• Leftover turkey
• Leftover stuffings
• Eggs
• Self-raising flour
• Milk
• Season to taste

Just mix everything up!!! It’s that simple.

The ratio/portions for the various ingredients are approximately 1cup milk to 1cup self-raising flour to 3 eggs to 5 cups meat/stuffings. What you want to try to get is a sloppy mixture. If it’s too watery, just add a little more flour – and vice-versa. But remember, if your stuffings contains breadcrumbs, use a little less flour as the breadcrumbs will later swell up too.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4) and bake for 40-45 minutes (or till evenly browned and cooked).

**Makes great starters too – Serve it hot and in smaller portions as starters, with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Feta cheese

Feta is a white brined curd cheese traditionally made in Greece with goat’s and sheep milk. It is salted and cured in a brine solution (based on water or whey) for several months. Feta cheese can range from soft to semi-hard, with a tangy, salty flavor that can range from mild to sharp. The cured cheese easily crumbles and dries out rapidly when removed from the brine.

Feta cheese is first recorded in the Byzantine Empire (which expanded over the East Mediterranean), under the name prósphatos meaning “recent”, i.e. fresh, and was associated specifically with Crete.

The Greek word “feta” comes from the Italian word fetta (“slice”) and that from Latin offa “bite, morsel”. It was introduced in Greek in the 17th century, likely referring to the method of cutting the cheese in thin slices to serve on a plate.

1 red/yellow sweet pepper
1 clove of garlic
3 black olives
3 cherry tomatoes (or 1-2 larger tomatoes)
1 oz feta cheese (you could also use halloumi, blue cheese or mozzarella)
1 teaspoon olive oil
black pepper
fresh basil (I didn’t have any but I think it would have been nice)

• preheat the oven to gas mark 5/190C/fan oven 170C
• cut the pepper in half through the stalk and remove the seeds
• slice the garlic and divide between each pepper half
• halve the olives and the cherry tomatoes and place 3 halves in each pepper half
• slice or crumble the cheese into small bits and squeeze between the tomatoes and olives
• season with pepper (plenty of salt already in the olives and the cheese)
• add a couple of torn basil leaves and drizzle over the olive oil
• roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes till starting to go brown at the edges (I added the asparagus 10 minutes before the end and it was perfect)

Chanukah, the Festival of Lights

Food that is traditional at Chanukah is usually something fried – often latkes or doughnuts (YUM). This is because of a miracle involving oil, which is one of a number of miracles which happened during the Maccabees’ rebellion.

The most remembered miracle is that when the Maccabees came into their temple which had been desecrated, the everlasting light (this is a light which is on at all times in all Jewish synagogues) only had enough oil left for one day. The miracle was that the oil lasted eight days which is why the festival of Chanukah lasts for eight days and it is traditional to light an increasing number of candles on each of the eight nights.

But the true miracle of Chanukah is that the Maccabees won their battle against the Greeks despite being hugely outnumbered.

675 g/1.5 lb potatoes
2.5 oz onion peeled and roughly chopped (grated if no food processor)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of pepper
4 level tablespoons self raising flour (4 tbsps plain flour + pinch baking powder)
flavourless oil (eg sunflower) for frying

• Grate the potatoes (food processor is much easier) then place in metal sieve to drain excess liquid.
• Mix the rest of the ingredients till smooth and then add the grated and drained potatoes (if using a food processor, pulse the potatoes into the rest of the ingredients until you have a coarse pulp).
• In a heavy frying pan pour in oil to a depth of half an inch (1.25 cm) and heat.
• When the oil is hot, place in tablespoons of mixture, flattening each with the back of the spoon.
• Cook over moderate heat up to 5 minutes on each side until rich golden brown and cooked through.
• Drain on crumpled kitchen paper then eat.
• If you can resist eating them, they can be frozen and reheated at a later date either by shallow frying, deep frying or in a hot oven (gas mark 8/450F/230C) for 7-8 minutes till crisp.

approx 1kg parsnips (I use 6-8 parsnips of varying shape and size)
1-2 onions
3-4 cloves of garlic
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 sticks of celery (or several stalks from swiss chard or perpetual spinach, they make great substitute !!!)
vegetable stock (1-1.5 litres)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 red chilli (fresh or dried – mine are semi-dried at the moment although give it a few more weeks and it will be completely dried)
salt and pepper

• Peel and roughly chop the onion, garlic, celery and parsnips.
• Heat the oil in a large saucepan.
• Gently fry the onion and garlic for 3 minutes.
• Add the parsnips and celery. Stir well and allow to soften a little – approx 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle in the cumin during this time and as it warms up the smell is very alluring.
• Pour over hot vegetable stock (I used stock powder and then boiling water from the kettle) until the vegetables are covered and allow to simmer until completely soft – approx 20-30 minutes.
• Pop the chilli in while the soup is simmering to allow just a little heat to infuse – if you want it hot then leave it in when you liquidise the soup, otherwise take it out just beforehand.
• Ladle the soup into the liquidiser goblet and blend till smooth, the soup can be eaten immediately, or stored in the fridge or freezer for a rainy day.
• Serve hot, garnished with chopped chives (or parsley, or nothing).
• Season to taste.

A Moment Of Nostalgia

SB: Did I tell you the time when my sister made me eat a piece of soap?
WS: No…. Really? You didn’t? (Breaks into peels of laughter!!!)
SB: Yup! You know in the old days, you have that soap holder thingy? A magnetic soap holder? You know the one I mean?
WS: OH YES!!! I remember them….
SB: Anyway, when the soap thins down it looks exactly like the sliced end-piece of a parsnip. Deborah came up to me and said “Here, have a piece of parsnip. It’s REALLY nice!!!!”
WS: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

• Preheat oven to 180C (Gas Mark 4/350F/fan oven 160-165C).  Line a 7″x11″ baking tin with baking parchment.
• Gently melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan.  When the butter has melted (don’t worry about dissolving the sugar) add the golden syrup and stir.
• Add the oats, coconut and chopped cherries and mix well then spread into the baking tin.
• Bake for approximately 20 minutes until bubbling all over and turning golden at the edges.
• Slice into 15-18 pieces while still warm but eat when cool.

Variation:
My favourite variation is 2oz chopped dried apricot and 2oz dark chocolate drops mixed in. NB: let the mixture cool a little before adding the chocolate drops otherwise they will just melt in when you stir it rather than staying whole.

For the cake:
4 oz butter or margarine
6 oz caster sugar
6 oz self raising flour (or 6 oz plain flour + 1 1/2 tsp baking powder)
4 tbsp milk
grated rind of 1 1/2 lemon
2 large eggs

For the syrup:
3 oz icing sugar
juice of 1 1/2 large lemon

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). Line the bottom of a well-oiled 23 x 13 x 7.5cm (9 x 5 x 3in) loaf tin with baking parchment.
• Mix together all cake ingredients until it resembles mayonnaise – smooth in texture and even in colour. Do not over-beat or the cake will be tough.
• Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown on top and firm to the touch.
• Remove from the oven and stand the tin on a cooling rack.
• Gently heat icing sugar + lemon juice until clear syrup is formed. About 3-4mins. DO NOT BOIL.
• Prick warm cake all over with fork (skewer is best).
• Gently pour hot syrup over, spooning/spreading from sides until completely absorbed.
• Leave it to cool then turn out. Serve sprinkled with icing sugar.