Pecan Flapjack

Tasty tasty flapjacks

So for this you need worrying amounts of butter, sugar and golden syrup. But it's ok it's flapjack, that junk is healthy right?

Makes enough mix for a 20x20x5cm tin or one person.
500g Oats
250g Butter
250g Dark brown sugar - the darker the better
4 tablespoons golden syrup
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
100g Pecan nuts

The trick to this flapjack is that it does not taste overly sweet. If you get the quantity of nutmeg right then what you end up with is an amazing mouth experience. Pair with a quality cup of strong Breakfast Tea and the perfect snack is made.

Step 1.
Melt butter, sugar, and syrup in a large pan, I'm talking large pan. Make sure there's room for all those oats. Switch on oven, 160 should do it.

Step 2.
While that's all melting crush your nuts. Take them down a couple of sizes, the sizes that you will inevitably put on after eating the entire batch.

Step 3.
Once the syrup butter mix is fully melted gradually stir in the oats and the nuts. Once all in keep stirring it a little bit, turn out the mix into a deep baking tin.

Step 4
Put the tin into the oven. The tin should contain the syrup-butter-oat mixture, if it doesn't then you are wasting your time reading this bit. In fact even if it does this whole bit is a waste of time. So once you have read this it should be ready, either that or wait like 20 minutes until the top is nice and golden. Be warned it should still soft to the touch, it will firm up as it cools.

Step 5
Put that kettle on and eat that flapjack.

Remember the Mussels?

Today we bring you the soup which follows so well from the Moules Marinier the other week. This is a dead simple and tasty soup, be sure to have loads of crusty bread to soak up all the flavour. As with any leftover dish you can add whatever you have the flavours in this soup are fairly strong, if it tastes nice with spice or white wine you should be fine.

You will need. - Serves about 4, 5 at a push.
The cream and wine stock from the Mussels. I had about 1 litre
1 Fennel bulb
1 Leek
Paprika
Chilli Powder

Method.

1. Finely shred the Fennel and Leek. Sweat until soft in a large sauce pan.
2. Add the Paprika and Chilli Powder. Start with 1 teaspoon of each. You can always add, its more tricky to take out.
3. Once the spice has cooked into the greens, and before it all starts to burn, pour in the stock. Add in any cream and/or leftover wine.
4. Bring to the boil, make sure it is boiled through. Leave it a few minutes, might need stirring.
5. Add in some fresh parsley.
6. Serve with oven warmed bread.

Lets Cook Mussels

Until a couple of years ago I was not a big fan of anything that even resembled something which came from the sea. Battered fish? Great. King prawn heads? An alien from another world which should be picked up by Moulder or Sculley right about now.

It was on a holiday to Cornwall when I first encountered this dish, one of the great classics of all time, and it staggered me, the simple combination of white wine, cream, garlic, parsley and mussels; absolutely smashing.

Seafood can be intimidating to prepare, especially shellfish. Constant worries over the cleanliness, the saltiness, the 24-48 hour critical food poisoning period. In reality this dish could not be much simpler.

Moules Mariniere - Feeds 4(Mains) / 5(Starter)

3 kg fresh Mussels
1 Onion
1 clove garlic
1 handful chopped parsley
1/2 Bottle of white wine
500ml stock
100ml cream
 Pepper

1. Prepare the mussels. A bit of foresight is needed, we left ours in cold fresh water for a couple of hours to draw out the salt, do this if you have time, if not sod it and move on. At this point discard any mussels which are cracked or already open. They are dead and possibly have been for a while. Scrape the shells either with the back of a knife or a metal scourer. Chip off any barnacles and pull off the hairy stuff protruding from the shells.

2. Make the sauce. Dice the onion and garlic, soften in a large stock pan with some oil. Give the pepper grinder a few twists for seasoning.

3. Add in all the wine. Simmer for a few minutes, let the alcohol evaporate.

4. Add the stock and stir in the cream. Bring to the boil. Taste the sauce, you are looking for the cream to balance the wine, and the onion and garlic should give it some depth of flavour. It shouldn't leave you with that filmy mouthfeel that cream on its own gives, but equally it shouldn't just taste like the £3 plonk you've used instead of the nice stuff. Don't be tempted to add salt, the mussels will provide all the salt this dish needs.

5. Once the sauce is boiling carefully pour in your cleaned mussels. Stir so that the mussels are nicely covered.

6. Lid on and leave to steam for a couple of minutes. Remove the lid and make sure the majority of the mussels are now open. If not, replace the lid and have a quick glass of wine. Mussels do not take very long to cook.

7. Throw in the parsley and serve immediately with some rustic crusty bread. Don't be afraid to really cover the mussels in the sauce.

We made this for four people as a starter, in the end it could have been a starter for 5 or a main for 4. Don't worry if you are left with a lot of sauce at the end. This makes a brilliant soup for the next day. It is a hands on dish, paper towel is advised and the empty shells make great spoons.

Todays meal. Leek, Potato and Kale soup.

Ingredients.
1 leek
1 large onion
1 stick celery
Potatoes
Kale
Some chorizo - important
Salt
Pepper
Chilli powder
Chicken stock
Garlic Puree

1. Finely dice the leek, onion and celery and sweat in a large stock pan. Add salt, pepper and chilli powder. Use oil or butter.
2. Peel and dice the potato, fry in another pan with the chorizo and garlic puree.
3. When potatoes are browned and the chorizo has imbued its flavours and colours add the potato and chorizo to the sweated vegetables
4. Stir in the chicken stock and leave to simmer until the potatoes are soft.
5. Roughly chop the kale, discard the stalks and stir in.
6. Simmer for another 5 mins.
7. Using a hand blender, liquidize the soup until smooth.

And one tasty soup.