December musings

I find it hard to believe that it is nearly Christmas, where do the years go? Here are my last gathering of roses from the garden for the year. I have cut them all back, not pruned, just cut back in order to protect them from rocking in the wind and loosening the roots.At least it is nice to enjoy them indoors for a few days.


We enjoy having friends in for dinner and on one such occasion recently we had home made soup to start with then Chicken Divan served with fine green beans. This was followed with individual Upside Down Caramelised Apple Sponge served with ice-cream. (Recipes below)

Chicken Divan (4)

1 medium chicken cooked or ready-to-eat roast chicken
500g broccoli (weight before trimming) 1 x 295g tin condensed cream of chicken soup 1 x 200ml tub ½ fat crème fraiche
3 heaped tblspns mayonnaise 2 tspns lemon juice
1 heaped tspn medium curry powder 4 oz fresh breadcrumbs
2 oz butter 2 oz mature cheddar, grated

Shallow oven-proof dish 13 x 10 inches, lightly greased. Mk 3/170C

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Meanwhile remove the skin from the chicken, take off all the meat, then discard the skin and bones. Cut chicken into bite size pieces and leave to one side.
Trim the broccoli and cut into florets, then cut each floret into 3 pieces. Blanch in the boiling water for 1 minute, then drain thoroughly in a colander.
To make the sauce, mix together the soup, crème fraiche, mayonnaise, lemon juice and curry powder. Season with black pepper. Fry the breadcrumbs in butter until golden brown.
To assemble, place the broccoli in the baking dish, followed by chicken pieces, then spread the sauce on top. Sprinkle over the grated cheese, followed by the fried breadcrumbs. Cook in the top half of pre-heated oven for 50 minutes.
Serve with a crisp green salad or fresh green vegetables.

Upside-down caramelised apple sponge

2 ¾ oz butter, plus extra for greasing 2 ¾ oz dark brown sugar
4 dessert apples
Sponge 1 ½ oz butter, softened 2 ¼ oz caster sugar 1 egg at room temperature
2 ¾ oz self-raising flour 2 fl. oz milk few drops of vanilla essence

Gently melt the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring until smooth and combined to make a toffee mixture. Lightly butter 4 x 7 fl. oz ramekins.
Spoon the toffee into the ramekins. Peel and core the apples and cut into quarters. Place 4 quarters in each of the ramekins on top of the toffee.
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/ gas 4. To make the sponge, cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg. Fold in the flour, milk and vanilla. Spoon the sponge mixture onto the apples, allowing it to flow around the apple pieces. Leave a small space between the top of the mixture and the rim of the ramekin to allow the sponge to rise.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 min s until risen and golden.

This recipe here was not the success that I had anticipated. It was from one of the internationally well known TV celebrity chefs. Namely a Sticky Gingerbread. The ingredients were scrumptious, including lots of spices and ground ginger as well as grated fresh ginger and molasses, etc. etc., but the end result in my estimation was soggy and not too digestable. I love a good Gingerbread so had to try it but will not be doing so again.