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FENNEL

Both the herb and vegetable varieties of fennel are of ancient origin. The herb plant is tall, with green stalks and feathery leaves, and the vegetable, known as Florence fennel, is a bulbous root that looks somewhat like celery. The flavour depends on the variety and ranges from bitter to sweet, tasting quite strongly of anise. Wild fennel often grows by the roadside in temperate climates.

Fennel as a vegetable: Use the fennel bulb raw, sliced into a tomato or green salad or on its own dressed with Vinaigrette Dressing. The distinctive flavour lends itself well to a salad accompaniment to fish, pork or lamb. The bulbs can also be used and prepared in the same way as celery.

Fennel as a herb: The feathery leaves, so often used in the south of France, give a delicate flavour to fish, fish soups or cream sauces to accompany seafood. In Italy the stalks and leaves are used, chopped with garlic, to make a stuffing for roast pork. Fennel leaves are also delicious cooked with barbecued lamb, and dried fennel stalks give an intriguingly smoky taste to barbecued fish. Use fresh leaves to stuff a whole fish before baking.

Fennel seeds: These are aromatic and are used to flavour foods such as pickles, biscuits, pastries and fish.

FENNEL SMOKED FISH

1 × 0.5 kg (1¼ lb) whole fish, scaled and cleaned
6 short pieces dried fennel
olive oil
1 large bunch dried fennel stalks
½ cup brandy

Cut 3 incisions on each side of fish. Put a piece of fennel in each incision and brush fish with oil. Place in a barbecue grid and grill fish for 7–10 minutes on each side. Lay dried fennel stalks on a large flameproof dish and place fish in grid on top. Warm the brandy, set alight and pour flaming over dried fennel stalks, which will catch alight and give out a strong scent to flavour the fish. When flames die down, remove fish from grid to a heated serving plate. Serves 2.

NOTE: Any white-fleshed fish is suitable for this dish. Salt or freshwater fish may be used and small fish can be prepared this way.

FENNEL WITH BUTTER AND CHEESE

4 bulbs fennel, trimmed and cut into segments
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 slice lemon
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
freshly ground black pepper

Put fennel into a saucepan containing enough boiling water to cover. Add oil, garlic, lemon and salt. Bring back to the boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30–35 minutes or until just tender. Melt butter in a shallow gratin dish. Drain fennel well, put into dish and turn gently to coat with butter. Sprinkle with cheese and pepper. Brown lightly under a preheated grill before serving. Serves 4.

FENNEL AND TOMATOES WITH DILL

oil for frying
4 bulbs fennel, trimmed and finely sliced lengthways
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Heat enough oil to cover bottom of a heavy pan and stew fennel gently, stirring often, until almost soft. Add salt, pepper and tomatoes and continue to cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a spatula to avoid breaking up tomatoes. Remove from heat, stir in dill and turn into a serving dish. Serve cold but not chilled. Serves 4–6.

BRAISED FENNEL

A French way with this anise-scented vegetable, gently braised, to complement fish or lamb dishes.

4 bulbs fennel, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup water, chicken stock or dry white wine

Halve or quarter fennel lengthways, depending on size. Heat olive oil in a frying pan or heavy flameproof casserole, add fennel and salt and cook gently, turning vegetable, for about 10 minutes. Add water, stock or wine, cover and cook over low heat for about 25 minutes or until tender. Serves 4.

FENUGREEK

Both the leaves and seeds of fenugreek are used in Indian cooking. The small, flat, beige-coloured seeds are ground and used in curry powders and are especially good in fish curries. The hard seeds should be lightly roasted before they are ground, but don’t roast them for too long or a bitter flavour will develop. Fenugreek seeds are also used to give a maple flavour to sweets and candies. The fresh leaves can be used to give a distinctive tang to salads.

SOUR FISH CURRY

1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
½ cup hot water
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon ground fenugreek
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice
1½ teaspoons salt
500 g (1 lb) fish fillets or steaks, cut into serving pieces

Soak tamarind pulp in hot water for 10 minutes, then rub pulp off seeds and soften it in the water. Strain and discard seeds and fibres. Purée onion, garlic, ginger and 1 tablespoon tamarind liquid in a blender or food processor, or pound in a mortar using a pestle. Mix in spices. Heat oil in a saucepan and fry spice mixture, stirring, until it thickens and darkens. Add rest of tamarind liquid, the vinegar or lemon juice, salt and enough hot water just to cover fish. When this comes to the boil put in fish and simmer very gently for 10–15 minutes or until it flakes easily when tested with a fine skewer. Serves 4.

FETTUCINE

see Pasta.

FIG

Fresh figs are sweet and luscious eaten raw when they are very soft and ripe. Pick them from the tree if you have the chance and eat while still warm from the sun. There are more than 150 varieties of fig, ranging in colour from greenish-yellow to very dark purple, and the entire fruit is edible. Figs should be eaten at room temperature; if they are too cold their delicate flavour is lost. Dried figs are extremely sweet and can be used in cakes and puddings or stewed.

Ways to use figs:

Fig Salad: Slice fresh figs, sprinkle with brandy and serve with cream, or sprinkle with sweet white wine and serve with yogurt.

Prosciutto and Figs: Halve figs and arrange paperthin slices of prosciutto around them.

Figs with Orange Juice: Cut stalks from 4 fresh figs, quarter them and place in a serving bowl. Pour over them the freshly squeezed juice of 1 large orange and set aside for an hour before eating. Serves 2.

Baked Figs: In an ovenproof dish arrange 5–6 slightly underripe whole figs. Pour in ¼ cup water, sprinkle with ¼ cup sugar and bake in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for 20 minutes. Serve chilled with cream. Serves 2–3.

See also Fruit, Dried and Candied.

CARAMELISED FIGS

A gas blowtorch purchased from the local hardware store is a boon for dishes like this.

6 fresh figs, halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons port or marsala
2 tablespoons sugar
natural yogurt or mascarpone
fresh mint sprigs to decorate

Preheat the grill or oven to very hot (250°C/450°F). Arrange the figs cut side up, in a flameproof dish. Spoon some port or marsala and sugar over each. Place under the grill or in the oven and cook for a few minutes or until softened and glazed. Alternatively, use a gas blowtorch to caramelise the figs. Carefully arrange 3 caramelised fig halves on each of 4 dessert plates. Set a large scoop of the natural yogurt alongside the figs and drizzle over the juices in the dish. Garnish if liked with mint sprigs. You may like to offer a dessert biscuit with the figs. Serves 4.

RICH FIG PUDDING

1¼ cups chopped dried figs
¾ cup raisins
1½ cups chopped stoned dates
¼ cup chopped preserved ginger, drained
2–3 tablespoons brandy or rum
3 cups fresh breadcrumbs
2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup shredded suet
pinch salt
3 eggs
grated rind and juice 1 lemon
¼ cup milk

Combine figs, raisins, dates and ginger. Sprinkle with brandy or rum, cover and set aside for 1 hour. Mix together breadcrumbs, flour, suet and salt. Beat eggs to a froth and mix into dry ingredients with lemon rind and juice and prepared fruit. Mix thoroughly, adding milk to bring mixture to dropping consistency. Spoon mixture into greased 5-cup pudding basin, cover with 2 thicknesses buttered greaseproof paper and tie securely with string. Place in a large saucepan with enough water to come halfway up sides of basin. Cover and steam for 4 hours. Serve in wedges with cream or custard. Serves 6.

FILET MIGNON

A small, choice steak cut from the narrow (tail) end of a fillet of beef, which should be trimmed of all fat and surrounding filament. A filet mignon should be about 4 cm (1½ in) thick when it is ready for cooking, but as the tail of fillet may be very narrow, the fillet is often cut thicker and beaten gently with the flat of a cleaver or large knife to the required thickness. Shape it with your hands into a neat circular shape, and tie string round it to keep the shape before cooking it.

It can be prepared in any of the ways described for Tournedos, or in the classic way, filets mignons Henri IV.

FILETS MIGNONS HENRI IV

4 filets mignons
1 tablespoon oil
30 g (1 oz) butter
4 round Croûtes (p.132)
Straw Potatoes
artichoke hearts or asparagus tips sautéed in butter, or watercress sprigs to garnish
1 quantity Béarnaise Sauce

Sauté filets mignons in oil and butter, heated until just turning brown, for 3–4 minutes on each side for rare, or a few minutes longer for medium-rare. Remove strings from filets and place each on a hot croûte set on a heated plate. Garnish plates with straw potatoes and artichoke hearts, asparagus tips or watercress. Serve immediately with béarnaise sauce. Serves 4.

FILO PASTRY (FILLO/PHYLLO)

A very light, thin and delicate pastry widely used in cookery of the Middle East, for both sweet and savoury dishes. Filo is available either fresh or frozen in 375 g (12 oz) packs from supermarkets, groceries, delicatessens and health food stores. You will find the pastry ready to use, separated into thin sheets. Despite its delicate texture, filo is one of the easiest of all pastries to cook with.

To use filo pastry: The main point to remember is that filo dries very quickly and becomes brittle when exposed to the air. Spread a dry tea-towel on your work surface, remove the filo sheets from their plastic pack and unfold onto the tea-towel. Do not separate the sheets. Cover with another dry tea-towel and cover that with a lightly dampened tea-towel. Remove each sheet as you need it, making sure you keep the remainder covered. Brush each sheet lightly with melted butter (for sweet or savoury dishes) or oil (for savoury dishes) before using.

Filo pastries freeze well and are ideal for entertaining. They may be baked from the frozen state at the temperature given in the recipe, although they may need extra cooking time. A sprinkling of cold water on the top layer of the pastry will help make it crisp.

TIROPITAKIA (GREEK CHEESE PASTRIES)

2 onions, finely chopped
30 g (1 oz) butter
500 g (1 lb) feta cheese, crumbled
375 g (12 oz) ricotta cheese
3 eggs
½ cup finely chopped parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon nutmeg
24 sheets filo pastry
350 g (8 oz) butter, melted

Cook onions gently in 30 g (1 oz) butter until soft. Turn them onto a plate to cool a little. Mix feta and ricotta cheeses. Add eggs, beat thoroughly and fold in onions and parsley. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Unfold filo pastry and, leaving it stacked, cut lengthways in three strips. Stack strips between 2 dry tea-towels with a dampened towel on top. Lay 1 strip on work surface. Brush lightly with melted butter, fold lengthways in half and brush again with butter. Place a teaspoon of cheese filling on one end of pastry strip. Fold corner of pastry over filling until it meets the folded edge of pastry to form a triangle. Continue to fold pastry over in triangles until you come to end of strip. Brush top with melted butter and place, seam side down, on a lightly greased baking tray. Repeat with remaining filling and pastry. Bake tiropitakia in a preheated moderately hot oven (190°C/375°F) for 15–20 minutes or until puffed and golden-brown. Serve hot. Makes about 72.

NOTE: Tiropitakia can be prepared and frozen unbaked until required. Bake straight from the freezer, allowing 10 more minutes’ cooking time.

VARIATION

SPINACH TIROPITAKIA: Follow recipe for Tiropitakia, but use filling for Spanakopita (below) instead of cheese filling.

SPANAKOPITA (GREEK SPINACH PIE)

1 bunch (1 kg/2 lb) spinach, finely chopped
12 spring onions, chopped
½ cup vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
4 eggs, beaten
250 g (8 oz) feta cheese, crumbled
250 g (8 oz) Cheddar cheese, grated
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
20 sheets filo pastry

Combine spinach, spring onions and parsley in a large bowl. Heat 2 tablespoons oil and gently fry onion until soft. Add to spinach mixture with eggs, feta and Cheddar cheeses, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix well. Stack filo sheets between 2 dry tea-towels with a dampened towel on top. Lightly brush 1 sheet of filo pastry with oil and place in a greased baking dish, about 33 × 23 cm (13 × 9 in). Repeat until 10 sheets of filo have been used, brushing each with oil. Spread spinach mixture over filo. Cover with remaining sheets of filo pastry, brushing each with oil. Sprinkle water over top sheet of filo. Bake in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for 45 minutes or until golden-brown. Using a sharp knife, cut into diamond shapes for serving. Serves 6–8.

