Tag Archives: Dairy Cookbook

Recipe of the Week: Asparagus Risotto

Asparagus Risotto

Asparagus Risotto

Full-flavoured, deliciously sweet and tender, British asparagus is regularly described as the ‘best in the world’.

Serves 4
Time 40 mins
Calories 518 per portion
Fat 20g of which 11.9g is saturated
Suitable for vegetarians

Butter 25g (1oz)
Shallots 4, peeled and finely chopped
Garlic 1 clove, peeled and crushed
Risotto rice 300g (11oz)
White wine 150ml (¼ pint)
Hot vegetable stock 900ml (1½ pints)
Small asparagus spears 125g pack, trimmed
Frozen peas 110g (4oz)
Chopped flat-leaf parsley 2 tbsp
Stilton cheese 150g (5oz), cubed

1 Melt butter in a sauté pan and fry shallots and garlic for 3–4 minutes until softened. Stir in rice and fry for a further minute. Pour in wine and simmer to evaporate off.

2 Gradually stir in hot stock, cooking for 18–20 minutes, until rice is tender, and all stock has been absorbed.

3 About 5 minutes towards end of cooking time, add asparagus and peas.

4 Before serving, stir in parsley and half cheese, then season to taste. Spoon into bowls, scatter over remaining cheese and serve immediately.

A Dairy Diary recipe.

Simnel Cake

Simple Cake

One of the oldest Christian festivals, Easter marks Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

Simnel cake has at some point been adopted as a traditional Easter cake.

The 11 marzipan balls on the
top represent the apostles,
minus the treacherous Judas.

Simnel Cake

  • Servings: 11 slices
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print

Calories 722 per portion
Fat 30g (13.2g sat) per portion
Suitable for vegetarians

Ingredients

  • Butter 250g (9oz), softened
  • Light muscovado sugar 250g (9oz)
  • Eggs 4
  • Plain flour 300g (11oz)
  • Baking powder 1 tsp
  • Ground mixed spice 2 tsp
  • Ground almonds 50g (2oz)
  • Luxury dried mixed fruit 500g (1lb 2oz)
  • Lemon 1, finely grated zest and 2 tbsp juice
  • White marzipan 500g (1lb 2oz)
  • Apricot glaze or sieved apricot jam 2 tbsp

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas 2 and line a 20cm (8in) cake tin with baking parchment.
    Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of the flour along with each egg. Sift in the remaining flour, baking powder and spice and fold the almonds, dried fruit and lemon zest and juice into the mixture. Spoon half into the cake tin and smooth the surface level.
  2. Roll out one third of the marzipan until it’s a circle, just smaller than the cake tin, and lay it on top of the mixture in the tin. Spoon the remaining mixture over the top and level the surface.
  3. Bake the cake in the centre of the oven for 2–2¼ hours, or until a skewer comes out clean after being inserted into the cake. Cover with a sheet of baking parchment if it starts to brown. When cooked, remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool.
  4. Remove the cake from the tin and peel away the lining paper. Spread the apricot glaze or jam over the top. Roll out half of the remaining marzipan to fit the top of the cake. Place it on the cake and smooth down, taking care not to trap any air pockets underneath. Pinch around the edges.
  5. Divide the remaining marzipan into 11 pieces and roll each into a ball. Brush a little apricot glaze or jam onto the base of each and evenly space around the top of the cake. Place under a hot grill to brown the marzipan lightly. Remove from the grill and leave to cool before serving.

Cook’s tips
The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.
If you have a choice of marzipan, choose white marzipan, which has a more natural flavour than golden marzipan.

Recipe of the Week

Cherry Bread Pudding

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Cherry Bread Pudding

Moist, sticky and scrumptious, with glistening succulent fruit. This Cherry Bread Pudding recipe is delicious served warm, or just as tasty served chilled. A Dairy Diary recipe. For more delicious recipes visit the Dairy Diary Recipe Collection.

