Smoked chicken, apple and caramelized walnut salad

Ingredients

Apples frying

1 smoked chicken breast

1 large apple

50 g walnuts

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp marsala

Handful of washed and chopped salad leaves

For the dressing

2 tbsp cider vinegar

3 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Peel and slice the apple and then fry for about 5-10 minutes in a large frying pan using about a

tablespoon of olive oil to stop it from sticking. The aim is for the apple to become soft rather than

mushy and for it to get a good golden colour.

Add two tbsp of marsala to the pan the alcohol will burn off and the taste infuse the apples. Next

add the maple syrup to the pan so that it bubbles and coats the apples.

Move the apples to a plate to use later and add the walnuts to the pan and stir them round so thay

they get properly covered in the marsala/maple syrup mixture. Add a little more maple syrup at this

stage if you think it is needed. Remove the walnuts to a separate small plate for later and take the

pan off the heat.

Add a couple of tablespoons of cider vinegar to the pan so that any maple syrup and apple residue is

dissolved and will appear in your delicious dressing.

To assemble

Make the dressing with the cider vinegar and olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Toss the salad leaves in the dressing and place them on the serving plate. Slice the smoked chicken breast thinly and lie it on top of the dressed salad leaves with the caramelised apples and walnuts.

Serve with good sourdough bread and plenty of butter.

This is a great way of using a surplus of apples in the late autumn. The caramelized apples make the salad into comfort food rather than Waldorf salad, which is more of an appropriate offering for a hot summer’s day.

Carrot and Cardamom cake

Carrot and cardamom cake decorated with cream cheese frosting, carrot, borage flowers and chopped pistachio.

Ingredients

100g plain flour

50g wholemeal flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cardamom seeds

pinch of salt

50 ml olive oil

2 eggs

50g caster sugar

60g brown sugar

50g plain yoghurt

200g carrot (grated)

For the frosting

100g cream cheese

100g icing sugar

Method

Sift together the flours, cardamom, bicarbonate of soda and the salt.

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs together lightly and add the oil, sugar and yoghurt and mix well (I use an electric hand beater).

Gently combine the dry ingredients with the egg mixture and then stir in the grated carrot. Pour this batter into a greased and lined 20cm round cake tin (ideally with a loose bottom).

Cook in a moderate oven (180 deg C) for about 40-45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake. When the cake is not quite cooked it will sing to you - this is the bubbles of air in the cake bursting. When this singing is much quieter the cake is cooked.

Leave the cake in its tin for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting beat up the cream cheese with the icing sugar until really smooth and then spread on the top of the cake allowing some to drizzle over the sides. decorate with grated carrot, edible flowers and some chopped pistachios if you have some.

---

This recipe is adapted from a carrot and cardamom cake in the book ‘Grow, Cook, Nourish’ by Darina Allen. We prefer a cream cheese frosting, and substituting some of the plain flour for wholemeal flour and reducing the sugar slightly makes this a healthier cake with a little more fibre - but it’s still delicious!

Raspberry Trifle

Autumn raspberries growing in November at St Olaves

Ingredients

6 trifle sponges

Half a raspberry jelly block

200g frozen raspberries (plus fresh for decoration)

250g mascarapone cheese

1 egg plus an extra yolk

2 tablespoons of caster sugar

A few drops Vanilla essence

---

Method

Break up the jelly into small squares and stir to dissolve in about 250 ml boiling water, and allow to cool.

Place the trifle sponges into a fairly deep serving bowl, break some of them in half if you like and add the defrosted raspberries to fill in all the nooks and crannies around the sponges. You can also drizzle on some marsala, brandy or sweet sherry if you want a boozy trifle.

Pour the cooled raspberry jelly mix over the sponges and raspberries and allow to cool completely and set in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

In a large mixing bowl whisk up the mascarpone, egg and egg yolk, the sugar and the vanilla essence. It is worth whisking with an electric hand whisk for 5-10 minutes so it gets nice and thick.

Spoon the mascarpone custard mixture evenly over the raspberry sponge base and then use your imagination to decorate the top.