FRUIT AND CHEESE PLATTER FOR XMAS

Ingredients.......1 x 425 can of pear halves, 1 x 425 gm can of apricot halves, 200 gm of a blue veined cheese, 250 gm of creamed cheese, a handful of granulated nuts, a few fresh strawberries, a handful of whole pistachios. Drain the canned fruit. Upturn the cream cheese and press the granulated nuts around the outside of the cheese, then slice diagonally into triangles. Place a triangle of the cream cheese on top of each apricot half. Halve the pears lengthwise, slice the blue cheese into slices and place on top of the pear quarter. If you are using a soft blue cheese, spread into the hollows of the pears. Arrange the cheese topped fruit platter with a few fresh strawberries halved and whole nuts, decorate with fresh baby spinach leaves. Serve with savoury / plain crackers.

THE MANOR TRADITIONAL SHORTBREAD

Shortbread is about the traditional Scottish recipe where the ratio is one part sugar to two parts butter/ marg / ghee. ( I use ghee). It is this combination that creates a soft buttery crumb that melts in your mouth. Ingredients.......125gm of ghee ( butter/ marg ), 1/2 cup of castor sugar ( I use raw castor sugar), 1 cup of rice flour, 1/4 cup of plain flour, 1 tsp of ground cardamon. Preheat your oven to 160 deg C. Line an ungreased baking tray with baking paper, ( no need to grease). Cream the butter/ marg / ghee with the sugar in your mixer until light. In a separate bowl mix together the flours and the cardamon. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer with the combined sugar and ghee, mix well. Now set the mixer bowl aside for 30 minutes. Now place heaped tbs of mixture and spoon onto the prepared ungreased tray, leaving the a little space between. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until pale golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray. These really do melt in your mouth.

LEMON SLICE

Ingredients....1 cup of self raising flour, 1 cup of desiccated coconut, 3/4 cup of raw castor sugar, 2 eggs lightly beaten, 110gm of melted butter/ marg, 1 tbs of lemon butter/ curd. Icing .....1 and 1/2 cups of icing sugar, 2 tbs of lemon curd/ butter, enough lemon juice to make a spreading consistancy.( spreadable ). Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. line a 20cm x 20 cm pan with baking paper. Mix all the above ingredients together in a bowl and then pour the mixture into the lined pan. Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes until golden. Cool in the pan and then remove to a wire rack and cool completely. Ice when cool and then top with coconut flakes. This one is for Robyn , enjoy !

SALMON AND CHEESE OVENBAKE

Ingredients.......1 and 1/2 cups of cooked rice, 3 frozen fillets of salmon ( thawed), 200gm of grated tasty cheese, 250gm of tomberry tomatoes ( the really mini cherry tomatoes),1 onion finely chopped, 1 dsp of dried parsley, 2 tbs of plain flour, 60 gm of butter/ marg, 1/2 tsp of groung mace, cracked black pepper to taste and 1 dsp of sweet paprika, dried dill to garnish. preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Grease an ovenproof dish with cooking oil. Melt the butter/ margin a small saucepan add the flour and stir to combine over a low heat. Stir in the milk and bring to a slow simmer, add the grated cheese and continue cooking , stirring continually until the sauce is smooth. Combine the cooked rice with the cracked pepper, mace and sweet paprika. Spoon into the ovenproof dish and scatter with the tomberry tomatoes. Finally top with the sliced onion and salmon fillets. Finally pour over the cheese sauce and garnish with dried dill. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes and heated through. This is seriously delicious.

THE 5 AND 1/4 CUP SLICE. ( PERFECT FOR XMAS )

Ingredients.....1 packet of choc chip pieces ( 260 gm ), 1 cup of sultantas/ mixed fruit , 1 cup of granulated nuts, 1 and 1/4 cups of coconut flakes, 1 tin ( 397 gm ) of sweetened condensed milk. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Mix all the ingredients together and press into a baking paper lined slice tray. Cover with a sheet of baking paper. Bake in the preheated oven on 180 deg C for 15 minutes. Remove the baking paper cover, reduce heat to 160 deg C and continue to bake for a further 15 minutes. Remove from the oven cool in the tray and then place in the refrigerator until completely cold and then slice into squares. Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Enjoy.

NUTELLA / NUTINA FUDGE

Ingredients.....spray oil for greasing, 150ml of milk, 2 tbs of butter/ marg, 175gm of castor sugar, 50gm of Nutella / Nutina. Grease a 15cm (6") square pan or plastic container with oil. Heat the milk, butter/ marg and sugar in a small saucepan over a medium heat, stirring until the butter/ marg has melted and the sugar is dissolved. Slowly bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the mixture is very thick. Now remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the Nutella / Nutina, Leave the mixture to cool for 5 minutes. Use a whisk to beat the mixture really well. Pour into the prepared pan / container and leave set for 2 hours at room temperature before cutting into squares. This is for the kids and oldies alike , just enjoy.

PORK CRACKLE…

Ingredients......pork loin, leg of pork, forequarter of pork. This is my gift to you, perfect pork crackle. Preheat your oven to 220deg C. Rub your pork rind of your cut of pork until thickly covered with salt. Place in a baking dish and bake until the crackling is crisp, then reduce the temperature to 200 deg C and continue to cook for a further hour or until the juice from the pork runs clear. ( check with a skewer). Transfer to a serving dish and keep warm. There you have it , so simple , so perfect. Bon apetite from The Manor kitchen.