LAMB FILO PIE

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
½ 5 kg (2½ lb) minced lamb
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
salt
¾ cup pine nuts
24 sheets filo pastry
250 g (8 oz) butter, melted

Heat oil in a large frying pan, add onions and cook until softened. Add lamb and sauté until browned. Drain off excess fat. Stir in mint, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pine nuts. Set aside. Stack filo sheets between 2 dry tea-towels with a dampened towel on top. Line a buttered 33 × 23 cm (13 × 9 in) baking dish with 4 sheets of filo, brushing each lightly with butter, and allowing ends to hang over sides of dish. Spread one-quarter of lamb mixture over filo and top with 4 more filo sheets, each lightly brushed with butter. Continue layering filo and lamb mixture, reserving 4 sheets of filo and ending with lamb mixture. Fold overhanging ends of filo over lamb mixture in dish. Top with remaining 4 sheets of filo, each brushed with butter, and tuck ends down inside edge of dish to enclose filling completely. Bake in a preheated moderately hot oven (190°C/375°F) for 45 minutes or until top is golden. Serve hot, cut into diamond shapes. Serves 10–12.

RICOTTA AND ARTICHOKE PIE

olive oil
3 shallots, chopped
500 g (1 lb) ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Gruyère cheese
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup sour cream
4 eggs, beaten
½ teaspoon dried tarragon
1 × 400 g can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
salt and freshly ground black pepper
24 sheets filo pastry

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small frying pan, add shallots and cook until softened. Set aside. Place ricotta, Gruyère and Parmesan cheeses in a large bowl and add sour cream, eggs and tarragon. Mix until thoroughly combined. Stir in shallots, artichoke hearts, salt and pepper. Stack sheets of filo between 2 dry tea-towels with a dampened towel on top. Brush a 25 cm (10 in) springform tin with olive oil. Line tin with 5 sheets of filo pastry, each brushed lightly with olive oil, overlapping them and allowing ends to hang over sides of tin. Spread half cheese mixture over filo. Top with 5 more sheets of filo, each brushed with oil. Add remaining cheese mixture, spreading evenly, fold in overhanging pastry and then top with remaining filo sheets, each lightly brushed with oil. Tuck overhanging ends down inside tin, enclosing filling completely. Bake in a preheated hot oven (200°C/ 400°F) for 40–45 minutes or until top is golden. Let pie cool completely in tin. Serves 8–10.

INDIAN BEEF TRIANGLES

155 g (5 oz) butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons curry powder
1½ teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon cayenne
750 g (1½ lb) minced beef
24 sheets filo pastry

Melt 30 g (1 oz) butter in a large, heavy frying pan. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion has softened. Stir in curry powder, ginger, salt, sugar and cayenne and cook for 1 minute. Add beef and cook until browned and crumbly. Set aside. Melt remaining butter and cool slightly. Stack sheets of filo between 2 dry tea-towels with a dampened towel on top. Brush 1 sheet of filo with melted butter, cut in half lengthways, and fold each half in half lengthways. Brush halves with butter. Place 1½ teaspoons of meat mixture in corner of one end of each half. Fold filo over filling, enclosing it to form a triangle. Continue to fold pastry over in triangles until you come to the end of strip. Make triangles with remaining filo and meat filling. Place on a buttered baking tray and brush with melted butter. Bake in a pre-heated moderately hot oven (190°C/375°F) for 20–25 minutes or until golden. Makes 48.

GREEK CUSTARD PIE

4 cups milk
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup fine semolina
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
pinch salt
5 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
250 g (8 oz) filo pastry
185 g (6 oz) unsalted butter, melted

Syrup

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 strip lemon rind

Mix milk, sugar, semolina, cinnamon, lemon and salt in a heavy saucepan and stir over low heat until thickened. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Discard cinnamon stick. Cover surface of mixture with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming, and cool. When cool, add eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Stack sheets of filo between 2 dry tea-towels with a dampened towel on top. Place 1 sheet of filo in a greased 33 × 23 cm (13 × 9 in) ovenproof dish and brush it with melted butter. Repeat until you have used half the filo. Pour in custard mixture and top with remaining filo, brushing each sheet with butter before it is placed in position.

Trim edges of filo to fit dish and brush top with remaining butter. With a sharp knife, cut through top 3 sheets of filo in a diamond pattern. Bake in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for 45 minutes or until pastry is golden-brown and a thin knife inserted into custard comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in dish.

To make syrup, place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until all sugar has dissolved. Boil over moderate heat for 10 minutes, then strain and cool to lukewarm. When pie is cold, pour over lukewarm syrup and leave to cool completely before serving. Serves 10–12.

CREAM CHEESE SLICES

250 g (8 oz) cream cheese or ricotta cheese
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup sultanas
6 sheets filo pastry, cut in half
125 g (4 oz) butter, melted

Place cheese, eggs, sugar and lemon juice in a mixing bowl and beat well until smooth. Stir in sultanas. Stack filo between 2 dry tea-towels with a dampened towel on top. Place 1 sheet of filo in a greased 28 × 18 cm (11 × 7 in) baking dish, first brushing sheet with melted butter. Repeat until you have used half the filo. Spoon over cheese filling, and continue adding remaining filo sheets, brushing each with butter. Using a sharp knife, mark top filo layers into diamond shapes 6 × 4 cm (2½ × 1¾ in). Bake in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for 20–30 minutes or until golden and filling is set. Serve cold, cut into slices. Makes about 18.

NUT ROLLS

¾ cup finely chopped walnuts
½ cup finely chopped almonds
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
teaspoon nutmeg
10 sheets filo pastry
250 g (8 oz) butter, melted

Cinnamon honey syrup

1 cup sugar
cup water
¼ cup honey
1 small cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Mix together nuts, sugar and spices. Stack filo between 2 dry tea-towels with a dampened towel on top. Brush half of a sheet of filo with melted butter, fold other half over and brush with butter so that you have a piece of filo 18 × 30 cm (7 × 12 in). Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of nut mixture. Beginning at one end, roll filo as you would a jam roll. Cut into 3. Place on greased baking tray with smooth side of pastry rolls up and brush with melted butter. Repeat with remaining filo and nut filling. Bake in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/ 350°F) for 20 minutes or until golden-brown.

To make syrup, mix all ingredients together and simmer for 30 minutes. Cook only until light brown. While still hop from the oven, dip nut rolls into warm syrup. Serve cold. Makes 30.

FINNAN HADDIE

The smoked haddock of Scotland, which is split, flattened and smoked to a beautiful pale gold. The flavour is light and delicate and mixes well with cream, eggs, rice or potatoes.

To cook: Finnan haddie can be grilled, poached or baked.

Grilled finnan haddie: Rub with butter, place skin side down on a greased grill tray and cook under a preheated moderate grill on one side only for about 7 minutes. Serve with extra melted butter.

Poached finnan haddie: Place skin side down in a shallow flameproof dish, cover with water, milk or a combination of both, and simmer very gently for 5–7 minutes or until flesh flakes. Drain well and remove skin and bones. Serve with melted butter or a Béchamel Sauce, garnished with sliced hard-boiled eggs.

Baked finnan haddie: Place skin side down in a baking dish, dot with butter and add 1 cup water. Bake, uncovered, in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for 15 minutes or until flesh flakes. Remove fish, take off skin and bones and serve garnished with fresh dill, or accompany with Mushroom Sauce or Fresh Tomato Sauce.

CREAMED FINNAN HADDIE

500 g (1 lb) smoked haddock, cooked in half water, half milk
1½ tablespoons butter
1½ tablespoons flour
1 cup cream
1 cup fish stock
freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
butter for frying
triangles of bread and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley to garnish

Skin, bone and flake haddock and set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan, add flour and stir until smooth. Add cream and fish stock, stirring constantly until boiling. Simmer for 3 minutes. Season with pepper and nutmeg. Fry bread triangles in butter until golden-brown and drain on paper towels. Fold fish through cream sauce, reheat gently and pile into a heated serving dish. Serve surrounded with bread triangles and sprinkled with parsley. Serves 2–4.

FAR EASTERN KEDGEREE

250 g (8 oz) smoked haddock, cooked, skinned, boned and flaked
2 cups warm freshly boiled long-grain rice
60 g (2 oz) butter, melted
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons oil
60 g (2 oz) raw peanuts, shelled and skinned
2 tablespoons sultanas
2 hard-boiled eggs, 1 chopped and 1 sliced
2–3 tablespoons cream (optional)
chopped parsley

Fork fish into warm rice, add butter and pepper and keep warm. Heat oil and fry peanuts until they are pale gold. Add sultanas and continue frying for a few seconds until they are plump. Add these to fish and rice together with chopped egg and cream, if using. Pile on a heated dish, garnish with slices of hard-boiled egg and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serves 4.

OMELETTE ARNOLD BENNETT

This is an elegant dish which was created for the writer Arnold Bennett by the Savoy Grill in London.

60 g (2 oz) butter
½ cup cream
4 tablespoons cooked, skinned, boned and flaked smoked haddock
4 eggs, separated
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
salt and freshly ground white pepper

Melt 30 g (1 oz) butter and 2 tablespoons cream in a frying pan over medium heat, add haddock and stir for 2–3 minutes. Leave fish to cool. Beat egg yolks with 1 tablespoon cream. Whisk egg whites to form very soft peaks and fold into yolks with the cooked haddock and half the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Melt the rest of the butter in a pan, pour in the omelette mixture and cook until golden and set underneath. Do not fold the omelette but slide onto a heated flameproof serving dish. Sprinkle on the rest of the cheese and pour the remaining cream over it. Brown quickly under a preheated hot grill and serve at once. Serves 2.

FISH

Fish is the gourmet’s joy, the hurried cook’s friend and a boon to weight-watchers and the cholesterol-conscious, being highly nutritious, digestible and always tender. Select fish carefully, use it promptly and cook it briefly and it will reward you with fine eating.

Freshness of fish is all-important. A fish which has been kept a day too long in the shop or in your refrigerator may still be perfectly edible, but the best of its pure and delicate flavour will have disappeared. When you are buying a whole fish, check for full, bright eyes, flat gills which are red underneath, and a clenched mouth. Fresh fish should feel slippery not tacky, and it should smell ‘of the sea’ – fishy but fresh.

When buying fish steaks or fillets, be especially careful. Sometimes stale fish are filleted and labelled ‘fresh fillets’.Again, they should smell fishy but fresh, and have a sheen, not a dull surface. If pressed, the flesh should feel springy and the indentation should quickly disappear. If the flesh oozes and the indentation fills with moisture, then the steak or fillet has been frozen and thawed and should not be offered as fresh fish.

Buy fish on the day you will eat it, if possible. If you must keep it overnight, store it, loosely covered in foil, in the coldest part of the refrigerator.

Types of fish:

Fat fish includes mullet and all those which are commercially canned or smoked – salmon, trout, herring, sardines, tuna, mackerel, tailor, gemfish, etc. These are technically classified as ‘oily’ fish, although they come in many variations of texture and fat content from the undoubtedly oily mullet to the succulent but delicate trout and salmon. In general, dark-fleshed fish are the oiliest.

Fat fish are a good choice for grilling, baking, barbecuing or hot-plate griddling: the more delicate ones are also good pan-fried or poached.

Lean (white) fish includes whiting, bream, John Dory, snapper, mulloway (jewfish), sole, flounder, perch and flathead. Lean fish are a good choice for pan-frying, deep-frying or poaching. If baked or grilled, they should be protected from drying out by basting; a stuffing also helps to keep the flesh moist.

Like your butcher, the fishmonger can be a useful guide to the best fish to buy for a particular recipe.

Basic preparation: If you are buying fish, ask the fishmonger to clean and scale it for you. They will also skin, fillet or cut it into steaks if you ask. If you have caught it or been given it, you can prepare it at home.

To scale a fish: Working on plenty of newspaper, grasp the tail and scrape firmly from the tail towards the head with a small rigid knife or a serrated, fish-scaling knife. Repeat on the other side.

To clean a fish: Cut open along the belly from the vent (near the tail) to the head, and pull out the entrails. Wash the fish inside and out under cold running water. With a small knife, remove any dark stomach lining or dark vein inside under the backbone. Wash again and dry the fish well.

