♥ The Goddess's Kitchen ♥

Peanut Butter and Sesame Cookies

2012-02-01T20:12:00.000Z

I'm really loving my latest cookbook purchase, Make Bake Love by Lilly Higgins and this is the second bake from the book. I haven't made peanut butter cookies in a long time and these, with the addition of sesame seeds, sounded great! This is another straight-forward and quick recipe to rustle up. The end result delivering a very moreish and yummy cookie, with the sesame seeds giving it a gorgeous nutty texture.

Peanut Butter and Sesame Cookies

Makes about 36 regular or 60 bite-sized cookies

Ingredients
125g butter, softened
85g caster sugar
80g Demerara sugar
125g smooth peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 170oC. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and both sugars together in a bowl until soft and fluffy. Add the peanut butter and vanilla and mix well.

Sieve the flour and bicarbonate of soda together in a bowl, then add to the peanut butter mixture. Combine well but don't overbeat.

Roll teaspoons of the dough into balls. Roll the balls in the sesame seeds and place on the lined baking sheet. Flatten slightly.

Bake for 10-15 minutes (or 7 for tiny cookies), until golden brown. Leave to cool slightly on the baking sheet, then transfer to a rack.

Blueberry Muffins

2012-01-30T21:33:00.000Z

This recipe hails from the newest addition to my cookbook collection which arrived today, Make Bake Love by Lily Higgins. It has a wonderful collection of delicious baked treats and there are so many recipes I want to try in the coming weeks, so watch this space. The recipes are all pretty straight-forward and do not require 100 ingredients, I'm all for keeping it simple most days. Blueberry muffins are an all-time classic and perfect for breakfast, lunch boxes or to enjoy with your afternoon cup of tea! I just happened to buy some blueberries in M&S yesterday that were marked down and was very pleased when I came across this recipe in the book. These muffins are moist and bursting with flavour but not overly sweet.

Blueberry Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients
225g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
75g Demerara sugar
1 egg
150ml milk
40ml sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
160g blueberries

Preheat the oven to 190oC/fan 170oC. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin cases.

Sieve the flour and baking powder together in a bowl, then stir in the sugar.

Whisk the egg, milk, oil and vanilla together in a jug. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix gently. Fold in the blueberries.

Use an ice cream scoop or spoon to divide the batter evenly amongst the muffin cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden and risen. Remove the muffins from the tin and cool on a rack.

Chunky Sausage and Tomato Pasta

2012-01-17T18:19:00.012Z

I've damaged the arch in my foot (again) after a session of Zumba yesterday. This is a result of not exercising in ages and I'm now unable to exercise, so frustrating! I can hardly walk and it's very painful when I do. Due to my injury I needed a meal that was quick to rustle up, so I opted for a favourite pasta recipe that I've not cooked in ages. It ticked all the boxes, quick, easy, comforting and really yummy!

Chunky Sausage and Tomato Pasta

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
4 thick pork sausages, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200ml/7fl oz medium white wine
1 tbsp tomato purée
400g can chopped tomatoes
500g pack rigatoni or penne
Handful of basil leaves, torn, (optional)
Parmesan, to serve

Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based pan (preferably not non-stick) and add the sausages. Fry for about 8 mins until golden and cooked through. Tip in the garlic and fry for 1 min. Pour in the white wine and boil until it has reduced by half.

Stir in the tomato purée and tomatoes, and season to taste. Simmer for 15 mins until the sauce is rich and thick.

While the sauce cooks, boil the pasta according to pack instructions and drain. Stir in the basil if using, and cooked pasta into the sauce, then serve in bowls with grated or shaved parmesan.

Beef Stew with mustard and thyme dumplings

2012-01-15T17:29:00.000Z

The weather has become very cold in the UK, with temperatures dropping to -3 Celsius some nights. Following on from my promise to try new recipes I decided to try out a new beef stew for our Sunday meal. This stew is the perfect comfort food that we crave for during this cold weather. I've never made my own dumplings and couldn't beleive how easy they were to make, they turned out great if I do say so myself. I served the stew with creamy mash and it was delicious.

Beef Stew and mustard and thyme dumplings

Serves 6
Ingredients
1.5kg braising or chuck steak
about 2 tbsp seasoned flour
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
sea salt and black pepper
4 celery stalks, sliced
4 large leeks, cleaned and cut into short lengths
1 small swede, peeled and cut into cubes
1 small celeriac, peeled and cut into cubes
1 bottle of robust red wine
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
a bouquet garni of parsley, thyme, rosemary, bay and 2 strips of orange peel, tied together

For the dumplings:
110g self-raising flour
55g beef of vegetable suet
1 tbsp thyme leaves, chopped, or 2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp grain mustard or 1 tsp Colman's English mustard powder, or 2tp freshly grated horseradish

Preheat the oven to 150oC/Gas 2. Cut the beef into large cubes. Tip the flour into a Ziplock bag, add the meat, lock and shake to coat. Take out the meat, shaking off excess flour. Heat about 1 tbsp olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan and brown the meat in batches all over, removing it to a plate when browned and adding extra oil as needed.

Add the onions and garlic to the pan and sprinkle with a little salt. After a few minutes, as they begin to soften, add the celery, carrots, leeks, swede and celeriac, if using. Saute for a few minutes and then return the meat to the pan. Meanwhile, heat the red wine.

Add the tinned tomatoes to the pan and chop them down into the meat and veg. When the liquid is bubbling away merrily, add the wine to just cover. Once the pot has come up to the bubble again, tuck the bouquet garni down into the depths, add a circle of greaseproof paper (a cartouche) to just cover the stew and put the lid on. Transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours or until the vegetables are tender but not reduced to mush.

Meanwhile, make the dumplings. Sift the flour into a large bowl and throw in the suet. Add the herbs, mustard or horseradish and seasoning, and mix with your hands or a spoon until the dough coheres but is not too wet and sticky. If it becomes too damp, scatter over a little more flour and roll the ball of dough gently. Flour your hands and pull small, walnut-sized pieces of dough from the ball, rolling them between your palms into balls.

About 20 minutes before the stew will be ready, uncover and sit the dumplings on top. Put the lid back on and return to the oven. After 20 minutes, check that the dumplings have swollen and are cooked through. Serve with mash or colcannon.

Linguine Amatriciana

2012-01-12T13:57:00.000Z

I've decided that this year I will be making more of an effort to make and try new recipes. It's so easy to stick with the same recipes week in week out and you end up getting bored of eating the same dishes. I came across this recipe on Nigella's site and after reading her review I had to make it. This recipe is from Anna Conte's cookbook, Cooking with Coco, which I plan on purchasing very soon after reading Nigella's review on it. In Nigella's words there isn't a recipe in this book she wouldn't want to try. I love Italian food and pasta has a regular presence in my cooking, which makes this book very appealing. This is a simple recipe but one that is really satisfying and delish! I didn't have any Bucatini pasta which is the type used in this recipe but I will be buying some on my next shopping trip to use next time.

Linguine Amatriciana

Serves 4-5

Ingredients
tbsp olive oil
350g unsmoked pancetta cubes
1 onion, very finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 dried chilli, seeded and finely chopped
100ml red wine
450g tin chopped tomatoes
400g linguine
6 tbsp grated mature pecorino
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to serve

Heat the oil in a frying pan large enough to contain the cooked pasta later and, when hot, throw in the pancetta and fry until crisp. Remove it to a plate with a fish slice.

Now add the onion to the pan, season with a pinch of salt and saute for 7-8 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic and chilli and cook for a further minute, stirring frequently. Splash with the wine and let it bubble away to reduce by half. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and cook on moderate heat for about 20-25 minutes.

Taste and add more salt if necessary and black pepper if you want, although the sauce is already quite hot due to the chilli.

Cook the linguine in plenty of salted water as usual.

Drain thoroughly.

Slide the pasta into the frying pan, add the pancetta, and shower with percorino. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, turning the linguine over and over with 2 forks.

Serve straight from the pan, with Parmesan handed round.

Spring Chicken in Wintertime

2012-01-10T18:51:00.008Z

This evening for dinner I decided to make Nigella's Spring Chicken from her cookbook Kitchen. Although this is titled "spring" chicken, it is perfect for this time of the year, a warming casserole is just what you crave at the end of a cold winters day. This casserole has an amazing depth of flavour and would work equally well served with new potatoes, rice, barley or other grains. Alternatively it could be served with a baquette or other crusty bread to mop up the juices. We thoroughly enjoyed this comforting dish and I plan to make it again soon.

Spring Chicken

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
140g pancetta cubes
12 chicken thighs (bone in with or without skin)
1 leek, cleaned, quartered lengthwise then finely sliced
1 stick celery, quartered lengthwise then finely sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tsp freeze-dried tarragon
1 tsp sea salt flakes or 1/2 tsp pouring salt
good grinding white pepper
1 x 500ml bottle dry cider
300g frozen petit pois
1 x 15ml tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Little Gem lettuces, suct into strips or roughly shredded
2 x 15ml tbsp chopped fresh tarragon

Heat the oil in a large, wide casserole that comes with a lid and add the pancetta cubes, cooking them until they begin to give off their juices and start to colour.

Add the chicken thighs (skin-side down if yours have skin), tossing the pancetta cubes on top of the meat (to stop the pancetta burning and to make space) as you put the poultry in the pan, and cook for about 5 minutes over a medium heat.

Turn the thighs over and tip in the prepared leek, celery and garlic. Season with the dried tarragon, salt and pepper, then stir everything around a bit, letting it cook for another 5 minutes.

Pour in the cider, then sprinkle in the frozen peas. Bring the pan to the boil then cover, turn down to a very gentle heat and cook for 40 minutes. Do check after 30, though, to see if the chicken is cooked through, and if you are using boneless thighs, then 20 minutes should do it.

Remove the lid, stir in the mustard, and then toss the shredded lettuce over the chicken, letting it wilt in the hot sauce for a couple of minutes.

Scatter the chopped tarragon over the casserole. Serve with new potatoes or rice.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-27T15:16:00.012Z

A very Merry Christmas to everyone!! Hope you are all having a wonderful festive season. Below are some of the goodies I have baked this Christmas for my family and friends to enjoy.

My Christmas Cake.

Yule Log.

My delicious Christmas Pudding.

Chocolate Peanut-Butter Cups.

Chocolate Christmas Biscuits.

Glittery Christmas Tree Cookies.

Ollie my gorgeous grandson :)

Sweet Snowballs

2011-12-23T16:57:00.002Z

These Sweet Snowballs are seriously delish and are the perfect edible festive gift. An alternative to truffles, these chocolatey bitesize treats contain white Maltesers, coconut, marshmallow, cranberries, cake crumbs and rich tea biscuits! I made these to give to family and friends and they were very much appreciated.

Sweet Snowballs

Ingredients
400g white chocolate
100g rich tea biscuits
50g white Maltesers
50g mini marshmallows
50g dried cranberries
50g cake crumbs (shop-bought Madeira Cake)
3 tbsp golden syrup
100g dessicated coconut
edible glitter

Melt the white chocolate, broken into pieces, in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Meanwhile, crush the rich tea biscuits and white maltesers in a large bowl with a rolling pin.

Add the mini marshmallows, dried cranberries and cake crumbs, then the chocolate and golden syrup. Mix well. Tip the desiccated coconut onto a plate. Drop large spoonfuls of mixture onto the plate, then roll them around, coating in coconut and shaping into balls. Place on a baking tray and chill for 30 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with edible glitter if you like.

Star-Topped Mince Pies

2011-12-20T14:55:00.001Z

You can't beat home-made mince pies, especially mince pies made with your own home-made mincemeat! I tend to shy away from pastry but this recipe is seriously easy and make these year after year. I made these gorgeous mince pies especially for Sunday when we had family and friends over to celebrate the festive season. As always they went down a treat and everyone loved them. This is definitely another recipe that will feature again in my house this month.

Star-Topped Mince Pies

Ingredients

240g/8oz plain flour

60g/2oz vegetable shortening

60g/2oz cold butter, cut into small cubes

1 orange, juice only

pinch salt

350g/12oz mincemeat

icing sugar, for dusting

You will need a miniature tart tray, each indent 4.5cm/1¾in diameter, a 5.5cm/2¼in round fluted biscuit cutter and a 4cm/1½in star-shaped pastry cutter.

Sift the flour into a shallow freezer-proof bowl, then add small mounds of vegetable shortening. Add the butter, shake to cover it, then place into the freezer to chill for 20 minutes. (This will make the pastry tender and flaky.)

Mix the orange juice and salt in a separate bowl. Cover and leave in the fridge to chill.

After the 20 minutes, empty the chilled flour and shortening mixture into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to make porridge-like crumbs. Gradually add the chilled salted orange juice, pulsing until the mixture is just coming together as a dough. Stop just before it comes together (even if some orange juice is left). If all the juice is used up before the dough has begun to come together, add some iced water.

Turn the mixture out onto a clean, floured work surface and, using your hands, knead the mixture to form a dough. Divide and shape into three equal-sized discs (you’ll need to make the mince pies in three separate batches of 12, unless you’ve got enough tart tins to make all 36 pies at once).Wrap each disc in cling film and place into the fridge to rest for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.

Remove a pastry disc from the fridge and roll out on a floured work surface thinly, but so that it will be sturdy enough to support the dense mincemeat filling. Using a fluted pastry cutter, cut out 12 circles a little wider than the moulds in the tart tins. Press the circles gently into the moulds. Place a teaspoon of mincemeat into each pastry case. Reroll any remaining dough to a similar thickness, then using a star-shaped cutter, cut out 12 stars and place each lightly onto the mincemeat filling.

Transfer to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the pastry is golden-brown. Keep an eye on them as they don’t take very long to cook.

Remove from the oven, prising out the little pies straight away and placing onto a wire rack to cool. Allow the empty tray to cool down before repeating the steps. Repeat until you have made 36 mince pies.

Dust the mince pies with icing sugar and serve.

Gold-Dust Star Cookies

2011-12-13T22:47:00.002Z

Who doesn't love a bit of glitter and sparkle at Christmas? It would not be Christmas in my home without it and you can never have enough glitter! I bake these cookies every Christmas and they never fail to impress with family, friends and work colleagues alike. Apart from them being seriously yummy and moreish, they leave a lasting impression....you will find evidence in glitter form over the faces of those who have indulged, hahaha. These cookies never last long and will feature a few times over the festive season.

Gold-Dust Star Cookies

Ingredients
90g soft butter
100g caster sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon ground ginger (or vanilla extract)
200g plain flour, plus more for sprinkling
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine salt
Edible gold dust or glitter flakes

Preheat the oven to 180oC/gas mark 4 and line a baking sheet or two with baking parchment or Bake-O-Glide.

Cream the butter and sugar together until whipped soft and pale, then beat in the egg, followed by the ginger (or vanilla), flour, baking powder and salt and continue mixing until it all comes together to make a soft dough.

Form into 2 discs, wrap each one in clingfilm and let it rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

Sprinkle a suitable surface with flour, place a disc of dough on it and sprinkle a little more flour on top. Then roll out to a thickness of about 5mm.

Cut into shapes, dipping the cutter into flour as you go, and place the biscuits a little apart on the lined baking sheet/s. Keep the scraps of the first disc, to mix with the scraps of the second and roll and cut, re-roll and cut, until you’ve used up the mixture. This is wonderfully pliable dough, which makes it an unstressful joy to work with.

Bake in the oven for 18-12 minutes: this depends on their shape, how many sheets are in the oven at the same time, and whether on the upper or lower shelf, though you can swap them around after 5 minutes. When they’re ready, expect them to be tinged a pronounced pale gold around the edges; they’ll be softish still in the middle, but will harden on cooling.

Take the sheets out of the oven, remove the cookies, with a flat, preferably flexible, spatula to a wire rack and leave to cool.

Using a small (unused) paintbrush or eyeshadow brush, dip in the edible gold dust or glitter flakes, and give each cookies its gilded coating.

Little Mince Pie Cakes

2011-12-11T14:33:00.000Z

These Little Mince Pie Cakes are a regular bake over the festive period. It's a great variation to the traditional mince pie and made with your home-made mincemeat will taste even better. These always go down a treat with everyone, especially my hubby!

Little Mince Pie Cakes

Ingredients
175g self-raising flour
100g light muscovado sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
175g softened butter
3 eggs
2 tbsp milk
about 140g mincemeat (I used my home-made mincemeat)
icing sugar , for dusting

Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Line 12 bun tins with paper cases. Put the flour, sugar, spice, butter, eggs and milk into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk or wooden spoon for 2-3 mins, until the mix is light and fluffy.

Put a spoonful of cake mix in each case, then a rounded tsp of mincemeat. Cover the mincemeat with a spoonful of cake mix and smooth.

Bake for 15-18 mins until golden brown and firm. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm or cold.

