Cheese and Apple Salad

Apples: cut into smallish pieces.
Cheese: choose sharp cheese, like goat cheese or sharp cheddar. Cut into small pieces, smaller than the apple pieces, or crumble. You want about half the amount of the apple.
Drizzle of honey: I used about 1 Tbls. per apple in the salad.
Sprinkling of herbs: choose mild, sweetish herbs, like fennel seed or leaves, poppy seed, lavender buds, a tiny bit of mint (minced if fresh).

Hotroot Pepper & Hotroot Essence

In the Redwall universe, this is actually made from a red-colored root with a hot flavor (seen in Outcast of Redwall). I'm not sure such a plant exists in real life (if it does, let me know), so I've blended different peppers and spicy roots to make this spice.

cayenne pepper
black pepper
ground ginger
ground horseradish
paprika

Combine equal amounts of the spices.

I added the paprika to make it a more red color. Most paprika available is sweet and not very spicy, but there are spicy kinds available, so use that if you can find it.

To make hotroot essence, mix the powder with cold water to make a thick liquid, let it sit a few minutes, then add a small amount of vinegar.

Cherry and Damson Pudding

Cake:
1/2 cup honey
2 Tbls. butter
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk or nut milk
3/4 cup pitted cherries
3/4 cup chopped damson plums
1/2 cup nuts, whole or roughly chopped

Sauce:
1 cup cherry juice--I got cherry juice from pitting the cherries (add some water if you can't get a full cup)
2 tsp. honey
1 Tbls. corn starch
1 Tbls. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a square 9 x 9-inch baking dish.

Beat honey and butter until smooth. Add egg and mix well. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to mixing bowl alternatively with milk. Stir in cherries, plums, and chopped nuts. Pour batter into buttered pan and smooth out the surface. Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown and solid.

Make the sauce by combining cherry juice and honey in a small saucepan. In a small bowl, mix the corn starch with a bit of water to make a smooth liquid, then pour into the pan while stirring. Boil for 8 to 10 minutes, or until thick. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tablespoon butter and vanilla extract.

Pour the sauce over the baked cake and let sit while it cools, to soak in the sauce. Serve with yellow meadowcream.

Turnip and Mushroom Flan with Beetroot and Scallions

(Too eggy/thick; probably use more milk next time. Needs more seasoning too.)


1 batch of pie crust dough
1 cup chopped turnip
3/4 cup chopped mushroom
1 tsp. butter
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. chives
1/2 cup milk
1 small beetroot
1 or 2 green onions

Set the turnip pieces to boil.

Roll out the pie crust and place in a pie tin. Chill until needed.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sear the mushroom pieces in a skillet with the butter and salt, then place in the pie crust. (Put the crust back in to chill.)

When the turnips are soft, drain and puree with the milk. Get it as smooth as you can with no chunks. (You can mash the turnips by hand if desired, but they need to be peeled before boiling).

Beat the turnip mixture with the eggs and chives. Pour in the pie tin.

Bake for 25-35 minutes until crust and top are golden brown.

Cut the beet into thin slivers and the green onion into thin slices and sprinkle them over the flan.