To fillet round fish: Place fish on a board and grasp firmly. With a sharp, flexible knife, remove head and cut along the backbone to the tail. Starting at the head end, slide the knife closely along the backbone, cutting away the fillet all the way to the tail. Turn the fish over and repeat on the other side, cutting off the tail.

To fillet flat fish: These fish yield 4 fillets – 2 on each side. Place fish on a board and grasp the head firmly. Cut round behind the head and down the backbone from head to tail. Using a sharp, flexible knife slide the blade closely down the backbone to the tail on one side, cutting away the fillet. Remove the second fillet in the same way. Turn fish over and repeat on the other side.

To skin a fish fillet: Place the fillet, skin side down, on a board with the tail towards you. Make a small cut through the flesh at the tail end. Dip the fingers of one hand in salt and hold the tail firmly, while with the other hand you ease a sharp, flexible knife between flesh and skin, pushing the flesh off the skin.

To cook: Fish should be moist and juicy when served, and must not be cooked beyond the moment when the flesh turns from translucent to opaque. This usually takes minutes only. If cooking a whole fish, start testing halfway through the recommended cooking time by pushing a fine skewer into the thickest part near the bone. When it slides in easily and you can push the flesh away from the bone just a little, the fish is cooked.

Pan-fried fish: Use Clarified Butter or a mixture of oil and butter, enough to cover the base of the pan. When sizzling well, place fish in and cook quickly. Before frying, the fish may be coated with seasoned flour or with egg and breadcrumbs.

Fish meunière: Skin fillets of white fish, dust with seasoned flour and pan-fry as above. Remove to a heated plate when done. Add a little more butter to the pan and while it is foaming, add the strained juice of a lemon, chopped parsley, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour over the fish, garnish with lemon and serve at once.

Deep-fried fish: Coat fish with egg and breadcrumbs or with batter; very small fish such as whitebait may simply be dipped in milk and seasoned flour. Deep-fry in very hot oil (190°C/375°F) or test oil with a bread cube: if it browns in 30 seconds the oil is hot enough. Drain on crumpled paper towels.

Poached fish: Use Court Bouillon, water acidulated with vinegar or lemon juice or a mixture of wine and water – there should be just enough to cover fish. Cover dish with buttered greaseproof paper and cook very gently so that the liquid barely shivers, never bubbles, on top of the stove, or in a preheated moderately slow oven (160°C/325°F). The poaching liquor is often used for a sauce to accompany the fish.

Grilled fish: Preheat the grill so that fish will grill as fast as possible. For fillets and small steaks, line the grill pan with foil, melt a little butter in it and grill the fish on one side only – the heat of the pan will cook the underside. Baste once or twice with pan juices.

Large steaks and small whole fish can be grilled in the same way, but turn them halfway through cooking. Slash whole fish in the thickest part so that heat can penetrate.

Barbecued fish: Place fish in an oiled, hinged grill for ease of turning. Cook close to very hot coals, brushing several times with oil or melted butter.

Baked fish: Brush fish with oil or melted butter, place in a well-greased ovenproof dish and season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a sprinkling of lemon juice or white wine. Cover loosely with buttered foil or greaseproof paper and bake in a preheated hot oven (200°C/400°F), allowing 6–10 minutes (depending on thickness of the fish) per 500 g (1 lb), plus 6–10 minutes over. Uncover and brush once or twice with pan juices during cooking.

Ways to use preserved fish:

Smoked fish: See Finnan Haddie and use the same methods for grilling, poaching or baking any smoked fish.

Pickled fish: Pickling is an excellent way of preserving oily-fleshed fish such as herrings. Pickled herrings are available packed in jars from many supermarkets and delicatessens, and they are delicious with rye breads, sour cream and fresh onion rings.

Pickled rollmops are boned, halved herrings, rolled around peppercorns and onion slices. Try them on black bread spread with unsalted butter and accompanied with a salad of baby beetroot.

Soused herrings may be prepared at home, using a vinegary marinade to which herbs and spices are added; enjoy them with rye breads and potato salad.

Dried fish: Fish such as cod and haddock can be dried to a flatness and hardness resembling hide. It is reconstituted by soaking in water for at least 12 hours. Change the water several times during this period.

Salted fish: Use salt cod to make Brandade de Morue, a deliciously light dish from Provence, which is almost a fish purée.

Grilled Sardines: Grilled or barbecued fresh sardines make a memorable first course. Rub off scales with a cloth or soft paper. Leave sardines whole or butterfly them. If leaving whole, there is no need to gut them – eat flesh off bone in same way as you would eat corn on the cob.

To butterfly them, cut the head almost through from backbone; pull, and as head comes off the gut will come with it. Slit fish along belly and lift out backbone, cutting it off with scissors close to the tail (leave tail on).

Rinse and dry sardines; turn them in seasoned flour, brush with oil and arrange side by side in an oiled, hinged grill. Grill or barbecue close to high heat, brushing several times with oil, for 2–3 minutes each side. Serve with lemon wedges and crusty bread. Allow 500 g (1 lb) sardines to serve 4 as a first course.

See also Anchovy; Tuna.

WHITING OR JOHN DORY FILLETS WITH VERMOUTH SAUCE

90 g (3 oz) butter, melted
8 whiting or John Dory fillets, skinned
4 tablespoons dry vermouth
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon tomato paste
salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup cream
chopped parsley
Puff Pastry Fleurons to garnish

Brush a large, flameproof baking dish generously with some of the butter and lay fillets in it side by side. Blend remaining butter with vermouth, lemon juice and tomato paste. Pour over fish, season with salt and pepper and place over high heat. Cook, basting fish with pan juices, until flesh turns white. Lift fish onto a heated serving dish.

Add cream to baking dish and stir until sauce thickens a little. Pour over fish, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately, garnished with fleurons. Serves 4.

MULLET BAKED WITH ROSEMARY

8 slices lemon (unpeeled)
4 medium mullet, scaled and cleaned
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary, or ½ teaspoon dried
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place 2 slices lemon inside each mullet. Mix lemon juice, garlic and rosemary. Place mullet side by side in a greased baking dish and drizzle rosemary mixture over them. Season with salt and pepper. Cover dish with foil or a lid and bake in a preheated hot oven (200°C/400°F) for 10 minutes. Uncover, brush with pan juices and bake for a further 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fine skewer. Serves 4.

OVEN-FRIED FILLETS NIÇOISE

2 teaspoons salt
1 cup milk
1½ cups fresh breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, or ¼ teaspoon dried
6 white fish fillets (bream, flathead, flounder, redfish), skinned
90 g (3 oz) butter, melted
paprika
lemon wedges to garnish

Mix salt and milk. Mix breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic, lemon rind and thyme. Dip fillets in milk, then in breadcrumb mixture. Arrange side by side in a well-buttered baking dish and drizzle melted butter over. Bake on top shelf of a preheated very hot oven (230°C/450°F) for about 12 minutes or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fine skewer. Sprinkle with a little paprika and serve immediately, garnished with lemon wedges. Serves 4–6.

FISH STEAKS BAKED IN CREAM

4 thick fish steaks (snapper, jewfish)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
fresh coriander leaves or chopped parsley

Arrange fish steaks side by side in a buttered, shallow flameproof dish. Season with salt and pepper. Blend cream with lemon juice, mustard and Worcestershire sauce and pour over fish. Cover dish with buttered greaseproof paper and bake in a preheated moderately slow oven (160°C/325°F) for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fine skewer. Lift steaks onto a heated serving platter and keep warm. Place flameproof dish over high heat and boil liquid, stirring, until it is slightly reduced and thickened. Adjust seasoning and spoon over fish. Scatter with coriander leaves or chopped parsley and serve immediately. Serves 4.

MEDITERRANEAN MULLET

3 tablespoons butter
2 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
1 small green pepper, cored, seeded and sliced
125 g (4 oz) mushrooms, sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 red mullet, whiting or other small whole fish, scaled and cleaned
¼ cup red wine
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a shallow flameproof casserole or gratin dish. Add vegetables and cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Place fish side by side on top of vegetables and pour over wine. Sprinkle with chives and dot with remaining butter. Cover and bake in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for 20–30 minutes or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fine skewer. Serves 4.

SARDINIAN-STYLE TUNA

4 tuna fish steaks, 2.5 cm (1 in) thick
salt and freshly ground black pepper
flour for dusting
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
750 g (1½ lb) tomatoes, peeled
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 bay leaf
4 anchovy fillets, mashed
few black olives

Season fish with salt and pepper and dust with flour. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large shallow pan and fry fish quickly until golden on each side. Transfer to a plate. Add remaining oil to pan and fry onion and garlic gently for 5 minutes. Press tomatoes through a coarse sieve or purée in a blender. Add parsley, bay leaf and anchovy to pan and stir for a few seconds. Add tomatoes, bring to the boil and continue boiling until mixture has reduced to a thin sauce consistency. Season with pepper. Replace fish and simmer gently for 15 minutes, turning tuna steaks once during cooking. Turn off heat, add olives and leave for 5 minutes before serving with a crisp green salad. Serves 4.

DEEP-FRIED SICHUAN FISH

1 × 750 g (1½ lb) whole fish (flounder, sole or bream), scaled and cleaned
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3 spring onions, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons dry sherry
oil for deep-frying
1 teaspoon ground Sichuan pepper or freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons sesame oil
lemon slices to garnish

Dry fish on paper towels and score each side diagonally to make a diamond pattern. Place ginger, spring onions, 1 teaspoon salt and the sherry in a dish. Add fish, spoon marinade over and leave for 30 minutes. Drain fish and dry on paper towels.

Heat oil to medium, and deep-fry fish until golden-brown, about 7–10 minutes depending on thickness of fish. Remove and drain on crumpled paper towels. Sprinkle with pepper and remaining salt. Heat sesame oil to moderately hot, pour over fish and serve immediately, garnished with lemon slices. Serves 2–4.

FRIED MARINATED FISH

Marinating fish after frying is a good way of adding flavour to freshwater fish or eel.

500 g (1 lb) filleted freshwater fish (perch, freshwater cod or eel), cut into 2.5 cm (1 in) wide strips
2 tablespoons milk
seasoned flour for coating
oil for shallow-frying

Marinade

2 tablespoons oil
1 small onion, finely sliced
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 yellow or green pepper, grilled, skinned, cored and seeded
4 tablespoons dry white wine
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
3 leaves fresh sage
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dip fish strips in milk, drain and then coat in seasoned flour. Heat enough oil in a shallow frying pan to give a depth of about 5 mm (¼ in). Fry fish until crisp and golden on both sides and cooked through. Drain on paper towels and arrange, closely packed, in a shallow serving dish.

To make marinade, heat oil in a saucepan and fry onion and garlic very gently for about 8 minutes or until soft and golden. Cut pepper into fine strips, add to pan and fry for 3–4 minutes. Stir in wine, vinegar, sage leaves, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer for 1–2 minutes, then pour over fish. Cover and leave in a cold place overnight. Serve cold as antipasto. Serves 4.

SOUSED FISH

1 onion, sliced
6 small mullet, herring or mackerel, filleted
2 bay leaves
1 clove
4 whole allspice or black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup vinegar

Place slices of onion on the centre of each fillet and roll up, skin side out, from head to tail, securing with a wooden toothpick if necessary. Place fish in a flameproof casserole with bay leaves, clove, allspice or peppercorns and salt. Pour over vinegar and just cover with water. Cover casserole and heat very gently until simmering point is reached. Transfer dish to a preheated moderately slow oven (160°C/325°F) and cook for about 1 hour or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fine skewer. Transfer fish to a serving dish, deep enough so that the rolls can be covered with liquid. Strain over sufficient cooking liquid to cover. Cool, then chill. Serves 6.

NOTE: This dish will keep for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

FISH FRIED IN BATTER

For the classic fish-and-chip-shop style, use Basic Batter to coat the fish. For a light, crisp coating, use Crisp Fritter Batter.