Cranberry Jam

2011-12-04T16:25:00.000Z

This Cranberry Jam is another seasonal favourite that I make every year. This has to be one of the easiest jams to make and only has 2 ingredients, cranberries and caster sugar. In our home we love this jam spread over hot buttered toast, a perfect way to start the day!

Cranberry Jam

Ingredients
350g/12oz cranberries
350g/12oz caster sugar

Put a film of water in the bottom of a large saucepan and add the cranberries and sugar. Stir patiently over a low heat to dissolve the sugar; this will take a little while. Turn up the heat and boil the pan rapidly until setting point is reached, about 7 minutes. (Alternatively it will have reached a jam-like consistency.)

Pour the jam into a sterilized jar (s) and seal immediately.

Makes approx 350mls.

Traditional Christmas Pudding

2011-11-28T19:53:00.002Z

You really can't beat a home-made Christmas Pudding and I have kept the tradition of making one every year for the past 8 years. Factory made puddings sold in shops don't come anywhere near a home-made pud, with it's luscious combination of vine fruits, nuts and citrus peels, laced with stout and rum then slowly steamed into a dark fragrant combination of intense flavours. If you find the thought of making your own Christmas Pudding a daunting task and you are put off by the 8 hours of steaming, I can only encourage you to give it a go. The steaming only requires your attention periodically to top up the water level and the end result is the best ever pud you and your family will have tasted, then like myself you will never go back to a shop bought Christmas pudding.

Traditional Christmas Pudding

Ingredients
110g shredded suet
110g white breadcrumbs
1 level tsp ground mixed spice
1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
a good pinch of ground cinnamon
225g soft dark brown sugar
110g sultanas
110g raisins
275g currants
25g mix candied peel
25g whole almonds, chopped
1 small cooking apple, cored and finely chopped (no need to peel)
the grated zest of 1/2 large navel orange
the grated zest of 1/2 large lemon
2 tbsp rum
150ml stout
2 eggs
50g self-raising flour, sifted

A 1.2 litre pudding basin, lightly greased, baking parchment, foil and string.

Method
Begin the day before you want to steam the pudding. Take your largest, roomiest mixing bowl and start by putting in the suet and breadcrumbs, spices and sugar. Mix these ingredients very thoroughly together, then gradually mix in all the dried fruit, peel and nuts followed by the apple and the grated orange and lemon zests. Don't forget to tick everything off as you go to make sure nothing gets left out. Next in a smaller basin, measure out the rum and stout, then add the eggs and beat these thoroughly together. Next pour this over all the other ingredients and begin to mix thoroughly. It's now traditional to gather all the family round, especially the children, and invite everyone to have a really good stir and make a wish! The mixture should have a fairly sloppy consistency - that is, it should fall instantly from the spoon when this is tapped on the side of the bowl. If you think it needs a bit more liquid add a spot more stout. Cover the bowl and leave overnight.

Next day stir in the sifted flour quite thoroughly, then pack the mixture into the lightly greased basin, cover it with a double layer of baking parchment and a sheet of foil and tie it securely with string. It's also a good idea to tie a piece of string across the top to make a handle. Place the pudding in a steamer set over a saucepan filled with simmering water and steam the pudding for 8 hours. Do make sure you keep a regular eye on the water underneath and top it up with boiling water straight from the kettleabout halfway through the time. When the pudding is steamed, let it get quite cold, then remove the baking parchment and foil and replace them with some fresh ones, again making a string handle for easy manoeuvring. Now your Christmas pudding is ready for Christmas Day. Keep it in a cool place away from light. Under the bed in an unheated bedroom is an ideal place.

On Christmas Day steam your Christmas Pudding for 2 1/4 hours, checking on the water from time to time and maybe top it up a bit.

Cranberry and Chocolate Chip Muffins

2011-11-23T20:00:00.005Z

The Christmas build-up has begun and it's my favourite time of the year. I just love everything about Christmas and the first glimmer begins in October with the baking of my Christmas cake, pudding and mincemeat. From here in all my bakes will be Christmas themed, and I have a list of those goodies in mind and can't wait. I decided to start off with these Cranberry and Chocolate Chip Muffins, and for me cranberries scream Christmas! These fluffy and tender muffins studded with chocolate chips and tart cranberries are a match made in heaven! They taste fabulous and will definitely feature again during the month of Christmas.

Cranberry and Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients
300g self raising flour, sifted
170g caster sugar (white or golden)
170g butter, melted and cooled a little
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
200ml milk
100g chocolate chips, dark or milk
100g dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Place 12 paper liners in a muffin tin.

Sift flour and mix dry ingredients (flour and sugar) in a bowl.

Beat eggs and milk and vanilla in a jug.

Pour the eggs and milk into the dry ingredients, mix a little and then add the butter and mix briefly.

Add the cranberries and chocolate chips and mix again.

Divide between the cases.

Bake for around 25-30 minutes until golden brown and a cake tester inserted comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack.

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Vanilla Cupcakes

2011-11-16T20:32:00.002Z

All of us, adults and kids alike can never resist a cupcake; the baking and eating of a cupcake is a blissful experience. For me they evoke fond memories of birthday parties and family celebrations while growing up. Nothing brings me more joy than sharing my passion for baking with my close family members, especially the young ones who may have this as a fond memory of their own in years to come.
Last week we had our nephew come to stay, whenever he visits he loves to bake some goodies with me, his favourite bakes are cookies and cupcakes. After choosing some sprinkles and decorations while at the supermarket we decided on these cupcakes which I have baked many times before. We both had an enjoyable afternoon in the kitchen and even more enjoyable time eating them!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Makes 12

Ingredients
175g (6 oz) self-raising flour
1½ level tsp baking powder
175g (6 oz) butter, softened
175g (6 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
3 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Buttercream Icing
150g (5oz) butter, softened
300g (11 oz) icing (confectioners) sugar, sifted
1 tbsp milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Sprinkle(s) for decoration of choice

You will also require 12 holed muffin tin lined with 12 paper muffin cases

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. Sift the self-raising flour and baking powder into a large bowl, and then add the butter, caster sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Beat together until well mixes, trying not to over mix the mixture. Spoon the mixture equally into the prepared paper cases and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out to completely cool on a wire rack.

To make the buttercream, beat the butter until soft. Add the icing sugar and stir until it’s just mixed in, then add the milk and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Divide into as many bowls as you want different colour(s) and add edible food colouring (you only require a few drops). Spread the icing on thickly with a palette knife on top of each cupcake or put the icing into a piping back and make a large swirl on top of each cupcake. Decorate each cupcake with your chosen sprinkle(s).

Creamy Pancetta Pasta with Mushrooms & Parmesan

2011-11-08T18:47:00.001Z

As most of you know I love cookbooks and own an extensive collection but I haven't had a good splurge in months. Receiving a package with shiny new cookbooks and reading through all those delicious recipes is the best feeling for a cookbook aficionado. I came across this delicious pasta recipe in Lorraine Pascale's new book and made it for a quick-fix weekday dinner. It was everything I expected, easy, comforting and a dish that I will make time and time again!

Creamy Pancetta Pasta with Mushrooms & Parmesan

Serves 4

Ingredients
400g papardelle or tagliatelle
100-200g cubed pancetta
175g chestnut mushrooms, wiped and finely sliced
225ml double cream
75g grated parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper

Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.

Meanwhile, put the pancetta in a medium pan over a medium to high heat. When it starts to go brown, add the mushrooms and cook for about 2-3 minutes, then add the double cream. Once the cream is hot, add the parmesan and stir together well.

Once the pasta is ready, drain and then return it to the pan. Add the creamy mixture and stir through well. Seaon with some pepper and sprinkle over more grated parmesan.

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Fruit Tea Loaf

2011-10-22T16:06:00.014+01:00

My hubby has been under the weather this week with a cold and what better way to cheer him up than with one of his favourite cakes. I've baked this fruit tea loaf many times and it is so easy to make and keeps well. It is moist and full of flavour and hubby loves it with a thick layer of butter and a cup of tea.

Fruit Tea Loaf

Makes approx. 10 slices

Ingredients
1 x 250ml cup tea
375g mixed dried fruit
125g dark brown sugar
250g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
pinch of ground cloves
1 egg

Make the cup of black tea (just using a tea bag), and pour it into a bowl with the dried fruits and sugar; stir well, then leave to macerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 170oC/fan oven 150oC/ gas 3. Line a 900g loaf tin with a paper liner or butter the tin and line the bottom with baking parchment.

Beat the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cloves into the tea-soaked fruit, and then beat in the egg. Spoon and scrape into the lined loaf tin, and bake for 1 hour - or until cooked - before letting the cake cool it its tin on a rack.

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Dutch Apple Cake

2011-10-17T20:06:00.013+01:00

It has been a long time since I last blogged and I’m sorry for being away for so long. It was a busy summer with family over from Spain and along the way I lost my blogging mojo. I haven’t done as much baking over the past couple of months but I did bake our favourite cookies a few times, which I’ve blogged about so many times before. A couple of weeks ago we picked our fill of cooking apples from the apple trees during a lovely weekend stay at “The Lodge”. I have enough apples to see me through many bakes. I chose this revisited Dutch Apple Cake to kick-start my blogging and start to make a dent in the mountain of apples.

This flavoursome cake has a very light and fluffy sponge, with a lovely juicy bite from the apple slices and topped with a sugary crust. Great served warm with hot custard or as an afternoon treat with a cuppa.

I now have a Facebook page that I have created for this blog! Hope you will join and say hello :)

Dutch Apple Cake

Makes 12-16 squares

Ingredients
2 eggs

175g caster sugar, plus 15g extra for sprinkling
½ tsp vanilla extract
85g butter
75ml milk
125g plain flour
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 ¼ tsp baking powder
2 small (or 1 large) cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
double cream or custard, to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200oC/180oC Fan/Gas Mark 6. Line the sides and base of a 20 x 20cm (8 x 8in) square cake tin with parchment paper.

Using an electric whisk, whisk the eggs, caster sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl until the mixture is thick and mousse-like and the whisk leaves a figure of eight pattern (this will take about 5 minutes).

Melt the butter in a saucepan with the milk, then pour onto the eggs, whisking all the time. Sift in the flour, cinnamon and baking powder and fold carefully into the batter so that there are no lumps of flour. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.

Arrange the apple slices over the batter. (They will sink to the bottom.) Sprinkle over a tablespoon of sugar and bake in the oven for ten minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180oC/160oC Fan/Gas Mark 4 and bake for a further 20–25 minutes or until well risen and golden brown.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. Cut into squares and serve warm with cream or custard.

Cherry Bakewell Cake

2011-06-19T14:51:00.020+01:00

Today we are celebrating Father's Day in the UK and what better way to express our love than bake hubby his favourite cake! It's a small token to show how much we love and appreciate how lucky we are to have such a wonderful, caring and hard working father/hubby. We celebrated Father's Day yesterday when our son Jake and his family came over. We had a lovely day and of course spending time with our precious little grandson Ollie is always special.

Bakewell has always been one of hubby's favourites, infact when I first met him his diet consisted of Mr Kipling Bakewell tarts along with packets of jaffa cakes. His diet was terrible but then again he was a teenager living on his own and no one to feed him regular good meals! My hubby is my number one fan and enjoys all my bakes but this cake wins hands down for him.

Looking beyond the way the sponges came out slightly lopsided this cake turned out tasting absolutely perfect. This classic combination has this cake bursting with almond flavour, sandwiched together with the luxurious dark morello cherry conserve and topped with a blanket of silky white icing adorned with toasted flaked almonds and glace cherry halves.

Cherry Bakewell Cake

Serves 8

Ingredients

For The Cake

200g (8oz butter), well softened, + extra for greasing
200g (8oz) caster sugar
100g (4 oz) ground almonds
100g (4 oz) self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon almond extract or essence

4 large eggs
Pinch of salt

For The Filling & Top
½ a 340g (approx 12 oz) jar of morello cherry conserve/jam
175g (6 oz) icing sugar
5-6 teaspoons water or lemon juice
1 tablespoon flaked almonds, lightly toasted

2 x 20cm (8 in) round sandwich tins, greased with butter and base lined with baking paper.

Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Using electric beaters, beat together all the cake ingredients until smooth. Divide the batter equally between tins and level the tops with a spatula. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and springy to the touch or a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. *Do not open the oven door until 25 minutes of baking to check the cake*.

Place the tins onto a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before turning out to fully cool. Make sure the top of one of the cakes is facing up as you’ll want a smooth surface for the icing later on.

When cool, put one sponge on a serving plate, then spread with conserve/jam. Sandwich the second sponge on top.

Sieve the icing sugar into a large bowl. Add the water or lemon juice, then stir until smooth and thick. Spread evenly over the top and let it dribble over the sides. Scatter with toasted flaked almonds on the icing and leave to set for a few minutes before cutting.

*Notes*

This is an easy all in one method for making a sponge cake -please make sure your butter is fully softened before you start.

If you find morello cherry conserve/jam difficult to source, substitute with raspberry conserve/jam, it will be just as delicious!

To toast flaked almonds ~ place a single layer in a dry frying pan for toasting. With the frying pan over medium-high heat, stir or shake the nuts continually for 3 to 5 minutes or until they start to turn golden. Remove them from the cooking pan as soon as they're done.

A few glacé cherries placed on top of the icing additionally with the flaked toasted almonds would also be a lovely.

Hubby with Ollie ♥

Blueberry Crumble Loaf

2011-06-15T20:19:00.004+01:00

My activity has been lacking on the blog front since last week, no particular reason just been busy with other things. I had planned to do some baking over the weekend but with Saturday being a dry and sunny day we made the most of it and went for a picnic to Winkworth Arboretum. I bought some lovely blueberries on Sunday that were half price in M&S and decided to incorporate them into this Blueberry Crumble Loaf. The recipe is from The Hummingbird Bakery's new book Cake Days. I find that some of the recipes from both the Hummingbird bakery books have been hit and miss for me. Whilst the loaf ended up coming out looking lovely, as you can see from the pics, it wasn't all plain sailing. I believe the root cause of the troubles started with the recommended size tin being too small for the amount of batter there was. The loaf needed longer in the oven (nearly 30 mins extra) and also caused the batter to over-flow to the edge of the tin but thankfully not resulting in spillage. In spite of everything this loaf turned out wonderful in the end and has a lovely moist sponge with fruity bursts of blueberry and a crunchy crumble topping.

Blueberry Crumble Loaf

Serves 8-10

Ingredients
For the Sponge
190g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
190g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
190g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
25ml whole milk
100g fresh or frozen (and defrosted) blueberries
50g pecans, chopped (I omitted these)

For the Crumble Topping
25g plain flour
10g unsalted butter
15g soft light brown sugar
20g pecans, chopped
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

One 8.5 x 17.5cm (3 1/2 x 7in) loaf tin with 7.5cm (3in) sides

Preheat the oven to 170C/fan 150C/325F/gas mark 3, then grease the loaf tin with butter and dust with flour.

First make the crumble topping. In a bowl, rub the flour and butter together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the remaining ingredients, and then set aside.

Next make the sponge. Using a hand-held electric whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Break the eggs in one at a time, mixing well, on a medium speed, after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure every bit of the mixture is incorporated.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon, then add in three stages to the creamed butter and eggs, pouring in the milk after the second batch has been added. Mix well on a medium speed after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl once again to ensure all the ingredients are incorporated.

Increase the speed to medium-to-high and continue mixing until the batter is smooth and even, then add the blueberries and chopped pecans, stirring them into the batter by hand and making sure they are evenly distributed. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and sprinkle the crumble mixture over the top.

Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until the sponge feels firm and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean, with no cake batter sticking to it. Allow the loaf to cool a little before turning it out of the tin on to a wire rack to cool completely, then cut into slices to serve.

Butterscotch Cookies

2011-06-06T20:09:00.001+01:00

I can't believe we are in June already, the weeks seem to be flying by and no sign of the heat wave predicted. However Saturday was a gorgeous hot day when we drove down to the New Forest to celebrate my niece's 3rd birthday. I was up early making the Eton Mess Cake to bring along as my contribution to the BBQ and it was loved by all. Sunday was the complete opposite with it being a cold, dull and wet day. We were looking forward to going out for a nice walk but it rained non stop. On rainy days I like to make the most of my time in the kitchen, as I find it more pleasant than during the hotter summer days. So I got busy in my kitchen and made Lemon Curd for the first time. The consistency was not as thick as it could have been but hubby is enjoying it on his toast. I then got the urge to bake some cookies seeing as the Lemon Biscuits didn't last long! This cookie recipe is one of my favourites which I use as a base to add different flavoured chips each time. I needed to use a bag of Butterscotch chips and what better way than to incorporate them into these cookies. Although the butterscotch does make them quite sweet they are gorgeous all the same.

