Recipes
Vanilla & Thyme Cheesecake
Matt Avery from Frankies Farm Shop creates a seasonal pudding using local ingredients
Apple Tart with Blackberries
Juliet Bidwell’s company, Juliet’s Catering, has been established in the Weald for more than ten years and caters for parties and all kinds of events. Juliet can be contacted on 01797 270347 or see www.julietscatering.co.uk.
Rye Bay Red Gurnard with Spinach & Lemon
Cosy up and relish the onset of longer evenings with Juliet Bidwell’s autumnal recipes for entertaining family and friends...
Ultimate Courgette Cake
Peel the courgettes (or you could use a yellow variety) if you don’t want the cake to be green. I like the colour – it goes so nicely with the pistachios on the top of the cake, but understand that...
Thai Spiced Courgette Fritters with a Sweet Chilli Dip
I do hope you haven’t run out of courgettes yet, because I have some easy and delicious recipes for the overflow that even the courgette haters will like (don’t scoff until you try). The great thing about courgettes is that...
Zabaglione
Light as air, this warm egg custard is a much-loved Italian pudding. Though traditionally made with Marsala, this fortified wine can be replaced by Madeira or sweet sherry.
Mousse Au Chocolat Marbree De La Mole
For me, only one chocolate mousse cuts the mustard, a homemade one inspired by our local restaurant, La Môle. This marbled mousse is a striking dessert to bring to the dinner table in a large glass bowl.
Garlic Crusted Pork Chops with a Cheesy Twist
Pavlos Petrou from The Bull Inn, Rolvenden creates an interesting take on a Pork Chop
Chargrilled Sardines with Crushed Pink Fir Apple Potatoes & Fennel, Toasted Pine Nut & Baby Leaf Salad and a Lemon and Parsley Dressing
Lucy Barron-Reid from The Bull at Benenden, The Black Pig at Hawkhurst and The Kitty Fisher, Benenden
Steak A La Nina
I once worked as a waitress at a restaurant called Le Relais de Venise, or L’Entrecôte, and I was immediately drawn to its menu, The Formula: a simple walnut salad with mustard dressing followed by steak and chips smothered in...
Baked Eggs with Creamy Leeks
This simple but elegant starter can also be made with other vegetables such as spinach purée or Ratatouille. It is perfect for last-minute entertaining or quick dining.
Shaved Fennel, Roasted Cauliflower, toasted Hazelnut & Feta Salad with Maple Dressing
Lucinda Hamilton from Cocolicious, Cranbrook creates a recipe to provide extra uses for Fennel
Beignets De Bookclub
Nina Parker has turned her passion for food into a successful career. Using expertise honed through working with well-known chefs in restaurants both in the UK and France, Nina has started her own London-based food company, NINA, which specialises in...
Potato & Leek Gratin
Juliet Bidwell’s Potato & Leek Gratin is a perfect accompaniment to a Sunday roast. Opt for a locally produced cheese, like Winterdale Cheddar, which is wrapped in cotton muslin and matured in a cave dug into the chalky North Kent...
Chargrilled Pork Chop, Baked Lemon Jersey Royals, Broad Bean, Mint, Feta & Chorizo salad
Sally-Anne Day from The Queens Inn, Hawkhurst provides a Pork Chop recipe.
Fennel Sauce to Accompany White Fish, Chicken or Pork
Hugh and Leonora Rankin from Rankins, Sissinghurst provide us with a fennel sauce
White Chocolate & Raspberry Layer Cake
Not the most slimming way to enjoy raspberries, but somehow white chocolate doesn’t seem as sinful as the dark stuff. I used 3 sandwich tins to make the layers, but it works just as well with 2x20cm tins.
Chicken & Potato Pie
This is my famous chicken and potato pie, which I’ve made countless times. It’s my family’s favourite dish and if I had to choose a last meal this would probably be it. The trick is to make sure the potato...
Beetroot & Goat’s Cheese Tart
Chef Rosemary Shrager has been perfecting her versatile culinary repertoire since she started cooking at the age of six. Her latest book Bakes, Cakes & Puds is a compilation of over 200 of her classic tried-and-tested recipes. Over the next...
Blackcurrant Iced Souffle
A delicious and very pretty little number. Wrapping greaseproof paper round the ramekins and overfilling them is an easy technique to make it appear that the soufflés have risen above the rim of the dish – you simply peel off...
Braised Pork Cheeks with Coconut & Lime Leaf
Paul Merrett creates Braised Pork Cheeks with Coconut & Lime Leaf
Homemade Labneh with Sumac, Pomegranate & Basil
Paul Merrett, shares three flavourful dishes from his new book, Spice Odyssey. Paul will be demonstrating his inventive recipes at Wealden Times Midsummer Fair’s Sew, Grow, Eat festival
Coconut & Lemongrass Panna Cotta with Sweet Chilli Pineapple
These recipes were taken from Spice Odyssey by Paul Merrett, published by Kyle Books at £19.99.