4 large or 6 small white fish fillets
flour for coating
1 quantity Basic Batter
oil for shallow-frying

Check that fillets are well scaled and remove as many bones as possible (long-nose pliers or strong tweezers are a help). Coat fillets with flour and pat off excess. Dip each into batter, holding by the tail and allowing surplus batter to drip back into bowl. Have 1 cm (½ in) hot oil ready in a frying pan (oil is hot enough when a slight haze rises from it). Place fillets in oil, skinless side down first, and fry them for 3–4 minutes on each side. Do not crowd the pan: fry fish in batches if necessary, adding a little more oil as required. Drain on crumpled paper towels. Keep cooked fish hot on paper towels in a warm oven until all are done, then serve immediately. Serves 4–6.

BAKED FISH WITH OYSTERS AND HERBS

1 × 1.5–2 kg (3–4 lb) whole fish
60 g (2 oz) butter, melted
2 cups fresh white breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper
cayenne
2 thin rashers bacon
1 cup oysters

Have fish cleaned and scaled but leave head and tail intact. Heat butter in a frying pan and lightly brown crumbs. Add marjoram, parsley, salt, pepper and cayenne and mix well. Stuff fish loosely with herb mixture and seal with two small skewers threaded through edges and secured with string. Place fish in baking pan lined with greased foil and arrange bacon on top. Bake, uncovered, in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for 30–40 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fine skewer. Using foil as handles, transfer fish to a heated platter. Discard bacon. Garnish with oysters that have been simmered in their juices for 1 minute. Serves 6–8.

FISH CAKES

60 g (2 oz) butter
4 teaspoons finely chopped onion or chives
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 × 250g can tuna in oil or salmon, drained and flaked
squeeze lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 cup dry breadcrumbs
oil or butter for frying

Beat butter and onion into mashed potatoes. Add tuna or salmon and season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Form into 6 small cakes. Dip in beaten egg, then in breadcrumbs. Fry in a little oil or butter until nicely browned. Serve with Sauce Tartare or dill mayonnaise made by combining ½ cup Mayonnaise with 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried.

SKATE WITH BLACK BUTTER SAUCE

1 × 750 g–1 kg (1½ –2 lb) wing skate, scaled and cleaned
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 teaspoons salt
1 bay leaf
1 onion, sliced
4 black peppercorns
few stalks parsley
3 teaspoons finely chopped parsley
3 teaspoons chopped capers
60 g (2 oz) butter

Place skate in a pan sufficiently wide for fish to lie flat while cooking. Cover with cold water, add 1 tablespoon vinegar, the salt, bay leaf, onion, peppercorns and parsley stalks and bring gently to the boil. Simmer very gently for 20–25 minutes, depending on the thickness of fish. Lift with a fish slice onto a board or clean folded tea-towel. Scrape away the skin from both sides and remove flesh from the large bone. Transfer to a heated serving dish, sprinkle with chopped parsley and capers and keep hot. Heat butter in a small frying pan until it turns brown but not in the least burnt. Pour quickly over fish. Add remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar to pan and reduce to half. Pour over fish and serve. Serves 4.

FISH À LA GRECQUE

1 × 1.5 kg (3 lb) whole fish (snapper, jewfish or bream), scaled and cleaned
salt and freshly ground black pepper
squeeze lemon juice
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
½ cup dry white wine
lemon wedges to garnish

Sprinkle fish inside and out with salt, pepper and lemon juice and place in a baking dish lined with greased foil. Sauté onion and garlic with parsley in olive oil until soft. Add tomatoes to onion mixture. Fry gently for a few minutes, then add a little water and simmer for a few minutes longer. Spoon this mixture over fish. Pour wine over and around fish. Cook in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for about 40 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fine skewer. Garnish with lemon. Serves 4.

FLAN

An open, round pastry case, filled with fruit, cream or a savoury mixture.

A flan case is a pastry shell which is either baked blind (see Pastry), or with the required filling. Use 1 quantity of Pâte Brisée for a savoury flan or 1 quantity of Pâte Sucrée for a sweet flan, which will line a 20 cm (8 in) flan ring. Ease the uncooked dough in from the edge of the flan case before baking to help prevent pastry from sticking.

Flan tins have a moveable base so you can easily remove the tin from the sides of the pastry. When flan is baked, sit it on a jar, carefully ease the sides away from the pastry and let outer ring fall onto the table, leaving the pastry sides exposed. Carefully slide the flan off the metal base, using a spatula, and place on a serving platter.

See also Quiches; Tarts and Tartlets.

GLAZED STRAWBERRY FLAN

1 quantity Pâte Sucrée

Filling

250 g (8 oz) cream cheese
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon cream
1 punnet (250 g/8 oz) strawberries, hulled

Glaze

½ cup redcurrant jelly
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons Cointreau or Grand Marnier, or 2 tablespoons orange juice

Roll out pastry thinly and use to line a 20 cm (8 in) flan ring. Chill for at least 30 minutes. Prick bottom all over with a fork, then bake blind in a preheated moderately hot oven (190°C/375°F) for about 20 minutes or until pastry is a pale biscuit colour. Allow to cool.

To make filling, cream together all ingredients except strawberries and chill.

To make glaze, heat jelly and water in a small saucepan, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Stir in liqueur or orange juice.

To assemble, put cream cheese filling in flan case and smooth surface with a spatula. Carefully decorate with strawberries. Spoon glaze over them and chill. Serves 6.

FRENCH APPLE FLAN

1 quantity Pâte Sucrée
1 kg (2 lb) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
60 g (2 oz) butter
2 tablespoons sugar
caster sugar for sprinkling

Apricot glaze

½ cup apricot jam
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons orange juice

Roll out pastry thinly and use to line a 20 cm (8 in) flan ring. Chill for at least 30 minutes. Prick bottom all over with a fork. Put apple slices in a frying pan with butter and sugar, and cook over a low heat for about 3 minutes. Fill pastry case with apples, reserving best slices for the top. Arrange them in overlapping circles, by starting at the edge of the pastry and forming smaller and smaller circles until apples underneath are completely covered. Brush top with a little of the butter in which apples were cooked and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake in a preheated moderately hot oven (190°C/375°F) for 20–25 minutes or until the edges of apple slices are tinged a golden-brown.

To make apricot glaze, heat jam and water in a small saucepan, stirring until blended. Rub through a sieve and cool a little. Stir in orange juice and keep warm. Remove flan from oven and, while still warm, brush with apricot glaze. Serve flan warm with cream. Serves 8.

FLAN AUX PRUNEAUX (PRUNE TART)

1 teaspoon tea leaves
500 g (1 lb) large dessert prunes
1 quantity Rich Shortcrust Pastry
1 egg
½ cup cream
1 teaspoon cornflour
¼ cup caster sugar
2 tablespoons Cointreau or Grand Marnier
30 g (1 oz) butter

Make a weak tea, strain and pour over prunes. Soak for 4 hours. Roll out pastry and use to line a greased 20 cm (8 in) flan ring. Drain and stone prunes, then spread out in pastry case. Bake in a preheated hot oven (200°C/400°F) for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, beat egg with cream, cornflour, sugar and liqueur. Remove tart from oven, pour custard mixture over and dot with butter. Return to oven and bake for further 10–15 minutes to set custard. Cool on wire rack and serve with cream. Serves 6–8.

FLAPJACKS

A favourite breakfast all over North America consists of a stack of thick pancakes with butter and maple syrup accompanied by bacon, ham or sausage. The pancakes are large, but tender and light. They are known by many names – griddle cakes, hot cakes, flannel cakes, wheat cakes and, in the west and northwest of the USA and in Canada, flapjacks.

FLAPJACKS

2 cups self-raising flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
3 eggs
1¾ cups milk
60 g (2 oz) butter, melted

Sift flour and salt together into a bowl and sprinkle sugar over. Beat eggs with milk and pour over flour. Stir just until all the flour is moistened – batter will be lumpy. Lightly stir in melted butter. Heat a heavy, greased frying pan or griddle until a drop of cold water, flicked onto the surface, bounces and sputters. Pour batter on to make flapjacks spaced a little apart, using a 1-tablespoon ladle for small pancakes or a ¼ -cup measure for larger ones. Cook until pancakes are full of bubbles on top and undersides are browned, then turn and cook other side. Serve flapjacks in a stack with butter in between. Makes 12–15 × 15 cm (6 in) flapjacks.

FLEURONS

Small ovals, diamonds or crescents of puff pastry, which are used to garnish certain dishes finished with a rich sauce, or are served with elegant soups.

To make fleurons: Roll out trimmings of puff pastry thinly, brush the surface with beaten egg and cut shapes 6–8 cm (2½ –3 in) in length. Bake in a preheated very hot oven (230°C/450°F) for 6–8 minutes or until golden. Serve 1 or 2 with each portion.

FLOATING ISLAND (ÎLE FLOTTANTE)

See Custards.

FLORENTINES

These great European favourites are flavoured with fruit and nuts, and spread with chocolate after baking.

FLORENTINES

90 g (3 oz) butter
½ cup sugar
1 cup roughly chopped, blanched almonds
3 tablespoons chopped raisins
¼ cup chopped mixed candied peel
¼ cup chopped glacé cherries
2 tablespoons cream, whipped
finely grated rind ¼ lemon
185 g (6 oz) plain chocolate, broken in pieces

Melt butter and sugar in a saucepan and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in all remaining ingredients except the chocolate. Leave to cool. Put teaspoons of the mixture on greased, foil-lined baking trays in heaps well apart – 4 or 5 per sheet. Bake in the centre of a preheated moderate oven (180°C/ 350°F) for 10–12 minutes or until golden-brown. Remove and cool until just firm, pressing edges back to a neat shape. Remove carefully to a wire rack and leave until cold. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of hot water. Spread over smooth side of each florentine; as chocolate sets, mark into wavy lines with a fork. Leave to harden. The florentines can be stored (without chocolate) for about a week in an airtight container with greaseproof paper separating them. Makes 24.

FLOUR

The indispensable item in store cupboards, milled from grains or cereals such as rye, wheat, rice and corn. Wheat flour is most used in cooking and is classified according to the type of wheat milled, which varies from hard to soft. Wheat flours can be highly refined white or coarse-ground wholewheat.

Types of flour:

All-purpose flour is used for all types of cooking in the USA; it has no raising agent. It is milled from a blend of medium to strong wheats.

Arrowroot is an excellent thickening agent, especially for fruit sauces or pie fillings, as it becomes clear when cooked. Do not overcook arrowroot as it has a tendency to become thin again.

Atta flour is a fine ground wholewheat flour used to make Indian flatbreads.

Buckwheat flour is also known as saracen corn or beechwheat. It is used to make Blini, the traditional little yeast pancakes of Russia which are eaten with caviar and sour cream. It is also used for some crêpes, and added to other flours in breadmaking.

Chick pea (besan) flour is used for batters, especially for pakoras, little Indian fritters, or to thicken soups, stews and gravies.

Cornflour is used as a thickening agent, and in shortbreads and biscuits when a particularly short texture is needed and in cakes and puddings for extra lightness. Pure cornflour is made from the heart of the maize kernel which is ground to a very fine, silky powder. Some cornflour is made from wheat, and this is stated on the packet.

Plain flour is produced from soft wheat grain that is refined and bleached to give the familiar fine white flour. The low gluten content gives a light, short texture which makes it excellent for baking cakes, biscuits, pastries and scones. Plain flour can be substituted for self-raising flour by adding 2 tablespoons (30 g/1 oz) baking powder to 4 cups flour. Sift together 3 times before using.

Potato flour has many of the same qualities as arrowroot and can be used in the same ways.

Rice flour is made from very finely ground, polished rice grains. It is used as a thickening agent, and if you wish to freeze a dish, rice flour will help prevent the sauce separating during reheating. Ground rice is a thicker form of rice flour, used in some shortbreads and some baking.

Roti flour has a granular texture and is a cream colour. It is made from part of the wheat grain and is used for unleavened breads.

Rye flour is used for breads and crispbreads. Coarsely ground whole rye flour is used in pumpernickel, more finely ground in black bread, and a blend of rye and wheat flours is used in lightly coloured rye breads.

Self-raising flour is plain flour with the addition of baking powder as the raising agent. It is used to make standard butter cakes, sponge cakes, scones, etc. Use 2 teaspoons baking powder to 1 cup plain flour if you do not have self-raising flour on hand.

