Mother's Day

Meal Plan Occasions 2: More Special Occasions

Occasion 4 · Mother's Day

Today at a glance. Mothering Sunday in the UK falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent, three weeks before Easter, so the date moves every year (see the planner in chapter 8). This is a comforting lunch for 4 people, with a creamy pie and a zesty traybake. The filling and the cake can both be made the day before. Quantities are for the whole table, in metric with UK names.

Main meal

Main meal · Serves 4 · Chicken

Chicken, Ham and Leek Pie with a Puff Pastry Lid, Peas and Carrots

Prep: 30 minutesCooking: about 1 hourAbout 40 minutes of hands-on workServes 4

Ingredients (4 portions)

  • 600 g chicken breast, cut into 2 cm pieces
  • 150 g cooked ham, cut into 1 cm pieces
  • 2 leeks, trimmed, rinsed and sliced
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 40 g butter
  • 40 g plain flour
  • 1 cube chicken stock cube
  • 400 ml hot water for the stock
  • 150 ml double cream
  • 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry (about 320 g), chilled
  • 1 egg, beaten, to glaze
  • 400 g frozen peas
  • 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 15 g butter, for the vegetables
  • 1 pinch black pepper
Make it ahead
Make the filling and cool it completely the day before (the pastry lid goes on cold filling). Keep it covered in the fridge, then put on the lid and bake. Add 10 minutes to the baking time if the filling is cold from the fridge.

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for 6 to 8 minutes, turning, until golden and cooked through. Lift it out onto a plate.
  2. Add the leeks and onion to the pan and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft. Stir in the thyme. Add the butter, and when it has melted, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
  3. Dissolve the stock cube in 400 ml of boiling water. Add it a little at a time to the pan, stirring, then the cream and mustard. Simmer for 5 minutes, until thick.
  4. Return the chicken to the pan, add the ham and pepper, and stir. Tip the filling into a 1.5 litre pie dish and leave to cool for 20 minutes (a hot filling melts the pastry).
  5. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Unroll the pastry and lay it over the dish, trimming the edges to fit with a knife. Press the edges onto the rim with a fork. Cut a small hole in the middle for steam. Use the offcuts to make decorations, such as leaves or a heart for Mother's Day.
  6. Brush with the beaten egg and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the pastry is puffed, deep golden and the filling is bubbling.
  7. While the pie bakes, steam or boil the carrots for 8 minutes, add the peas for the last 3 minutes, drain and toss with the 15 g of butter and a little pepper.
  8. Serve big spoonfuls of pie with the vegetables.
Cook the chicken and the pie through
The chicken must be cooked through with no pink, and the pie must be bubbling and steaming hot in the middle before you serve it. Wash your hands, the board and the knife after handling raw chicken. Chill leftovers within 2 hours and eat them within 2 days, reheated once until steaming hot.

Swaps

Mushrooms or sweetcorn in the filling. Cooked leftover roast chicken in place of the raw (skip step 1). Shortcrust pastry for a base and a lid.

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Dessert

Dessert · Serves 4 to 9

Lemon Drizzle Traybake with Strawberries and Cream

Prep: 20 minutesOven: 35 minutesAbout 25 minutes of hands-on workCuts into 9 squares, so serves 4 with leftovers

Ingredients (4 portions)

  • 225 g soft butter, plus a little for the tin
  • 225 g caster sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 225 g self-raising flour
  • 2 lemons (zest of both, juice of both)
  • 4 tbsp milk
  • 85 g caster sugar, for the drizzle
  • 400 g strawberries
  • 250 ml double cream
  • 1 tbsp icing sugar
Make it ahead
The cake is better the day after it is baked. Bake it the day before, keep it in the tin, and add the drizzle while it is still warm. Whip the cream and slice the strawberries just before you serve.

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Grease a 23 cm square tin with butter and line the base with baking paper.
  2. Beat the 225 g of butter and 225 g of sugar in a large bowl with an electric whisk (or a wooden spoon and effort) for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
  3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour with each egg to stop the mixture curdling. Sift in the rest of the flour and fold gently. Fold in the zest of both lemons and the milk, to make a soft dropping consistency.
  4. Scrape into the tin, level the top and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden and risen, and a skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean.
  5. The drizzle: while the cake is hot, squeeze the juice of both lemons into a small pan with the 85 g of sugar and warm it for 1 minute until the sugar dissolves. Prick the hot cake all over with a skewer and spoon the syrup over, letting it soak in. Leave it to cool in the tin.
  6. Hull and slice the strawberries. Whip the cream with the icing sugar to soft peaks.
  7. Cut the cake into 9 squares and serve with the strawberries and a big spoonful of cream.

Swaps

Orange in place of the lemon. Poppy seeds in the batter. Raspberries or blueberries in place of the strawberries. A crunchy topping of caster sugar mixed with the drizzle.

Shopping list for this recipe
Coming up next
Chapters 5 to 7 cover a summer barbecue, Bonfire Night and Hogmanay, and chapter 8 is the Occasions planner.