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

#tripletested

#recipeoftheweek

Competition | Win a £50 Next Gift Card

Competition | Win a £50 Next Gift Card

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Competition | Win a £50 Next Gift Card

Start the new season in style.

Clever One Pot cookbookTo celebrate the launch of the Clever One Pot cookbook we are giving you the opportunity to update your wardrobe with a Next Gift Card worth £50.

Cook delicious yet fuss-free meals with this inspirational new cookbook. It features an exciting blend of easy traditional and modern British recipes to suit all tastes for everyday cooking.

To enter simply answer the question, “How many times are the Clever One Pot recipes tested?”

Hint: you can find the answer on the Clever One Pot website.

Enter here.

 

 

Sneak Peek! Behind the Scenes at a Dairy Cookbook Photo Shoot

Behind the scenes at a Dairy Cookbook photoshoot…

Sneak Peek! Behind the Scenes at a Dairy Cookbook Photo Shoot

Last week we began photography for the NEXT cookbook. Yes, we have only just launched the current book, Clever One Pot, but time doesn’t stand still in Dairydiaryland and we have the press on with the next products.

Although long days, I love going to photo shoots. I am a sucker for beautiful props and love to see the creativity going on all around me. We had a very successful couple of days (with a bonus delicious meal one evening) and have made a fantastic start on the images. Two days done, seven more to go!

I always get positive comments (and those that don’t are rewritten) from my recipe testers – a band of friends and family who happily cook all our recipes to ensure they work – but this year almost every single recipe has been given 9 or 10 out of 10 for taste! High praise indeed. In fact, my other half tested a Spiced Cottage Pie a couple of weeks’ ago that I still dream about now – we will never make the ordinary version again. It was visionary but so incredibly easy! I’m afraid, blogetts, you have another year to wait for this book, but believe me, it will be worth the wait.

Clever One Pot cookbook recipesIn the meantime, why
not treat yourself to
this year’s fantastic book,
Clever One Pot?

It’s beautiful, practical and
contains over one hundred
recipes for fabulous fuss-free food.

Try this seasonal salad from
Clever One Pot Salad Panzanella

Clever One Pot cookbook launched

Clever One Pot cookbook

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Clever One Pot cookbook – on sale now!

Believe it or not, each of our books takes about a year from initial idea to finished product.

So when I get the final printed book in my hand I get very excited! It’s a fantastic accomplishment and this year, I think we have excelled ourselves. This new cookbook – launched today (woohoo) – Clever One Pot looks fabulous.

As the title suggests, this collection of mouthwatering ‘one pot’ recipes has been devised to save time and provide real, home-cooked food throughout the week. Something that many of us struggle to do as we all now juggle so much.

Clever One Pot cookbook

From tasty soups and snacks, to scrumptious stews, exotic curries and heavenly desserts, it brings together some of the best flavours from around the world.

As with all Dairy Cookbooks, all recipes are triple-tested so you KNOW they will work and Clever One Pot provides simple to follow instructions, easy to source ingredients and full nutritional information.

QR codes for ingredients shopping listAND to make life even easier, each recipe has an accompanying QR code, which when scanned with a smartphone provides a handy shopping list of ingredients. If only I could figure out my new smartphone I would be able to utilise it!

If that wasn’t enough, we have also (quite cleverly I think) split each chapter into two – Quick and Easy (on the table in 30 minutes) and Take it Easy (get on with something else while it cooks). So the recipes fit around your lifestyle.

With Clever One Pot everyone can create tasty
meals in a short space of time with little washing
up (or pans cluttering your dishwasher).

So what are you waiting for? It’s on sale now! ORDER HERE

Here’s a little taster and my particular favourites. I’m sure you’ll love them too.

Recipes from Clever One Pot cookbook

Grilled Goat’s Cheese Salad  |   Apricot & Almond Bake  |  Chinese lemon Chicken

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