Strong plain white flour is a mixture of soft and hard wheat with a higher gluten content than plain flour. Strong flour is the one to use when baking breads, buns and pizzas as the gluten strands stretch and become flexible and elastic during kneading.

Wholewheat or wholemeal flour is milled from whole wheat grains, retaining most of their original vitamins, minerals, salts and fibre. Breads made from wholewheat taste delicious and produce loaves with a more dense texture than those made with plain white flour.

If you prefer a lighter loaf, use a mixture of half wholewheat flour and half strong plain white flour. For wholewheat pastry, sift the flour and use the fine part to make the dough. Retain the particles of grain and roll the dough in them before shaping. Do not buy more wholewheat flour than you need at one time and store in a very cool, dry place.

FLUMMERY

The charming name of a very good old-fashioned, fluffy fruit dessert. In Australia it is usually made when the abundant fresh passionfruit is in season – probably the nicest flummery of all.

PASSIONFRUIT FLUMMERY

1 tablespoon powdered gelatine
½ cup cold water
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup sugar
½ cup orange juice
1 cup hot water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup passionfruit pulp
cream or ice cream to serve

Soak gelatine in cold water. Mix flour and sugar in a saucepan, blend to a smooth paste with a little orange juice, then stir in remaining orange juice and hot water. Stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Remove from heat, add soaked gelatine and stir until dissolved. Turn into a mixing bowl and chill until mixture is starting to thicken. Beat until very thick and at least doubled in volume. Add lemon juice and passionfruit, and chill until set. Serve with cream or ice cream. Serves 6.

FOIE GRAS

A great delicacy, made from the liver of especially fattened geese or from the livers of ducks or chickens. The finest foie gras comes from Alsace-Lorraine and Toulouse in France. Pâté de foie gras is a subtle mixture of goose liver, finely chopped veal and truffles enveloped in a rich pastry.

A slice of foie gras basted with Madeira and stock is an essential part of the classic French dish tournedos Rossini. The steaks are placed on warm artichoke bottoms, covered with a slice of foie gras, topped with slivers of truffles and served with a spoonful of Madeira Sauce.

See also Tournedos.

FONDANT

See Icings, Frostings and Fillings.

FONDUE

This means ‘melted’ in French, and the name now applies to a number of dishes. It is the name of a cheese dish, melted in wine, which originally came from Switzerland; under the same name comes a beef fondue from France, and a dessert fondue. Certain vegetable preparations are also called fondue. The vegetables in question are cooked for a very long time, often in butter, until they are reduced to pulp. Tomato fondue is used in the preparation of many other dishes.

Fondue utensils: Fondues are traditionally cooked and served in a communal pot. This is a legacy from the Switzerland of long ago when cooking and eating utensils were scarce. Today we still use just one pot for fondue, placed over a table burner in the centre of the table. Each person is given a fork and spears a cube of bread, meat or fruit for dunking in the pot before eating.

The traditional fondue pot for cheese is made of earthenware and is wide and shallow, although cast-iron pots can also be used. Those for beef fondue are of metal – copper or stainless steel. Spirit burners, used for cheese and meat fondues, should be sturdy and easily regulated. For dessert fondues, use decorative ceramic pots kept warm over the gentle heat of a candle.

Fondue Bourguignonne: Pieces of tender steak are speared and cooked in melted butter or a mixture of oil and butter for a minute or so until done to the guest’s taste. The meat is then dipped into one of several sauces before it is eaten. The sauces may be tomato, curry, béarnaise or soy, and it is traditional to try all the sauces on the table.

Dessert Fondue: Made with hot chocolate melted in cream and flavoured with a liqueur. Squares of cake, marshmallows or fruit are dipped first into the sauce, then into dishes of desiccated coconut or nuts.

TOMATO FONDUE

This recipe can be used as a garnish for eggs, vegetables or grilled meats, fish or poultry or as an ingredient in dishes called provençale, portugaise or madrilène.

60 g (2 oz) butter, or 30 g (1 oz) butter and 2 tablespoons oil
1 onion, chopped
6–8 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Melt butter, or butter and oil, in a heavy saucepan and gently cook onion until golden. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and garlic. Cover and simmer very gently for about 1 hour or until tomatoes have reduced to a thick pulp and liquid has almost disappeared. Stir in parsley. Makes about 1½ cups.

SWISS FONDUE

1 clove garlic, halved
375 g (12 oz) Emmenthal cheese, grated
375 g (12 oz) Gruyère cheese, grated
2 teaspoons flour
1½ cups dry white wine
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Kirsch
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
French bread cubes

Rub inside of a deep flameproof casserole with garlic. Mix cheeses with flour and place in casserole with wine, lemon juice, Kirsch, nutmeg and pepper. Cook over a very low heat, stirring occasionally (the fondue should be a creamy consistency). Keep mixture hot over a table spirit burner and serve with cubes of bread. Guests spear the bread and dip it into cheese mixture. Serves 8.

FOOL

Fruit fool is a superbly simple, delicate dessert made with sweetened puréed fruit, thick cream and sometimes home-made or commercial custard.

FOOL

cup cream, or ½ cup cream and
cup thick custard
1¾ cups fruit purée, sweetened to taste (choose fresh, frozen or canned strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, apricots, blackcurrants or gooseberries (see recipe)
sponge fingers to serve

Whip cream and fold into fruit. If using cream and custard, beat custard into fruit purée before folding in whipped cream. Pile into individual serving dishes. Chill and serve with sponge fingers. Decorate with additional cream if liked. Serves 4.

NOTE: Purée fresh strawberries and raspberries; lightly poach fresh rhubarb, apricots, blackcurrants or gooseberries and drain before puréeing; thaw and drain frozen fruits before puréeing; drain canned fruits before puréeing. The purée should be the consistency of thick cream and may be sweetened to taste.

FORCEMEAT

see Stuffings.

FOUR SPICES (QUATRE ÉPICES)

A blend of round white pepper, cloves, nutmeg and ginger, sold everywhere in France and used in making pâtés, pies, sausages and brawns.

To make your own four spices, grind 30 g (1 oz) white peppercorns and 1 tablespoon whole cloves, coarsely chopped, to a fine powder in a blender. Mix with 1 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg and 1 scant tablespoon ground ginger. Store in an airtight jar in a cool, preferably dark place.

PÂTÉ DE CAMPAGNE (COUNTRY-STYLE PÂTÉ)

375 g (12 oz) chicken livers
250 g (8 oz) streaky bacon
250 g (8 oz) stewing veal
2 cloves garlic, crushed
8 juniper berries, crushed
¼ teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
½ cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons brandy
1 large egg
1 cup fresh white breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1½ teaspoons four spices
1 small onion, chopped
60 g (2 oz) butter
1½ teaspoons salt
1 thin slice pork back fat, beaten flat with side of a cleaver (ask butcher to do this), or 2 extra rashers streaky bacon

Trim chicken livers, removing membranes and any discoloured parts. Chop finely and place in a bowl. Cover bacon with boiling water, stand for 5 minutes, drain and remove rind. Mince bacon and veal coarsely, or chop in a food processor. Add to livers with garlic, juniper berries, cracked peppercorns, wine, brandy, egg, breadcrumbs, herbs and four spices. Mix well. Cover and leave for 2–3 hours.

Cook onion gently in butter until soft and add to meat mixture with salt. Press mixture into a greased terrine. Cut pork fat or extra bacon into strips and arrange in a lattice over top of pâté. Cover terrine with a lid of foil. Place terrine in a baking tin of warm water and bake in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for 2 hours. Remove from oven, remove terrine lid and place a light weight on top of pâté (for example a plate with a couple of cans of food on it). Leave pâté in refrigerator for 2 days before serving, cut into slices. Serves 6 as a lunch dish with salad.

FRANKFURT

Frankfurt sausages are fully cooked when bought and need only heating through. They are usually made from spiced beef and pork (kosher frankfurts are all beef) and are lightly smoked. Manufacturers usually call their more lightly spiced varieties ‘Continental’ or ‘Vienna’ frankfurts.

Frankfurts are good poached, grilled, barbecued, baked in a sauce or added to baked beans or to pea or potato soup. Serve them with hot or cold potato salad, creamy mashed potatoes, braised red cabbage, sauerkraut or coleslaw, and such condiments as mustard, dill pickles, tomato sauce or chutney. Cocktail frankfurts have the charm of the miniature and are a favourite with children, also with grown-ups if served with an interesting mustard or sauce.

Poached frankfurts: Place in hot water to cover and heat through at just below boiling point. Do not boil or the frankfurts may split.

Grilled or barbecued frankfurts: Cut 2 or 3 diagonal slashes in the frankfurts and grill or barbecue at high heat until lightly browned. Baste with barbecue sauce if you wish.

Baked frankfurts in a sauce: Pour 1 cup of a well-flavoured sauce such as Barbecue Basting Sauce or Basic Tomato Sauce over 6 frank-furts arranged in a shallow ovenproof dish. Bake, uncovered, in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/ 350°F) for about 20 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle top with grated cheese after 10 minutes, if desired. Tomato-based pasta sauce may be used.

POTATO FRANKFURT GOULASH

This European-style main course is easy. Serve with buttered cabbage, or sauerkraut drained, rinsed and heated with a little salt, pepper, sugar and vinegar. Vary the sausage, using any smoked sausage.

5 large potatoes
2 onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
125 g (4 oz) streaky bacon or speck, diced
1 teaspoon ground paprika
¼ teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
1½ cups chicken stock or water
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 plump Continental frankfurts

Peel the potatoes and cut into large chunks. Peel and thinly slice the onions. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the bacon for a few minutes. Add the onions and stir until they start to turn golden. Add potatoes and remaining ingre . Cut frankfurts into diagonal chunks; add to the pot and simmer for another 3–5 minutes or until heated through. Serves 4.

PIGLETS IN BLANKETS

4–5 Vienna frankfurts
½ quantity Sour Cream Pastry
French or German mustard
1 egg, beaten

Poach frankfurts for 5 minutes, cool and skin. Roll out half the pastry into a rectangular sheet and place a frankfurt on one end. Spread frankfurt with a little mustard, then turn pastry over to enclose frankfurt as if making a sausage roll and cut off excess pastry. Brush edges with beaten egg and press to seal. Repeat with remaining frankfurts and pastry. Brush pastry tops with beaten egg and cut each ‘pig in a blanket’ into 4 or 5 ‘piglets’. Cut pastry scraps into little leaves or fancy shapes and use to decorate piglets, securing and brushing decorations with egg. Place on a buttered baking tray, keeping each frankfurt in shape (so that ends do not dry out). Bake in a preheated hot oven (200°C/400°F) for 15–20 minutes or until pastry is golden. Makes 16–25.

FRAPPÉ

The French word for ‘iced’ or ‘chilled’. A frappé is made from sweetened fruit juice, frozen until mushy and served as a refreshing finish to a rich meal. It looks very pretty topped with whipped cream and served in parfait or sherbet glasses. A frappé can also be an iced drink. Various liqueurs are served over shaved ice in a cocktail glass and sipped through a short straw as the ice melts. Crème de Menthe, Tia Maria and Cointreau make delicious liqueur frappés.

FRENCH FRIES

See Potato.

FRENCH TOAST

Home cooks of many countries have had the same excellent idea – to transform bread into a delectable, comforting breakfast or dessert by dipping it into an egg-and-milk mixture and frying it in butter. It is variously called French toast, German toast or nun’s toast. In Austria it is arme ritter (poor knights), in England poor knights of Windsor. Spanish toast, pain perdu and orange French toast are variations.

FRENCH TOAST

2 eggs
pinch salt
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
cup milk
6 slices day-old bread, crusts removed
about 60 g (2 oz) butter
sugar and cinnamon, jam, maple syrup or bacon, etc. to serve

Beat eggs with salt and sugar, if using, and mix with milk. Cut bread into triangles or strips. Heat a little butter in a frying pan. Dip bread, a few pieces at a time, into egg mixture and fry in butter until golden-brown on both sides. Add more butter to pan as needed. Serve French toast very hot, as a dessert, with sugar and cinnamon or warmed jam, or (omitting sugar from dipping mixture) with maple syrup and grilled bacon for breakfast. Serves 3–6.

