5 Minute Cheese Footballs

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1 cup strong Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped chives
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 cup ground pecans

Preparation

• Put all the ingredients into a stand mixer on medium speed until well blended
• Scoop out the mix with a table spoon and roll into balls
• Roll each ball in ground pecans
• Serve on sticks

John's Notes
There are many variations on this simple recipe. You can use almost any hard cheese. If you prefer a less spicy flavour, omit the cayenne. Roll in chilli powder or paprika instead of nuts. Serve with a dip of yogurt and fresh chopped chives.

If you don't have a stand mixer you can still make this recipe the old-fashioned way with a pudding bowl tucked under your arm and a thick, strong wooden spoon.

If you have these common ingredients available you can make this handy recipe to entertain guests during a commercial break on TV.

Triple Chocolate Mousse Recipe

This recipe is especially good for diabetics (like me). "Are you nuts?" No really ... after eating this dessert I will have to be really good for a couple of weeks and stick to my veggies and yogurt diet. Meanwhile I get one night of sin. Mmmm.

Ingredients

• 1 200g bar Cadbury Bournville dark chocolate
• 2 100g bars Nestle Milkybar white chocolate
• 1 49g bar Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate
• 2 cups milk
• 1 sachet Knox brand gelatin
• 3 cups whipping cream

Preparation

• Whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks

• Measure 2 cups of milk in a measuring jug, then pour about a quarter of a cup from the jug into a small mug or bowl. Sprinkle the contents of the sachet of Knox brand gelatin over the quarter cup of milk. Meanwhile pour another quarter cup of milk from the jug and microwave it until quite hot, then pour it over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Return the milk containing the gelatin to the jug (you will now have 2 cups of milk containing dissolved gelatin) and stir lightly.
• Break the dark chocolate into pieces and melt it in a microwave oven (or use a double boiler)
• Stir 1 cup of the milk containing the gelatin into the melted dark chocolate to make a smooth chocolate sauce
• Allow the dark chocolate sauce to cool to room temperature then whisk with half of the whipped cream to make a light mousse.
• Half fill serving glasses with the dark chocolate mousse and refrigerate for at least an hour to give time for the gelatin to begin to set.

• Repeat the above with the white chocolate and fill the serving glasses to the brim with white chocolate mousse (on top of the dark chocolate mousse).

• Refrigerate overnight then shave the Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate over the top of what will now be firmly set mousses.

Enjoy ... then repent.

Haggis Breakfast Fritters Recipe

I had half a can of delicious Stahly brand haggis left over from the previous recipe on this blog. "What to do with it", I thought. It was Sunday morning when I usually like to prepare a cooked breakfast, plus, I had a pack of "Original" brand crispy batter mix from Goldenfry Foods in my kitchen. So I put the two together to create some very tasty haggis fritters; here is how I made them.

Ingredients

• 1 pack Goldenfry "Original" brand crispy batter mix (or make from scratch)
• 1 can Stahly brand haggis (or use fresh haggis)

Preparation

• Squeeze the haggis in your hands to make small patties, then coat them in flour
• Prepare the batter mix by following the directions on the pack
• Dip the floured haggis patties into the batter mix and turn them to ensure they are thoroughly covered in batter
• Transfer immediately to a deep-fry pan full of pre-heated oil
• Fry until golden and crispy

John's Notes
It is almost impossible for this recipe to go wrong. If you use the recommended "Original" brand of crispy batter mix your results will be perfect every time. On the other hand, if you prepare your batter mix from scratch your results may vary.

I suspect that Robbie Burns and his compatriots would have me deep-fried in oil for perpetrating such an indignity on their national dish. Although I love my haggis I am, after all, a Sassenach and I ate the actual dish pictured above for my breakfast. Enjoy but beware angry Scotsmen wielding sharp claymores.

Haggis Stuffed Chicken in Creamy Oatmeal Sauce

A customer in Blighty's Tuck Store was buying haggis recently. We struck up a conversation in which she told me she was using the haggis as a stuffing for chicken. I didn't get her name, but if you are that customer, I want to thank you for the idea. I didn't get a recipe from the customer so I set about developing my own. The dish I came up with is absolutely delicious; here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• Boned, skinned chicken breasts
• Haggis
• Flour, oil, oatmeal and seasoning for the sauce

Preparation
1. The Stuffed Chicken

• Carefully skin the chicken breasts and separate the meat from the bone. With a very sharp knife, cut a pocket in each breast
• Fill the pocket with as much haggis as will fit and then a little bit more. Roll the stuffed breasts in your hands to close the pockets around the stuffing
• Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes

2. The Sauce

• Warm a tablespoon of oil in a small saucepan. Stir in a tablespoon of flour and cook lightly for about 30 seconds
• Slowly add a cup of water, stirring well, then add a cup of light cream and cook until the sauce just begins to thicken
• Stir in a tablespoon of oatmeal and cook slowly until the sauce has thickened and all the oatmeal has softened and blended into the sauce
• Season the sauce with salt, pepper and a generous amount of garlic then cover and set it aside until the chicken is ready
• Serve the stuffed chicken in a bath of creamy oatmeal sauce with a selection of cooked fresh vegetables

John's Notes
I really enjoyed this dish; the thick, creamy oatmeal sauce was a perfect complement to the rich, spicy flavour of the haggis. I used canned haggis which is convenient and which has a very traditional rich flavour that I particularly enjoy. This dish is going to be a repeat favourite in my household!