Butterscotch Cookies

Makes over 30

Ingredients
150g soft unsalted butter
125g soft light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, fridge cold
1 large egg yolk, fridge cold
300g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 x 326g packet of Butterscotch chips

1 x large baking sheet

Preheat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas mark 3. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Melt the butter and let it cool a bit. Put the brown and white sugars into a bowl, pour the slightly cooled, melted butter over them and beat together.

Beat in the vanilla, the cold egg and cold egg yolk until your mixture is light and creamy.

Slowly mix in the flour and bicarbonate of soda until just blended, then fold in the butterscotch chips.

Roll into balls. Use your fingers to flatten onto the prepared baking sheet 8cm apart. You will need to make these in 2 batches, keeping the bowl of the cookie dough in the fridge between batches.

Bake for 15-17 minutes in the prepared oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

The cookies can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in an airtight container. Will keep for a total of 5 days.

Lemon Biscuits

2011-06-02T22:14:00.002+01:00

I was planning on making some Lemon Curd this past weekend which I unfortunately didn't get round to. I'm hoping to make this in the coming days so watch this space. The good thing is the lemon curd driven purchase provided me with an abundance of lemons. So yesterday while hubby was in Frankfurt for the day on business I baked these Lemon Biscuits to pass the time. This recipe with its all in one method made it quick to assemble and the dough was a delight to work with, which is always more enjoyable. These zesty and buttery biscuits are simply irresistible and very moreish, you can't stop at one! A must bake for any lemon lover.

Lemon Biscuits

Makes 30-35

Ingredients
325g plain flour
200g butter, chilled and chopped
125g golden caster sugar
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 egg yolks
200g icing sugar

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Whizz the flour and butter to breadcrumbs in a food processor, add the sugar, lemon zest and egg yolks and process to a dough. Roll out the dough to 5mm thick and cut out biscuits. Put on a buttered baking sheet and cook for 10-15 minutes. Cool.

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and mix with enough lemon juice to make a runny icing. Drizzle the lemon icing over the biscuits.

Eton Mess Cake

2011-05-28T16:05:00.003+01:00

It's a bank holiday weekend here in the UK and the weather is dull and grey (which is why my pics aren't so bright) and no sign of the sun coming out, oh well no change there for a bank holiday! I decided to bring some sunshine and flavours of an English summer in of my own with this Eton Mess Cake. This cake is a take on the traditional English dessert Eton Mess which is served at Eton College's annual prize giving celebration picnic every 4th of June. Eton College was founded in 1440 by King Henry IV and has a long list of distinguished pupils, Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince William to name a few.
OK enough history lets talk cake! This cake was straight-forward and simple, providing you prepare the ingredients prior to assembly. The smell of the cake cooking was sumptuous and filled the house with a glorious aroma. My hubby was eager for the cake to finish baking but unfortunately it took 15 min longer than the recipe stated to completely bake in my oven and he had to suffer that wait. The flavours and textures in this cake are absolutely divine and really capture the essence of British summer! Oh and hubby said the wait was well worth it.

Eton Mess Cake

Ingredients
175g unsalted butter
5 tbsp double cream, from a 300ml pot
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
225g plain flour
100g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine salt
200g golden caster sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
400g strawberries, half roughly chopped, half finely sliced
4 meringue nests, (50g) very roughly chopped
a little icing sugar, to serve

Grease a deep 20 x 30cm traybake or roasting tin, then line with parchment. Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Melt the butter, take off the heat and stir in the cream and the vanilla. Mix the flour, almonds, baking powder and 1/4 tsp fine salt and set aside for later.

Put the caster sugar and eggs into a large bowl, and whisk with electric beaters until very thick and foamy, about 5 mins. Pour in the butter mix, whisk briefly, then add the flour mix and whisk briefly again until even. Stir in the chopped strawberries, then pour the batter into the tin and level the top.

Scatter the sliced strawberries and meringue over the cake, then bake for 40-45 mins until risen, golden and a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 20 mins in the tin, then transfer the cake to a rack. Just before serving, dust with a little icing sugar. Enjoy with the rest of the double cream, whipped if you like.

Butternut Squash and Chorizo Linguine

2011-05-26T19:38:00.002+01:00

A few weeks backs I decided to try a protein diet and whilst it promised major weight loss, and I did lose some weight, it wasn't the weight loss program for me. Being a lover of pasta and most carbs, I found it tough not having them in my diet. Not to mention missing the odd glass of wine or vodka & tonic during the week. So I've gone back to Weight Watchers which I know works for me as long as I stick with it. Sticking with it is easier as I'm still able to enjoy the food I love in moderation.

Pasta recipes whether in magazines or cookbooks always seem to catch my eye and this Butternut Squash and Chorizo Linguine certainly done just that. The bonus being it is a low fat recipe, even with the Chorizo, and easy to work out the ProPoints value. The sweet nutty taste of the roasted butternut squash and spicy chorizo combined wonderfully with my home-grown sage. This was a satisfying weeknight meal that didn't take much effort and one I will make again.

Butternut Squash and Chorizo Linguine

Serves 4

Ingredients
half a large butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into small cubes
100g piece chorizo, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
400g cherry tomatoes
large handful sage leaves, shredded
400g linguine or spaghetti
grated Parmesan, to serve

Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Tip the squash and chorizo onto a roasting tray, season, then toss in the oil. Roast for 20 mins, adding the tomatoes and two-thirds of the sage for the final 5 mins.

Cook the linguine/spaghetti. Drain, then toss with roasted ingredients and juices from the tray. Serve sprinkled with remaining sage and grated Parmesan.

Banana and Passion-Fruit Loaf

2011-05-23T21:18:00.004+01:00

Banana loaf, bread, cake or muffins normally feature quite a bit in my baking repertoire but it's been a while since my last banana bake. I have recipes that I revisit time and time again which will always remain my favourites. However, I am always on the hunt to try out new and exciting recipes! This Banana and Passion-Fruit Loaf is another delicious installment from my new cookbook Weekend Baking. I knew the moment I came across this recipe that it was a winner and would be absolutely amazing and it is! The banana and passion-fruit combination is the perfect marriage of flavours, that brings a tropical twist to the classic banana loaf. My only disappointment which is not the fault of the recipe, is that my icing was too runny and I should have added more icing sugar. If your looking for a recipe to use up those ripe bananas in your fruit bowl then look no further, this recipe is the one!

Banana and Passion-Fruit Loaf

Serves 8-10

Ingredients
225g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g butter, softened and cubed
175g caster sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 passion fruit
3 very ripe bananas

To decorate:
100g icing sugar
1 passion fruit
dried banana slices, to decorate

2lb loaf tin, lightly buttered and base-lined with baking parchment.

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/Gas 4.

Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Put the butter and sugar in an electric mixer and beat until pale and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs and sifted flour mixture alternately to the bowl.

Halve the passion fruit and scoop out the pulp into a sieve over a bowl. Using a teaspoon, press and stir the pulp to extract the juice. Discard the leftover seeds. Peel and mash the bananas. Add the passion fruit pulp and mashed banana to the cake mixture and mix again.

Tip the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and spread it evenly with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes, or until golden and risen. Leave to cool in the tin.

To decorate, sift the icing sugar into a small bowl. Halve the passion fruit and scoop out the pulp into the bowl - no need to sieve the pulp this time. Mix together with a teaspoon. The icing sugar will seem stiff at first, but persevere until is thoroughly mixed. If the glaze still seems a little thick, add a drop or two of cold water - the consistency of the glaze will depend on the size of the passion fruit and how ripe it is. You want the glaze to be a thick, spreadable consistency.

Tip the cold loaf out of the tin and peel off the base paper. Spoon the glaze over the top of the loaf and decorate with dried banana slices. Leave to set for about 30 minutes before slicing.

Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Cake with Honeycomb

2011-05-21T12:32:00.006+01:00

This weekend we've had Ollie, our grandson and his parents come to stay a couple of days. I truly enjoy weekends like this when I get to spend quality time with Ollie and we have lots of cuddles and fun together. I'd forgotten how early babies wake up and Ollie had us all up at 5.30am but it's a small price to pay once a week and nothing can beat an early morning cuddle in bed! I love baking for my family and I decided to bake this chocolate cake from one of my latest cookbooks, Weekend Baking. Also my son and his girlfriend definitely prefer my chocolate bakes and I enjoy any excuse to bake a special cake.
The sponge is deliciously light with a perfectly balanced chocolate infusion, covered with a decadent chocolate fudge icing and finally topped with a generous sprinkling of honeycomb chunks. You can make your own honeycomb but I took the easy option and used a Crunchie bar. Not surprisingly, at the end of the two day visit we were left with one large slice remaining!

Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Cake with Honeycomb

Serves 8

Ingredients
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp boiling water
225g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
200g butter, softened
250g light muscovado or light brown soft sugar
2 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Chocolate fudge icing:
200g dark chocolate (about 50% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
175g creme fraiche
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Chocolate Crunchie Bar, chopped into chunks

Two 20cm/8 inch sandwich tins, 4cm deep, lightly buttered and base-lined with baking parchment.

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/Gas 4.

Dissolve the cocoa in the boiling water, then leave to cool. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl.

Put the butter and sugar in an electric mixer and beat for 3-4 minutes, or until smooth and fluffy. Mix in the creme fraiche, vanilla extract and the cooled, dissolved cocoa. With the mixer running a slow speed, add the beaten eggs and sifted flour mixture alternatively to the bowl.

Divide the mixture between the prepared tins and spread it evenly with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 25.30 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins for 30 minutes. Tip out onto a wire rack and peel off the base papers. Leave to cool completely.

To make the chocolate fudge icing, put all the ingredients in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and leave until smooth and glossy, stirring now and then. Take the bowl off the pan and leave to cool.

To assemble, place one cake on a board or large serving plate and spread about a third of the chocolate fudge icing over the top. Place the other cake on top and coat entirely in the rest of the icing. Chop up the chocolate honeycomb into small chunks and sprinkle on top of the cake - any leftovers are a cook's perk!

Elderflower Crunch Cake

2011-05-18T19:46:00.002+01:00

My hubby is fortunate that his job allows him to work from home most of the week. I love those days because it means we can have more of a lay in, not having to catch a train into the city and when he finishes work his always home on time for dinner! This working from home arrangement brings a demand for a regular supply of baked goodies. He loves nothing more than teasing his colleagues on conference calls whenever his enjoying said baked goodies with a cuppa. We spent this weekend at the lodge and I baked a fruit cake which we bought back with us and was finished yesterday. I will be blogging the fruit cake soon, along with pics I took whilst at the lodge. This morning I decided to make this Elderflower Crunch Cake that I've had book-marked for a while and replenish the cake tin contents for hubby! This cake is light and fluffy with a subtle hint of almond that works wonderfully with the elderflower crunch topping. The flavours in this luscious cake really capture the essence of summer (although the weather hasn't been great lately).

Elderflower Crunch Cake

Ingredients
For the loaf cake base:
175g softened butter, plus extra for greasing
175g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
140g self-raising flour
85g ground almonds
1/2 tsp baking powder
100ml milk

For the Elderflower drizzle:
4 tbsp elderflower cordial
4 tbsp white or golden granulated sugar

Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/Gas 3. Grease and line a 2lb/900g loaf tin with a long strip of baking parchment. To make the loaf cake batter, beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and milk until smooth. Pour into the tin and bake for 45-50 mins until golden, risen and a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean.

As soon as the cake has come out of the oven, prick it all over with a skewer. Mix together the cordial and extra sugar, then pour all over the cake. Cool in the tin, then carefully lift out to slice.

Soft-Set Strawberry & Pimm's Jam

2011-05-16T21:00:00.003+01:00

Strawberry season in the UK depends on the weather but normally runs from May to August. During the rest of the year they are imported from countries such as Spain. June being the quintessential strawberry month when 27000 kilos of strawberries are eaten during the Wimbledon tennis championships, together with 7,000 litres of cream! The other British classic for this time of year is Pimm's, an English summer drink, that no BBQ would be complete without. Whilst browsing this month's Good Food Magazine I discovered this recipe for Soft-set Strawberry & Pimm's Jam. What better way to combine these two seasonal favourites? The recipe is easy to follow but you will definitely need a preserving thermometer. The jam turned out absolutely divine and everything I expected. This jam will come into it's own on home-baked scones and clotted cream and the other British classic Victoria Sponge Cake.

Soft-set Strawberry & Pimm's Jam

Makes 5 x 450g jars

Ingredients
1.5kg/3lb 5oz strawberries, hulled and halved if large
1kg bag jam sugar (it has added pectin)
juice 2 lemons
juice 1 orange
3 tbsp Pimm's No 1

Put a few saucers into the freezer for later. Put the strawberries into a preserving pan (or your very largest saucepan), then mash roughly with a potato masher, or crush slightly between your fingers and thumbs to make them a little juicy. Stir in the sugar, then put the pan over a very low heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved and the berries are surrounded with red syrup. Don't let it boil. Once the sugar crystals have gone, stir in the lemon and orange juice.

Turn up the heat. Once the jam reaches a foaming fast boil (this will read 105C on a preserving thermometer), set a timer for 10 mins. After 10 mins, put 1 tsp of jam onto one of the frozen saucers, put into the fridge for 1 min, then push your finger through the jam. If the jam wrinkles, it is ready. If not, boil for another 2 mins and test again. As soon as the jam is ready, remove from the heat. Leave to cool for 30 mins, skim away any scum, then stir in the Pimm's. Ladle into steralised jars.

Will keep in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year.

Fat Witch Brownies

2011-05-14T18:23:00.018+01:00

Lately I've treated myself to a selection of new cookbooks and isn't it just the best browsing amazon and adding them to the cart? Not to mention when the postman delivers them! It was the title of one of my new books that caught my eye, Fat Witch Brownies. The book is based on the Fat Witch Bakery in NY who are known for their brownies, blondies and bars. I had never heard of this NY bakery or the book before now but glad I stumbled upon it. Of course the first bake from the book had to be their signature recipe, Fat Witch Brownies, which just so happened to be the first one in the book.

This brownie recipe was easy and straight forward, although I had a minor mishap when I got ahead of myself, either that or I need glasses and I doubled the amount of flour required. This is the reason they were not as gooey as I was expecting and more of a dense cakey brownie. Either way they were still a hit with my son, hubby and hubby’s work colleagues!

Most of you will have experienced the problems with blogger these last couple of days, with many losing posts and not being able to blog or comment. Unfortunately my original version of this post and its comments was lost and not recovered (not impressed blogger)!! Could I ask if anyone who originally commented could help in re-posting their thoughts. :-)

Fat Witch Brownies

Makes 12 to 16 brownies

Ingredients
14 tablespoons/1¾ sticks/198g unsalted butter
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate chips
1¼ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached flour
pinch of salt

Grease a 9-inch baking pan with butter. Dust with flour and tap out the excess.

Preheat the oven to 350F/180oC/160oC fan oven/gas 4.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool.

Cream the sugar, eggs, and vanilla together. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and mix until well blended.

Measure the flour and salt and then sift together directly into the chocolate mixture.

Mix the batter gently until well combined and no trace of the dry ingredients remains. Do not over-mix. At this point, if desired, stir in any extras like walnuts.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking pan and bake 33 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with crumbs but not batter.

Remove from the oven and let cool on rack for 1 hour. Cut just before serving.

Creamy Pasta Salad with Ham, Avocado, Tomato and Mozzarella

2011-05-09T12:29:00.031+01:00

Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes is hosting this week's Presto Pasta Nights #213. blog event. I don't normally partake in blog events and I need to remedy that but any excuse to eat pasta and I'm sold. In the warmer months I love cold pasta salads for lunch or dinner and they are perfect for barbecues, packed lunches and picnics. I got the idea for this pasta salad from one of my favourite Italian salads, Tri Color. This quick and easy creamy pasta with the addition of ham and spring onion produced a comforting luscious lunch for one!

Creamy Pasta Salad with Ham, Avocado, Tomato and Mozzarella

Serves 1

Ingredients
75g fusilli pasta
3 slices of lean ham
half an avocado
handful of plum or cherry tomatoes
handful of mozzarella pearls
3 spring onions
1 tbsp of half-fat crème fraîche
salt and pepper

Boil pasta according to packet instructions. Chop ham, avocado, tomatoes, mozzarella and spring onions and mix together in a bowl with a tbsp of crème fraîche. Season with salt and pepper. Once pasta is boiled, drain and run under cold water. Then toss pasta in with other ingredients and serve.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

2011-05-06T12:51:00.013+01:00

Hurrah it's finally Friday and the start of the weekend! I am looking forward to spending it with my hubby and hopefully if it doesn't rain as predicted maybe visiting some of our favourite local National Trust places. What plans do you have for this weekend? This morning I whipped up these dark, decadent triple chocolate cookies from Eat me by Cookie Girl, which is certainly worth adding to your cookbook shelf! These rich and chewy cookies that are packed with a mixture of creamy white, smooth milk and intense dark chocolate are a chocoholics dream! Have a great weekend everyone.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

Makes 20

Ingredients
200g unsalted butter, room temperature
255g caster sugar
125g muscovado sugar

1 medium egg

1 tsp vanilla extract
45g cocoa powder
255g plain flour
¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp milk
55g plain chocolate chips
55g milk chocolate chips
55g white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180oC/160oC fan oven/350oF/Gas 3.