VARIATIONS

PAIN PERDU: Follow recipe for French Toast but use half milk and half cream in the dipping mixture, and flavour it with a dash of vanilla. Serve Pain Perdu sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, alone or as an accompaniment to poached fruit.

SPANISH TOAST: Follow recipe for French Toast but substitute ½ cup sweet sherry for the milk. Fry toast until crisp and serve dusted with sifted icing sugar and cinnamon.

ORANGE FRENCH TOAST: Follow recipe for French Toast but substitute orange juice for the milk. Serve sprinkled with a mixture of sugar and grated orange rind.

FRIKADELLER

Danish meat patties, very light and moist. They can be made according to various recipes; the pork and veal version is a favourite.

FRIKADELLER

500 g (1 lb) pork and veal mince
½ cup fresh white breadcrumbs
½ cup milk
1 medium onion, grated
1 egg
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
seasoned flour
30 g (1 oz) butter
2 tablespoons oil

Garnish

sour cream
beetroot or dill pickles

Place meat in a large bowl. Soak breadcrumbs in milk and beat, a little at a time, into meat. Beat in onion, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mixture should be light and fluffy. Cover and chill for 1 hour to firm. Shape into small, thick, round or oblong patties and coat in seasoned flour. Heat butter and oil; when foam subsides, add frikadellers and fry for 8–10 minutes on each side. Serve very hot, garnished with sour cream and beetroot or dill pickles. Boiled or mashed potatoes, cucumber salad and red cabbage are traditional accompaniments. Serves 4.

FRITTERS

Deep or shallow-fried delicacies, either sweet or savoury, made by encasing slices of food in a special batter, or mixing chopped food through a batter before frying. Well-made and perfectly fried fritters should be light, crisp and golden outside, soft and creamy inside and served as soon as they are cooked.

Tiny bite-size fritters can be served as appetisers. Larger ones make perfect lunches, served with a crisp green salad and fresh fruit. Sweet fritters are delicious finales to have as dessert at dinner.

The French also make a type of fritter called beignets using choux pastry, sometimes mixed with cheese, which are deep-fried and served as hors d’oeuvre. Sweet ones are filled with cream, custard or jam after deep-frying (see Beignets Soufflés).

In Vienna, fritters can be made with a light pastry or rich yeast dough (see Yeast Cookery), shaped into little buns with a filling of cream, custard, jam or fruit and deep-fried. There are also the Spanish churros, which are made with choux pastry.

To deep-fry fritters: Use an electric fryer, deep frying pan or deep wide saucepan. Pour in vegetable oil to reach halfway up the sides of the frying utensil, making certain it is at least 8 cm (3 in) deep. Heat oil to moderate (185°C/360°F), test with a thermometer or by immersing a cube of bread in the hot oil. It is ready to use when the bread turns pale brown in 45 seconds. Place 5–6 pieces of food into hot oil, fry for 2–3 minutes until golden. Lift out the fritters and drain on crumpled paper towels, keep warm and fry the remaining batches in the same way. Serve immediately. Use a slotted spoon or tongs to lower the food into the oil and remove when cooked.

To shallow-fry fritters: Put equal quantities of oil and butter into a heavy frying pan to a depth of not more than 5 mm (¼ in). Heat the fat and cook fritters for 2–3 minutes each side or until golden-brown. Drain well on paper towels and serve immediately.

BASIC FRITTER BATTER

Use for fish, vegetables and meat.

1 cup flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
cup milk

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Beat eggs with milk. Make a well in centre of flour. Add egg mixture in a steady pouring stream, stirring in flour gradually, and beat to a smooth batter. Stand for several hours before using. Makes enough to coat about 2 cups prepared food.

FLUFFY FRITTER BATTER

Use for small seafood fritters – oysters, prawns, fish fillet strips, etc. – or fruit such as sliced apples, bananas, whole strawberries and pineapple circles. Can also be used for chopped cooked meats like leftover beef, lamb, chicken or brains.

1 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 eggs, separated
¾ cup flat beer or soda water

Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add melted butter, egg yolks and beer or soda water. Gradually work in flour and beat to a smooth batter. Allow the batter to stand for several hours. Just before using, whisk egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Makes enough to coat 2 cups prepared food.

CRISP FRITTER BATTER

Use for fish fillets.

1 cup flour
pinch salt
1 whole egg
1 egg, separated
60 g (2 oz) butter or margarine, melted
1 cup beer or soda water

Sift flour with salt into a bowl and make a well in centre. Beat 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk (keep second white for later) and pour into well with melted butter or margarine. Stir, incorporating flour gradually and adding beer or soda water little by little, until mixture is smooth. Cover and stand for 1 hour. Just before using, whisk remaining egg white to a firm snow and fold into batter. Makes enough batter for 4 thick fish fillets.

SWEET FRITTER BATTER

Use for fruit fritters.

2 eggs, separated
cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon caster sugar

Beat together egg yolks, milk and melted butter. Sift flour and sugar into a bowl, make a well in centre and stir in egg mixture. Gradually work in flour, beating to a smooth batter. Allow to stand for several hours. Just before using, whisk egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Makes enough to coat 2 cups prepared food.

COOKED MEAT FRITTERS

Cooked lamb, beef, veal or chicken meat chopped and fried in fritter batter makes a delicious meal, accompanied by a crisp salad.

2 cups chopped cooked meat
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 quantity Basic Fritter Batter
oil and butter for shallow-frying

Combine chopped meat and onion, season with salt and pepper and fold into batter. Heat oil and butter in a frying pan (see To Shallow-fry Fritters,). Drop meat mixture in large tablespoonfuls into hot fat and fry on both sides until golden and crisp. Drain on crumpled paper towels. Serve hot. Serves 4.

FRESH VEGETABLE FRITTERS

Use the freshest possible vegetables: sliced mushrooms or whole button mushrooms, blanched and dried slices of zucchini or patty pan squash, salted and dried, thin slices of eggplant, red or green peppers or onion rings.

2 cups prepared vegetables
oil for deep-frying
1 quantity Basic Fritter Batter

Heat oil in a deep-fryer or saucepan to 185°C/360°F (see To Deep-fry Fritters,). Dip vegetables into batter, allow excess batter to drain off, and drop into oil, 4 or 5 pieces at a time. Fry for 2–3 minutes or until golden-brown. Drain on crumpled paper towels and serve hot. Serves 4.

COOKED VEGETABLE FRITTERS

Drained canned or leftover vegetables are first chopped then added to fritter batter and fried.

2 cups cooked, chopped vegetables
1 quantity Basic Fritter Batter
oil and butter for shallow-frying

Add chopped vegetables to prepared batter. Heat oil and butter in a frying pan (see To Shallow-fry Fritters,). Drop vegetable mixture in tablespoonfuls into hot fat and fry on both sides until golden and crisp. Do not crowd the pan. Drain the fritters on crumpled paper towels and serve hot. Serves 4.

FRESH FRUIT FRITTERS

Sliced fruit such as apples, pears and bananas as well as whole berry fruit such as strawberries and boysenberries may be frittered. Keep apple, pear and pineapple slices about ½ cm (½ in) thick; bananas may be cut in 3 diagonal slices. Apricots and plums may be halved and stoned.

oil for deep-frying
2 cups (or equivalent) prepared fruit
1 quantity Sweet Fritter Batter
sifted icing sugar (optional)

Heat oil in deep-fryer or saucepan to 185°C/360°F (see To Deep-fry Fritters). Coat fruit with batter. Drop into hot oil, 3 or 4 pieces at a time, and fry until crisp and golden. Drain on crumpled paper towels. Sprinkle with icing sugar, if liked, and serve hot with whipped cream or a sauce like Sabayon. Serves 4.

FRUITY RICE FRITTERS

An unusual Danish specialty to enjoy as a dessert or for brunch with bacon or ham.

2 cups cold boiled rice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
pinch salt
1 tablespoon grated lemon or orange rind
½ cup chopped raisins or sultanas
¼ cup chopped blanched almonds
2 tablespoons flour
60 g (2 oz) butter
sifted icing sugar, jam and thick cream (optional) to serve

Mix together rice, eggs, salt, lemon or orange rind, raisins or sultanas, nuts and flour. Heat butter in a large frying pan and drop mixture into the pan in large spoonfuls. Cook fritters until golden on both sides and cooked through, turning once (about 3 minutes each side). Drain on paper towels. If serving as a dessert, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve hot with apricot or raspberry jam and thick cream. Serves 4.

FRITTO MISTO

A fritto misto, or ‘mixed fry’, is an Italian dish of small pieces of tender meats, young fresh vegetables or succulent seafood encased in a light, fluffy batter which are quickly deep-fried. Fritto misto, like all fried food in batter, must be eaten as soon as it is cooked to be at the peak of perfection. Choose the freshest possible ingredients: small slices of zucchini, eggplant, artichoke hearts, mushrooms or tiny cauliflower florets, or very thin slices of veal escalope or lamb’s brains. Dip them in batter (see Fritters) and deep-fry for 2–3 minutes until golden.

Fritto misto di mare, the famous Italian fishermen’s fish fry, can include small whole fish or strips of fillet, calamari, prawns, or scallops – whatever combination of seafood is best and freshest on the day.

FRITTO MISTO DI MARE (MIXED FRIED SEAFOOD)

1 kg (2 lb) fish (a mixture of very small whole fish, fish fillets, prawns, scallops, calamari)
juice 1 lemon
oil for deep-frying
flour for coating

Batter

1 cup self-raising flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brandy
1 tablespoon oil
¾ cup warm water
1 egg white

To serve

lemon wedges
1½ cups Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped capers
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped canned pimiento (optional)

Remove heads of small whole fish, open out and remove backbone (see Fish:Grilled Sardines for method). Cut fillets into 5 cm (2 in) strips. Shell prawns, leaving tails on, and de-vein. Discard any dark beards from scallops. Wash and clean calamari (See Squid) and cut into rings. Dry all seafood on paper towels and sprinkle with lemon juice.

To make batter, sift flour and salt into a bowl, make a well in centre and add brandy and oil. Gradually add water, stirring from centre until mixed, then beat batter until smooth. Leave for 30 minutes. Just before cooking seafood, whisk egg white until it stands in soft peaks and fold gently into batter.

Heat oil in a deep-fryer or saucepan (a cube of bread should brown in 30 seconds). Toss seafood in flour and dip in batter. Deep-fry a few pieces at a time, for 1–2 minutes or until golden. To prevent toughness, do not overcook. Drain on crumpled paper towels and keep hot in a cool oven until all pieces are fried. Arrange on a heated serving platter and serve immediately with lemon wedges, and mayonnaise mixed with capers, parsley and pimiento, if using. Serves 4.

FROMAGE BLANC (WHITE CHEESE)

This refreshingly tangy, versatile cheese is one of the main ingredients in sauces of the cuisine minceur for meat, poultry, fish and vegetables. Try it, too, mixed with puréed vegetables, with crisp green salads, as a topping on fresh tomato slices or as a dipping sauce to accompany a platter of Crudités. It is also delicious served with fresh fruits, especially berry fruits.

In France, fromage blanc is made from skimmed milk soured with a culture, but you can make an excellent substitute at home by blending together cottage cheese, plain yogurt and lemon juice.

FROMAGE BLANC

100 g (3½ oz) cottage cheese
125 g (4 oz) plain yogurt
3 teaspoons lemon juice

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender, and blend thoroughly until mixture is smooth, shiny and as thick as whipped cream. Cover and store in refrigerator for 12 hours before using. You may use a food mill if you wish, beating mixture thoroughly after pushing through mill. Makes about 1 cup.

FROSTING

See Icings, Frostings and Fillings.

FRUIT

Fruit is such a pleasure to look at and to eat, it seems a pure bonus that it’s so good for us as well. Every bite contains vitamins, minerals and fibre, that most important food component for a healthy digestive system. Eat the peel when possible for the best investment in good health.

Keep fruit at room temperature until fully ripened; the process can be hastened by leaving it in a paper bag with the top closed. Once ripe, most fruits should be refrigerated to slow further changes. The exceptions are bananas, which blacken under refrigeration, and citrus fruit that will be used within a week or two – citrus does not ripen further after picking, and will stay in good condition at room temperature for some time before beginning to deteriorate.