St Clements Tray Bake Recipe

This simple cake recipe takes only a few minutes of easy preparation and a half hour to bake. It is one of many "tray bake" recipes. You could substitute other flavourings such as chocolate, vanilla or almond (but then you would have to give it a different name; you will understand why in a minute).

Ingredients

• 1 cup margarine or butter
• 1 cup sugar + more for the drizzling sauce
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 3 eggs
• Lemon juice
• Orange zest or candied peel

Preparation

• Soften the margarine (15 seconds in a microwave does the trick nicely)
• Stir in the sugar, lemon juice and eggs then mix until smooth
• Add the flour and stir briskly using a whisk until the batter is perfectly smooth
• Pour into a shallow baking tray lined with parchment paper
• Bake at 350-375F for a half hour or until a knife blade inserted into the centre comes out clean
• Mix a tablespoon of lemon juice with more sugar than will dissolve in it, then warm the mixture in a microwave for 10 seconds to dissolve all the sugar. Allow the sauce to cool, then drizzle all over the top of the finished cake
• Decorate the top of the cake with orange zest or candied orange peel

John's Notes
Okay, what's with the strange name? Why St Clements? The name comes from a childrens' rhyme, popular in the UK, about the bells of various churches in the City of London. It begins: "Oranges and Lemons say the bells of St Clements". The rhyme dates back to the early 18th Century.

This recipe was inspired by a similar one published on mydish.co.uk attributed to British TV actor Martin Clunes.

Ground Rice Pudding Recipe

I love my rice pudding, but if I made it the same way it was made when I was a young boy, three things would happen:

1. It would take a couple of hours to prepare
2. The cooking process would consume a lot of fuel
3. My electricity bill would be even higher than the politicians have made it already

You see, in the good old days, rice pudding was made by popping the ingredients into an ovenproof dish and baking the pudding in a hot oven for an awfully long time. It tasted delicious, but ... see (1), (2) and (3) above.

There is a quick and easy stovetop method that can be made even quicker and easier using ground rice. Don't have any ground rice in the kitchen? No problem! Here is how I made my own ground rice pudding.

Ingredients

• 1 cup long grain or short grain rice
• 4 cups milk
• 1 tsp almond essence
• Sugar
• 1 tbsp raisins

Preparation

• Grind the rice in a coffee grinder or whatever other kitchen gadget you have available
• In a saucepan, mix the ground rice with milk, then add the almond essence and sugar to taste
• Stir like hot-diggity or your pudding will be lumpy
• Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally
• Remove from the heat and leave for 20 minutes, or until all the milk has been absorbed by the rice
• Stir in some raisins
• Eat

John's Notes
 Here is a little bit of science for you.  Small particles (e.g. of rice) have a higher surface area to volume ratio than large particles. I'll spare you the mathematical explanation, but it means that small particles absorb liquid more efficiently than large particles.

So, if you use ground rice instead of whole grain rice, it will absorb milk more efficiently and make the preparation of your pudding faster and easier. And that means you get to eat it sooner. Boom badda bing.

Great Garibaldi Biscuits in Minutes

Garibaldi biscuits (cookies) are a very tasty sandwich of light pastry with a squashed raisin filling. They are a very popular item in the store, but you can make them at home for a fraction of the cost of the store-bought variety (I am talking myself out of business again - oh well ...). Here is how I made mine.

Ingredients

• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 scoop raisins
• 1 egg
• Salt, milk

Preparation

• Rub the butter into the flour until smooth then stir in the sugar
• Add a very small amount of milk to make a workable dough
• Roll out the dough on a floured board until very thin. If you can keep the rolled dough rectangular in shape that's great, otherwise trim it into a neat rectangle
• Cut the rolled dough into two equal parts
• Squash the raisins with a rolling pin then spread them onto one of the two pieces of rolled dough
• Place the other piece of rolled dough on top of the raisins to make a raisin sandwich
• Roll the sandwich with a rolling pin until it is once again very thin 
• Score the surface of the sandwich about half way through with a knife to make a pattern of evenly sized rectangles (break along these score lines to separate the biscuits after baking)
• Brush the top of the sandwich with whisked egg (this gives the biscuits a very attractive golden colour)
• Bake at 400F on a greased baking tray until golden (about 20 minutes)

John's Notes
I made two batches of Garibaldi because I goofed on the first batch and made them with plain (all-purpose) flour. The second batch was made with the addition of a teaspoon of baking powder and certainly had a lighter texture.

If you don't have any self-raising flour, or baking powder, available go right ahead and make your Garibaldi with plain flour instead; they taste just as good.

Finally, how big is a raisin scoop? Well, how much do you like raisins? I packed my Garibaldi biscuits with as many raisins as I could squeeze in. I like raisins.