Four seasons cookery books

Slit the shells and boil the chestnuts for 5 minutes only. Skin, cook until tender in sufficient water to cover, flavoured with the vanilla essence. Make a syrup with the sugar, water and cream of tartar. Boil to the thread stage (225°F, 119°C). Add the chestnuts and boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, leave chestnuts to soak for 24 hours, drain. Make the second syrup with the sugar, water and vanilla essence. Boil to the firm ball stage (250°F, 126°C). Add the chestnuts, coat well with the syrup, remove with a slotted spoon and space out to dry on a sheet of foil. If liked, spoon a little extra syrup over each one. Wrap individually in foil. Note: The remaining syrups need not be wasted. Combine them, heat slowly and re-dissolve, add a small knob of butter and 2 tablespoons rum. Peel and slice 4 bananas lengthwise, arrange in a buttered shallow ovenproof dish, pour over the rum syrup and bake in a hot oven (425°F, 220°C, Gas Mark 7) for 10 minutes. Stone the dates. Keep aside two thirds of the marzipan and use the remaining third to roll into small shapes, the same size as the date stones and use to stuff the dates. Divide the remaining marzipan into three. Leave one third plain and colour the other two portions with red and green colouring respectively by patting out the marzipan, sprinkling with a few drops of the colour- ing and working this in by kneading it until paste is evenly coloured. Roll out all three pieces between your hands into ropes about 6 inches/15cm. long. Press tworopes close together on a board, and place the third rope between them on top. Make sure the different colours are firmly pres- sed together. Melt the chocolate in a basin over a pan of hot water. Pour over the marzipan roll, spread with a palette knife and allow to set. When quite dry, pass a palette knife under the roll to loosen it and cut into » inch/1 cm. slices diagon- ally with a sharp knife. Place the stuffed dates and marzipan slices in paper cases. 79 Pn | Hostess Specials Brandied mincemeat Imperial/Metric 15 Ibs./3 kg. cooking apples 8 oz /225 g. mixed candied peel 4 0z./125 g. blanched almonds 8 0z./225 g. glacé cherries 1 orange 1 lemon 1 Ib./450 g. currants 1 Ib./450 g. seedless raisins 1 Ib/450 g. demerara sugar 1 Ib./450 g. shredded suet 3 teaspoon salt 7 teaspoon mixed spice 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg z pint/13 dl. brandy American 13 Ibs. baking apples 2 cups mixed candied peel 1 cup blanched almonds 2 Cups candied cherries 1 orange 1 lemon 2> Cups Currants generous 3 cups seedless raisins 2 cups brown sugar 23 cups finely chopped suet 7 teaspoon salt 7 teaspoon mixed spice 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg > Cup brandy Peel, core and chop apples. Finely chop the peel, almonds, and cherries. Grate the zest from’ the orange and lemon, and squeeze the juice. Stir all the ingredients together until well blended. Cover, and allow to stand for 2 days. Pack into clean jars and seal as for jam. Makes approxi- mately 7 lbs. Note: To make a finer mincemeat, put all the dried and candied fruit through the mincer. To make the flavour of your mincemeat even richer, small amounts of fruit liqueur and fortified wines can be used instead of part of the brandy, or the fruit juice. Add a little extra sugar when using mincemeat for cooking. Keeps well for one year, and requires at least 1 month to mature, otherwise a suety flavour may predominate. Seasonal home freezing This is the time of the year when hearty soups, warming casseroles and similar dishes are called for to combat the cold. Cooking a casserole in the oven becomes more economical if you double the quantity, serve one portion right away, and freeze a second portion for later use. Think of the savings in fuel and your energy.