Baking from the heart: Fig and frangipane tart with honey and orange flower drizzle - Daily Mail

Posted: 20 Feb 2015 12:00 AM PST

From the ultimate chicken pie to an awesome chocolate cake - the dishes in Mail cook Anne Shooter's new book have been lovingly crafted by her family for generations

A rich buttery pub with fresh figs, a table top delight!

I love the buttery, almond richness of frangipane – I could practically eat it on toast for breakfast!

This tart pairs it with figs for a sophisticated dessert that can be made well in advance and finished with the warm sauce just before serving.

Serves 8

375g (13oz) ready-made sweet shortcrust pastry
Flour, for rolling
200g (7oz) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
200g (7oz) golden caster sugar
200g (7oz) ground almonds
2 eggs
½tsp almond extract
Grated zest of 1 orange
8-10 figs, quartered (depending on their size)
Icing sugar, for dusting

For the sauce

40g (1½oz) honey
1tbsp orange blossom water (from Waitrose)
1tbsp orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier (optional)

Anne shares her favourite family bakes with you

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6. Grease a 25cm (10in) diameter, 4cm (1½in) deep tart tin with a little butter. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use it to line the base and sides of the tin. Cover with clingfilm and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Tear off a sheet of greaseproof paper, screw it up into a ball, then unfold it and lay it on top of the pastry. Fill the pastry-lined tin with baking beans and bake for around 15 minutes, until the pastry has turned sandy round the edges.

Take away the greaseproof paper and beans and bake for a further 5 minutes, until the base is dry, too. Leave to cool while you make the frangipane.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the almonds and beat until a light consistency. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then stir through the almond extract and orange zest.

Spread the frangipane mixture into the cooled pastry case in the tin, and arrange the quartered figs all over it, flesh-side up. Reduce the oven temperature to 170°C/fan 150°C/ gas 3 and bake for around 40 minutes, until the frangipane has puffed up around the figs and has turned golden brown.

When you are ready to serve the tart, either warm or at room temperature, warm the honey in a pan, then add the orange blossom water and orange liqueur (if using). Pour the sauce over the tart, dust with icing sugar, and serve with vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche.

Extracted from Sesame & Spice: Baking From The East End To The Middle East by Anne Shooter. To be published by Headline on Thursday, £25. © Anne Shooter. To buy a copy for £18.75 until 7 March, visit mailbookshop.co.uk (p&p free for a limited time only).

Is there such a thing as healthy sausages or bacon? - Telegraph.co.uk

Posted: 27 Oct 2015 12:00 AM PDT

Push away that plate of bangers and mash, and throw your bacon butty in the bin. The World Health Organisation has ranked processed meat as a cause of cancer; putting it in the same category as asbestos, alcohol, arsenic and tobacco.

According to the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer, just 50g of processed meat a day increases the chance of developing bowel cancer by 18 per cent

The organisation now considers processed meat a 'group 1 carcinogen' – the most dangerous category - while red meat, such as beef or pork, is placed in the group below, as a "probable" carcinogen.

Of course, as Cancer Research Uk points out, a link between processed meats and certain types of cancer isn't new – evidence has been building for decades. But the research will certainly make many of us reconsider that fry-up on a Saturday morning.

Here, we take a look at what you can do to minimise the risks.

What counts as a processed meat?

A processed meat is any meat that has been cured, salted, smoked, or preserved in some way, to change the taste or extend the shelf life.

Bacon, sausages, ham and salami are all processed meats.

Why are they bad for us?

How exactly processed meat can cause cells to become cancerous is still being researched, but the chief culprit seemed to be chemicals involved in the production of processed meat, which can be converted into cancer-causing compounds once in the body. Chief among these are nitrates and nitrites, salts which help kill bacteria in products like bacon, and which also lend them that distinctive pink colour (without them, bacon would actually be grey.) Grilling or smoking meat can also create suspected carcinogens.

The link to bowel cancer is strongest, but there is also evidence linking red and processed meats to other cancers, including stomach and pancreatic cancer.

Sausages often contain nitrites and nitrates

How much processed meat can I eat?

The NHS recommends that people eat no more than 70g red or processed meat day, but doesn't break down how much of each type is safe to consume.

The WHO suggests that 50g of processed meat is enough to significantly raise your bowel cancer risk. This is the equivalent of one sausage, two slices of ham or one and a half rashers of bacon. It advises that people eat no more than 500g (cooked weight) per week of red meat, such as beef, pork and lamb, and eat processed meats as little as possible.

So; the occasional bacon sandwich is not going to kill you. But regularly eating large amounts of red and processed meat, over a long time, is not advisable.

Are there certain types of sausage or bacon that are better for me?

When it comes to sausages, the healthiest tend to be those with a high meat content (it usually means there's less dodgy stuff being used to bulk them out), that are low in saturated fat and low in salt - but this doesn't lessen their carcinogenic properties. You're unlikely to find sausages made without nitrates and nitrites in the supermarket, but local sausage makers or butchers may make them without – just ask.

Many supermarkets and butchers now also stock chicken sausages, which are a good choice if you want to cut down on red meat, though they don't pack quite the juicy flavour punch of a pork banger. Yorkshire-based sausage-maker Heck (available in most supermarkets) has found success with its 'Chicken Italia' flavour, and is about to launch two new chicken flavours in Asda this month.

A growing number of farmers and butchers offer nitrate and nitrite-free bacon, which is cured the old-fashioned way, with salt and/or sugar. Suppliers include Green Pasture, a collective of family farms in North Lancashire, West Country meat supplier Devon Rose, or the farm shop of Creake Abbey in Norfolk, which offers mail order.

Can I make processed meats myself at home?

Yes - and it's not difficult. You can turn a small piece of pork belly into bacon, with no nasty ingredients at all, within 10 days. River Cottage has a good recipe.

Sausages require a little more effort - you will need a mincer, which you can pick up for around £25 from Lakeland. Once you have this, you will simply need pork, seasonings, and casings, which you can buy from sausagemaking.org.

What's the best way to cook them ?

Grilling sausages and bacon rather than frying is healthier overall - they won't soak up as much fat - but again, it's not going to reduce the carcinogenic qualities.

Some experts claim cooking processed meat is particularly dangerous: high temperatures and long cooking times produce certain chemicals, called HCAs and PAHs, which can cause changes in DNA that may increase the risk of cancer.

The National Cancer Institute in the US suggests turning meat continuously when over a high heat source, such as a pan. It even goes so far as to say meat products could be cooked in a microwave before being exposed to a high temperature, so there is less time for the chemicals to form.

So what should my diet look like?

Cancer Research puts it best when it says: "None of this means that a single meat-based meal is 'bad for you'. Meat is fine in moderation – it's a good source of some nutrients such as protein, iron and zinc. It's just about being sensible, and not eating too much, too often."

So: eat more fruit and veg, less red and processed meat, get plenty of fibre and try not to consume too much salt. Really, these are principles we all know we should be following - but which tend to fall by the wayside when we smell bacon on a hungover Sunday morning.

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