ChildLine is grateful to the following for so generously letting us use the contents of their personal recipe books:

• Cleo Laine – Cheese and nut loaf
• Bonnie Tyler – Chicken Cordon Bleu
• Gloria Hunniford – Steak Diane
• Janet Brown – New potatoes, Scottish style
• Esther Rantzen - Consommé Pettifer
• Noel Edmonds - Ham and Basil Pasta

CHEESE AND NUT LOAF – Cleo Laine

4 ozs fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
8 ozs strong cheese, grated
4 ozs salted peanuts
1 tablespoon tomato purée
2 eggs
1 teaspoon mixed herbs, parsley and basil

Mix all dried ingredients together then add tomato purée and eggs. Mix, but not too well.

Put mixture in greased loaf tin or casserole and bake at 375° C for 25 minutes.

Turn upside down on to a plate or dish. Serve hot with garnish.

(TIP: can also be served cold with salad – a perfect dish for a summer picnic)

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU - Bonnie Tyler

A Quick and Easy Way to Entertain

4 x 7oz. skinless boneless breasts of chicken
4 slices of cooked ham
4 slices of Gruyère cheese
2oz butter
3 tbsps cooking oil
½ pint beef (yes, beef) stock made with cube
¼ pint Madeira
black pepper
12 cocktail sticks

Hammer the breasts, not too thin. Cover each one with ham. Cover half of each breast with cheese. Fold over and pin securely with 3 cocktail sticks.

Melt the oil and butter in a large frying pan. Fry the breasts quickly on each side, then lower heat and cook for 6 minutes each side and a minute or so up on the folded end until golden brown. Add the Madeira and stock. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Take the meat out and keep it hot on your serving dish. Boil the sauce rapidly to reduce the juice. Season, and after 4 to 5 minutes the juice is quite thick. Take the cocktail sticks out of the chicken, pour the sauce over it and serve.

STEAK DIANE (SERVES 4) - Gloria Hunniford

Gloria Hunniford’s favourite recipe is classic Steak Diane which I have given below.

4 pieces, fillet steak ¼” thick
1oz (25g) Butter
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped or grated onion
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Worcestershire sauce to taste

Method

Heat butter and oil. Fry steaks for 1-2 minutes on each side.
Remove from pan and keep hot. Add Worcestershire sauce to butter and oil in the pan then add lemon juice. Warm through, add onion and parsley and cook slowly for 1½ minutes. Spoon sauce over steaks and serve immediately.

(GLORIA’S TIP – Trick is to dip flattened steak in dry mustard before cooking)

SCOTTISH NEW POTATOES - Janet Brown

Here is a lovely way to serve new potatoes… It is a Scottish recipe.

Boil new potatoes in their skins. Drain. Add a nice lump of butter. Chop up a spring onion...all the green bits especially, then throw in a good handful of fine oat meal. Swirl it all around in the pan. You will find the oat meal and the onion stick to the potatoes, and they taste delicious.

If you have not got fine oatmeal, just pop some rough meal in the liquidiser for a second and there you are.

CONSOMMÉ PETTIFER - Esther Rantzen

Esther's favourite recipe

Ingredients:

1. Tin(s) consommé (chilled)
2. Double Cream
3. Mock caviar
4. Fresh lemon

Method:

Whip the double cream. Put one dollop on each bowl of jellied consommé. Sprinkle the mock caviar on the cream. Hang a slice of fresh lemon on the rim of each bowl. Serve.

It may not be cheap, but it tastes delicious, and it is not exactly time consuming.

Time Taken : Four minutes

HAM AND BASIL PASTA - Noel Edmonds

2 oz Butter
6 oz Cooked Lean Ham
1 Clove of Garlic
½ pt Double Cream
20 Fresh Basil Leaves
12 oz Pasta Shapes
3 oz Parmesan
Salt and Cayenne Pepper

Melt half the butter and soften garlic clove. Add chopped ham and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cream and simmer for about 5-7 minutes until cream thickens. Add seasoning and half the basil leaves (torn into smaller pieces). Meanwhile cook pasta and tip into a dish buttered with the remaining butter. Add sauce and toss with 2 oz of grated parmesan and rest of torn basil. Serve immediately with rest of grated parmesan handed around separately.

Serves 4 - 5

A Christmas message from Alastair Stewart

My birthday message to CHILDINE is simple:

"Thankyou for being there and long may you endure. We all need you"

In 1986 I was newscasting with ITN and enjoying the company of my 4 year old son, my 1 year old daughter and my wife. I now have four content and safe children. A day never passes when I do not thank my blessings for that, nor a day when I do not spare a thought for the parents and children less fortunate than us.

I do not cook but my favourite Christmas dish has always been the Boxing Day soup my nan, mum and now my wife all made from the carcass of the Christmas Day turkey!

AS

A Christmas tip from Fiona Bruce

The best Turkey gravy. Don't use flour or gravy granules or stock cubes - so many people use them and ruin the gravy.

• When you've taken the turkey out of the roasting tray , tip any left over juices still inside the bird into the tray.
• Then skim any fat off the surface.
• Put the tray on the hob on a low heat and get all the goo that's stuck to the bottom off and mixed in with the juices with a wooden spoon.
• Add a good glug of wine to help the process along.
• Squeeze in some lemon juice and add some vegetable water if you need it.

And that's it. Utterly delicious gravy  - the best bit of a Xmas dinner in my humble opinion!

Jamie Oliver and Wendi Peters are lending support to this year’s Cakes for ChildLine campaign.