Tomato bread and garlic soup is a winner, so tasty and uses the barest of ingredients. Leave out the bread and it’s a quick sauce for pasta or pizza. Want a change from soup, chicken and vegetables? Pies always hit the spot and are so much more delicious when you make them yourself. Let’s face it, we have the time! Lastly, apple shortcake. The kind that you just can’t buy. Leave the berries out if you have none and add a teaspoon or two of cinnamon instead. Rhubarb, raisins, anything that might go well with apples and you are good to go.
It’s your isolation party, so why not cook your way through it in style. Good luck, stay safe, and we will see you on the other side.
Bevan is doing live cooking demonstrations during the lockdown on @riverstone-kitchen
Blackberry and apple shortcake
Serves 12
Prep time 30 minutes
Cook time 60 minutes
Ingredients
6 large Granny Smith apples
zest of 1 lemon
1⅓ cups caster sugar
250g unsalted butter
2 free-range eggs
2⅓ cups plain flour
1½ cups cornflour
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp extra cornflour
500g frozen or fresh blackberries
extra flour for dusting
extra caster sugar
Method
Heat oven to 170degC. Grease and line a 28cm fluted tart tin, with a removable base, with baking paper. Peel, core and cut apples into 1cm thick pieces. Place apple, lemon zest and 50g caster sugar in a large, heavy-based pot. Add 50ml of water and cook on a medium heat until apples are just soft. Allow to cool.
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one-by-one and mix in well before adding flour, cornflour and baking powder and mixing until just combined. Turn mixture on to a lightly floured bench and gently knead, to form a very soft dough, dusting with a little extra flour if required.
Roll dough into a log shape and divide into two. Roll each piece into a 30cm circle. Line your fluted tin with your first circle of dough. Ensure you push dough into the edges of the tin and patch any cracks as necessary. Sprinkle extra cornflour over the dough base and cover with cooked apples. Top with blackberries and roll up the remaining pastry on a rolling pin and cover the tart. Press down lightly on the edges to seal pastry together. Remove excess pastry hanging over the sides of the tin, lightly brush tart top with water and dust with caster sugar.
Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour until pastry is a deep golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Carefully remove the fluted tart ring and serve.
Tip - This dough is very soft and can be tricky to handle. We use a rolling pin and roll the dough on to it to transfer it to the tin to stop it from falling apart.
All berries go well in this tart, even gooseberries, although you may need a little extra cornflour for those.
Free-range chicken and vegetable pies
Makes 4 pies
Prep time 40 minutes
Cook time 50 minutes
Ingredients
60ml olive oil
3 free-range chicken breasts, skin removed
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 stick celery, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
500ml chicken stock
2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp thyme, finely chopped
¼ cup cornflour
2 30cm x 30cm puff pastry sheets, at room temperature
1 free-range egg, beaten
Method
Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-based pot over a medium to high heat. Cut chicken into large pieces, lightly season and fry for 1 to 2 minutes, before removing from pot and reserving for later use.
Add butter, vegetables and garlic to the pot and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes without colouring, until vegetables start to soften, reducing the heat if necessary. Add chicken stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add chicken, parsley and thyme. When chicken is just cooked, mix cornflour with half a cup cold water and add to pie mix. Simmer for 3 minutes until pie filling thickens and adjust seasoning to taste. Remove from heat, pour pie mix into large roasting tray and cool in refrigerator until completely cold.
Heat oven to 240degC. Place four 10cm pie tins on to a baking tray. Cut each puff pastry sheet into 4 pieces. Gently press one piece of pastry into each tin and spoon cold pie filling into the centre of each pie, being careful not to overfill. Brush pastry lip of each pie with a little cold water. Place the remaining pastry pieces on top of the pies and gently press down on the edges of each pie tin to seal top and bottom together. Remove excess pastry with a sharp knife and brush pie tops with the beaten egg.
Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before baking for 15 minutes or until pastry is a deep golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before taking the pies out of the tins and serve either on their own or with mash and greens.
Tomato, bread and garlic soup
Serves 4
Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 20 minutes
Ingredients
2 400g cans chopped Italian tomatoes, or 1kg very ripe tomatoes
180ml extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 bunch basil, picked
½ loaf stale ciabatta, crust removed and roughly chopped
500ml chicken, vegetable stock or water
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
¼ cup parmesan, ground
Method
If using fresh tomatoes, first blanch them for 30 seconds in boiling water and refresh immediately with cold water. Remove skins, squeeze out seeds and roughly chop the tomato flesh.
Heat 100ml olive oil in a heavy-based pot over a medium heat, add garlic and cook for 15-30 seconds or until garlic just begins to colour (be careful not to burn the garlic or the soup will taste bitter). Add tomatoes and half the basil. Bring to the boil and simmer for 6-8 minutes until thick. Add ciabatta, stock and sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes. Season to taste with a little salt and pepper and divide between four bowls. Finish with remaining basil, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and the parmesan.
Tip - Use any basil stalks and parmesan rinds you might have by placing them in the soup as it cooks to give extra flavour. Discard them when soup is ready.
