Gooseberry Pecan Oat Bars

 

Gooseberry Pecan Oat Bars 

From Waitrose recipe

Preheat the oven to 200˚C, gas mark 6; lightly grease and line a 20cm square baking tin with baking parchment. Put 400g topped and tailed gooseberries with 75g sugar in a saucepan set over a low-medium heat. Stir often for 10-15 minutes, until jammy and thick; set aside. Mix the flour, cinnamon, oats, pecans and salt together. Melt the butter and remaining 100g sugar together over a low heat. Mix into the flour and oat mixture until you have a dough. 

Press ½ the dough over the bottom of the baking tin. Spread the gooseberries evenly over the dough. Carefully top with spoonfuls of the remaining oat mixture, spreading it out roughly (you don’t want it too smooth) with the back of a spoon to make an even layer. Bake for 25-30 minutes, then cool completely in the tin (or ideally overnight). Cut into 12-16 bars or squares, as wished. 

200g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing 
400g Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients gooseberries, topped and tailed 
175g soft light brown sugar 
200g wholemeal spelt or rye flour, or a mixture 
¾ tsp ground cinnamon 
150g rolled porridge oats 
100g pecans, chopped 
½ tsp fine salt

Slow Cooker recipes

A couple of weeks of making the most of the slow cooker:

Black Bean Beef - worth doing double quantities to have some in the freezer

Spanish bean and chorizo stew - I used a chorizo ‘ring’. Definitely worth having crispy bits on top (I crisped by microwaving for a bit)

Satay chicken wraps. Use boned chicken thighs and add handful of chopped fresh coriander at the end

Bean Chilli is good. Himself had modified version of Mexican fish stew (prawns rather than squid). Update: We have also used as basis of a chilli con carne and a chilli non carne (as in made with soya mince) for large gathering that included a vegetarian.

Banana Oat cake

 352g pureed bananas (if frozen, defrost and drain off any liquid). Sprinkle over 0.5tbsp baking powder and mix in thoroughly. Stir in 135g porridge oats and level tsp cinnamon.

Pour into a lined 7inch tin. Bake at 180C for about 30 minutes, until the top looks dry and is firm to touch.

When cooled, cut into 8 slices.