Grunt with Garden Fruit

What is grunt???

Thats the question that almost everyone who I've given this recipe to has asked.  It’s American - I've looked it up and all I can come up with is that a grunt is stewed fruit with a rolled scone topping.  Other names used in the U.S.are slump and here we would call our scone topping a cobbler.  The most important flavour in recipe used here is the cinnamon sugar, which is sprinkled over the rolled dough,then rolled like a Swiss roll and cut into slices which are laid on top of stewed fruit and baked.  The buttermilk gives the grunt and slightly crisp top with a soft centre.  It makes a fantastic alternative to crumble for a Sunday lunch dessert and it can be reheated and frozen.

Serves 6

Ingredients

Butter for greasing

250g / 9oz blackberries

6 ripe plums, stoned and sliced

2 Bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks

3-4tbsp caster sugar

For the grunt

200g / 7oz self-raising flour

80g / 3oz butter diced plus 15g / ½ oz – melted

100g / 3½ oz light muscovado sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

5-6 tbsp buttermilk

Heat the oven to 190C / Fan 170 C / Gas 5  Butter a wide shallow ovenproof dish.  Arrange the fruits over the base of the buttered dish, then sprinkle over the sugar.  Cover with foil and place in the oven for 10 minutes while you make the grunt.

Sieve the flour into a food processor and add 80g of the butter.  Pulse until the mixture resembles crumbs, then add half the sugar and pulse again, then turn out into a bowl.  Place the rest of the sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl and stir then set aside.    Add enough buttermilk to the mixing bowl and stir to get a soft dough.  Turn out onto a floured surface, knead lightly and roll out to an oblong roughly 16 x 24cm / 6 ½ x 9 ½ inches.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle evenly with the spicy sugar.  Roll up from one long side and cut into 12 slices.  Remove the dish from the oven and take off the foil, arrange the rolls of grunt over and around the dish.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until the topping is crisp and golden and the fruit cooked through, you can cover it with foil if it gets too brown. Serve with cream, custard or ice cream.

To get ahead: the pudding can be made a day ahead and warmed through.

To freeze: The dessert can be frozen up to 1 month ahead.

Steak and 2 Bean Chilli with Avocado salsa

Well, back to work, Christmas festivities are over and both Jane and I are running demonstration courses.  We have a few spaces left in Bromley and Southend.  Both on a Monday morning so if anyone is interested get in touch.  The classes run for 2 hours and in that time we prepare 3 courses for you to taste.  The mornings are informal and good fun and a great way to get a new set of recipes.

So on to the recipe. It is this time of year that we want a bit of a winter warmer !  This chilli is made with braising steak that is cut into small pieces and then cooked with two different types of beans.  The avocado salsa is worth mentioning because it would go with lots of other dishes, even a simple piece of grilled fish could be topped with it.  Give it a go , makes a change from mince !

Steak and 2 Bean Chilli

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 large or 2 small onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 red pepper, chopped

4 slices Braising steak, cut into 1 cm cubes

1-2 tsp hot chilli powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

1 beef stock cube

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp tomato puree

1x 410g can kidney beans, rinsed

1 x 410g can barlotti beans, rinsed

The Salsa

142ml carton soured cream

Juice and rind of ½ lime

1 ripe avocado, peeled and chopped

Small pack fresh coriander, chopped

1.  Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion  for 2-3 minutes. Tip in the garlic, red pepper, chilli, paprika and cumin and cook for a further 3-4 minutes to bring out the aroma of the spices. Add the beef and brown all over.

2. Crumble your stock cube into 150ml(¼ pint) boiling water and add to the pan with the tomatoes, sugar, tomato puree and a good shake of salt and pepper.  Simmer gently until thick and beef tender.

3.  Drain the beans and rinse in a sieve, add to the chilli and bubble for about 10 minutes, Add a little more water to the pan if it is reducing too much.  Taste and season again if required.  Serve with boiled rice and the salsa on the side.

4.  For the salsa just combine all the ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

To get ahead: the chilli can be made up to three  days ahead and stored in the fridge in an airtight container.

To freeze: the chilli can be frozen for up to 1 month but will lose a little of its hotness on defrosting. Add a little chilli powder when reheating if required

NB The salsa can only be made about 1-2 hours before serving