Ways to use fruit: Of course, a piece of choice fruit is a splendid way to finish a meal. Fresh fruit is also a favourite food to nibble or munch between meals. Fruit can be poached, baked, sautéed, deep-fried, grilled or barbecued. It combines with other ingredients for hundreds of lovely desserts, cakes, pies and tarts. Don’t forget how well fruit goes with savoury foods, too – fried apples with sausage, pork chops or roast pork, apricots with lamb, pears with cheese, green grapes with fish, melon or figs with prosciutto, orange with duck, and pineapple with ham or cheese are some of the best known combinations.

Fruit and vegetable salads, fruit stuffings for meat, and fruit relishes, sauces and soups add verve to the first or main course. Ideas such as quinces stuffed with a savoury meat mixture; cherries simmered in red wine and orange juice and served with ham or poultry; an apple and mint water ice to accompany roast lamb or game birds; and hot curried fruit or chilled pears with tarragon cream dressing served as a first course are more unusual ways to add a happy surprise to a meal.

Fresh Fruit Salad: The nicest fruit salads have the fruit left in fairly big pieces – about 2–2.5 cm (¾ –1 in) so that their beautiful appearance and contrasting textures are not lost. Leave skin on where practicable. Two or three good fruits are often better than a big variety. Sprinkle salad with sugar and lemon juice; cover and leave to chill and develop flavours for 30 minutes or more before serving. Fruits which darken quite quickly after cutting (peaches, bananas, apples, pears) should be turned in a little lemon juice and added only a short time before serving.

Add interest to fresh fruit salads with the addition of a little white wine or liqueur or just a sprinkling of rum or brandy. Crème Fraîche, sour cream lightly sweetened with brown sugar, or cream half-whipped with a few drops of liqueur, rum or brandy are good fruit salad toppings. Serve with Tuiles, Cigarettes Russe or other crisp delicate biscuits.

FRUIT BOTTLING

Successful fruit bottling depends on efficient sterilisation – this means anything that will cause the fruit to ferment or turn mouldy must be killed by heat. This can be done in an oven, in one of the excellent preserving kits (for example Fowler’s), in a deep saucepan or, if you still have one, in a copper. Make sure you have good preserving jars of heat-treated glass, with a strong lid and clamp to effectively seal the contents. If you buy a preserving kit with its deep steriliser and jars, etc., it comes complete with instructions. If you want to experiment with the French-type jars, with clamp-on lids, you can do them in the oven – it is simple and effective, and it is the method often used for only a few bottles. It is most important to have good preserving jars.

Basic rules:

• Preserve only choice and sound fruit.

• Prepare small quantities at a time.

• Ensure that jars and rubbers are sterile: wash in hot soapy water, rinse in boiling water.

• Check all jars to be used, to make sure these are free from flaws (no chipped rims).

• Use only new rubber rings, not old ones.

Preparation of fruit: Most fruits are suitable for bottling, but because of their short season, stone and berry fruits are particular favourites.

Fruits should be washed first then prepared as for stewing. Apricots, plums and peaches are halved and stones removed and peeled if liked. Pears are peeled and halved; pineapples are trimmed and sliced. Berry fruits are washed lightly and drained. Tomatoes are left whole in salted water or tomato juice made from softened tomatoes.

Blanching fruit: Tomatoes, peaches and plums usually have the skins removed as these varieties have skins which split on heating. Hold the fruit in a square of muslin or cheesecloth and immerse in boiling water for a brief period, depending on ripeness – usually 30 seconds is sufficient. A metal strainer may be used to hold more fruit. Then plunge into cold water. Gentle rubbing will now remove the skin or, if this is not successful, the skin may be peeled off with a sharp knife.

After peeling, drop the fruit into cold water to prevent discolouration. Pears, apples and peaches should be dropped into a light brine (1 teaspoon salt to 5 cups water), then rinsed.

Blanching as described above sets the colour of the fruit and, by reducing the size of some fruits, makes possible a more economical pack.

Preparing of syrup: Make the syrup while the fruit is heating in the oven – ½ –¾ cup will be needed for each 500 ml (2 cup) jar. Its strength is largely a matter of personal taste. Light syrup – 1 cup sugar to 3 cups water. Medium syrup – 2 cups sugar to 3 cups water. Heavy syrup – 3 cups sugar to 3 cups water.

APPROXIMATE TIMES FOR PROCESSING FRUIT BY THE BOILING WATER BATH METHOD

*Fruits referred to on timetable as ‘hot pack’ should be put into a pan and brought to a gentle boil in syrup, or a little water (which may be poured into the jar with the fruit). Small soft fruits should be simmered approximately 2 minutes, large or firm fruits approximately 2–4 minutes, depending on ripeness and maturity. This cuts down the processing time as fruits have been heated prior to being packed into the sterilised preserving jars.

Figs require a heavy syrup, while apples are best done in a light syrup. For most fruits a medium strength syrup is fine.

Bottling in water for diabetics and dieters:

Home-bottled fruit is excellent for diabetic people. Simply use boiling water instead of syrup. The best size of jar to use is 500 ml (2 cup). If desired, the fruit may be sweetened to taste with a proprietary sweetener before serving.

Testing of seal: 24 hours after bottling, the lids should be tested to make sure the vacuum has formed and the lid is firmly sealed. To test clip-type jars: remove the clip and lift the jar gently by the lid. If the jar is a screw-band type, remove the band and tilt until the weight of the liquid is against the lid. Make the same test for jars sealed with rubber solution. If the seals have not formed, the jars should be reprocessed, or the contents eaten the same day.

Storing: If lids are secure, label the jars, mark the date of preserving on each and store in a cool, dark place. If preserves are subjected to bright light, the colour of the fruit in the jars will fade. Once opened, store in refrigerator. Most bottled fruit can be kept for at least 1 year. However, it is wise to use them before the next season’s replacement for optimum flavour.

OVEN METHOD

The procedure of sterilising bottled fruit in the oven is one of the simplest of all methods. The oven method is convenient when only a small quantity of fruit is to be preserved. For this and other reasons, the berry fruits or just a few jars of cherries, or special stone fruits may be processed for use later in the year.

The method for oven bottling is as follows:

1 Slow cooking of the fruit is required. If the fruit cooks too quickly it will burst, go pulpy, and lose its shape.

2 Pack fruit into the jars prepared as described in Preparation of Fruit. The fruit will shrink during cooking, so jars must be well filled.

3 Stand the jars on a heatproof mat or baking tin on a shelf in the bottom half of a preheated cool oven (120°C/250°F). Jars must not touch each other. Put on lids of jars, but not rubber rings and do not clip on.

4 Leave the fruit in the oven until it looks cooked, has shrunk and changed colour slightly. This normally takes 45–60 minutes. Pears and tomatoes need 1½ hours.

5 Prepare the syrup; when required, bring back to boiling point. Remove one jar from the oven and stand on a double thickness of paper towel or tea-towel.

6 Have rubber rings soaking in hot water; place rubber ring on the lid of the jar. Add boiling syrup to fill the jar, until it just overflows. Clip lid on jar tightly.

7 Repeat step 6 with remaining jars. The procedure is the same for tomatoes, except that salted water or tomato juice replaces the sugar syrup.

NOTE: It is very important to perform steps 5 and 6 as quickly as possible, and with only one jar at a time.

BOILING WATER BATH METHOD

Use suitable preserving jars and a lidded cooker or boiler deep enough for the jars to be covered completely by at least 5 cm (2 in) boiling water. The jars must also stand in the cooker on a rack so that the water flows freely under them; an ordinary cake rack will do.

Except when preserving grapefruit, it is not necessary to use a thermometer, because the temperature required for preserving by this boiling water bath method is reached when the water boils.

The boiling water bath has many advantages – it is safe, economical (no special equipment is necessary) and time-saving compared with the ‘slow sterilising’ method recommended for commercial outfits. For example, slipstone peaches, pineapples or pears sterilised slowly will take approximately 3½ hours and require careful watching; bottled in the boiling water bath they will take 25 minutes.

Thoroughly clean the jars, rubbers and lids in hot water and make the syrup. The fruit to be preserved should be sorted and simultaneously blanched and peeled by scalding; see Blanching Fruit.

Packing and processing: Pack fruit into jars. Before adding the syrup, run water gently in and out of the jars to remove any particles of fruit and keep the syrup clear. The syrup, which should be boiling, will be clearer if strained through a cloth. Fill only to within 1 cm (½ in) of the top of 500 ml (2 cup) or 1 litre (4 cup) jars and wipe the rim of the jar with a moist cloth before sealing. A skewer worked gently between the fruit and the jar will release the air bubbles. If the screw-band type of jar is used, do not seal tightly.

Lower jars into the boiling water in the cooker or boiler with tongs, or by holding the top of the jar with a cloth. Count the processing time from the time the water returns to the boil. As soon as the water is seen to be boiling, put the lid on the cooker and process according to the times given in the table.

Remove jars from cooker after processing and place on a wooden surface or a folded cloth, away from draughts. Hot jars may break if placed on marble or other cold materials. Tightly seal screw-bound jars immediately on removal from cooker. Test seal after 24 hours.

FRUIT CAKE

The rich aroma of fruit cake–baking conjures up memories of Christmas, birthdays or exciting special occasions in every household. Rich fruit cake keeps for months wrapped and stored in a cool, dry place and is best made well ahead to allow the flavour to ripen before cutting. Light fruit cakes are ideal for any occasion and many people prefer them to the very rich ones. They keep well for up to 3 weeks when stored wrapped in an airtight container.

Boiled Fruit Cake is mixed using a particularly easy method and is excellent for families who love to have fruit cake at any time. It may be kept for 2 weeks in an airtight container.

For more fruit cakes, see Sultana: Sultana Cake; Dundee Cake; Bishop’s Cake.

RICH FRUIT CAKE

Suitable for a wedding or Christmas cake or any celebration cake that calls for a good-keeping, rich cake.

Fruit

250 g (8 oz) raisins, chopped
250 g (8 oz) sultanas
250 g (8 oz) currants
185 g (6 oz) mixed candied peel, finely chopped
60 g (2 oz) glacé cherries, diced
60 g (2 oz) glacé apricots, diced
6 tablespoons brandy or rum
3 tablespoons sherry

Cake mixture

250 g (8 oz) butter
1 cups firmly packed brown sugar
grated rind 1 lemon
2 tablespoons marmalade
5 eggs
2½ cups flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
125 g (4 oz) blanched almonds, chopped
extra blanched almonds (optional)
extra brandy

Put all fruit into a bowl and sprinkle with brandy or rum, and sherry. Leave overnight.

To make cake mixture, beat butter and brown sugar with lemon rind until light and creamy. Add marmalade and beat well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1 tablespoon flour with the last egg. Sift together the remaining flour, mixed spice, cinnamon and salt, and stir into creamed mixture alternately with fruit and chopped almonds. Turn mixture into a 20 cm (8 in) round or square, deep cake tin lined with 1 layer of brown paper and 2 layers of greased greaseproof paper. If not icing cake with almond paste and royal icing, decorate with whole almonds arranged in a pattern on top. Bake in a preheated slow oven (150°C/300°F) for 3–3½ hours or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon extra brandy. Remove cake from tin, leaving paper on cake. Wrap in a tea-towel and leave on a wire rack until cool. Remove towel and wrap cake in foil, then store in an airtight tin.

LIGHT FRUIT CAKE

1 cups sultanas
cup currants
cup raisins
cup chopped mixed candied peel
cup roughly chopped glacé cherries
grated rind ½ lemon or orange
250 g (8 oz) butter
cup caster sugar
cup firmly packed brown sugar
2½ cups plain flour
½ cup self-raising flour
5 eggs
1–2 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine dried fruit with peel, cherries and lemon or orange rind. Cream butter with sugars until very light and fluffy. Sift flours together. Beat eggs into creamed mixture one at a time, following each with 1 tablespoon flour. Fold in remaining flour, then fruit. Add lemon juice. Turn into a greased and lined 20 cm (8 in) round or square, deep cake tin. Bake cake in a preheated slow oven (150°C/300°F) for 2½ hours or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Turn onto a wire rack and leave to cool. When cold, remove paper lining and store in an airtight tin.

