Christmas treats - savoury & sweet

Goat’s cheese became popular a few years ago and has stayed as a favourite. One of the reasons is that there are some really good choices available. I recommend Ardsallagh Goat’s Cheese for this recipe. It’s light and creamy with a lovely texture. The tart can be used as starter or main course and is a good option when you can’t face more turkey. The Christmas log has a lovely seasonal flavour from the chestnut puree. Buy it in any good deli, but use the sweetened variety.

In last week’s Apple Pie recipe the butter quantity was omitted in error, it’s 8oz.

Tarte au Chevre

Pastry

8oz Plain Flour

5oz Butter

1 Egg

1tbsp Milk

Pinch of Salt

Sieve the flour & salt into a large bowl; rub in the butter with your fingertips until like fine breadcrumbs, make a well in the centre and add the egg and milk and form into a soft ball of pastry. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes. Grease a 9 inch round tin (preferably loose bottomed). Roll out your pastry and line the tin, trim away any excess pastry from the sides, line the pastry case with some greaseproof paper and baking beans and place in the centre of the oven for 15 minutes at 180°C.

Filling

3 medium Onions,

sliced thinly

1oz Butter

2 Eggs

200g Tub Crème Fraiche

7fl oz. Milk

6oz Soft Crumbly

Goats Cheese

2 Sprigs Fresh Thyme

Salt and Black Pepper

Melt the butter in a pan, add the onions, cook for about 20 minutes on a low heat until onions are nice and soft, add the thyme. In a separate bowl mix the eggs, crème fraiche and milk, season with salt and pepper. Spoon the onions into the cooled pastry base, crumble in the goat’s cheese and pour over the egg mix, to the height of the pastry, do not over fill. Lift on to a baking tray and cook for 30 minutes at 180°C, at this point check if tart has set, if not give it another 10 minutes. Tip: Heat the baking tray before putting the tart onto it as it helps to make the bottom of your pastry nice and golden and crispy. Serve as a starter with some mixed leaves and homemade dressing.

Christmas Chocolate Log

7 Eggs, separated

8oz Castor Sugar

8oz good Dark Chocolate

(at least 55%cocoa solids)

2tbsp Water

6oz Sweetened

Chestnut Puree

1pt Whipped

Double Cream

Icing Sugar to Dust

Put the chocolate and water into a heat resistant bowl and place over a saucepan of hot water. Over a low heat let the chocolate melt. In a separate mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks and castor sugar to a smooth paste and in another bowl whisk your egg whites until stiff. Pour the chocolate over your egg mix and stir gently, add in the egg whites, gently stirring so as not to remove the air. Pour into a lined Swiss roll tray and bake for 10 minutes at 160°C, then turn and bake for a further 5 minutes. Cool before filling.

To fill, dust some parchment paper with icing sugar and place the roulade on it, spread with the chestnut puree, then the cream and roll to form a log.

Place on a nice big plate and dust with icing sugar…….Delicious!