Line a large baking sheet with greaseproof paper.

Cream the butter and both sugars together, beating until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and the vanilla extract. Once they are mixed, sift in the cocoa powder, flour and bicarbonate. The mixture will now seem a little dry, so add the milk and stir until all ingredients are combined. Stir in the chocolate pieces, but take care you don't over-mix at this stage.

Drop tablespoons of mixture onto the baking sheet, placing each spoonful about 2in apart. If you want to make sure the cookies turn out as neat rounds, pop them in the fridge for half an hour or so before baking. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.

Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins

2011-05-03T16:03:00.014+01:00

My hubby has been in Madrid on business for a week but his back tonight, yay, I've missed him! He did however have 2 days free and took a short flight to Alicante to visit my parents, sister and nephew. I was sad that I couldn't be there too but I was happy he got to see them all and have a nice time. This morning I decided to do some baking for my hubby's return and made these Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins from Nigella Lawson's cookbook Feast. These double chocolate muffins with their light and fluffy sponge are very yummy and will no doubt be a hit!

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins

Ingredients

250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
2 tbsp best quality cocoa powder
175g caster sugar
150g dark chocolate chips, extra for sprinkling
250ml milk
90ml vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 200oC/180oC fan oven/Gas mark 4. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar and chocolate chips into a large bowl and mix well.

Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug and mix well. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together with slow and gentle strokes. Stop stirring once the last traces of flour disappear. Do not overmix. A lumpy batter will ensure the muffins stay moist and fluffy.

Spoon the batter into paper muffin cases. Sprinkle with extra chocolate chips on top and bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy.

Rocky Road Crunch Bars

2011-04-30T14:36:00.012+01:00

Most years I go crazy and buy too many Easter Eggs but this year I limited myself to buying only a few and we enjoyed my bakes instead. I did however get given a very big Easter egg from my mother in law of which I only managed to eat some of the yummy choc truffles before I started my diet. So today I decided to put the left over chocolate egg and some mini eggs to good use and make this adapted version of Rocky Road. Don't worry I haven't fallen off the diet wagon, infact I'm doing very well and my clothes are starting to feel loose, tomorrow is weigh in day so we shall see. My son, his family and one of his friends are coming to stay today and these bars of sheer chocolate pleasure are for them. Unfortunately hubby is away in Madrid on business so none for him!

Rocky Road Crunch Bars

Ingredients

125g butter
350g left over Easter egg chocolate, broken into pieces
3 tbsp golden syrup
200g digestive biscuits
100g mini eggs
100g mini marshmallows, extra for decoration

Heat the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a heavy-based saucepan over a gentle heat. Remove from the heat, scoop out about 125ml/4½fl oz of the melted mixture and set aside in a bowl.

Place the biscuits into a plastic freezer bag and crush them with a rolling pin until some have turned to crumbs but there are still pieces of biscuit remaining.

Fold the biscuit pieces and crumbs into the melted chocolate mixture in the saucepan, then add the marshmallows and mini eggs.

Tip the mixture into a 24cm/9in square baking tin and smooth the top with a wet spatula.Pour over the reserved 125ml/4½fl oz of the melted chocolate mixture and smooth the top with a wet spatula. Decorate with extra marshmallows.

Refrigerate for about two hours or overnight. To serve, cut into 24 fingers.

Easter Chocolate Guinness Cake

2011-04-26T21:30:00.008+01:00

This Chocolate Guinness Cake is always a favourite in our home and I love any opportunity to bake it. I tend to make this cake for St Patricks Day but this is the second year I have made the decadent and luscious cake for Easter. I think it looks really pretty with the mini eggs dotted on top and I was lucky to find packs of teeney weeney mini eggs in my local supermarket which I thought would look cute. The cake delivered as usual, being a big hit with my family on Easter Sunday and my in-laws taking a big chunk of it home with them. I am entering my cake into Julia's 'Easter Cake Bake 2011' over at 'A Slice of Cherry Pie'.

This weekend will have been the last time I will get to sample such delights for some time. As I am getting serious about losing weight and Weight Watchers isn't doing it for me anymore. From yesterday I am embarking on the Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet, which is a high-protein low-carb diet. I have read great reviews about this diet and how much weight you can lose. I am excited and looking forward to seeing the results and being slim again! This does not mean I won't be baking for hubby but I also plan on blogging some of the recipes from the diet cookbook. Wish me luck!

Easter Chocolate Guinness Cake

Ingredients
For the cake

250ml Guinness
250g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
75g cocoa
400g caster sugar
142ml sour cream
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
275g plain flour
2 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the topping
300g Philadelphia cream cheese
150g icing sugar
125ml double or whipping cream
Mini eggs

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180˚C/fan oven 160˚C. Line a 23cm/9inch springform tin. Start by pouring the Guinness into a large, wide saucepan and add the butter; heat until the butter's melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with eggs and vanilla and then pour in the pan of brown, buttery, beer and finally whisk in the flour and bicarbonate of soda.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it's quite a damp cake.

When the cake's cold sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on with the icing. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar and then beat them both together. Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency.

Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint. Sprinkle with mini eggs.

Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

2011-04-25T11:02:00.014+01:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday, we certainly did. My son, his family and my in laws came over for the day and we had a lovely day. We spent the majority of the day in the garden enjoying the abnormally hot weather we are having this Easter. Hubby prepared the leg of lamb for our roast dinner in our favourite way, using a lemon, rosemary and garlic paste that is smeared all over. I made this Lemon Meringue Cheesecake for dessert to follow. It was my first time making this cheesecake and although I cheated and used a good quality shop bought lemon curd it was an absolute hit.

The huge variety of flavours from the custard cream biscuit base, lemony & white chocolate cheesy middle and finished with a lemon curd and sweet meringue topping, came together to compliment each other perfectly. Delivering a surprisingly light and refreshing dessert to finish the meal with a stream of compliments. My in-laws loved it so much they took home a wedge for the next day!

Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

Serves 6

Ingredients
For the meringue:
3 egg whites
150g caster sugar
2-3 splashes vanilla extract

For the biscuit base and cheesecake filling:
400g packet biscuits, (custard creams)
100g butter, melted
50ml water
1 lemon, finely grated zest only
25g caster sugar, plus 1 tsp caster sugar
250g mascarpone
175ml double cream, lightly whipped
175g white chocolate, melted

For the lemon curd:
80ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
60g butter
3 egg yolks
2 whole eggs, lightly beaten
75g caster sugar

For the meringue: preheat the oven to 110C/gas 1/4. Line 1 baking tray with non-stick baking parchment and draw a 9inch circle on the baking parchment and set aside. Whisk the egg whites in a large, clean bowl until stiff but not dry, then gradually whisk in the sugar and vanilla extract to make a stiff meringue mixture. Add the meringue into onto the circle on the baking parchment, creating peaks with a fork and bake in the oven for about 2-3 hours or until crisp and dry. Remove from the oven, leave to cool, then remove from the paper.

Meanwhile, for the biscuit base and cheesecake filling: put the custard creams and melted butter in a blender or food processor and blend together until well mixed. Add the crumb mixture to the cake tin pressing down to level the surface. Set aside. Put the water, lemon zest and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a small pan and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. In a bowl, mix together the mascarpone cheese and remaining 25g of sugar, then fold in the whipped cream. Fold half of this mixture into the melted chocolate, then fold the chocolate mixture into the remaining mascarpone mixture, together with the cooled lemon mixture, stirring well. Spoon the lemon mixture over the biscuit base, and spreading it evenly. Chill in the fridge for several hours or until set.

For the lemon curd: put the lemon juice and butter in a heavy-based pan and heat gently until the butter is melted. Whisk in the egg yolks, whole eggs and sugar and bring gently to the boil then simmer for 4-5 minutes until thickened, whisking continuously. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. To serve, unmould the cheesecake and place on a serving plate. Smear the top of the cheesecake with the lemon curd, then arrange the meringue on top.

Pastel Blossom Cupcakes

2011-04-22T20:34:00.001+01:00

Happy Easter to everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the wonderful hot weather we are having in the UK, makes a lovely change to other years when it normally rains over Easter. I baked these cupcakes yesterday but didn't get to decorate them until today as I didn't realise I'd run out of icing sugar. I've baked these vanilla cupcakes before and they are quite possibly the most light and fluffy cupcakes I've ever baked. I decided to name them Pastel Blossom Cupcakes after the sprinkles I've used, plus spring has definitely arrived with all the flora in full bloom!

Pastel Blossom Cupcakes

Makes 12
Ingredients
175g (6 oz) self-raising flour
1½ level tsp baking powder
175g (6 oz) butter, softened
175g (6 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
3 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Buttercream Icing
150g (5oz) butter, softened
300g (11 oz) icing (confectioners) sugar, sifted
1 tbsp milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Edible food colouring(s) of choice, optional
Sprinkle(s) for decoration of choice

You will also require 12 holed muffin tin lined with 12 paper muffin cases

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Sift the self-raising flour and baking powder into a large bowl, and then add the butter, caster sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Beat together until well mixes, trying not to over mix the mixture.

Spoon the mixture equally into the prepared paper cases and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out to completely cool on a wire rack.

To make the buttercream, beat the butter until soft. Add the icing sugar and stir until it’s just mixed in, then add the milk and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Divide into as many bowls as you want different colour(s) and add edible food colouring (you only require a few drops). This is purely optional should you wish to leave out the edible food colouring(s) and keep the buttercream natural.

Spread the icing on thickly with a palette knife on top of each cupcake or put the icing into a piping back and make a large swirl on top of each cupcake. Decorate each cupcake with your chosen sprinkle(s).

Mini Egg Tiffin

2011-04-20T18:06:00.005+01:00

Last year a few fellow bloggers made this Mini Egg Tiffin and my plan was to make it too. Unfortunately for some reason I never got round to making it. I had forgotten about the recipe and this week while browsing for Easter ideas I stumbled upon it once again and couldn't wait to make it. This is very similar to the Malteser Traybake, only difference is it doesn't have melted chocolate which is exchanged for cocoa powder in this version. This is super easy and quick to assemble, an ideal Easter recipe for kids to make. I have a feeling this won't last until the weekend, not with hubby working from home all this week! I'm already planing on making another one for when my son and his family come over to celebrate Easter Sunday with us.

Mini Egg Tiffin

Fills 1 x 1lb tin

Ingredients
85g butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp cocoa
170g digestives, crushed (I blitz them in a food processor)
170g mini eggs, lightly crushed
30g mini eggs, left whole

Gently melt butter and golden syrup in large pan. Stir in cocoa, digestives and crushed mini eggs.

Line a 1lb loaf tin with cling film. Press mixture into tin then press the whole mini eggs into the top. Refrigerate until set.

Easter Biscuits

2011-04-18T20:46:00.000+01:00

Today I've started my Easter baking festivities with these Easter Biscuits which I made a couple of years ago and never got round to baking them last year. These spicy fruited biscuits are a traditional English gift, given to guests on Easter Sunday and originates from the west country. These moreish biscuits are quick and easy to whip up and provide a refreshing accompaniment to a cup of afternoon tea!

Easter Biscuits

Makes 10-15

Ingredients

100g butter

80g caster sugar

1 egg yolk

150g plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp mixed spice

100g currants

1 extra tbsp caster sugar

To make the biscuits, heat the oven to 170C/Gas 3.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and mixed spice.Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing well with a knife. Mix in the currants, squishing the dough together and kneading briefly until smooth, allowing the warmth of your hands to soften it.

Roll out finely on a lightly floured bench (best done under a sheet of clingfilm) and cut into 6cm or 8cm rounds with a plain or fluted biscuit-cutter.

Place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake for 12 to 15 min until just cooked, but not browned.

Carefully transfer to a wire rack — the biscuits should still be a little soft but will become crisp as they cool.

Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies

2011-04-17T11:56:00.027+01:00

It’s been another busy weekend of spring cleaning and de-cluttering, it may be hard work but it always feels so good once it’s all done. Whilst hubby was moving his office up into the loft room I made good use of my time to bake these brownies I keep hearing so much about in the blog world. Anything that involves a combination of chocolate and Oreo cookies gets my vote, who else is in agreement? If there was only one word I was allowed to use to describe these brownies it would be have to be WOW! These brownies are incredibly delicious and would be wonderful served warm with some good quality vanilla ice cream. If you dare to make these you will without doubt want to bake them again.

On a side note this week I had the best surprise from my hubby when after years of lusting after a DSLR camera he bought me the Canon EOS 500D + 18-55mm + 75-300mm Twin Lens Kit!! I am such a lucky girl/wife and love my new camera. Although it's gonna take me some time to really learn how to use it to full advantage. The pics of the brownies are taken with my new camera and I can immediately see the difference in quality compared to anything before. I'm really looking forward to taking more pics of my baking and cooking with my new toy :)

Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies

Ingredients

165g/5½oz butter, plus extra for greasing

200g/7oz dark chocolate, grated or finely chopped

3 free-range eggs

2 free-range egg yolks 1 vanilla pod, seeds only (or alternatively 2 tsp vanilla extract)

165g/5½ oz soft light brown sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp cocoa powder

pinch salt

154g/5½oz pack chocolate biscuits, such as Oreos, broken into quarters

icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm/8in square baking tin with butter, then line with baking paper with the paper overlapping the sides a little.

Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat. When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and add the grated (or chopped) chocolate. Leave to stand for a few minutes, or until the chocolate melts, and then stir together. Alternatively, you can put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt in the microwave in 25-second blasts, stirring well each time.

Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl until the eggs begin to get light and fluffy. Add the sugar in two additions, whisking between each. Pour it around the side of the egg mix so as not to knock out the air that has been whisked in. Keep whisking until the mixture becomes stiffer. Once the egg mixture is ready, pour the chocolate into it - again around the sides so as not to knock the air out.

Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt and a third of the biscuits and stir until fully combined, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Scatter the remaining biscuits over the top, pressing them in slightly. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25–30 minutes. The middle should be very so slightly gooey.

Leave the brownies to cool in the tin - the top will sink and crack a little. Pull the brownies out using the overlapping paper and cut into squares. Dust with icing sugar.

Mushroom and Sausage Pasta

2011-04-14T12:03:00.002+01:00

I seriously love pasta and would happily live on it most days would it not be for the need to keep an eye on my weight (which is a constant battle)! I do have my regular pasta recipes that are firm favourites in my home but at the same time I am always on the look-out for new recipes to try. This recipe comes from May's edition of Good Food magazine and screamed out "must try"! I adapted it slightly and used lean sausages and bacon to cut down on calories, it did not deter at all from the flavour. This hearty dish absolutely fulfilled my expectations with all the wonderful flavours it delivered. I've made this twice now and urge you to try it too.

Mushroom and Sausage Pasta

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 sausages, skins removed and meat squeezed out
4 bacon rashers, diced
200g mushrooms, chopped
350g pasta shapes
50g parmesan, grated, plus extra shavings to serve
2 egg yolks
Small bunch parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp half-fat crème fraîche

Dry-fry the sausage meat in a non-stick pan for 8-10 mins until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, then remove and set aside. Fry bacon and mushrooms for 5-8 mins until golden, return the sausage meat and keep warm.

Cook the pasta following pack instructions. Make the sauce by beating together the parmesan, egg yolks, most of the parsley and the crème fraîche. When the pasta is cooked, drain, reserving a ladle of the cooking water.

Combine the pasta and meat mixture over a low heat and add the sauce. Season and quickly mix, adding a splash of cooking water if it’s a little thick. Spoon into bowls and eat with the extra parmesan shavings and remaining parsley on top.

Flapjacks

2011-04-11T22:22:00.003+01:00

I hope everyone had a great weekend and made the most of the weather. We had a lovely time on Sunday when our son came over and of course we love spending time with our grandson Ollie, whose now nearly 6 months. He is such a happy baby, always smiling and making cute baby gurgles and giggles. His mum and I took him into town and I did my nannie duties and spoiled him with some gorgeous summer clothes! Below are some pics I took of him yesterday, isn't he so cuddly? OK I had better stop cos I could go on about him all day! Today I made these flapjacks from one of my new cookbooks that I had not used until now, Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale. I haven't baked flapjacks for such a long time and the addition of lemon zest and ginger gave these a different angle. They turned out to be just as I'd hoped, typically chewy but with a refreshing burst of flavour! Next on my list to bake from this cookbook will be the Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies, how amazing do they sound??

