Let’s Create and Bake…
Whether you are looking for inspirational, seasonal recipes and cooking tips or fun activities to enhance your crafting passion and skills, members can enjoy a wealth of resources to create culinary delights in the kitchen and beautiful crafts for the home, all of which help promote better physical and mental well-being.
Meet our own WI Member Marvels, Lucie Wilson (Hampshire Federation) and Gillian Cain (Bowes Belles WI, Tyne & Wear South Federation), who each month will share with you a snippet of their food and craft wisdom…
Happy New Year everyone!
I hope 2024 is another wonderful year full of love, joy, laughter, happiness and of course lots of cake. I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and a wonderful new year. We had such a lovely time spent with my family and friends and I hope you all did too. This month I have a couple of recipes to use up any leftovers you may still have in your freezer but are still seriously tasty. My first recipe is of course a turkey curry but mine is made with mango and coconut so has a slight twist on the traditional recipe. My second recipe is a delicious way to use up odds and ends of cheese that you may still have in your fridge. It’s a gammon, Stilton and portobello mushroom tortiglioni pasta which is packed with flavour yet so simple to make. Now on to my sweet recipes. My first is my absolute favourite, a tiramisu. But here’s the twist, mine is an Irish Cream tiramisu! Yes you read that right. I make mine with Baileys Irish Cream and I can promise you it is divine. My second recipe is a tarte au citron with vanilla bean meringue. A light and refreshing dessert that is sure to impress. I really hope you enjoy making my recipes this month and I hope you have a marvellous January. See you all in February!
Recipe 1
Turkey Curry with Mango and Coconut
Serves 4
Ingredients
400g leftover turkey
200g white onion
150g fresh mango
100ml coconut milk
400g chopped tomatoes
1-2 tbsp tikka curry paste
300g basmati rice
1 red chilli
Olive oil
Butter
Fresh parsley
Lemon
Salt and pepper
Method
Place the rice in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-12 minutes until cooked. In a large saucepan heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter, then add the chopped onion. Once the onion is tender add the turkey and mango and cook until the turkey is completely heated through and the mango is tender.
Now add the tikka paste and cook out. Add the chopped tomatoes and coconut milk and mix well. Mix in a handful of chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper. Once the rice is cooked, serve the curry with a sprinkling of parsley, chopped chilli and wedges of lemon.
Recipe 2
Leftover Orange and Clove Roasted Gammon, Stilton and Portobello Mushroom Tortiglioni Pasta
Serves 4
Ingredients
300g tortiglioni pasta
100g parmesan
100g Stilton
2 large shallots
2 large portobello mushrooms
400g leftover gammon
100ml double cream
Butter
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh parsley
Method
Place a large saucepan of water on to boil, then season with salt and cook the pasta for 12 minutes or until al dente. In a large saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil with 1 tbsp butter and then add the chopped shallots. Add the chopped mushrooms and gammon and cook until the gammon is completely heated through.
Add the cream and then the parmesan and Stilton and then season with salt and pepper. Add a handful of chopped parsley and stir well. If it looks a little dry add some of the pasta water to moisten. Once the pasta is cooked add to the sauce and mix well. Serve immediately and sprinkle over some chopped parsley to serve.
Recipe 3
Irish Cream Tiramisu
Serves 8
Ingredients
375ml espresso or strong coffee
250ml Baileys Irish Cream
350g sponge fingers
2 large eggs
65g caster sugar
450g mascarpone cheese
2 tsp cocoa powder
Method
Mix the cooled espresso with 3/4 of the Baileys in a shallow bowl. Set aside. Separate the eggs, but keep only one of the whites. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until the mixture is thick, pale yellow, and forms a ribbon when the whisk is lifted out of the bowl, about a minute. Add the remaining 1/4 Baileys and mascarpone and whisk until the mixture is smooth.
In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk the single egg white until soft peaks form when you lift the whisk out of the bowl. Fold the egg white into the mascarpone mixture. Dip the sponge fingers, one at a time, into the espresso/Baileys mixture. Let them soak just long enough to become damp but not soggy. Line the bottom of a 9 inch square glass dish with a layer of soaked sponge fingers, then spread half of the mascarpone mixture over top. Repeat with another layer of soaked sponge fingers, then top with the remaining mascarpone mixture. Cover the dish with clingfilm and leave in the fridge until the mascarpone mixture is set, around 8-10 hours or overnight. When you are ready to serve, place the cocoa powder in a small sieve and dust over the top of the tiramisu. Serve and enjoy.
