Worcestershire County Council

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Cider Fruit Cake

120g butter/ margarine
180g brown sugar
450g mixed dried fruit
250ml cider
1 heaped teaspoon mixed spice
2 large eggs
250g self-raising flour

1) Mix together butter/ margarine, sugar, dried fruit, cider and mixed spice into a saucepan and bring to the boil and allow to cool. When cool add eggs and flour and mix well.

2) Pour into a lined 200mm round cake tin and bake in the centre of the oven at 180ºc or 350ºF or gas mark 4.

3) Bake for about 80 minutes or until the mixture pierces easily with a knife tip.

This method makes a moist and delicious fruit cake.
Recipe given by Knights Cider Ltd

Malvern Pudding

Early references were made to this pudding in 1880 in Warne's Model cookery written by Mary Jewry

(serves 6)
125g butter
125g sugar
2 beaten eggs
125g plain or self-raising flour
A pinch of salt
2 smallish apples (about 225g, peeled and cored)
Grated rind of one lemon
50g curents
2 to 3 tablespoons brandy

1) Cream butter and sugar. Add beaten eggs. Fold in flour and salt. Peel, core and chop apples and mix with lemon rind, currants and brandy.

2) Grease a 1.1 litre pudding basin. Put a small square of greased, greaseproof paper to cover bottom of basin to help when pudding is turned out. Put mixture in basin and cover with greaseproof paper and foil, or tie a double layer of greaseproof paper firmly in place with string.

3) Steam pudding for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If you haven't a steamer, stand basin on a trivet or upturned saucer in a saucepan with a lid. Pour in boiling water to come halfway up sides of basin. Cover pan and boil, replenishing with more boiling water if necessary.

4) Turn pudding out on to a warmed dish and serve it with custard or brandy or sherry sauce.

Worcestershire Cheese and Ale

175g Worcestershire cheese
5ml English mustard
120ml Local ale
4 thick slices of wholemeal bread

1) Slice the cheese and place it at the bottom of a large shallow ovenproof dish and spread the mustard over the cheese.

2) Pour the ale over the cheese, enough to cover it.

3) Cover the dish with foil and bake for 10 minutes at 190ºC/370ºF/gas mark 5.

4) Toast the bread. Pour the warm cheese/ ale mixture over the toast. Serve immediately.
Recipe given by Mark Golden of Dyson Perrins C.E. School

Upton Rarebit

(serves 2)

2 slices of medium thick bread
25g butter
1 small onion chopped
1 small apple sliced and chopped
15g flour
150ml brown ale
2.5 ml mustard
2.5 ml brown sauce
1 dash of Worcestershire sauce
100g strong Worcestershire cheese grated
1 egg size 3 lightly beaten
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper

1) Gently fry the onion and chopped apple in butter.

2) Stir in the flour, take off the heat and add the brown ale, bring to the boil and add the mustard, brown sauce, Worcestershire sauce and cheese. Simmer for 2 minutes.

3) Remove from the heat and add the beaten egg, salt, pepper, and cayenne: return and heat gently.

4) Meanwhile toast the bread and then cover with rarebit mixture.

5) Place under a pre-heated grill until brown and bubbling.
Recipe given by Clive's Fruit Farm

Plum Charlotte

(serves 4-6)

100g butter
175g fairly coarse breadcrumbs
75g soft brown sugar
450g ripe Purple Pershore plums, halved and stoned.

1) Pre heat oven to 320ºF/160ºC/Gas Mark 3.

2) Heat the butter in a large, heavy based frying pan and cook the breadcrumbs until they are golden brown and crisp.

3) Tip the breadcrumbs into a basin and mix with the sugar.

4) Put one third of the crumbs into a basin cover with half the plums.

5) Cover with the second third of crumbs, the rest of the filling and a final layer of crumbs.

6) Bake in the centre of the oven for approx. 45-50 minutes.
Recipe given by Clive's Fruit Farm

Roast Asparagus

This is a simple way of cooking asparagus and makes a change to steaming.

450g asparagus
4-6 tbsp. olive oil
Generous pinch sea salt

Preheat oven to 180ºC/ 350ºF/ gas mark 4

1) Cut off the woody ends of the asparagus and trim the stems up to where they start to go green.