Flapjacks

Makes 12
Ingredients
175g butter
175g golden syrup
175g muscovado sugar
350g porridge oats
finely grated zest of ½ lemon
pinch of ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 150oC/fan oven 130oC/Gas mark 2. Line a 20cm/8in square baking tin with baking paper.

Melt the butter in a medium pan over a low heat. Dip a brush in the butter and brush the baking tin with a little bit of it. Add the golden syrup and sugar to the butter and heat gently. Once the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted remove the pan from the heat and stir in the porridge oats, lemon zest and ginger.

Pack the mixture into the baking tin and squash down. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

Once cooked, remove from the oven, leave to cool for 15 minutes, then turn out on to a chopping board and cut into squares.

Traditional Choc Chip Cookies

2011-04-09T18:48:00.002+01:00

I can't believe what wonderful weather we have been having in the UK this week and I hope it lasts but somehow I doubt it (probably rain for the next month now)! To make the most of the sun we decided it was time to tackle the garden, which had not been touched all winter. After a number of back breaking hours and 3 trips to the local tip to dispose of the mountain of garden waste produced I decided to spend my afternoon baking these cookies. My son and his family are coming over tomorrow for the day and I enjoy spoiling him when he comes and these super yummy traditional choc chip cookies will do just that! Although I am having to guard the cookie tin until tomorrow from hubby's greedy little mits!

Traditional Choc Chip Cookies

Makes 14 (I ended up with 20)

Baking time: 12-15 minutes

Ingredients

150g plain chocolate chips

150g white chocolate chips

140g butter

150g caster sugar

1 egg

½ tsp vanilla extract

200g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180oC/fan oven 160oC/Gas Mark 4. Lightly grease two baking sheets or line them with baking paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract. Sift in the flour and baking powder together and beat into the mixture. Add the chocolate chips and stir until well combined.

Drop 5-6 rounded tablespoons of the dough on to each baking sheet, spacing well apart, as the cookies will almost double in size.

Bake until golden, 12-15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to five days.

Recipe from: Cookies Galore by Jacqueline Bellefontaine

Elderflower & Lemon Drizzle Cake

2011-04-07T21:02:00.000+01:00

Spring has arrived in the UK and we have been having some glorious weather, which was perfect as it came just in time for a long weekend break in Devon with my hubby. It feels like ages since I last baked and blogged but I’ve not been into my blog as of late and yesterday decided to resume normal service. I saw this cake recipe in one of my foodie magazines and thought it to be a perfect way to kick off Spring! We all love the classic Lemon Drizzle Cake and the addition of Elderflower gives it an extra delicious twist!

Elderflower & Lemon Drizzle Cake

Ingredients
225g/8oz butter, softened
225g/8oz caster sugar
4 large eggs
225g/8oz self raising flour, sifted
zest and juice 1 lemon
2tbsp hot water
100ml elderflower cordial
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C/ Fan 160C/Gas Mark 4. Grease a (20cm) round, deep loose-based tin and base line with baking parchment.

Place the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl and beat until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, whisking well between additions. When you whisk in the last egg, add 2 tbsp of the flour as well, this will prevent curdling.

Sift in the remaining flour, then gently fold it in with a metal spoon along with 2 tbsp hot water. Spoon into the prepared tin, level the surface and bake for 45-50mins or until it is shrinking away from the sides of the tin. A fine skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 mins.

Squeeze the lemon juice, then sieve to remove the bits, stir in the cordial. Use the fine skewer to prick the cake all over, pour over the syrup then sprinkle over the sugar - it should sink in but leave a crunchy crust. Leave to cool completely, before removing the cake from the tin. Serve in wedges.

Lemon Carbonara

2011-02-26T21:20:00.004Z

This Lemon Carbonara is an interesting variation on the original that packs a full of flavour punch. The recipe is one I found on Beth’s blog at “Jam and Clotted Cream”, a fellow blogger with a blog full of yummy recipes and certainly worth a visit.

This is a light refreshing, quick and easy dish which hubby enjoyed even though it is meat free. It is a recipe that will feature regularly in my kitchen, with the bonus of it being a low in fat and satisfying meal.

Lemon Carbonara

Serves 2
Ingredients
150g spaghetti
1 egg
2 tbsp low-fat Fromage frais or Creme Fraiche
Zest of 1 lemon
Handful of grated Parmesan
Small handful of chopped parsley
Salt and pepper

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the spaghetti - cook according to packet instructions.
Meanwhile in a bowl mix together the egg, lemon zest, low fat fromage frais or creme fraiche and Parmesan and season.
When the spaghetti is cooked, drain and return to pan then quickly toss through the lemon sauce. Sprinkle over the parsley and serve with extra Parmesan.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

2011-02-16T15:17:00.015Z

It really feels good to have found my baking mojo again and hubby is certainly one happy chappy. Although I did quite a bit of baking over xmas, I have not done much since then. I bought some blueberries the other day that were half price and I’d forgotten all about them until this morning. Thankfully they were still edible so I decided to search out a recipe to make use of them.

I came across this Lemon Blueberry Bread online and decided it was the one! This bread is bursting with big juicy blueberries and the lemon infused sponge is light yet moist. The hot lemony glaze applied on removal from the oven adds an extra citrus layer to complete the flavour experience.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

Ingredients
1 ½ cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (outer yellow skin of the lemon)
½ cup (120 ml) milk
1 cup fresh blueberries

Lemon Glaze:

¼ cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the centre of the oven. Butter (or spray with a non stick vegetable spray) the bottom and sides of a loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3 inch) (23 x 13 x 8 cm).

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until softened (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture (in three additions) and milk (in two additions) alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix only until combined.

Gently fold in the blueberries.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 55 to 65 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the 1/4 cup (50 grams) of sugar and the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

When the bread is done, remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Pierce the hot loaf all over with a wooden skewer or toothpick and then brush the top of the loaf with the hot lemon glaze. Cool the loaf in the pan for about 30 minutes then remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack. This bread is best served on the day it is made.

Makes 1 loaf.

Love Buns

2011-02-14T10:47:00.027Z

Hi all, I am back from a bit of an extended break from the blogging world. I will not go into the why’s etc but I've just been busy with life and enjoying my beautiful grandson.

Its Valentines and what a perfect excuse for a bit of baking and blogging! I’ve been thoroughly spoiled by my hubby with roses, chocolates and some David Smallcombe sterling silver cuff bracelets I have been lusting after. He worked from home today so he wouldn’t be late home from the office to enjoy a lovely dinner together. My intention was to bake his favourite Custard Cream Heart cookies but everywhere was sold out of vegetable shortening. So I decided to bake these Love Buns to mark the occasion. I’ve baked these in the past and they have a very light and fluffy sponge. I never make the white frosting the recipe specifies. Personally I can’t stand it and I prefer to use buttercream, which tastes and looks so much more appealing. Of course I had to dye my buttercream pink and add some Valentine sprinkles. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentine’s Day and being spoiled rotten.

Love Buns

Ingredients
For the buns
125g soft butter
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp real vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp milk

Buttercream Icing
150g (5oz) butter, softened
300g (11 oz) icing (confectioners) sugar, sifted
1 tbsp milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Edible pink food colouring
Sprinkles for decoration of choice

Take everything out of the fridge to bring to room temperature - this makes a huge difference to the lightness of the love buns later - preheat the oven to 200oC/fan oven 180oC/gas mark 6.

Put all the ingredients for the buns, except for the milk, into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Pulse while adding the milk down the funnel, to make a smooth dropping consistency.

Divide the mixture into a 12-bun muffin tin lined with muffin papers or heart patterned cases, and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. They should have risen and be golden on top: you want a little peak if possible.

Let them cool a little in their tin on a rack, and then take them carefully out of the tin to cool in their papers, still on the wire rack.

To make the buttercream, beat the butter until soft. Add the icing sugar and stir until it’s just mixed in, then add the milk and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Add few drops of food colouring and beat.

Spread the icing on thickly with a palette knife on top of each cupcake or put the icing into a piping back and make a large swirl on top of each cupcake. Decorate each cupcake with your chosen sprinkles.

Ollie my grandson is now 3 months and a bundle of love and joy in my life!

Introducing my grandson Ollie and Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

2010-11-04T21:24:00.021Z

Me and Ollie ;o)

Sorry I haven’t blogged or visited blogs much these past two weeks; I’ve been preoccupied and busy with the run up and birth of my grandson. Ollie, weighing in at 8lbs 2oz, was born by C-section after 36 hours of labour the afternoon of Saturday, Oct 30th. Both Ollie and mum are well and back home. I may be accused of being bias but I have to say he is a beautiful baby and perfect in every way. He is the spitting image of his dad when he was a new born and brings all those wonderful memories flooding back. We are all so in love with him and I can’t wait to fulfil my “nana” duties. It is wonderful being a young and vibrant granny and I have all the confidence in the world that my son will make a great dad, following in our footsteps.

Although I have baked my Christmas cake and made my Christmas pudding, with my mincemeat being planned for this weekend, I have not baked much recently. After hubby’s regular reminders that the cake and cookie tins have been bare for some time, I decided to use up the last of 2009’s batch of mincemeat and baked a batch of Mincemeat and Raisin Muffins. I have made these a few times before and they have always gone down well and perfect way to use up the mincemeat you may have leftover.

Following the muffin bake I felt a cookie craving come over me! Remembering how wonderful the Chocolate Chip Cookies from Nigella Kitchen came out, I decided to use that same recipe with peanut butter chips in place of the chocolate chips. They came out as wonderful and moreish as I expected. They delivered a soft chewy centre encased in a wonderfully crisp and crunchy shell.

Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Makes approx 14

Ingredients
150g soft unsalted butter
125g soft light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, fridge-cold
1 large egg yolk, fridge cold
300g plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 x 326g packet peanut butter chips

1 x large baking sheet

Preheat the oven to 170oC/fan 140oC/gas mark 3. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Melt the butter and let it cool a bit. Put the brown and white sugars into a bowl, pour the slightly cooled, melted butter over them and beat together.

Beat in the vanilla, the cold egg and cold egg yolk until your mixture is light and creamy.

Slowly mix in the flour and bicarbonate of soda until just blended, then fold in the peanut butter chips.

Scoop the cookie dough into an American quarter-cup measure or a 60ml round ice-cream scoop and drop onto the prepared baking sheet, plopping the cookies down about 8cm apart. You will need to make these in 2 batches, keeping the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge between batches.

Bake for 15-17 minutes in the prepared oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

The cookies can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in an airtight container. Will keep for a total of 5 days.

Prawn, Avocado and Pecan Herb Salad

2010-10-15T20:48:00.025+01:00

After too many lunch times consisting of the same sandwich or tortilla wrap day after day I decided it was time for a change and with Hubby working from home it was a perfect opportunity to make something special. What better way for a change than with a heart healthy recipe from Sally Bee’s The Secret Ingredient? This dish proved that salads do not have to be boring! The prawns cooked with the garlic, spring onion and soy sauce combined wonderfully with the avocado and pecans to deliver a great tasting, warm and full of texture salad. This is a recipe I will certainly make time and time again! It would also make a great healthy starter.

Prawn, Avocado and Pecan Herb Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients

drizzle of olive oil

2 salad onions or spring onions, peeled and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1 tbsp soy sauce

freshly ground black pepper

8 (or more) uncooked king prawns

mixed salad leaves

watercress

1 ripe avocado

2 tomatoes, sliced

juice of 1 lemon

handful of fresh basil, torn

handful of shelled pecan nuts

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped salad onions or spring onions, crushed garlic, soy sauce, black pepper and raw prawns. Sauté until the prawns have turned pink all the way through.

Arrange the salad leaves, watercress, avocado and tomatoes in a big dish, then pour over the prawns and other cooked ingredients. Squeeze over the lemon juice, sprinkle with torn basil and pecan nuts and serve.

Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake

2010-10-14T22:40:00.005+01:00

It’s National Chocolate Week from the 11th to 17th October and the perfect time to bake and eat lots of chocolate! I decided to keep it simple as I'm watching my waistline, (ha who am I kidding but seriously I am) and bake this Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake from Nigella Kitchen. I adore the choc/orange combination and find it totally irresistible. This loaf cake may look plain but it was very moreish and didn’t last longer than a day! The sponge was fluffy, light and very moist, with the chocolate and orange blending together delightfully!

Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake

Ingredients
150g soft unsalted butter, plus some for greasing
2 x 15ml tbsp golden syrup
175g dark muscovado sugar
150g plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
25g best-quality cocoa powder, sifted
2 eggs
zest 2 oranges and juice of 1

1 x 900g (2lb) loaf tin

Preheat the oven to 170oC/150oC fan oven/gas mark 3 and line your loaf tin with baking parchment or a paper loaf-tin liner.

Beat the already soft butter with the syrup and the sugar until you have a fairly smooth caffé Americano cream, though the sugar will always have a bit of grit about it.

Mix the flour, bicarb and cocoa powder together, and beat into the syrup mixture 1 tbsp of these dry ingredients before beating in 1 egg. Then add another couple of spoonfuls of the dry ingredients before beating in the second egg. Carry on beating in the remaining dry ingredients and then add, still beating, the orange zest and finally, gradually, the juice.

Pour and scrape into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes, though check 5 minutes before and be prepared to keep it in the oven 5 minutes longer if need be. Leave to cool a little in the tin on a wire rack, then turn out with care and leave on the rack to cool.

Apple and Cinnamon Muffins

2010-10-11T16:14:00.004+01:00

Did you all have a lovely weekend? My weekend was nice but busy around the house. Dare I mention it but with Christmas around the corner I like to give the house a good de-cluttering and sort out before the madness begins. Then I have free time to bake, cook and enjoy the festive season; of course the daily housework will always be there! So our weekend kicked off the start of our autumn clean up project. I did however manage to find some time to get into my kitchen for a spot of baking and baked these wonderful Apple and Cinnamon Muffins from Nigella Kitchen. The smell of these muffins while baking was divine and they reminded me of all the wonderful xmas scents to come. As I expected these muffins were beautifully moist from the apple chunks and had so much flavour and texture. Hubby and I both agreed these muffins are definitely a must bake but you should seriously try them served as a pudding with lashings of custard, we did!

Apple and Cinnamon Muffins

Makes 12 (I ended up with 18)

Ingredients
2 eating apples
250g plain flour (or spelt flour)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
125g light brown sugar, plus 4 tsp for sprinkling
125ml honey
60ml runny natural yoghurt
125ml flavourless vegetable oil
2 eggs
75g natural (unblanched) almonds

Preheat the oven to 200oC/180oC fan oven/gas mark 6 and line your muffin tin with papers.

Peel and core the apples, then chop into small dice (about 1cm) and put them to one side.

Measure the flour, baking powder and 1 tsp of the ground cinnamon into a bowl.

Whisk together the 125g brown sugar, the honey, yoghurt, vegetable oil and eggs in another bowl or jug.

Chop the almonds roughly and add half of them to the flour mixture, and put the other half into a small bowl with the second tsp of ground cinnamon and the 4 extra tsp brown sugar. This will make the topping for the muffins.

Now fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Add the chopped apple, and stir to combine but don’t over mix.

Spoon this bumpy batter into the muffin papers, then sprinkle the rubbly topping mixture over them.

Pop the tin into the prepared oven, and bake for about 20 minutes, by which time they will have risen and become golden.

Take the tin out of the oven and let it stand for about 5 minutes before gingerly taking out the muffins and placing them on a wire cooling rack.

Pasta Bake

2010-10-10T15:23:00.006+01:00

On Friday evening we had our son Jake and his girlfriend Sophie over for dinner. I miss Jake and a huge hole has been left in my life since he moved out but I refuse to be one of those mothers that try and hold him back for my own reasons. I didn’t count on my son moving out so soon and even more so starting a family of his own but I can only admire and be so proud of the man he is becoming. We are all so excited about the arrival of the baby which could be any day now and I can’t wait to meet my grandson! Whenever Jake comes over I always make the food he loves and enjoys, so when I saw this Pasta Bake that Jan at A Glug of Oil blogged about it seemed the perfect choice for Friday nights dinner. We love pasta and this recipe is very similar to one I make which always goes down well. This pasta bake was full of flavour, really delicious and we all thoroughly enjoyed it! This recipe is a keeper, thanks Jan for sharing this wonderful pasta bake!