NOTE: Spices can be sifted with the flour if liked. Use ½ teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon mixed spice and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg.

FRUIT COCKTAIL

A first-course fruit cocktail should delight the eye and refresh the palate. Avoid formless canned fruit, pieces cut too small and over-sweetening. Use just one fruit, or 2 or 3 which contrast in colour and texture; melon and grapes, grapefruit and cherries, orange and strawberries, pineapple with pawpaw and Kiwi fruit.

Leave fruit in good-size chunks. Macerate in a little lemon juice and just a touch of honey or sugar, plus, if you wish, ground or grated fresh ginger or mint leaves, cut into thin ribbons. Serve in stemmed, clear glass bowls and garnish each with a sprig of mint, a maraschino cherry or fine slivers of orange or lemon rind.

FRUIT CUP

This is a deliciously refreshing drink based on fresh fruit and fruit juices. You can mix the fruit with iced water, soda water or mineral water and sweeten to taste. Some fruit cups use orangeade, lemonade or ginger ale to add some fizz. All fruit cups look inviting served in long glasses, decorated with slices of fruit or sprigs of mint.

FESTIVE FRUIT CUP

1½ cups sugar
4 cups water
1 pineapple
juice 6 lemons
juice 6 oranges
pulp 6 passionfruit
1 × 1.25 ml bottle (5 cups) lemonade
1 × 1.25 ml bottle (5 cups) orangeade

Heat sugar and water together, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Boil without stirring for 5 minutes. Cool, then chill. Peel, core and grate pineapple (or use a food processor if you have one). Mix sugar syrup, pineapple, fruit juices and passionfruit pulp and chill well. Two hours before serving, stir in lemonade and orangeade. Serve chilled. Makes 20–25 cups.

CITRUS GRAPE COOLER

3 tablespoons caster sugar
1 cup orange juice
½ cup lemon juice
½ cup grape juice
2 cups water
ice cubes
orange slices to decorate

Combine sugar and fruit juices and stir until sugar dissolves. Add water and ice and mix well. Serve in tall glasses, each decorated with a twist of orange. Serves 4–5.

FRUIT, DRIED AND CANDIED

DRIED FRUIT

The preservation of fruits by drying gives us a sweet, nourishing food available all year round. Dried fruits have a high concentration of sugar for a quick boost of energy, and contain valuable minerals and vitamin A.Many kinds of fruit are dried, from larger ones such as peaches, pears, apples, bananas and apricots, to dates and all the grape family: dessert muscatels, raisins, sultanas and currants, or a mixture of these, with peel and cherries ready to use in baking.

When buying dried fruits, choose clean, well-washed fruit which has no musty smell, and store, tightly covered, in a cool, dry, airy place. Buy only as much as you use within 6–8 weeks.

Dried fruits make marvellous snacks on their own, so are ideal to carry outdoors or for busy mothers when children arrive home from school feeling hungry. Add dried fruits to cakes, puddings, breads, buns, biscuits and pastries. They are especially good with rice in pilafs and in rice-based stuffings flavoured with spices, herbs and nuts for meats, poultry or vegetables.

To reconstitute dried fruit: The very best quality dried fruits are graded as ‘dessert’. Such fruits as prunes, dates, apricots, figs, peaches and pears can be purchased in this grade and reconstituted without cooking, by soaking in water (or cold tea for prunes) for 3 hours. They can also be stewed without prior soaking.

Dessert peaches and pears are delicious eaten raw; they have a delicate taste and are best cooked only lightly.

To plump raisins, sultanas or currants, cover with boiling water or tea; leave for 10 minutes then drain. They can also be plumped by washing briefly and then heating, closely covered, in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/350°F) until they puff up.

To stew dried fruit: Place the fruit in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Simmer, covered, until the fruit is soft and plump. The length of time this takes depends on the type and size of fruit.

To retain whole fruit, add sugar to water before cooking. Most fruit will take ¼ cup sugar to 1 cup fruit, but this depends on your taste and which fruit you are cooking: some are more tart than others. Flavour apricots with a piece of cinnamon stick, pears with a little ground or fresh ginger, and prunes with a whole clove. Serve with thick whipped cream or custard.

If fruit is very hard and dry, soak overnight in cold water to cover before cooking it in the same water.

When stewing to a purée, sweeten fruit with sugar after cooking.

CANDIED FRUIT

Glacé fruit: The word refers to the glossy coating found on candied fruits such as cherries, apricots, peaches, pineapple rings and whole baby figs, oranges or mandarins.

Glacé fruits are eaten as a sweetmeat – lovely with after-dinner coffee – and are also used as an ingredient in sweet dishes or as a decoration. One of the prettiest ways to use the fruits is in the traditional Bishop’s Cake. When the cake is cut the slices look like stained-glass windows.

Crystallised fruit: Candied fruit with a coating of granulated sugar. Candied peel and angelica may not have the addition of a sugar coating; both are used to decorate cakes, puddings, custards, breads and biscuits, while mixed candied peel is used in fruit cakes, loaves, breads, puddings and sweet cheese desserts.

Grilled Stuffed Figs: Soak dried figs in sherry or port for 36 hours. Split and fill with nuts or cream cheese, or a combination of the two, or with Cheddar cheese. Wrap with partially cooked bacon strips and secure with a wooden toothpick. Grill until bacon is crisp and figs are heated through.

Savoury Stuffed Dates: Fill dates with whole or chopped nuts, cream cheese and peanut butter, or a stuffing made by combining cream cheese with a little Mayonnaise, finely chopped celery and onion, and pepper and salt to taste.

Prune Snow: To 1½ cups sieved cooked prunes add 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind, pinch cinnamon. Fold in 2 egg whites, beaten until stiff, with 1–2 tablespoons sugar. Spoon into serving dishes; top with cream. Serves 3–4.

Macerated Prunes, Apricots and Figs: Macerate dried fruit in large sealed jars. Prunes can be macerated in sherry or red wine, apricots in sherry or brandy, figs in brandy. Allow to macerate for at least 1 week before using and use the liquid left in the jars for making another batch. Serve prunes on their own or with a sprinkling of chopped nuts as a dessert, or as an accompaniment to curry. Figs are delicious served with coffee after dinner.

See also Fruit Cake, Dundee Cake, Eccles Cakes, Christmas Cake, etc.

RIESLING RICE

Rice flavoured with white wine, spices and currants is an elegant accompaniment to grilled chicken, fish or lamb.

1½ cups long-grain rice
3 cups boiling water
½ cup currants
60 g (2 oz) butter
1 cup riesling or other dry white wine
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon sugar

Wash rice under cold running water and drain well. Pour 1 cup boiling water over currants and soak for 10 minutes, then drain and set aside. Melt butter in a large saucepan, add rice and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add rest of boiling water and remaining ingredients except currants. Boil until liquid is absorbed and steam holes appear in rice. Turn heat very low, cover tightly and steam for 10 minutes or until rice is just tender. Remove from heat, add currants and fork through. Serves 6.

DATE AND RAISIN CRUNCH

125 g (4 oz) dates, chopped
cup raisins
grated rind and juice 2 oranges
2½ cups rolled oats
cup flour
185 g (6 oz) butter
cup sugar

Combine dates and raisins in a saucepan. Make up orange juice to 1 cup liquid with water. Add liquid to dates and raisins and cook gently until fruit is a thick pulp. Remove from heat and cool. Mix rolled oats and flour, rub in butter and add sugar and orange rind. Press half the mixture into a greased 28 × 19 cm (11 × 7½ in) lamington tin. Spread with fruit filling and sprinkle rest of oat mixture on top. Press down lightly. Bake in a preheated moderately hot oven (190°C/375°F) for 45 minutes. Serve warm as a dessert or cut in wedges when cold and serve as a biscuit bar for tea. Serves 6–8 as a dessert or makes 30 pieces.

PLUMPED PRUNES WITH ORANGES

375 g (12 oz) dessert prunes
2 large oranges, peeled and cut into segments
2 cups boiling water

Toss prunes and oranges in a bowl. Pour in boiling water to cover fruit, seal with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. If liked, add 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier before serving, with whipped cream or sour light cream. Serves 4.

APRICOT SAUCE

250 g (8 oz) dried apricots
1 cinnamon stick
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (optional)

Soak apricots in water to cover for several hours. Bring to the boil with cinnamon stick and simmer until soft. Remove cinnamon stick. Rub apricots through a sieve or purée in a food processor or blender, then add sugar. Return to saucepan and cook until sugar has dissolved. A little more water may be added if sauce is too thick. Stir in orange rind and Grand Marnier, if using. Allow to cool before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream; fold through whipped cream for a pavlova filling; or serve with tiny meringues sandwiched together with Crème Chantilly as a dessert. Makes 1½ cups.

GINGERED FIGS

500 g (1 lb) dried figs
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons sugar
1 large orange
4 slices lemon

Wash figs and clip off stems. Put into a saucepan with cold water to cover, add ginger and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30–35 minutes or until figs are plump and soft. Drain, reserving liquid. Place figs in a serving dish. Measure liquid and return 1 cup to saucepan. Add sugar and cook gently for about 5 minutes. Peel rind thinly from orange and cut into julienne (matchstick) strips. Remove white pith and cut orange flesh into segments or thin slices. Add to syrup with orange strips and lemon slices. Pour syrup over figs; chill. Serve with plain yogurt or sour cream flavoured with some finely chopped ginger in syrup. Serves 6.

APRICOT SOUFFLÉ

½ cup dried apricots
½ cup water
5 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice or Grand Marnier
grated rind ½ orange
3 egg whites

Soak apricots in water to cover for 3 hours. Drain and place in a saucepan with the ½ cup water. Cook over very gentle heat until tender. Drain again and add 2 tablespoons sugar. Push apricots through a sieve or purée in a blender. Stir in orange juice or liqueur, and orange rind. Whisk egg whites until stiff, then gradually beat in remaining sugar. Fold gently into cooled apricot purée. Turn into a buttered 18 cm (7 in) soufflé dish which has been lightly sprinkled with sugar. Bake in a preheated hot oven (200°C/400°F) for about 20 minutes. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

FRUIT, NUT AND RICE CASSEROLE

1 cup dried apricots
½ cup sultanas
1 cup long-grain rice
60 g (2 oz) butter
2 onions, chopped
1 small green pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
½ teaspoon curry powder
½ cup toasted almonds, chopped

Cover apricots and sultanas with water and soak for 2 hours. Drain and chop apricots. Boil rice until tender, drain and set aside. Melt butter in a frying pan and sauté onions, green pepper and curry powder over gentle heat until onion is beginning to soften. Add almonds, apricots, sultanas and rice. Pile into a greased baking dish and bake in a preheated moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for about 20 minutes. Serve with roast or grilled chicken or lamb. Serves 6.

MEDITERRANEAN STUFFING

1 chicken liver, finely chopped
1 cup cooked rice
¼ cup raisins
½ cup ground almonds
1 onion, finely chopped
½ cup chopped parsley
2–3 leaves fresh basil, chopped
60 g (2 oz) butter, softened
1 egg, beaten
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Use to stuff a chicken before roasting.

FUDGE

A soft, creamy sweet or candy made with sugar and milk or cream to which are added various flavourings and other ingredients. Fudge makes a lovely gift at Christmas time. Wrap the pieces in coloured cellophane and pack in a pretty box or basket, or serve with black coffee after dinner.

CHOCOLATE FUDGE

1½ cups sugar
cup evaporated milk
125 g (4 oz) cream cheese, softened and chopped
1¼ cups chopped marshmallows
90 g (3 oz) milk chocolate, chopped
90 g (3 oz) dark chocolate, chopped
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ teaspoon vanilla essence, or 1 tablespoon brandy

Combine sugar and milk in a heavy saucepan. Stir over medium heat until boiling. Add cheese and marshmallows and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate, walnuts and vanilla or brandy. Pour into an oiled 18 cm (7 in) square cake tin. Cool, cut into squares and store in refrigerator. Makes about 24 large pieces.