Winter

Leek and Mushroom Rice with Fried Egg, Garlic, and Ginger

Ingredients

One mug of rice

3 Leeks

200g Mushrooms

2 Eggs

4 cloves of garlic sliced finely

2 cm of peeled and sliced ginger

2 tbsp soy sauce

Method

Cook the rice and allow it to cool - I bet you know how to do that without an explanation here.

While the rice is cooling, gently fry the garlic and ginger in a little oil using a small frying pan that will also be suitable for frying the eggs. Cook for around 10 minutes on a gentle heat until crispy and fragrant and then remove with a slotted spoon to drain on some kitchen paper. Leave the oil in the pan so that you can fry the eggs in it.

Saute the leeks in some oil and add the sliced mushrooms and the soy sauce. Once the leeks and mushrooms are cooked you can add the rice and stir well to heat up the rice.

Fry the eggs sunny side up or down as you prefer and then serve the rice in a bowl topped with the egg and a sprinkling of the garlic and ginger.

This is an easy and cheap mid-week supper that is delicious and quick to cook. In December we are harvesting our leeks and they have lots of flavour when they have been dug on the same day that they are cooked. Our white ranger hen is still laying eggs so we can also use fresh eggs.

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.