingredients. It turns out that a ratatouille shouldn't be all watery; like you get in those nasty tins, but silky and unctuous and oily where the sauce is made up of condensed tomato flavour, broken-down aubergines and olive oil- at least in the Nicoise style. Hopefully, if you cook this I'm sure you'll agree that it's the best ratatouille you've ever had! Now that is a grand claim!!

You will need:
1 large aubergine, sliced into 1/2 centimetre slices
1 large courgette (or 2 small), sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 green pepper, chopped
1 tin of tomatoes, opened
1 big tbs of tomato puree
6 tbs good olive oil (not extra virgin)
1/2 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt, pepper

Method

1. In a large pan, heat the oil until under a high heat and fry the aubergine slices on both sides until golden brown (you may have to do this in batches, unless you're pan is huge!)
2. Reserve the aubergine slices. Turn the heat down and fry the onion and pepper, add more oil if the aubergine absorbed it all. Add the herbs. When the onions are slightly softened, stir the aubergine slices back in along with the garlic. Fry gently - but don't colour the onion- for 5 minutes.
3. Add the tinned tomatoes and puree and simmer slowly for at least 10 minutes, but 15 or 20 is best, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the aubergine's break-down. Season well with salt and pepper.
4. If it was me, I'd serve it with either sliced corned beef or scrambled eggs along with some crusty bread and butter.
5. Enjoy!

October - Lest We Forget

Well wasn't October a total let-down re: Grigson. I can only apologise. However, November is going to be a totally different story. I intend to fill my freezer with Grigson goodies, so expect lots of soups and casseroles. Yum! Also I intend to do to the wonderful Bury Market and stock-up on some game. PLus the plan for Christmas needs to get underway. I will be doing a recipe on Sunday as I'm off round to Greg's auntie and uncle's - Dee and John - along with his sis. I shall be doing the pud, #7 Chocolate Pie! Yum!!

However - I do have some of my own recipes to share with you, if you,re in any way interested...!

#7 - Cauliflower and Fennel Soup

Sorry, but it's another vegetarian one. FYI once I get a floor put in my dining room I can invite people round and eat actual meat - there doesn't seem much point if there's only me eating it! Anyway, (#7) Cauliflower and Fennel Soup. Very simple; very fattening! Just cauliflower, the same weight in fennel (I used three) and an onion sweated in butter, add water, simmer, blitz in blender, add double cream, salt and lemon juice, finally a loving sprinkle of chopped fennel leaves over the top once you've dished it out. The end product is a beautiful creamy-white velvety soup; and although it's full of wintry veg and heavy cream and butter, it was surprisingly light and zingy - obviously due to the addition of the lemon juice. However, the flavour of the fennel (an underused favourite of mine) did not shine through. This is not the fault of The Grigson - or, at least I don't think it is - it is the fault of the quite sad-looking specimens that I bought from the grocers in Levenshulme. Brilliant that shop is, I think in a dish that contains so few ingredients needs careful acquisition from an organic grocers shop.

So overall i reckon:
#7 Cauliflower and Fennel Soup - 3/5. I was a lovely soup but lacked the expected flavours. Will maybe re-do it with better ingredients and try and bump it up to a 4!

My recipe for Yorkshire Puddings

In my humble opinion there's nothing better in the world than having your Sunday lunch in a giant Yorkshire pudding. Here's my recipe that makes two giant Yorkshires or 6 normal-sized ones. Fill them with your favorite roast meat and Sunday veg. Pour over loads of onion gravy. The gravy must be thick - this is not a time for watery gravies - proper Yorkshire food sticks to the ribs. These are easy-peasy and they always come out massive; you don't even need to weigh anything - you just need a ramekin to fill up. I reckon an average ramekin is about 1/2 an American cup in volume.

Ingredients:
1 ramekin plain flour
1 ramekin half milk, half water mixture
2 eggs
pinch of salt
a flavourless oil or lard

1. Whisk together the flour, milk, water eggs and salt until it is a smooth batter. Let it rest as long as possible - at least an hour. The longer the rest, the bigger the rise!
2. Heat your oven to 200 degrees C. It must be at temperature when you want to cook the puddings.
3. Add around 2 tablespoons of oil to 2 sandwich tins - enough to cover the bottom in a thin layer of oil. Put the tins in the oven for a good 10 minutes so that they are really hot.
4. Quickly take out the tins and pour divide the mixture between them. There should be a satisfying sizzle.
5. Put back in oven for 20-25 minutes until they are well-risen and golden brown.

I'd like say, I haven't been away...

I've been so busy with my new house and it's such a state that I've not been able to invite people round for Grigson treats. I've been eating the worst food since I was a student of late - it's terrible! I've gone from enthused cook to ping cuisine pig-dog in the space of two weeks! However, when I have cooked it's been stuff I already know how to do without even loking in a cookbook; and since it can't reproduce The Grigson's recipes I shall put MY recipes in instead! A genius idea methinks.