2) Lightly cover the base of a roasting tin with half of the olive oil and the sea salt. Put the asparagus in the tin and cover with the remaining olive oil. Toss the asparagus to ensure it is completely covered.

3) Roast in the pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes or until tender (depending on the thickness of the stalk). Be careful not to let the tips catch and fry. Serve immediately.

As an alternative the asparagus can be tossed in lemon juice before it is served, or a clove of crushed garlic can be added to the tin to add an extra flavour.

Goose with Sausage, Onion, Potato and Garlic Stuffing

The Goose
1) Pre-heat oven to 200ºC/ 400ºF/ gas mark 6

2) Take the goose and untie the string around the parson's nose area and fill the cavity with onions and seasoning and re-tie the string.

3) Prick the fat gland under the wing plus the sides of the breasts around the back of the goose by the parson's nose.

4) Melt some goose fat in a saucepan, cool and pour over the legs before you place a triangle of foil on top of them. This is to protect the legs.

5) When you place the goose in the roasting tin rub the breast with either goose fat, olive oil, butter or vegetable oil, and salt and pepper. Lightly cover the breast with foil and place in the oven.

6) After the first hour turn the goose so that the back is upwards. Pour over surplus goose fat. Keep the legs covered and lightly place a piece of foil over the back. Depending on the size cook for a further 1 hour.

7) Lift the goose onto a carving dish to rest for approx. 20 minutes before carving - keep the gooses covered.

Sausage, Onion, Potato and Garlic Stuffing

400g good quality sausage meat
3 medium onions, peeled and halved (use red if available)
2 large potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
4 juicy cloves of fresh garlic finely chopped
50g pancetta or streaky bacon, diced
The zest and juice of 1 lemon
Freshly chopped thyme

1) Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas mark 6

2) Put a lump of goose fat, about the size of a walnut in a large pan over a moderate heat to melt a little.

3) Cut each onion in half and then into about 6 thick slices from root to tip. Drop them into the pan with the fat, cover with a lid and leave to cook for about 15 minutes until soft and starting to colour. Stir occasionally.

4) Add the pancetta or streaky bacon, potatoes and the garlic and onions. Continue cooking until the potatoes start to colour.

5) Stir in a couple of fat-pinches of thyme, the lemon zest and the sausage meat. Cook until the sausage meat has coloured a little. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper, even if the sausage meat is well seasoned.

6) Remove from the pan and place in an oval dish and put into the oven for approx. 45 minutes.

7) Serve with the goose.
Recipe given by Goodman's Geese

Worcester Black Pears

The Worcester Black Pear has been used on the City's coat of arms since the time of Queen Elizabeth I, but may have originally been brought over here by the Romans. The Worcester Black Pear was first recorded at Warden Abbey in Bedfordshire in the 13th Century, hence its synonym the 'warden' pear, and there are also references to it being used as a crest for the Worcestershire bowmen in the battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Worcester Black Pears are used for cooking and old recipes refer to them as 'iron pears', "which if put to bake thoroughly in a bread oven as it cools overnight will be excellent, very sweet, juicy and much finer flavour than those stewed or baked with sugar". In the 13th Century the Warden pear was a baking pear of great repute and was used for making the famous 'warden pies', as in Barham's Ingoldsby Legends:
"The Canon sighed,
But rousing cried,
I answer to their call,
And a Warden's pie's a dainty
Dish to mortify withall"

Hot beaked Wardens

The baked pear vendor had a cry:
"Smoking hot, piping hot
Who knows what I've got
In my pot? Hot baked wardens
All hot! All hot! All hot!"

6 large firm Worcester black pears
300 - 450 ml red wine
28g brown sugar
Pinch ground cinnamon, ginger and saffron

1) Preheat oven to 180ºC/ 350ºF/ gas mark 4.
2) Peel pears and place in an oven proof dish.
3) Mix the red wine with the brown sugar and spices and pour over the pears.
4) Bake in the oven for 2 hours until tender
(If using any other types of pears bake for 20-30 minutes only)