Christmas Muffins!!

Righto chaps, just one last chance to get a post in before the Christmas break. Here's one I actually did for Leeds CAMRA's New Full Measure Magazine this month, but thought I'd share it for those of you who don't get it in your part of the world. They don't take long at all to make, and once you've got the hang of it, you can tweak the recipe as you see fit.

Christmas Muffins (makes 9)
You will Need:
200g plain flour
3tspn baking powder
½ tspn Bicarbonate of Soda
75g Demerara Sugar
Pinch of Nutmeg, pinch of cinnamon
An orange
50ml Milk
60g Unsalted Butter (melted)
1 large egg
200g Sultanas & 25g chopped Glace Cherries
A Muffin Tin

1. Preheat your oven to 200c
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb, and sugar. To this, add Nutmeg and Cinnamon. Melt your butter and leave to cool. Get your orange, and squeeze the juice into a jug, then add milk until you get about 150ml. Add the (cooled) butter, milk and orange to the mix and then add the egg and beat. Don’t be worried about lumps in the mix – this actually makes better muffins!
3. Fold in the fruit and scoop into muffin cases.
4. Sprinkle a little Demerara sugar onto the top of each muffin and bake for about 20 minutes.

These muffins can be a great accompaniment for warming, fruity beers such as Theakston’s Old Peculier. I've also enjoyed these (or variations of) with Brooklyn Chocolate Stout, Chimay Red and Moorhouse's Black Cat. The spices in the muffins perfectly compliment the complexity of deeper, richer beers that are abundant at this time of year. And, when baking, the house smells great.

Have a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year, guys. Cheers.

Chutney Time!

Christmas always means a flurry of activity in The Good Stuff kitchen - usually of the baking sort, as we always like to give home-made goodies to people for presents. This year, we decided to spend an afternoon making chutney. I could'nt beleive how easy it is. The recipe that follows is based on one that was in good old Good Food Magazine a few months back.

Sweet Apple & Tomato Chutney

2 large Onions, diced

2 large cooking apples, diced and cored

2lb Tomatoes ( I used 'vine' ones)

Dash of tabasco

3 chopped cloves of Garlic

1 tsb of Ground Cinnamon

1 tsb of Ground Coriander

Twist of black pepper.

3/4 pint of Cider Vinegar (I used Aspall's)

12 oz of Sugar

1. Skin and chop you tomatoes. Chop your onions, garlic and Apple also.

2. Pour into a large preserving pan or stock-pot, then pour over the vinegar. Also add your spices at this stage.

3. Bring to the boil, stirring. Then lower the heat and let cook for about 50 minutes. The fruit and veg should be soft, but not pulpy yet. Add the sugar and stir.

4. Increase the heat, and boil rapidly for about 20 minutes. Stir regulary or the mixture will catch. The chutney will really reduce and thicken during this stage. When you can draw your spoon across the bottom of the pan and there is a clear line before it slips back, its done.

You need to sterilise and prepare your jars next. I do this by simply washing in soapy water, as hot as you can stand, then rinsing in clean hot water. I heat the oven to about 150 degrees and dry the pots in there. Spoon your chutney into the pots whilst warm, and seal immediately!

This chutney is pulpy and sweet, and really good with lamb and all the usual strong cheeses. To vary it, you could add some chillies, or even add pears. A great condiment to have around Christmas time, with all those cold cuts around!

For more ideas regarding Chutneys, Jams and other preserves, What Geeks Eat and ...An Endless Banquet both have loads of ideas and tips. Both blogs can be found on my links section.