Cranberry & Onion Pork Belly

In two weeks it’ll be Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve guys, can you believe it? I can’t, but boy I cannot wait for the Christmas foodies. The time to be with loved ones, having a good time, laughing, good food, literally ticking all my boxes. I love the lead up to Christmas, everyone out buying gifts and preparing the delicious treats for the big day. A tasty treat we have this week with this pork belly recipe, full of flavour and so very simple to make. If you’re feeling a richer flavour use a meatier stock, otherwise vegetable stock will work just as well.

Ingredients:

• 600g pork belly slices
• 400ml stock
• 200ml cranberry juice
• 7-8 shallots, peeled and quartered
• 1 bulb of garlic, peeled leaving the cloves whole
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• Salt
• Ground black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 fan.
2. Place your baking tray on the stove, add the garlic, shallot and oil and fry for a couple of minutes.
3. Put the pork belly slices on top of the garlic and shallots, distributing them evenly on the tray.
4. Pour in the stock and the cranberry juice, try to avoid touching the meat so that the fattier parts of the meat can render and become crispy in the cooking process. Season the pork with salt and pepper
5. Put the baking tray in the oven and leave to cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Best served hot and with some mashed potatoes.

Enjoy ☺️

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Chocolate & Amaretto Cocktail

The festive season has begun, it’s time to party, have lots of good food and surround yourself with the people you love. This delicious Christmassy beverage is the perfect evening drink to wind down with while watching a festive film and is an indulgent alternative to a sweet treat.

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 30ml Disaronno liqueur
• 50ml Baileys chocolat luxe liqueur
• 30ml single cream
• Ice cubes

Method:

1. In in a glass, fill with some ice cubes. Pour over the Disaronno, Baileys and single cream and stir.

Enjoy 🙂

Leftover Turkey Treat

Merry Christmas Everybody!! I hope you all had an enjoyable time, had lots of amazing food and spent some quality time with some loved ones. Now, I know what you are all thinking, Carla, we have all just stuffed our faces with turkey and you’re coming here and posting something about Turkey, are you feeling alright love? I know,I don’t blame you. There will be a fair few of us with some serious leftovers after yesterdays antics and lets be honest, we need to gobble up those goodies.

This recipe works perfectly for any leftover Turkey or works just as well with Turkey steaks, which is fantastic as they are so easy to access all year round, not just for the Christmas period. So quick and easy to make, you’ll be back to chilling on the sofa watching all the treats in store on the television.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 3 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 2 turkey steaks, chopped into chunks
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• Salt
• Pepper
• Lime

Method:

1. On medium heat, fry the shallot, ginger and garlic in the olive oil until lightly browned.
2. Add the turkey and cook for 3-4 minutes.
3. Season with all the spices and mix.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook until they are blistered and have released its juices.
5. Squeeze over some lime juice, stir and take off the heat.

Best served hot.

Rum Cake

It’s December and Christmas is just around the corner, I am SO excited and love the time leading up to the big day. This cake is so spongy, moist and delicious, just so so good. You can definitely taste the sweet rum flavours in this. If you’d like it to be a bit more boozy add a few splashes more. Fabulously served with a hot cup of tea.

Ingredients:

• 120g self raising flour
• 120g caster sugar
• 120g butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1tsp baking powder

Syrup

• 3 dessert spoons of rum (I used Captain Morgan’s spiced rum)
• 1 tsp caster sugar.

Icing:

• 125g icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)
• 2 dessert spoons of milk
• 1 dessert spoon of rum
• a splash of vanilla extract
• sprinkles (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4.
2. In a bowl add all the ingredients. Using a hand whisk combine the cake mixture to make a batter. 
3. Line a 9 inch circular baking tin with baking parchment and pour in the cake mixture.
4. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Whilst in the oven make the syrup by combining the caster sugar and rum, then leave to one side. Using a knife or skewer check if the cake is cooked if the utensil comes out clean then remove from the oven.
5. Use a toothpick to gently pierce holes at the top of the cake while it is hot. Then pour over the rum syrup, making sure it has covered all of the cake. Leave to absorb the juiciness and cool.
6. Once the cake has cooled, flip it upside down. 
7. In another bowl combine all the ingredients from the icing list (but the sprinkles) thoroughly. Then evenly pour and spread this over the cake. You’ll find that this is a thinner kind of icing. Then leave the sponge to absorb this sweet concoction. 
8. When the icing has soaked in but not dried, decorate with your choice of sprinkles. I’ve gone for a more Christmassy looking cake, hence the holly and the festive colours but go to town and make that cake look cute and pretty.
9. Finally, dust over with some icing sugar.

Enjoy 🙂

Ginger Spiced Rocky Road

Let’s be real now, December is right round the corner so let’s not waste time and get those preparations under way. I know there are many of us that have taken to online shopping to get ourselves ready for Christmas celebrations and boy, it will be here sooner than we think. Rocky road is a simple, no bake dessert that can make a fantastic treat and gift to your friends and loved ones during the holiday period. Bringing in those Christmassy vibes I have created a ginger spiced dessert that showcases the flavours of Christmas time.

Makes 16-18 pieces.

Ingredients:

• 200g dark chocolate, chopped
• 200g milk chocolate, chopped
• 200g ginger nut biscuits
• 3 tbsps golden syrup
• 130g unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 100g mini marshmallows

Method:

1. Line a 10.5 x 8 tin with greaseproof paper and then leave aside.
2. Put the chocolate pieces, butter and golden syrup in a heatproof bowl and place above a saucepan that is filled with a small amount of water. Gently simmer and occasionally stir the chocolate mixture until smooth and silky. (Be sure that the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl and that no water touches the chocolate as this will cause it to seize up.) Once ready, take off the heat, add the cinnamon and ground ginger, mix and leave to cool slightly.
3. Place the ginger nut biscuits in a sandwich/freezer bag and give it a good bash with a rolling pin until there’s a mixture of chunks and dust. Then place the contents into a large bowl along with the mini marshmallows.
4. Pour the chocolate over the marshmallows and biscuits and mix thoroughly.
5. Place into the tin and spread it out evenly into the corners. Leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Dust the rocky road with icing sugar (optional) and cut into 16-18 pieces.

Enjoy!