Monday's Menu

Rob and I had a long weekend, which was lovely. We headed up to Launceston to visit Rob's parents, and take them out for dinner (to belatedly celebrate his mother's birthday).

We had delivered some fresh oysters and a bottle of Champagne to have before dinner, (felt like teenagers prepping for a big night out with drinks at home!) We then headed to Novaro's, which is a small Italian restaurant. We enjoyed a bottle of Chianti, whilst snacking on some Ligurian olives. Rob and his mother had ordered a slow cooked lamb rump on a mushroom risotto, his father a Quail salad and I ordered the duck. I love duck, but we rarely cook it at home, so if it's on the menu it makes choosing quite easy.
The others meals came out first, they looked pretty good, but then mine arrived, it was half a duck! The duck was probably more Asian in style, flavoured with star anise and soy, it sat on a bed of red cabbage and apple, although I didn't think of as a common accompaniment to duck, was excellent. The duck meat was nice and moist, and after skipping lunch I managed (with a little help from Rob) to finish it all!

What else has been on the menu?
Monday: Fennel, rocket and orange salad, with leftover beef.
Tuesday: Tomato, vegetable and meatball soup.
Wednesday: Carbonara.
Thursday: Stir fried vegetables with noodles.
Friday: Dinner at Novaro's.
Saturday: Seafood paella and apple and fruit mince crumble.
Sunday: Beef short ribs with baked potatoes and rocket. I also made a big batch of cauliflower soup, which was really tasty- I will share that recipe later this week. Rob also treated me to pancakes with poached rhubarb and blood oranges for breakfast.

Apple and fruit mince crumble

So on Saturday night, in the middle of the great wardrobe dismantling session, we realised we should get some dinner on. Rob put a couple of chooks to roast in the Weber, and some vegetables in the oven to roast. I wanted something for dessert, but wasn't feeling like making anything fussy or too heavy.


I looked at what was at hand, some apples, and decided on a crumble. In the middle of peeling and slicing the apples (made easier by one of those coring machine thingys) and mixing up the crumble topping, I remembered that we had several jars of matured fruit mince in the fridge, so decided to add that too.

It took probably 10 minutes to prepare, cooked for 30-40 mins, and according to Rob was "the best dessert I've eaten ever". This is quite a big call, as he's certainly tried a few desserts in his time, but he does have an inordinate fondness for fruit mince (which is normally quite seasonally inappropriate at Christmas). It certainly has won me brownie points over the last few days, and the best bit was that we ate it cold for breakfast the next day.

So here's my "recipe"

Fruit Mince {based on Nigella's recipe in How to be a Domestic Goddess, as an aside I love that book}

250g soft dark brown sugar
250ml medium dry cider (I used Muscat instead)
1kg cooking apples, peeled, halved and quartered
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
500g dried mixed fruit (I used currants, raisins and sultanas)
75g glace cherries, roughly chopped (we use the dark red sort, not the fake bright red ones)
100g blanched almonds (I used hazelnuts)
zest and juice of ½ lemon
3 tablespoons of quince jelly (my variation)
6 tablespoons brandy

In a large saucepan dissolve the brown sugar in the cider/muscat over a gentle heat. Add the roughly chopped apples to the saucepan. Add all the ingredients, apart from brandy and simmer for around 30 minutes until everything has a pulpy consistency. Take off the heat and when it has cooled slightly stir in brandy. Store in sterilised glass jars, we keep ours in the fridge.

Crumble {Annabel Langbein's recipe}
250g flour
125g ground almonds (or use a total of 375g flour)
375g brown sugar
200g rolled oats
100g almonds, chopped or flaked
2 tsp mixed spice
250g butter, melted
Mix the dried ingredients together and add the melted butter, and mix with a wooden spoon until evenly combined.

5 apples (I used granny smiths)
3 tablespoons caster sugar

Butter an oven proof dish. Peel, core and slice apples and arrange on the bottom of the dish.
Spread about 2 cups of fruit mince over the top, or more to taste.
Top with about half the crumble mix (freeze the rest for later use).
Cook in an oven at about 180 degC for 40 minutes or until the crumble is browned and crispy.

Serve with cream or even sour cream.