On this week’s special Christmas edition of Taste of the Week, Peter O’Connell was joined by Paul Knapps, The Firefighting Chef, and Jacques Brennan, owner of the Vegan Factory and Shop in O’Briensbridge and author of Hungry Soul.
Paul made a mulled wine winter fruit crumble served with custard, while Jacques brought in a savoury dish: tomato farcies (stuffed tomatoes) to have before the wonderful fruit crumble.
The recipe for Paul’s Mulled Wine Winter Fruit Crumble is as follows:
Serves 6–8; prep time: 20 minutes; cooking time: 30-35 minutes.
Fruit Ingredients:
3 apples, chopped 3 pears, chopped or 4 plums, 75g blackberries\blueberries 50g sultanas
The mulled wine: 2 tablespoons of vanilla bean paste, the peel of 1 orange, 4 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 75 grams of sugar, and 300 ml of red wine.
The Crumble: 150g demerara sugar/golden castor sugar, 225g flour, 150g plant-based butter, 50g flaked almonds/porridge oats (optional), Custard to serve.
Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C, and now we can bring the wine, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, orange, and vanilla to a boil.
2. Add the fruit. Take off the heat and cool to room temperature (this allows the fruits to soak up some flavour).
3. Drain the fruit and add it to an ovenproof dish.
4. Boil the sauce for 5 minutes to thicken (we need to reduce this down to create a syrup) and then add it to the fruit.
5. Topping: rub the crumble mix, and now we can spoon on top.
6. Bake at 180°C for 30–35 minutes, until golden.
7. Serve with hot custard and a big smile.
Happy Christmas, everyone!
You can listen to the full interview below.