Pasta Bake (adapted)

Serves 8

Ingredients

500g gigli pasta (or pasta of choice)

500g minced beef

500g minced pork

extra virgin olive oil - a few glugs for frying

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 large carrot, finely chopped

3 fat cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 x 400g tin of good quality Italian chopped tomatoes

3 tablespoons tomato purée (paste in the USA)

350ml of red wine

a good pinch of dried oregano

a pinch of nutmeg

salt and freshly milled black pepper

For the white sauce:
750ml of whole milk
100g of unsalted butter
55g plain flour
100ml double cream
plus a good handful of grated extra mature cheddar cheese and Parmesan to sprinkle over the top

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F or Gas 4

You will need a large frying pan, a large saucepan and a 2.5 litre oven proof dish. And also a balloon whisk and a wooden spoon.

In a large frying pan heat a about a tablespoon oil over a medium heat. Fry gently the onion and carrot for about 10 minutes, moving it around from time to time. Add the garlic and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Then set this aside while you cook the meat.

Add another glug of oil to the frying pan, turn the heat up and fry the beef and pork to brown it, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Keep it moving so it browns evenly. When it's browned nicely, now you can put the onion mixture back into the frying pan with the meat. Give it all a good stir. Add the tomato purée and cook for one minute then tip in the tin of tomatoes including the juice, oregano and red wine. Add a little salt and pepper to season. Still stirring, allow it to come up to simmering point. Once everything is simmering away nicely, leave it to cook over a low heat for about 30 minutes. Be sure to give it a stir now and then so you know it's not going too dry. By now you should be well on the way to having a nice thick, reduced concentrated sauce, that has very little liquid left in it. If you haven't - no worries just leave it for another 10 minutes or whatever it takes - you might have the heat a bit too low. Have a taste to check the seasoning, when you're happy with the thickness of the sauce, put the pan to one side and make the white sauce.

Put the butter and flour into a large thick-based saucepan and put it over a medium heat whilst stirring with a wooden spoon. Let the flour and butter cook for a minute or so (or the sauce will be lumpy). Now, remove from the heat and using a balloon whisk, add the milk in a little at a time, whisking all the time. Once all the milk is in, put the saucepan over a gentle heat and whisk continuously until the sauce comes to simmering point and thickens nicely. Add some salt and pepper to season and have a taste to make sure it's okay. Don't leave the salt out or the sauce will have no taste. Then, with the heat as low as possible, continue to cook the sauce for about 10 minutes. When it's nice and thick, remove from the heat and stir in the cream, and a pinch of nutmeg.

Once that's done you can turn off the heat and cook your pasta - following the instructions on the packet. Go for very slightly undercooked 'al dente' because the pasta will continue to cook when it goes in the oven.

Drain the pasta and reheat the white sauce, stirring all the time. Tip the pasta into your meat sauce and gently give it a stir to coat it well - you don't want the pasta to break up.

Put half of the mixture into your oven proof dish (2.5 litre in size) and spoon over a little of the white sauce. Don't fuss about the evenness of it, just pour over randomly. Add the rest of the pasta and meat mixture. Now pour the rest of the white sauce over to cover the pasta as best you can.

Sprinkle the top with a good amount of grated cheddar and Parmesan.

Banana Chocolate and Pecan Loaf

2010-10-04T17:07:00.022+01:00

Hi everyone I’m back from a lovely restful weekend at the lodge. The weather wasn’t the best and it rained on and off but we made the most of it. When the weather was dry we picked more cooking and eating apples, chopped up wood to bring back for our open fires and enjoyed our walks around the woodland and open field we have at the lodge. It was a very productive weekend and I came home with 2 gorgeous new tablecloths and matching napkins that my mother in law made with the fabric I recently bought from eBay. My Lemon Curd and Blueberry Loaf Cake was thoroughly enjoyed and didn’t last beyond Sunday evening, it’s definitely a must bake! In addition I also made this scrumptious Banana Chocolate and Pecan Loaf, I couldn’t go away for the weekend and leave the sad looking bananas in my fruit bowl. I adapted this loaf to my taste and added chocolate instead of raisins and Total Greek Yoghurt instead of buttermilk. The end result was a moist, chocolatey, nutty and very yummy banana loaf.

Banana Chocolate and Pecan Loaf

Ingredients

100g softened unsalted butter

140g light muscovado sugar

2 large eggs

3 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 450g/1lb total weight)

50g pecans, roughly chopped

50g milk chocolate, chopped (or raisins)

150ml buttermilk or Total Greek Yoghurt

280g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional 180C/gas 4. Butter a 20 x 13cm loaf tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time (don't worry that the mixture looks curdled). Stir in the mashed bananas, pecans, chocolate and buttermilk/Greek yoghurt.

Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda on top of the banana mixture, then fold in until evenly mixed, taking care not to overmix. Spoon into the prepared tin and level the top.

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes until a skewer pushed in the centre comes out almost, but not quite, dry. Remove from the oven and leave for about 10 minutes, then turn it out of the tin on to a cooling rack to cool.

Lemon Curd and Blueberry Loaf Cake

2010-09-30T17:31:00.011+01:00

Hubby is back tomorrow morning and I’ve missed him! I know he misses being away from home and looks forward to coming home to my home-baked goodies and me. So today I’ve spent a lovely day baking and making delicious cakes for hubby’s return. As you know I have a fridge load of Total Greek Yoghurt and thought I’d kill 2 birds with 1 stone and find something yummy to bake for my man that also incorporated the yoghurt. I didn’t have to look far and found this absolutely amazing Lemon Curd and Blueberry Loaf Cake. The yoghurt makes this heavenly citrusy cake light and incredibly moist. We are off to the lodge again this weekend and I have a feeling this cake and the Banana Chocolate and Pecan Loaf (I will blog about it over the weekend) I also made will go down a treat! Have a great weekend everyone. x

Lemon Curd and Blueberry Loaf Cake

Ingredients

175g softened butter , plus extra for greasing

500ml tub Greek yogurt

300g jar good lemon curd

3 eggs

zest and juice 1 lemon

200g self-raising flour

175g golden caster sugar

200g punnet of blueberries

140g icing sugar

edible flowers , such as purple or yellow primroses, to serve (optional)

Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a 2lb loaf tin and line with a long strip of baking parchment.

Put 100g yogurt, 2 tbsp lemon curd, the softened butter, eggs, lemon zest, flour and caster sugar into a large mixing bowl. Quickly mix with an electric whisk until the batter just comes together.

Scrape half into the prepared tin. Weigh 85g blueberries from the punnet and sprinkle half into the tin, scrape the rest of the batter on top, then scatter the other half of the 85g berries on top.

Bake for 1 hr 10 mins-1 hr 15 mins until golden, and a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean.

Cool in the tin, then carefully lift onto a serving plate to ice. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in enough lemon juice to make a thick, smooth icing.

Spread over the top of the cake, then decorate with lemon zest and edible flowers, if you like. Serve in slices with extra lemon curd, Greek yogurt and blueberries.

Smoked Salmon and Pea Pasta

2010-09-28T18:32:00.017+01:00

Hubby's gone to Singapore on business again this morning but thankfully this is a short trip and he is back Friday morning. I hate it when he goes away and miss him terribly, so I keep busy around the house, cleaning, baking and making yummy meals for one! Comfort food is something I always crave when I am home alone and I found it in this recipe for Smoked Salmon and Pea Pasta. This recipe definitely delivered comfort; it’s low fat and incorporated Total Greek Yoghurt! A heart healthy, speedy meal packed with omega-3s and ready in 20 minutes.

Smoked Salmon and Pea Pasta

Serves 2

Ingredients

175g fusilli or other pasta

100g frozen peas

125g pack cooked smoked salmon fillets

3 rounded tbsp 0% Greek yogurt

2 rounded tsp horseradish sauce

Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling water according to pack instructions, adding the peas for the last 3 mins. Meanwhile, flake the salmon and set aside, then mix the yogurt with the horseradish, salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta, then return to the pan and stir in the salmon and yogurt, letting the heat of the pasta warm the sauce. Tastes great with a crisp green salad.

Prawn Curry

2010-09-27T20:22:00.024+01:00

Last week I received an email from the lovely people at Total Greek Yoghurt asking if I would like to receive a sample of different variants of Total Greek Yoghurt. Having seen other bloggers that have also been selected to trial the range I immediately sent an email back saying YES! I received my huge delivery from Ocado this morning and my fridge is now bursting with small and big pots of natural Greek yoghurt, 0%, 2% and natural ones with honey.

I couldn’t wait to put my yoghurt to use and decided on this Prawn Curry that I have adapted in order to incorporate the 0% Total Greek yoghurt, which also made it low fat to suit my needs. This curry is mild, creamy and has a hint of mango sweetness from the chutney. A thoroughly enjoyable experience, although I will probably add a stronger curry powder next time as I only had mild. Watch this space for more recipes incorporating yogurt.

Prawn Curry

Serves 2

Ingredients
225g king prawns, rinsed
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp plain flour
300ml chicken stock or fish stock
1 tsp tomato puree
1 tbsp mango chutney
½ lemon, juice only
3 tbsp 0% Total Greek Yoghurt

Fry half the onion in a little vegetable oil over a low heat for 2-3 minutes until transparent.

Stir in the curry powder and fry gently for 1 minute.

Blend in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Gradually add the stock and stir until the sauce thickens and comes to the boil (3-5 minutes).

Add the tomato purée, chutney and lemon juice. Simmer for 5 minutes, then strain the sauce through a sieve.

Heat the other tbsp of oil in a frying pan and fry the remaining onion until soft, then add the prawns.

Blend in the curry sauce and bring to the boil.

Stir in the 0% Total Greek Yoghurt and remove from the heat.

Arrange the prawns in the sauce on top of boiled rice and serve with naan or poppadums.

Chilli Con Healthy

2010-09-24T13:50:00.019+01:00

I recently purchased Sally Bee’s cookbook, The Secret Ingredient: Delicious and Easy Heart-Healthy Recipes that might just save your life. At the age of 36 Sally suffered 3 heart attacks in a single week, she had never smoked, didn’t drink and was fit and healthy. But she was to find out that she had a rare heart defect that had gone undetected, SCAD (spontaneous coronary artery dissection) and is usually diagnosed post-mortem! Sally survived against all the odds. Determined to stay alive, she revolutionised her diet and through this book she now shares her secrets about healthy eating for life. The recipes in the cookbook are all eye pleasing, easy, filled with fresh ingredients and flavoured with herbs and spices. I’ve booked marked many recipes but decided to try out the Chilli Con Healthy first. I love chilli but for years have always used the same recipe, I have now been converted and will be using this recipe here on in. This chilli was amazing and my idea of comfort food. I served it along-side basmati rice and dollop of low-fat crème fraiche, which gave it a creamy texture. A must-try!

Chilli Con Healthy

Serves 4

Ingredients
450g extra lean mince beef
extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
pinch of cayenne pepper
400g can chopped tomaotes
1 level tbsp tomato puree
600ml beef stock
freshly ground black pepper
400g can red kidney beans, drained
chopped fresh coriander, to serve
low-fat natural yoghurt or crème fraiche (optional), to serve

In a large, lidded saucepan, dry-fry the minced beef until brown over a hight heat. Drain off any fat. Turn down to a medium-low heat and add a splash of olive oil and then add the onion and garlic and cook gently until softened.

Add the chillies and all the spices and continue frying, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes.

Add the canned tomatoes, tomato puree and stock. Stir well and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes, or until the liquid is slightly reduced.

Season with pepper and add the drained kidney beans. Cover and heat through gently for another 30 minutes, adding a little extra stock if required.

Serve hot, sprinkled with chopped coriander leaves and a dollop of yoghurt or crème fraiche, and accompanied by basmati rice or a fresh salad.

Dorset Apple Cake

2010-09-22T22:57:00.000+01:00

When we were at the lodge a few weekends back I came home with a bag full of cooking apples from the trees in the garden. There is something really satisfying about picking your own and then using your apples to make something truly delish, rather than just buying them in your local supermarket! After much thought on what to make I decided on this Apple Dorset Cake. I love Dorset and have spent some lovely camping holidays there, 2 of my favourite haunts are studland beach and durdle door. We were hoping to have gone back there this summer but with hubby away on business a lot and family over from Miami and Oz we missed out this year. This traditional apple cake can be found everywhere in Dorset and is utterly scrumptious. Hubby brought a large wedge to work and the slices did not last long on the plate. This cake has juicy apple chunks within a soft, moist, lemony almond sponge and would work equally well as a dessert with hot creamy custard.

Dorset Apple Cake

Serves 12

Ingredients
225g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
450g bramley apples
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
225g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
3 large free--range eggs
225g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
25g ground almonds
1 tbsp Demerara sugar

Clotted cream to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease a deep 23-24cm-springform-cake tin and line with baking paper. Peel, core and cut the apples into 1cm pieces, and toss with the lemon juice.

Using an electric hand whisk, cream together the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, adding a little flour with each addition to keep the mixture smooth.

Sift the remaining flour and the baking powder into the bowl and gently fold into the butter mixture with the ground almonds. Stir in the apple pieces.

Spoon the cake mix into the prepared cake tin, level the top and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until well-risen, brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If the cake starts to look a little too brown, cover with a sheet of baking paper after about 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the tin and place on a serving plate. Dredge heavily with the extra caster sugar. Cut the cake into generous wedges and serve warm with a spoonful of clotted cream, if you like.

Moroccan Chicken with Sweet Potato Mash

2010-09-21T21:48:00.002+01:00

Last night hubby and I enjoyed another healthy dinner, Moroccan Chicken with Sweet Potato Mash. It is a recipe from this month’s Good Food magazine, which I have had my eye on. It ticked all boxes for my healthy eating objectives. The dish delivered so much flavour for a relatively basic recipe. The caramelised onion sauce added depth of flavour to the spiced chicken seated upon the sweet potato mash. I thoroughly enjoyed creating and eating this. Another successful day in the Goddess’s Kitchen!

Moroccan Chicken with Sweet Potato Mash

Serves 4

Ingredients
1kg/2lb 4oz sweet potatoes, cubed
2 tsp ras el hanout, or a mix of ground cinnamon and cumin
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 fat garlic clove, crushed
200ml chicken stock
2 tsp clear honey
juice of ½ lemon
handful green olives, pitted or whole
20g pack coriander, leaves chopped

Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes or until tender. Mix the ras el hanout with seasoning, then sprinkle all over the chicken. Heat 1 tbsp oil in large frying pan, then brown the chicken for 3 mins on each side until golden.

Lift the chicken out of the pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 mins until softened. Add the stock, honey, lemon juice and olives, return the chicken to the pan, then simmer for 10 mins until the sauce is syrupy and the chicken cooked.

Mash the potatoes with 1 tbsp oil and season. Thickly slice each chicken breast and stir the coriander through the sauce. Serve the chicken and sauce over the mash.

Chicken and Broccoli Noodles

2010-09-20T14:50:00.007+01:00

I’m really proud of myself, I have stuck with my healthy eating for a whole week without falling off the wagon. I for one know how hard it can be to get back into the swing of things when you’ve spent the last couple of weeks indulging in not so healthy food. But I’ve gotten through that craving food all the time cycle, which was getting ridiculous and I’m starting to feel better again. I’m actually having fun looking for and planning new recipes to make and realising once again that cutting down on fat doesn’t mean you have to miss out on delicious food. Last night for dinner we enjoyed this Chicken and Broccoli Noodles, another instalment from 101 Low-Fat Feasts. It was quick, very tasty and one more to add to my definitely will make this again list!

Chicken and Broccoli Noodles

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
250g packet egg noodles
350g broccoli florets
2 tbsp olive oil
2.5cm/1inch piece fresh root ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
bunch of spring onions, trimmed and cut in half horizontally, large ones cut in half again vertically
3 tbsp soy sauce
200ml chicken or vegetable stock

Cook the noodles in a pan of salted boiling water for 5 minutes, adding the broccoli for the last 2 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat a wok or frying pan until very hot. Add the oil, then stir in the ginger and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring. Add the chicken strips and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until tinged brown. Add the spring onions and stir briefly to heat through.

Mix the soy sauce and stock together and stir into the pan. Tip the drained noodles and broccoli into the pan, season with black pepper and toss everything together. Serve immediately.

National Cupcake Week ~ Vanilla Cupcakes

2010-09-19T15:00:00.010+01:00

This week has been National Cupcake Week to celebrate our love of cupcakes and the many wonderful and delicious recipes. I have a serious love affair with cupcakes and my kitchen is testament to it, I even named my pink kitchenaid mixer Cupcake. I haven’t baked any pretty cupcakes in a while and I wasn’t going to miss out on this perfect opportunity. I have tons of cupcake cookbooks but there was only one recipe in my mind and one that I felt that was only right that I baked, the Vanilla Cupcakes that Jules aka Rosie presented for our monthly bake at Sweet and Simple Bakes. Jules was a cupcake lover too and these cupcakes will forever remind me of my dear friend whom I miss. So I dedicate these cupcakes to her memory. As you can see these cupcakes are pink, girly and totally delish!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Makes 12

Ingredients
175g (6 oz) self-raising flour
1½ level tsp baking powder
175g (6 oz) butter, softened
175g (6 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
3 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Buttercream Icing
150g (5oz) butter, softened
300g (11 oz) icing (confectioners) sugar, sifted
1 tbsp milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Edible food colouring(s) of choice, optional
Sprinkle(s) for decoration of choice

You will also require 12 holed muffin tin lined with 12 paper muffin cases

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. Sift the self-raising flour and baking powder into a large bowl, and then add the butter, caster sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Beat together until well mixes, trying not to over mix the mixture. Spoon the mixture equally into the prepared paper cases and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out to completely cool on a wire rack.

