Christmas pudding

My version of a delicious Christmas pudding. Nothing fancy using cheap ingredients

To make 3 large puddings

2 bags of smartprice (Asda) mixed fruit

1 bag of smartprice (Asda) raisins

1 bottle of guiness or this year I used Old peculiar

The juice and rind of a lemon and an orange

A good slush of brandy

240g dark brown sugar

360g butter

3 eggs

180g white breadcrumbs

240g plain flour

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 tablespoon of black treacle

Start the night before by soaking the fruit. Pile it all into a big bowl, add the rind and juice of a lemon and an orange, pour the guiness and brandy in. Add the black treacle. Stir every now and again to mix thoroughly. By morning you will have plump fruit and no liquid.

In the morning.

Cream the butter and sugar together, I do this in my food processor. Add the eggs.

Measure out the flour and spices. Add the flour, breadcrumbs and spices to the fruit and then add the butter, sugar and egg mix to the fruit. Stir thoroughly. Pile into greased pudding basins. I usually put a round of greaseproof paper at the bottom of each pudding basic. Then put a circle of greaseproof and a circle of foil (with a pleat in) over the top of the puddings and tie tightly with string. Put into a slow cooker with water half way up the basins and cook on high for 6 hours (this depends on your slow cooker, you might have to keep checking by sticking a skewer into the middle of the pudding. It needs to come out clean and be piping hot). You really can't overcook a pudding in the slow cooker. Leave to cool for a while and then turnout. Wrap in greaseproof and foil and store somewhere cool until Christmas. I usually put mine in the garage. To reheat I just use my slow cooker again. Reheat for about 3-4 hours.

Pork steaks with Tomatoes and Rosemary

I have a lovely Rosemary bush in the garden so thought I would do something in my slow cooker with the pork steaks I had in the freezer and the Rosemary.

4 pork steaks
6 tomatoes quartered
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons of chopped Rosemary
4 tablespoons of single cream
A dash of water

Fry the pork steaks in a pan with a tiny bit of oil. When sealed put into the slow cooker pot. Chop onion and garlic and add to the frying pan. Fry for a few mins until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes and Rosemary. Cook for a couple more minutes and then add to the slow cooker pot. Put a dash of water into the pot and then close the lid. Leave for at least 3 hours (depends on your slow cooker) or until pork is tender. Season with salt and pepper and add the cream. Stir around and then leave for another half an hour. Serve with mashed potatoes and veg.

Slow cooker treacle sponge

I wish I had taken a photo of it to show you because it looked fantastic. Quite some time ago I had a go at baking in my slow cooker. I made a lovely carrot cake that was deliciously moist and scrummy. It got me thinking about using the slow cooker for a steamed sponge. The idea being you could just put it in and basically forget about it. Last Sunday we had the mother - in - law for tea. I cooked a lovely lasagne which she loves and I made a treacle sponge and custard for pudding. Here is the recipe:-

100g of Self raising flour
100g of margarine
100g of sugar (I used brown)
loads of golden syrup (sorry I didn't measure it)
2 eggs

I blitzed the flour, margarine, sugar and eggs in the food processor.
I greased a pudding basin with margarine and then poured about an inch of golden syrup into the bottom. I then piled on the sponge mixture. Covered tightly with a piece of pleated foil and then put into the bottom of the slow cooker. I put about 3-4 cm of water in the bottom of the slow cooker. Put the lid on and turned on high. I checked after about 3 hours to find it cooked right through. It was light and fluffy and very moist. I turned it out onto a serving dish and the golden syrup ran down the sides. It was a big hit with everyone.