1 DECEMBER 2022 25 Food&Drink S C A N T HI S CODE F OR MOR E R E CI P E S Photographs: Hannah Hughes, Food styling: Joss Herd, Styling: Wei Tang Makes 32 biscuits Prepare 10 minutes + chilling and cooling Cook 12 minutes 100g Essential Plain Flour 2 pinches cayenne pepper (or to taste) 80g Essential Unsalted Butter, cold and diced 115g Essential Extra Mature British Cheddar, grated ½ tsp sea salt akes 2 sprigs rosemary, nely chopped to give 2 tsp Cheddar, cayenne & rosemary shortbread Being able to whip some delicious cheesy nibbles out of the freezer, bake themo and serve without breaking sweat is the stu Christmas dreams aremade of. That’s why, this week, I’mbringing you ideas tomake ahead (using leftovers too), freeze and enjoy during the festive period. The shortbreads, cheese straws and jalapeño poppers are perfect accompaniments to drinks (I opened a bottle of Leckford Estate Brut to try with the shortbreads and it was a glorious match), and the cheesymash bites are great for little hands as a snack. I can also vouch for themdipped into ketchup, enjoyed standing at the kitchen counter – I ate about 10 in one go, but it’s called ‘research’, right? @ellypear CHEDDAR Too good towaste withElly Curshen 1 Add the our and cayenne to a food processor with a few grinds of black pepper, then pulse to blend. Tip in the butter and cheese, then blend until a dough comes together. It will look like breadcrumbs at rst, but continue to pulse and it will quickly and magically form a smooth dough. Once you reach that point, stop. Don't overwork it. 2 Tip the dough onto your work surface and form into an evenly shaped sausage, about 4cm thick. Wrap in greaseproof paper (or reusable wax wrap) and chill for at least 1 hour until rm, or overnight. 3 To bake the biscuits, preheat the oven to 180ºC, gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Slice the dough into 0.5cm discs and place at least 3cm apart on the tray. Sprinkle each biscuit with sea salt and a tiny pinch of rosemary, then gently press into the dough. Bake for 10-12 minutes. They should be just lightly golden on the edges. 4 Let the biscuits cool on the baking tray for a few minutes, before carefully moving to a wire rack to cool completely. V Per biscuit 189kJ/45kcals/3.4g fat/2.2g saturated fat/ 2.3g carbs/trace sugars/trace bre/1.3g protein/0.1g salt MORE LEFTOVER IDEAS 1 Stu ed jalapeño peppers Combine nely grated extra mature Cheddar with full fat soft cheese, nely grated garlic, nely chopped chives and a pinch of cayenne. Season. Fill jalapeños with the cheese mixture. Press the jalapeños' open sides into panko breadcrumbs. (You can freeze them at this point.) Put on lined baking trays, crumb-side up, drizzle with oil and bake at 220ºC, gas mark 7 for 20-25 minutes (25-30 from frozen), until golden and bubbling. Cool for a few minutes before serving. 2Cheesy mash bites Mix leftover mash with some beaten egg, grated extra mature Cheddar and nely chopped chives. Season. Spoon into the holes of a greased mini mu n tin. Bake at 220ºC, gas mark 6 for 20 minutes, until golden. (To freeze, cool, wrap well and freeze, then defrost before reheating at 190ºC for 15 minutes.) 3Cheddar & Marmite cheese straws Brush warmed Marmite over a sheet of pu pastry. Scatter evenly with nely grated extra mature Cheddar. Fold in ½ lengthways. Roll to a rectangle, about 15x35cm, and chill for 10 minutes (or freeze, then defrost before continuing). Cut into 1cm strips and twist each one a few times. Lay on a large baking tray lined with parchment and press the ends down to prevent unravelling. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with black sesame seeds. Bake at 190ºC, gas mark 5 for 15-20 minutes, until golden. ELLY’S TIP Freeze the roll of dough up to 1 month ahead if you like. Either slice as many as you need from the frozen roll, or defrost the whole roll in the fridge overnight. The cooking time will be the same. The slicing, topping and baking can be done in less than 15 minutes.
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