"Stuff Wot I Found On Teh Intertubes" (and other stories).
Baked Chicken with Mascarpone Cheese and Capers
main fowl
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts (skin on)
4 tbsp(s) mascarpone cheese
1 tbsp(s) capers
2 sprig(s) basil
2 lemons
10 cherry tomatoes

Method
Carefully peel back the skin from the chicken breast and spread the mascarpone cheese evenly on both breast. Sprinkle with basil and replace the skin.
Paint the chicken with olive oil.
Zest the lemons and sprinkle the zest and the capers over the chicken.
Place in a baking tray and add the tomatoes.
Bake at 220°C or gas mark 7 for 30 mins or until the chicken is cooked through.

Pepper Syrup Over Strawberries
starter dessert veg vegan
Ingredients
6 oz granulated sugar
6 fl oz water
strip of lime rind
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns,crushed
2 lb strawberries, stalks removed and quartered
Method
Place the sugar, water, lime rind and crushed peppercorns in a pan and heat over a moderate heat until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool and leave overnight to let the flavours infuse. Remove the lime rind.

To serve: Drizzle over prepared strawberries.

Marrons Glacés
sweet veg vegan
Ingredients
For the marrons:
750g sweet chestnuts (skin on)
500g granulated sugar
A squeeze of lemon juice
1 vanilla pod

For the glaze:
450g granulated sugar
Method
With a sharp knife, make a couple of nicks across the pointed end of each chestnut. Place all the chestnuts in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile put 500g granulated sugar in a pan with 250ml water. Heat slowly, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved, then add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil.

Remove the chestnuts from the heat. Have ready a bowl of warm water with a squeeze of lemon juice in it. It is important to remove only one chestnut at a time from the pan of hot water: peel back the thick leathery skins and the thin papery inner skin of each nut, to reveal the golden kernel inside. Drop each peeled chestnut into the bowl of acidulated water. When the chestnuts are all shelled, drain and dry them thoroughly.

Drop the chestnuts into the hot sugar syrup. Bring up to a simmer and cook gently for 25-30 minutes or until tender (the time will depend on the size of the chestnuts).

Meanwhile, prepare the final glaze by putting the 450g sugar and 150ml water in a small pan. Heat slowly, stirring, to dissolve the sugar, then boil for 5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the chestnuts from their cooking syrup and place them on a wire cooling rack. Add the chestnutty cooking syrup to the glaze syrup and bring back to the boil. Then remove from the heat.

Put a small bowl over a pan of simmering water. Pour a little of the glazing syrup into the bowl, so it stays hot. Have ready a second small bowl with freshly boiled water in it. Using a skewer, take a chestnut. Dunk it first in the hot water, then swizzle it in the hot sugar syrup in the bowl. Place on a wire rack to cool. Repeat with all the chestnuts, topping up the bowl of syrup with more syrup from the pan if you need to. Leave the chestnuts to dry in a warm airing cupboard or a very, very low oven (around 50°C) for 10-12 hours. Then wrap each chestnut in a twist of greaseproof paper.


Spiced Cranberry and Apple Stuffing
ingredient veg vegan
I'm annually on the lookout for stuffing recipes for our Christmas goose, and here is an interesting one recommended by Delia for that very bird.
I believe Mum tried it out and liked it, so there you go. A bird stuffing, recommended by two old birds.
'Nuff said.

Ingredients
9 oz (250 g) cranberries
1½ lb (700 g) Bramley apples, cored and cut into ½ inch (1 cm) chunks, skin on
2 oz (50 g) caster sugar
2 oz (50 g) fresh breadcrumbs
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1/8 level teaspoon ground cloves or 8 whole cloves, crushed
¼ level teaspoon ground mace
2 tablespoons port
salt and freshly milled black pepper
Method
For the cranberry and apple stuffing, the ingredients simply need to be combined in a bowl. Next, place the cranberry and apple stuffing in the body cavity don't worry if it looks a bit raw and chunky; after cooking it will collapse to a lovely fluffy mass.
Nope, it's far too tart for a Christmas stuffing.
You just can't trust anyone these days!

Aline's Mum's Mushroom Sauce
side veg sauce
It's a recipe from Aline's Mum!
Aline served it as a baked potato topping and it was rather nice, so here it is...

Ingredients
Method
Fry the onion, garlic, then the mushrooms, stir in cream if you're using it, throw in the parsley, serve.

Devilled Golden Eggs
side
Well, I have no idea where this recipe came from. I've searched uselessly.
But here it is anyway. Seems a bit of an extravagant use of edible gold, but I suppose if you happened to have some sitting around...

Makes 12

Ingredients
Method
Hard-Boil eggs for 14 minutes, then put into ice bath. Peel, halve, squeeze out the yolks. Blend yolks with mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, Siracha in a food processor. Season. Fill a piping bag.

Coat the egg halves in flour, remove excess, bathe in whisked egg wash, then roll in panko breadcrumbs. Deep-fry at 350°F until nicely golden brown. Fry prosciutto slices for about 30 seconds. Pipe the filling into the egg cavities, place pieces of prosciutto on top, decorate with chopped chives and edible gold dust.