To make the buttercream, beat the butter until soft. Add the icing sugar and stir until it’s just mixed in, then add the milk and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Divide into as many bowls as you want different colour(s) and add edible food colouring (you only require a few drops). This is purely optional should you wish to leave out the edible food colouring(s) and keep the buttercream natural. Spread the icing on thickly with a palette knife on top of each cupcake or put the icing into a piping back and make a large swirl on top of each cupcake. Decorate each cupcake with your chosen sprinkle(s).

Prawns with Tomato and Feta

2010-09-18T12:30:00.002+01:00

I have a confession to make, remember my healthy eating mission? Well for the past few weeks I’ve done terrible! So I decided after feeling bloated, unhealthy and my clothes starting to feel tight I needed to get back on track. I needed some motivation and found it in the Good Food 101 Low-fat Feasts cookbook that was nestled amongst the other cookbooks on the shelf. I immediately found lots of great recipes which looked yummy and I choose this Prawn and Tomato with Feta dish for dinner. This Mediterranean inspired recipe was super easy and quick and the feta bought a new dimension of flavour to all the other ingredients. I served it alongside rice but it would be equally at home with pasta. Hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed this and it felt good to know I was eating healthy food again.

Prawns with Tomato and Feta

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
Pinch of sugar
350g large peeled prawns, thawed if frozen
100g feta
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Rice or pasta to serve

Heat the tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan, add the onions and fry gently for about 7 minutes, until softened and light brown. Add the tomatoes and a pinch of sugar and simmer for 5 minutes.

Throw in the prawns, season and cook gently for 5 minutes until the prawns are thoroughly hot.

Serve spooned over rice or pasta. Crumble over the feta and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Autumn Damson Crunch Cake

2010-09-17T14:29:00.013+01:00

I’m feeling a little better, yet still not 100% but my gorgeous hubby has been working from home this week and been looking after me. I decided to venture into my beloved kitchen today, there is only so much I can take of laying in bed watching TV, and made this Autumn Damson Crunch Cake. Plus I needed to use up the damsons we bought home from the lodge before they go off. This cake is moist, moreish and has the most wonderful, crunchy sugarplum topping. Although I couldn’t quite bring myself to use the amount of sugar the recipe states for the topping, I only used half and omitted the rough sugar pieces and it was sweet enough. Wishing you all a lovely weekend and watch this space for cupcakes coming soon!

Autumn Damson Crunch Cake

Ingredients
2 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
140g butter, softened
140g golden caster sugar
140g self-raising flour
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
200g damsons or plums, stoned, half roughly chopped into pieces and half cut into wedges

For the topping
1 ½ tbsp fresh lemon juice
200g golden caster sugar
25g rough sugar pieces (or sugar cubes), roughly crushed

Preheat the oven to 160oC/fan oven 140oC/gas mark 3. Butter and line the base of a 900g/2lb loaf tin. Lightly beat the eggs and egg yolk with a pinch of salt.

Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Pour in the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour with the orange zest and 2 tablespoons of the juice, then fold in the roughly chopped damsons. Spoon into the prepared tin and scatter the damson wedges over. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack. Mix the remaining orange juice with the lemon juice and caster sugar. Spoon over the cooling cake and sprinkle with the crushed sugar pieces. Cool until set.

Above is a pic of the Damsons we picked from the trees at the lodge.

Coconut and Cherry Banana Bread

2010-09-15T20:07:00.001+01:00

I’m going to keep this post short and sweet as I’m not feeling too great today but I felt the need to blog my latest creation from Nigella Kitchen. We had a lovely weekend at the lodge and bought back lots of handpicked produce. Blackberries from the clearing in the woods, apples and damsons from the garden.

Hubby left for Madrid on Monday and was back last night so I kept myself busy in his absence making blackberry and apple jam, damson jam and this Coconut and Cherry Banana Bread. This has been another roaring success from the book, even with the unusual combination of coconut, cherry and banana, which I would never have thought to put together. It actually works beautifully and hubby was more than happy to arrive back to a slice of this home-baked goodness!

Coconut and Cherry Banana Bread

Ingredients
125g soft unsalted butter
4 small-medium bananas
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
175g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g dried cherries
100g desiccated coconut

1 x 900g (2lb) loaf tin

Preheat the oven to 170oC/fan oven 150oC/gas mark 3. Put a loaf liner into your tin, or line the bottom of the tin with baking parchment and grease the sides.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, and take it off the heat. Peel and mash the bananas in another bowl.

Beat the sugar into the cooled, melted butter, then beat in the mashed bananas and the eggs. Fold in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Finally, add the dried cherries and coconut.

Fold well so that everything is incorporated, then pour and scrape into the lined loaf tin and smooth the top.

Bake for about 50 minutes, but start checking after 45. When ready, the bread will be coming away from the sides of the tin and feel quite heartily bouncy on top.

Once of the oven, leave it in the tin for 10 minutes. Then carefully slip the cake out of the tin (still in the liner) onto a wire rack to cool.

September Plum Cake

2010-09-09T15:40:00.003+01:00

September is plum season here in the UK and I was totally inspired to make the Plum Cake from Lotte’s Country Kitchen cookbook when my good friend/neighbour gave me some home-grown plums. I’ve never baked with plums, shocking right? But there’s a first time for everything. This cake was everything I imagined it would be and more, wonderfully moist, juicy, fluffy, full of flavour and totally scrummy. Hubby arrived back from Dubai on Monday and must have missed my baked goodies, there isn’t a crumb left! We are off to the lodge tomorrow for the weekend and I’ve been busy baking Mincemeat Buns and a Chocolate Banana Bread to bring. Have a lovely weekend everyone and see you soon. x

September Plum Cake

Makes one 23cm/9 inch cake

Ingredients
butter, for greasing
8 plums, halved and stoned
225g/8oz butter, softened
225g/8oz soft light brown sugar
grated zest of ½ orange
4 large eggs
175g/6oz self-raising flour, sieved
½ tsp baking powder
50g/2oz ground almonds

Preheat the oven to 180oC/fan oven 160oC/gas mark 4.

Grease the line a 23cm/9 inch springform cake tin.

Place the plum halved, skin side down, on the bottom of the prepared cake tin.

Cream the butter, sugar and orange zest together in a medium mixing bowl, using a wooden spoon or free-standing mixer, until pale and fluffy.

Beat the eggs into the creamed mixture, one at a time. Add 1 tsp of flour to the mixture between each addition. This is quite a runny cake mixture so don’t worry. It might even look a bit curdled, but it’s absolutely fine. The large eggs make for a lovely moist eggy cake that tastes delicious.

Using a metal spoon, fold in the rest of the flour, the baking powder and the ground almonds and pour the mixture over the plums in the cake tin.

Spread the mixture evenly in the tin with the back of a metal spoon and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove, cover loosely with foil and continue to cook for another 30 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then turn it out onto a wire rack.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

2010-09-05T13:19:00.017+01:00

As promised here is another instalment from Nigella Kitchen. Over the weekend my son and his girlfriend came to stay, as predicted the cookies were a big hit and didn’t last long. On Sunday morning I woke up early to bake these quick Chocolate Banana Muffins for the greedy cookie monsters, the perfect excuse to bake something else from my lovely new cookbook. These dark and moist muffins are at their best straight out of the oven while they are still warm for a perfect weekend breakfast indulgence!

Chocolate Banana Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients
3 ripe or overripe bananas
125ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
100g soft light brown sugar
225g plain flour
3 x 15ml tablespoons best-quality cocoa powder, sifted
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to 200oC/fan 180oC/gas mark 6 and line a muffin tin with muffin cases. Mash the bananas by hand or with a freestanding mixer.

Still beating and mashing, add the oil followed by the eggs and sugar.

Mix the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda together and add this mixture, beating gently, to the banana mixture, then spoon it into the prepared muffin cases.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, by which time the muffins should be dark, rounded and peeking proudly out of their cases. Allow to cool slightly in their tin before removing to a wire rack.

Pic of my son Jake and his girlfriend Sophie aka the cookie monsters!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-09-03T16:48:00.012+01:00

Yesterday I received the last of my birthday presents from hubby, Nigella Lawson’s new cookbook; Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home. I have been so excited about the release of this long awaited cookbook and all the new wonderful recipes to sample and enjoy. I spent most of yesterday reading and browsing through this whopper cookbook and all I can say is I’m in love! Nigella has delivered another fabulous cookbook that’s packed with mouth-watering recipes that make you want to get right in the kitchen and start cooking/baking. I couldn’t wait to begin my love affair and decided to start with the Chocolate Chip Cookies. These cookies were easy and quick and my kitchen smelt divine while they were baking. Not good when you’re watching your calorie intake! I’ve baked various cookies in the past and liked them all; however this recipe certainly delivers everything I expect in a cookie. These moreish cookies are tender, fudgy, chewy but with a crisp bite and seriously yummy! I have a feeling they won’t last long once my son and his girlfriend come to stay tomorrow night.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes approx 14

Ingredients
150g soft unsalted butter
125g soft light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, fridge-cold
1 large egg yolk, fridge cold
300g plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 x 326g packet milk chocolate chips

1 x large baking sheet

Preheat the oven to 170oC/fan 140oC/gas mark 3. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Melt the butter and let it cool a bit. Put the brown and white sugars into a bowl, pour the slightly cooled, melted butter over them and beat together.

Beat in the vanilla, the cold egg and cold egg yolk until your mixture is light and creamy.

Slowly mix in the flour and bicarbonate of soda until just blended, then fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop the cookie dough into an American quarter-cup measure or a 60ml round ice-cream scoop and drop onto the prepared baking sheet, plopping the cookies down about 8cm apart. You will need to make these in 2 batches, keeping the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge between batches.

Bake for 15-17 minutes in the prepared oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

The cookies can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in an airtight container. Will keep for a total of 5 days.

Watch this space for more yummy recipes from Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home.

Low-Fat Spaghetti Carbonara

2010-09-02T17:42:00.014+01:00

What does a girl need when hubby is yet again away on business (Dubai this time)? Well this girl needs comfort to make up for missing her hubby, the food type of comfort! This month’s Delicious magazine came to the rescue with this great version of the classic spaghetti carbonara but with a slimmed-down twist. It has half the fat and 125 fewer calories compared to a typical carbonara and you’d never know the difference! This certainly delivered the comfort I needed and I could quite easily eat this everynight. I will be making this for hubby and moi when he gets back.

Low Fat Spaghetti Carbonara

Serves 4

Ingredients
400g dried spaghetti
2 tsp olive oil
6 rashers back bacon, rind and fat removed, chopped
1 garlic clove, lightly squashed
3 medium free-range egg yolks
5 tbsp low-fat fromage frais
50g Parmesan, grated
½ tbsp chopped fresh flatleaf parsley

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to the pack instructions.

Meanwhile, in another large frying pan, heat the oil and fry the bacon with the squashed garlic clove, until the bacon starts to brown. Remove the garlic clove from the pan with a slotted spoon and discard. Turn the heat off but keep the pan warm until the spaghetti is cooked.

While the bacon is cooking, mix together the egg yolks, fromage frais, half the Parmesan, the parsley and some seasoning in a bowl.

Using tongs, transfer the cooked, drained spaghetti to the pan with the still-warm bacon. Pour in the egg mixture, moving the spaghetti with the tongs to coat the pasta and thicken the egg mixture.

Taste and adjust the seasoning if need be, then serve the spaghetti carbonara sprinkled with the remaining Parmesan.

Your probably wondering why there is rainbow colours reflecting off my pasta? the reflections come from my sun-catcher crystals that I have hanging in my kitchen window. I think it looks pretty, don't you?

Chicken Katsu Curry

2010-08-30T18:34:00.011+01:00

It has been a lovely bank holiday weekend, celebrating my birthday on Sunday (I was thoroughly spoilt) with a fun packed day of shopping, sunday roast lunch at our local pub and a trip to the cinema to watch The Expendables. Today I was feeling a tad tired and lazy after doing a big food shop in the morning, hubby told me to put my feet up with a glass of wine and he would cook dinner for us. I had book marked this recipe in “Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic” and it is a dish I have wanted to try for a while. Hubby found the preparation basic and said as long as he had the ingredients ready up front it all came together really well. This chicken katsu curry, as Gizzi says, is “wickedly wonderful” and “what makes it stand out from other curry’s is that the meat is breaded and fried before having a luxurious curry sauce slathered all over it”. I have to agree with Gizzi and this goes down as a firm favourite, especially with hubby who thoroughly enjoyed it.

Chicken Katsu Curry

Serves 4

Ingredients
100g flour, seasoned with lots of salt and
pepper
1 free-range egg, beaten lightly
200g Japanese panko breadcrumbs
4 boneless chicken breasts
100ml groundnut or vegetable oil
steamed rice and salad to serve

For the curry sauce
1 tablespoon groundnut or vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
5 whole garlic cloves, peeled
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 tablespoon medium curry powder
600ml chicken stock
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon garam masala

To make the sauce, heat the oil in a small pan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes, then throw in the carrots and sweat slowly for 10 minutes with the lid on, giving the odd stir, until softened and starting to caramelise.

Stir in the flour and curry powder and cook for a minute. Slowly pour in the stock until combined (do this gradually to avoid getting lumps). Add the honey, soy sauce and bay leaf and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, so the sauce thickens but is still of pouring consistency. Add the garam masala, then pass the sauce through a sieve (unless you prefer a chunky sauce).

Now prepare the chicken. Lay the seasoned flour, egg and breadcrumbs on separate plates. Coat the chicken in the flour, then dip into the egg and finally into the breadcrumbs.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the breaded chicken breasts for 5 minutes on each side, or until golden and cooked through. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and leave to drain on kitchen paper. Slice the chicken diagonally and serve with the sauce drizzled over, steamed rice and salad.

Let them eat Cake!

2010-08-21T17:30:00.008+01:00

As promised I’ve finally got round to blogging the cakes that I made for the family gathering at the lodge. Everyone had a wonderful time and we all enjoyed the beautiful quiet and peaceful surroundings, although with 12 adults and 5 small kids we made enough noise of our own. Meal times were busy and I have to give all praise to my mother in law for cooking and feeding such a big crowd, the large utility room with its long work surfaces came into its own when plating up for dinner. But with no dishwasher it was a case of drawing straws for who got to do the washing up. One night, with no exaggeration, it took hubby an hour to wash up the dishes. I sat sipping my wine thanking the stars it wasn’t me but I had lined up my excuses in readiness! That probably makes me sound really lazy but we all helped through-out the weekend and of course my small contribution and one I wouldn’t be able to turn up without was my home-made cakes. I’m known through-out the family for my cooking and baking and I’m not joking when I say people get upset if I don’t bring a cake. So below are the cakes, one I’ve baked before and two that are new to my baking repertoire, that were loved, enjoyed and devoured by everyone! Above are some pics of the lodge, isn't it gorgeous? I love it there!

St Clement’s Drizzle Cake

Ingredients
175g caster sugar
175g softened butter
grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon
grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
4 tablespoons milk
2 eggs
175g self-raising flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 180oC/fan 160oC/gas 4.

Grease and line the base of 1 large (900g) or 2 small (450g) loaf tins.

Place the caster sugar, butter and zest of the lemon and orange in a bowl and beat together until pale and creamy. Add the milk, and then beat in the eggs, one at a time, with a spoon of flour to prevent the mixture from curdling. Mix in the remaining flour. Spoon into the prepared tin/tins and level the surface flat.

Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes for a large cake or 30 minutes for the smaller cakes until they are golden and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.

While the cake is cooking, place the lemon and orange juice in a saucepan, bring to the boil and allow to reduce in quantity to about 3 tablespoons. Leave to cool, and then stir in the granulated sugar so it just starts to dissolve.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick several times with a skewer, then slowly pour the lemon and orange sugar all over the top, letting it soak into the cake. Leave to cool completely in the tin before turning out and cutting into slices to serve.