Chocolate Mud Cake
I learned this recipe many years ago from my first cake teacher. The mixture is more like a liquid batter that needs to be poured into your cake pans. Trust me, this mix rises beautifully and the cake keeps really...
Miss Indigo Blue Mini Cakes
Sparkling and stunning, like the sky at night, these mini cakes are a decadent treat to enliven Afternoon Tea! Inspired by the twirly girl, Miss Indigo Blue.
Cheese Straws
Claire Forster and Sally Black set up their specialist food company Oast to Host to provide tasty and imaginative gluten- and wheat-free dishes that everyone can enjoy. Here they create some Gluten Free Cheese Straws.
Roast Loin of Venison with Butternut Pumpkin, Girolles and Roast Radicchio di Treviso
Andy McLeish, Chef Patron at Chapter One, shares his recipe for Roast Loin of Venison with Butternut Pumpkin, Girolles and Roast Radicchio di Treviso
Miss Cherry Shakewell Cake
Inspired by the Lady of the Cake, Cherry Shakewell, this cake is gorgeous, crowned with glittering cherries. I have used vanilla buttercream and white chocolate cigarellos on the outside to conceal the deep dark chocolate and black cherries within.
Beef Wellington
Oast to Host won three Guild of Fine Food, Great Taste Awards last year and are now launching their special gluten-free ‘Ready to Roll’ pastry. For more information, and to buy Oast to Host pastry, contact Claire or Sally at...
Butternut Squash Soup with Chilli & Ginger
Claire Forster and Sally Black set up their specialist food company Oast to Host to provide tasty and imaginative gluten- and wheat-free dishes that everyone can enjoy. Proud of their ‘gluten-free, wheat-free, but not an apology’ philosophy, here they share...
Gypsy Tart
The story goes that a Kentish lady regularly saw undernourished homeless gypsy children playing in the fields next to her house. One day she decided to feed them but had nothing more than a pie crust, evaporated milk and brown...
Brandy Snap Cigars filled with Cardamom Infused White Chocolate Mousse
Lucinda has been a lifelong devotee of divine food – having trained in Switzerland and then in London with Anton Mosimann – and the café will offer the very tastiest daytime treasures from coffee and cake, to lovely lunches and...
Iced Coffee and Amaretti Souffle
This month, Lucinda Hamilton from Cocolicious shares her divine recipes for Wealden Sweethearts on St Valentine’s Day
Chocolate and Dulce de Leche Tart
Here at Wealden Times we’re delighted to be sharing some sneaky snippets of exciting Cocolicious news! Soon you’ll be able to enjoy goodies like these, but made for you by Lucinda and her team, at the first Cocolicious Pâtisserie Café,...
Scandinavian Cinnamon Buns
Lucinda Hamilton from Cocolicious shares her recipes for divine breakfast goodies to treat weekend guests
Parsley & Pumpkin Seed Dressing
Served over broccoli, carrots and potatoes, this light and nutritious dressing is an excellent one for those dealing with lung, bladder, or prostate challenges
Portuguese Vanilla Custard Tarts
Lucinda Hamilton from Cocolicious shares her recipes for divine breakfast goodies to treat weekend guests. Take a leaf out of Loulou’s book and create a real morning feast and serve with pots of fragrant chai tea and ice cream sundae...
East African Doughnut Mandazi
Take a leaf out of Loulou’s book and create a real morning feast and serve with pots of fragrant chai tea
Baked Beetroot with Horseradish Creme Fraiche and Spring Onions
Based in Kent, Juliet’s Catering creates innovative, creative and individually designed menus for a range of events including weddings, charity balls, dinner or drinks parties and social occasions. To find out more, visit www.julietscatering.co.uk
English Spinach with Pancetta & Breadcrumbs
Creative caterer Juliet Bidwell provides the inspiration to spice up our side dishes and present a festive meal with a tantalising twist...
Roast Parsnip & Butternut Squash Mash
For families around the Weald, settling down together to enjoy a succulent roasted turkey on Christmas Day is the highlight of the culinary calender. But why stick to the traditional format year after year?
Rosemary Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary Oil
Juliet Bidwell shows that there is a different way to Roast Potatoes
Reindeer Cupcakes
These are great fun for everyone to make. Children may need a hand cutting up the (marshmallow) eyes and also the ‘Curly Wurly’ Reindeer antlers, as these can be brittle and hard to make into consistent ‘antler’ shapes. They’re also...
Tiny Toads in the Hole with Caramelised Onion
Despite their unappetising name, these little ‘toadlets’ are perfect for both Bonfire Night and seasonal gatherings – make plenty, as they’ll disappear fast. You’ll need a mini muffin tin (or two, depending on the size of your tin).