Recipe 4
Tarte Au Citron with Vanilla Bean Meringue
Serves 8
Ingredients
Pastry Case
90g butter
65g caster sugar
3 egg yolks
200g plain flour
Lemon Filling
2 level tbsp cornflour
100g caster sugar
2 large lemons-zested
125ml fresh lemon juice 2-3 lemons
1 small orange juiced
85g butter
3 egg yolks and 1 whole egg
Meringue
4 egg whites
200g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Method
For the pastry, place the plain flour, butter, icing sugar, egg yolk and 1 tbsp cold water into a food processor. Pulse until the mix starts to bind. Tip the pastry onto a lightly floured surface, gather together until smooth, then roll out and line a 23 x 2.5cm loose-bottom fluted flan tin. Trim and neaten the edges. Press pastry into the flutes. Prick the base with a fork, line with foil, shiny side down, and chill for 30 minutes-1 hour.
Put a baking tray into the oven and heat the oven to gas mark 6. Bake the pastry case blind for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 5-8 minutes until the pastry is pale golden and cooked. Set aside. Lower the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. While the pastry bakes, prepare the filling. Mix the cornflour, golden caster sugar and lemon zest in a medium saucepan. Strain and stir in the lemon juice gradually. Make the orange juice up to 200ml with water and strain into the pan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. Once the mixture bubbles, remove from the heat and beat in the butter until melted. Beat in the egg yolks and the whole egg together, stir into the pan and return to a medium heat. Keep stirring vigorously for a few minutes, until the mixture thickens and plops from the spoon. Take off the heat and set aside while you make the meringue.
Put the egg whites in a large bowl. Whisk to soft peaks, then add 100g of the caster sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking between each addition without overbeating. Add the remaining 100g of sugar as before until smooth and thick. Whisk in the vanilla bean paste.
Quickly reheat the filling and pour it into the pastry case. Return to the oven for 18-20 minutes. Let the pie sit in the tin for 30 minutes, then remove and leave to cool completely. Place spoonfuls of meringue on top of the filling to cover, then give it all a swirl. Brown the meringue with a cooks blowtorch, then decorate with lemon and orange peel. Serve immediately for a delicious dessert.
Shopping list for all 4 recipes
Check your cupboards first as you may have a lot of these already
-400g leftover turkey
-400g leftover gammon
x1 large white onion
x2 large shallots
150g fresh mango
100ml coconut milk
400g chopped tomatoes
x1 red chilli
Tikka paste
Basmati rice
Fresh parsley
250g block of butter
Olive oil
Tortiglioni pasta
100g parmesan
100g stilton
x2 portobello mushrooms
100ml double cream
375ml cold espresso or strong coffee
250ml baileys
350g sponge fingers
x12 eggs
500g pack caster sugar
450g mascarpone
Cocoa powder
200g plain flour
Cornflour
x2 large lemons
x1 small orange
Vanilla bean paste
January 2024 Recipes by Lucie Wilson download the printer friendly pdf recipes here
Meet Lucie Wilson
Hi, I’m Lucie and it’s very lovely to meet you. I’m your food and cookery baker, maker and writer and I love creating new and exciting recipes for you all.
I am 22 years old, a WI Supporter and I live in Hampshire with my mum and our beautiful cats. During my childhood I was brought up around food as my mum was a cookery teacher for schools and as soon as I was able, I had a wooden spoon in my hands. My dad was a very good cook too, but he sadly passed away from dementia when I was 8 years old. I have 3 sisters, but they weren’t too interested in cooking, so me and mum would spent hours in the kitchen baking and creating together. Still to this day me and mum spent a good few hours every week shopping for ingredients and then cooking delicious things together. I think time spent cooking as a family is really important, whether it’s like me and my mum or a father and son, brother and sister, parents and children, it is wonderful to simply spend time with the ones you love and for an opportunity to develop new skills.
Food is a massive part of my family; I am part Italian, so we take food very seriously and that means no pineapple on pizza and no mushrooms in a Bolognese! I simply love food and I do truly believe that cooking or baking can really help your mindfulness and invoke a calmness that can help relax you and focus the mind. Baking is also really good fun and I have so many amazing memories spent in the kitchen cooking and creating and the occasional icing sugar snowstorm game.
I am also a massive animal lover. We have 3 beautiful cats, and they are so joyful and so full of beans. I am also a huge formula one fan. I just adore Lewis Hamilton and never miss race. So much so that my keys have got 4 mini formula one tyres on them as well as cats and cupcakes keyrings.
I really do love creating and baking for you all and I hope you enjoy my recipes and have as much fun making them as I do.
To read more of Lucie’s fabulous blogs, visit www.theWI.org.uk/MyWI