Light Fruit Cake with Pecans and Coconut

Ingredients
butter, for greasing
175g/6oz butter, softened
175g/6oz caster sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
250g/9oz self-raising flour
175g/6oz sultanas
175g/6oz currants
50g/2oz chopped pecan nuts
25g/1oz dessicated coconut

Preheat the oven to 160oC/fan oven 140oC/gas mark 3.

Grease and line a round 20cm/8inch cake tin

Place the butter and sugar in an electric mixer and beat together until they are pale and fluffy. Gradually beat the eggs into the mixture. Don’t worry if it looks curdled, it doesn’t matter at all. Now fold in the flour, followed by the rest of the ingredients.

Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and bake for between 1 ¼ - 1 ½ hours. After 30 minutes, cover the cake with a piece of foil to prevent it from browning too much. To check if the cake is cooked, insert a sharp knife or skewer into the centre of the cake – if it comes out clean, it is cooked.

Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Cherry and Almond Loaf

Ingredients
175g/6oz unsalted butter, softened
175g/6oz caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon and juice of ½ lemon
3 free-range eggs, beaten
225g/8oz glaće cherries, rinsed and halved
75g/2¾oz self-raising flour, sifted
75g/2¾oz plain flour, sifted
Pinch of salt
75g/2¾oz ground almonds
Splash of milk (optional)

Preheat the oven to 190oC/170oC fan oven/375oF/gas mark 5. Butter a 900g/2lb loaf tin, then line with greaseproof paper.

Cream together the butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice, using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer or by hand. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating after each addition.

Toss the cherries in a little of the flour to help them cling to the cake mixture instead of dropping to the bottom. Next, mix together the flours, salt, almonds and cherries and add to the batter, stirring well until the cherries are evenly distributed. The cake mixture needs to be fairly stiff, but add a splash of milk if you feel you need to.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, then test for doneness by inserting a skewer into the loaf’s centre; if it comes out clean, it is done. If you find the top is browning too much before the loaf is ready, simply cover with foil and let is carry on baking.

Remove the loaf to a wire rack, leaving it in the greaseproof paper until cold.

Light Chicken Korma

2010-08-20T17:54:00.013+01:00

Friday night = This delicious Light Chicken Korma served with rice, naan bread and followed by a few Grey Goose voddy’s and tonic. I really fancied a curry and after a quick search on Google for a low fat version I came across this recipe on the trusty BBC Good Food website. This curry was a delicious success and a big hit with hubby and I. It’s another quick and easy low-fat meal to rustle up, which doesn't lack in flavour one bit. I served it with basmati rice and low-fat naan breads, perfect Friday night meal!

Light Chicken Korma

Serves 4

Ingredients

small knob fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced

1 garlic clove

1 onion, sliced

1 tbsp vegetable oil

4 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp garam masala

100ml chicken stock

3 tbsp low-fat fromage frais

2 tbsp ground almonds

handful toasted, sliced almonds, to serve

plain rice, naan bread or chapatis, to serve

Cook the ginger, garlic and onion into a large pan with the oil until softened. Tip in the chicken and cook until lightly browned, about 5 mins, then add in garam masala and cook for 1 min further.

Pour over the stock and simmer for 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Mix together the fromage frais and ground almonds. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the fromage frais mixture. Sprinkle over sliced almonds, garnish with coriander and serve with boiled rice, chapatis or plain naan bread.

243kcalories per serving.

Chicken Tagine

2010-08-19T18:32:00.012+01:00

Our weekend at the family country lodge was really lovely and it was great catching up with everyone. The cakes I made, which I promise I will be blogging about in the next few days, were a hit, loved and devoured by all. During 3 days of over indulging my healthy eating certainly went out the window but it was totally worth it. Before I end up pilling back on all the pounds that I have managed to lose recently, I thought I better get back to my healthy eating. Although that is quite difficult to do after a long weekend of indulgence and will admit that I have not done well this week so far.

So after spotting this recipe in my “Good to Know Recipes” magazine I had to make it and use it as my motivation to get back on track. This meal reminded me I can still enjoy tasty and satisfying food while it remains heathly for me.

This chicken tagine recipe was very quick and simple to make, only 340cal per portion, absolutely delicious and bursting with flavour. You would never have guessed this was such a low calorie dish. It is definitely one I urge you to try.

Chicken Tagine

Serves 4

Ingredients
For the tagine:
1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tsp Moroccan spice mix (or use ½ tsp cumin, ½ tsp coriander and ⅛ turmeric)
200g tin chopped tomatoes
210g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp granular Canderel (artificial sweetner)
300g chicken breast, diced
Salt and pepper

For the couscous:
125g couscous
200ml hot chicken or vegetable stock
Juice and zest ½ lemon
Handful freshly chopped coriander (I used fresh parsley)

Heat the oil and cook the onion for about 3 mins until starting to soften. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further 2 mins. Stir in the tomato purée and spice mix and cook for 1 min, stirring often until everything is well coated.

Pour in the tomatoes, chickpeas, Canderel and season. Bring to the boil, then add the chicken and leave to simmer for 10-15 mins until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened.

Meanwhile, tip the couscous into a large bowl. Pour over the hot stock, cover the bowl with clingfilm and then leave for 10 mins. Squeeze over the lemon juice, add the lemon zest and coriander and mix in, fluffing up with a fork. Serve immediately with the chicken tagine.

Pasta with Tomato Sauce

2010-08-11T18:11:00.008+01:00

Pasta is one of my favourite foods and whenever I am craving it but am too tired to cook something time consuming, this is the recipe I always turn to for my pasta fix! Today has been one of those days, craving something yummy but too tired after spending the majority of it in my kitchen baking cakes for a family gathering this weekend at my in law’s country lodge. This is such a simple and super quick sauce that is delicious and full of flavour, and low fat too. Watch this space for the fruits of today's labour, coming to my blog soon!

Pasta with Tomato Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic, peeled but left whole
1 can diced tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
About 4 basil leaves, torn
Pasta of choice, you’re favourite
Freshly Parmesan cheese, grated to serve

Put the oil and garlic in a saucepan over medium heat. When you can smell the garlic and it has flavoured the oil, add the tomatoes. Add a good pinch of salt and some pepper and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook uncovered for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the tomatoes have all merged with the oil into a sauce. Add the basil and a few drops of hot water toward the end of the cooking time if it looks as if it needs it. If you like, purèe the sauce until smooth, taking out the garlic clove first.

Meanwhile cook the pasta in boiling water, following the package instructions. Drain the pasta and stir through most of the sauce. Divide among four serving bowls and spoon the rest of the sauce on top. Drizzle with a little olive oil if you like, and serve with grated parmesan.

Italian-Style Pork Steaks with Sage and White Wine

2010-08-07T18:57:00.008+01:00

One of my favourite blogs is “Cooking at Marystow” by the lovely Lucie, her blog is always an inspiration with all her mouth-watering delights. When I spotted this recipe over at her blog I knew I had to make it. Lucie said this was “totally delicious” and she was spot on! This dish has lots of flavour with the sage, garlic and white wine sauce which works wonderfully served with the fresh pasta. It’s a quick meal too, always another bonus if you’re hungry and tired from a long day of shopping (yep I hit TK Maxx this morning and got some lovely kitchenalia). Thanks Lucie for sharing this yummylicious recipe with us, keep them coming!!

Italian-Style Pork Steaks with Sage and White Wine

Serves: 2

Ingredients
15g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 Pork Shoulder Steaks
6-8 fresh sage leaves
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
100ml Dry white wine

Method
Heat the butter in a frying pan with the oil until sizzling. Add the steaks and cook over a medium heat for 14 minutes, turning once until the meat is lightly browned on both sides.

Pour off any fat from the pan and add the sage leaves, garlic and plenty of seasoning. Cook for 1 minute then add the wine. Cover the pan and simmer gently for 2 more minutes.

Transfer the steaks to warmed serving plates, increase the heat and simmer the juices until reduced to half. Season to taste and pour over the steaks. Serve with fresh tagliatelle or fettuccine pasta and roasted tomatoes

Banana Cake

2010-08-06T14:46:00.017+01:00

Can’t believe it’s been 3 weeks since my last blog post but after my hubby’s business trip to Singapore we have been spending some quality and much needed time together. I’m still on my health kick and doing pretty well and my body loves me for it. I’ve lost over 8lbs and I can already notice the difference in my clothing, which feels good and motivates me to continue. Hubby and I spent a couple of days in the south coast during which time I was less strict on myself and we enjoyed a lovely meal al fresco on the seafront at a family run Italian restaurant. I feel it’s important to still enjoy the odd treat while losing weight to maintain a healthy balance. Now I’m feeling better about myself having lost this initial weight and the weather has cooled down somewhat I will be hitting the gym once again, which I know from past experience will help me drop the weight quicker. OK enough of me and my weight issues and onto my new cookbook purchase and this lush Banana Cake.

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Lotte’s Country Kitchen by Lotte Duncan. She is a lady after my own heart with her girly pink kitchen and love of glitter and sparkle, which is reminiscent of my own kitchen and love of all things glittery. Her book is beautifully illustrated with an array of wonderful recipes for every month of the year. I was drooling whilst reading and browsing the book and couldn’t wait to get stuck in and decided the Banana Cake was a great one to start on, seeing as there is always a plentiful supply of ripe bananas in my fruit bowl.

Lotte describes this cake as the “very best banana cake in the whole wide world if not the universe and beyond” and I have to agree with her but my only disappointment was I didn’t have any preserved stem ginger in syrup in the house, so my cake was lacking this. Apart from that this cake is full of flavour and gorgeously fluffy. I will definitely be making this again but next time I’ll be sure to include the stem ginger!

Banana Cake

Ingredients
2 over-ripe bananas
juice of ½ lemon
110g/4oz butter, softened
110g/4oz soft brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
225g/8oz self-raising flour, sieved
50g/2oz sultanas
1 piece of preserved stem ginger in syrup, drained and finely chopped
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
½ baking powder

Grease and line a 900g/2lb loaf tin.

Preheat the oven to 180oC/fan oven 160oC/gas mark 4.

Place the bananas and lemon juice in a medium mixing bowl, mash them together using a fork and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together in your mixer or with a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the mashed banana and beat well.

Using a metal spoon, gently fold in the flour, sultanas, ginger, spices and baking powder and turn the mixture into the loaf tin. Spread it out evenly and give the mixture a little tap to settle it down in the tin.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven, leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack.

Serve sliced and spread with lashings of softened creamy butter!

Madison also loves my new cookbook!!

Salmon, Peas and Crème Fraîche Pasta

2010-07-15T17:37:00.017+01:00

This evening I rustled up this speedy but very tasty special recipe for Salmon, Peas & Crème Fraîche Pasta from Tana’s Kitchen Secrets. I adapted it to my healthy eating and taste, omitting the dill (not a fan of dill) which is used in the original recipe and adding basil instead. I also added some petit pois for nutrition’s sake and because they are one of my favourite veggies and I simply love them. I really enjoyed this pasta dish with all the wonderful combination of flavours and textures. Perfect comfort food for wifey’s who are missing their hubby’s.

Salmon, Peas & Crème Fraîche Pasta

Serves 1 (lonely wifey that is missing her hubby)

Ingredients
1 x 140g salmon fillets (I used smoked salmon fillet)
Salt flakes and black pepper
100g spaghetti, preferably fresh (I used fresh pasta)
handful of frozen peas
handful of basil, chopped
Finely grated zest of ⅓ unwaxed lemon
2 tsp lemon juice
1-2 tbsp half-fat crème fraîche

Preheat the oven to 190oC/375oF/gas mark 5.

Place the salmon fillet in an ovenproof dish and season. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil over a high heat and add the peas with the pasta and cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain, return to the pan.

Meanwhile, flake the salmon into a bowl and toss in the basil and lemon zest. Add to the pasta and gently mix through with the lemon juice and crème fraîche, taking care to keep the fish in large flakes. Season well and serve immediately.

Linguine with Garlic, Prawns and Spinach

2010-07-13T17:37:00.018+01:00

My hubby is away on business in Singapore for a week and I hate it when he has to go away but its part of his job. He hates having to leave too but with his job he gets to fly first class all over the world, stay at 5 star hotels and wines and dines at the best restaurants, lucky sod!

I feel lost when hubby isn’t around and it can be lonely! So I decided to pay Amazon a visit and order two cookbooks to keep me company. I ordered Tana’s Kitchen Secrets by Tana Ramsey and The Itailian Diet by Gino D’acampo. The books arrived yesterday and both are great and full of so many yummy recipes. I particularly love The Italian Diet coobook with 100 healthy Italian recipes to help you lose weight and enjoy food. I couldn’t wait to try out some recipes from this book and tonight I tried the Linguine with garlic, prawns and spinach recipe.

This dish is so quick and easy, perfect for when you’re starving and your tummy is grumbling. I loved this simple delicious low-fat pasta recipe and can't wait to make this for hubby on his return, he will definitely love this too. If you’re a prawn and garlic lover then this one’s for you.

On a side note, I weighed myself this morning and my healthy eating is paying off, I have lost 5lbs in the past 2 weeks!

Linguine with Garlic, Prawns and Spinach

Serves 4

Ingredients
300g linguine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, sliced
150g spinach leaves
400g uncooked prawns, peeled
4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered (I omitted these)

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente.

Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat the oil over a medium heat and fry the garlic for 1 minute until golden.

Add the spinach and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the prawns with the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Stir well and continue to cook for 2 minutes.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the frying pan, then lower the heat.

Add the lemon zest and cherry tomatoes and stir everything together for
30 seconds.

Serve immediately.

449 calories 13.4g fat 1.9g saturates 4.2g sugars 0.9g salt

One-Pot Lemon Chicken with Thyme Rice

2010-07-11T12:59:00.012+01:00

Today I got the greatest surprise. My best friend whom I haven’t seen in 5 years since she moved to Barbados conspired with my hubby to pay a surprise visit. We had a lovely afternoon/evening catching up and it was so wonderful to see my good friend again, I've really missed her. I didn’t want her to leave but we will catch up again during the week before she returns.

Still unaware of the impending visit I had planned to try out this One-Pot Lemon Chicken with Thyme Rice recipe which I had book-marked from Fay’s Family Food cookbook. I made this for lunch and my son and his girlfriend (typical teenagers that don’t appreciate good food) didn’t like it so there was plenty of left-over’s. It worked out great as it gave me a lovely meal to offer my friend without taking me away from catching up. We all really enjoyed this meal and were in agreement that it’s a casserole full of flavour.

One-Pot Lemon Chicken with Thyme Rice

Serves 4 adults

Ingredients
6 chicken pieces (thighs and breasts work well)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
150g pack Italian pancetta cubes
2 large garlic cloves
280g brown basmati rice (I didn't have brown so I used white)
700ml chicken stock
Juice and zest of 1 ½ lemons (unwaxed)
2-3 bushy sprigs thyme
250g frozen broad beans (a couple of handfuls)
Freshly ground black pepper

4 litre ovenproof casserole dish, with lid

Set the oven at 200oc fan/220oc/gas mark 7. In your casserole dish, brown the chicken pieces in a little olive oil. Remove and set aside.

In the same oil, fry the onion and pancetta for a couple of minutes. Then crush the garlic and add. Keep stirring for a minute, being careful not to burn the garlic.

Put the rice in and stir to coat.

Add the stock, lemon juice and zest, thyme, the broad beans and a twist of black pepper.

Bring to the boil, then pop the chicken pieces on top. Put a lid on and stick in the oven for 50 minutes.

Serve straight from your dish. Season on your plate.

Summer Prawn Curry with Coconut and Lime

2010-07-10T15:54:00.009+01:00

Here is a really great recipe by Sophie Dahl from this month’s Waitrose magazine. This curry really caught my eye with its wonderful combo of flavours and juicy king prawns. I’m a big fan of Thai curries and this is the first prawn one I’ve made. I adapted the recipe to make it lower in calories using half-fat coconut milk and less oil, every little bit helps in my quest to shift some weight!

I knew I was right to make this dish, oh my gosh it was absolutely scrumptious and nothing less than fantastic! This is a light and refreshing curry with a subtle spicy kick which in no way over-powers the other flavours. Whether you love Thai curries or never tried one before this is one you must make!

Summer Prawn Curry with Coconut and Lime

Serves 4 (I halved the recipe for 2)

Ingredients
2 tbsp sunflower oil (I used olive oil)
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp Cooks’ Ingredients lime leaves
450g raw king prawns
400ml can coconut milk (I used half fat coconut milk)
2 limes, juice
1 tbsp desiccated coconut
100g mange tout
10g coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a large pan; sweat the onion for 10 minutes. Add the garlic, chilli, curry powder and lime leaves and cook on low for another few minutes.

Add the prawns and cover with the coconut milk. Cook for about 7 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and desiccated coconut, then add the mange tout and cook for another few minutes.

Season. Sprinkle with the coriander. Serve on a bed of plump rice.