Prawn and Apple Curry.....

I love a well-made apple pie with quality ice-cream but you can only eat so many apple pies before the shine wears off (yup even me) and you look at the lovingly-made pie your best friend presents you with despair, not because it isn't going to be great, but because you are truly sick of it.

Of course, it might just be that you don't like apple pie, but you love apples but if so, never fear - this recipe helps to use up those apples, and not a single pie, crumble or tart in sight!

This is a mild, sweet curry, perfect for Autumn and the softer apples it brings.

Ingredients:

1 Onion, chopped

2 Celery stalks, chopped

50 g of Butter or Olive Oil spread

2 Apples peeled and diced

80 g sultanas

3/4 teaspoons medium Curry Powder

2 teaspoons Cornflour

175 ml Chicken Stock (or fish, if you've been feeling adventurous and made your own)

350 g Prawns, cleaned and veined

Method:

Gently fry onion and celery in butter until they become transparent and get some color. 

Add apple slices and sauté another minute, or until they soften. 

Stir in curry and flour, add stock and sultanas then mix everything together thoroughly. 

Add the prawns, cover and simmer for 3 minutes, or until the prawns are cooked.

Serve with a nice long-grain rice, basmati or rice noodles.

Serves 4

Spiced Plum and Blackberry Crumble

Well summer's definitely gone so it's time for some tummy warming pudding recipes and where better to start than with a crumble.  This ones a Spiced Plum and Blackberry crumble with an Oat topping, delicious with some home made custard or even better for a contrast some home made ice cream.

It only takes about 20 minutes to prepare and the lightly spiced fruit is an absolute delight.....perfect for an autumn Sunday dinner table.....and I've included an easy to do, no equipment necessary ice cream recipe for you to try.....don't say I'm not good to you!




Ingredients.....topping

• 140g plain flour
• 140g butter, cut into small dice
• 85g soft brown sugar
• 50g porridge oats
• custard, cream or ice cream to serve

Ingredients.....fruit

• 
  
• 1 kg ripe plums (about 14), halved and stoned
• 1 tbsp soft   brown sugar
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 2 star anise
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• juice of ½ a lemon
• 300g blackberries

Method

First, make the crumble topping. Put the flour and butter in a food processor and pulse to the texture of wet sand. Tip into a bowl and add the sugar and oats. 

Sprinkle the mixture with 2 tbsp cold water, then use a fork to mix everything together, creating a crumbly texture with a few large clumps. Chill until needed.

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Tip all the fruit ingredients, except the blackberries, into a large ovenproof dish. Add 50ml water, cover with foil and bake for 1 hr. 

Remove the foil and discard star anise. Add the blackberries to the dish, sprinkle over the crumble mixture and return to the oven for a further 25-30 mins until the top is golden. Serve hot with custard.

Home made ice cream 

Ingredients.....

• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 140g caster sugar
• 300ml pot double cream

Method.....

Separate the eggs. Beat the yolks and and vanilla extract with an electric whisk until light and foamy. 

Clean the whisk, then in another bowl whisk the egg whites, gradually adding the caster sugar until it is thick and glossy, a bit like making meringues.


Lightly whip the double cream until it softly holds its shape. Mix with the yolks and egg white mixture until everything is combined. 

Turn into a container, cover and freeze until solid. 

Take out of the fridge about 10 mins before serving.




Recipe from Good Food magazine, June 2011