Roast parsnip and carrot mash

There are always those times when you have leftover roast veg - and it's such a waste to throw away but often you might not know what to do with them. I came up with the following to use up the yummy leftover roast carrots and parsnips.

Ingredients:

• Enough potatoes to feed everyone - scrubbed clean and cut to the same size (that's right - not peeled!)
• All of your left over roast veggies
• About a tablespoon of fat from the roasting tin
• Milk or egg to mix
• Salt and pepper (to taste)

 How to make it:

1. Put your potatoes in a pan, cover with water and put on a high heat till it boils.
2. Simmer till cooked (about 20 mins)
3. Meanwhile cut the cold roast veg into chunks of about 1 - 2 inches / 2,5 - 5 cm
4. After the potatoes have been simmering for about 10 mins melt the roasting tin fat in a frying pan.
5. Add the roast veg and gently fry them to warm them all the way through.
6. When the potatoes are cooked you can easily stab them with a fork and they will feel soft.
7. Drain the potatoes and put them back in the pan they came from.
8. Pour the entire contents of the frying pan into the pan with the potatoes.
9. Mash it all together.
10. Add salt and pepper to taste.
11. Add milk or alternatively if the potatoes are still very, very hot an egg and whisk quickly to mix to a nice mash consistency.

Enjoy!

Apple and apple/strawberry jam

This time of year when fresh apples are plentiful I like to make apple jam. It's not something people tend to make which is a shame as it is the yummiest jam ever, especially when it's made with strawberries too (though people who don't like strawberries would probably disagree on that point hehe). If you like apple sauce but want something a bit more grown up then apple jam is for you! It's also very easy to make and doesn't require any special equipment.

Equipment you need: 

• Large pan (I used a 5 litre/10 pint pan but larger is probably safer)
• Wooden spoon
• Jam jars:  4 - 5 jars with a metal screw lid per kg/2 pounds of fruit
• A slotted or perforated spoon if you have one - otherwise a normal spoon will do.

See - nothing really special needed :)

Ingredients for about 4 jars of jam*:

•  1 kg / 2 pounds roughly grated apples** (on a 4 sided standing grater I used the largest one)
• 1/2  kg / 1 pound of  granulated sugar
• 1/2 kg / 1 pound of jam sugar
• A pinch of cinnamon (optional)
• A teaspoon of lemon juice (optional)

Instructions:

1. Put the grated apple into the large pan with the cinnamon, lemon juice and add the granulated sugar only.
2. Put it on a low heat and stir the apple and sugar together - it will be quite dry at first but s the sugar gets wet from the apple and starts melting it will soon become liquid.
3. Bring it to the boil slowly, stirring all the time - by doing it slowly you give the apple some time to cook which results in a better flavour later on.
4. Use the slotted/perforated spoon to remove any scum (white bubbly stuff) that floats on the top of the jam.
5. Once it's getting close to the boil add the jam sugar.
6. Stir it in carefully and keep stirring till the jam is boiling even when you stir.
7. Take the spoon out and let the jam boil for 4 minutes exactly.
8. Meanwhile wash the jam jars up in the hottest water possible - you need the jars hot when you pour the jam into the jars and carefully dry them on inside as water in the jam is a bad thing.
9. Keep the jars warm in the oven on a low setting.
10. When the time is up turn the heat off.
11. Do the next bit as quickly as you can - you need to do this while the jam is still close to the boiling point.
12. Get the jars out of the oven and place them on a tea towel to protect your work surface and avoid them shattering.
13. Fill the jars almost to the top with the jam.
14. Close the jars as tightly as you can with the lids and then turn the jars upside down.
15. This will create the vacume seal jam always has.
16. After 5 minutes turn the jam the right way round (don't leave it any longer or the jam will stick to the lid and not move down.)
17. Leave to cool while still on the tea towel, add a lable with the type of jam and the date.
18. The jam should be kept in a cool dark place when sealed and in the fridge when opened.

Enjoy!

  If you wish to make apple/strawberry jam just use half apple and half strawberry and don't use cinnamon.


* Please note that I'm using whole pounds even though a pound is less than half a kg as its easier to weigh and it doesn't make difference to the end result except there being slightly less jam. Just choose either pounds OR kg and stick with that and it will be fine.
** I used Elstar - a crisp semi sweet apple - I'd suggest using any apple you like to eat.

Chicken and bacon burgers

I made this last night as I was in the mood for burgers but didn't have any mince (ground beef) to make it with. It was one of my experimental dishes that the kids LOVED so I thought I'd share it with you.

Ingredients:

• 250 grams / 10 oz chicken breast - diced
• 100 grams / 4 oz bacon (either slices or diced)
• 1 large onion - roughly chopped
• 1 egg
• 50 - 75 grams / 3 - 4 oz breadcrumbs
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:

1. Put the chicken, bacon and onions into a food processor and whizz till it's finely chopped and looks like mince (ground chicken)
2. Add an egg and 2/3 of the breadcrumbs
3. Season to taste
4. Whizz a bit more to mix it all in, add more breadcrumbs if it's a bit wet still.
5. Make into patties that are about 10 cm / 4 inches across - I got 7 out of this mix but if you make them larger or smaller you will get more or less burgers.
6. Fry for about 15 minutes in a frying pan (skillet) till brown and cooked through.

As you can see in the photo I served mine with mashed potatoes and tinned carrots and peas (not my favourite thing but I had a tin lurking that needed to be used) You can, of course, also make real burgers with them and put them on bread with a sauce and veg to taste.

Tip: If you make your hands wet before handling the meat to make patties the meat won't stick to your hands.

Macaroni cheese with a difference

I always remember this as the family "Macaroni cheese" though I may have misremembered what we used to call it when I was growing up - either way it's perfect for using up leftover pasta and those bits of veg lurking in the fridge that are not enough for cooking with. Of course you don't have to use leftover pasta - you can also cook it specially for the dish, just make it while you chop the veg and use it while hot.

For 4 people (or 2-3 people with a larger appetites) this is what I used but just adjust to your taste/what you have lurking:

•  About 400 grams pasta (that's about 250 grams "raw" pasta)
• 125 grams diced ham or cooked bacon
• About 250 grams grated Cheese - this can be cheddar or something else that melts nicely. I used mature Gouda as that's what I had in the house
• 2 tablespoons fine breadcrumbs
• 2 medium carrots - diced, 0.75 - 1 cm/1/8 - 1/4 inch
• 2 tomatoes - diced, about 1 - 2 cm/1/2 - 3/4 inch
• 1/3 cucumber - diced, about 1 - 2 cm/1/2 - 3/4 inch (I do this by leaving the cucumber I need on the whole cucumber and cutting down the length in a cross hatch and then "slicing" the bits off)
• 2 spring onions sliced thinly
• You can also use mushrooms cut into small bits, onions, courgette aubergine, etc. just don't use tinned tomatoes.

You will need a deep oven proof dish for this - I always use the dish for cheese fondue as it's oven proof, deep and large.

 How to make it:

1.  Mentally divide the pasta into 5 use 1/5 to make a layer of pasta in the oven dish.
2.  Sprinkle 1/3 of the ham over the pasta followed by the 1/3 of each of the different kinds of veg you are using.

 3.  Sprinkle 1/5 of the cheese over the top.

 

4.  Make another 2 layers like this till you have run out of ham/veg.
5.  Spread the last 2/5 of the pasta over the top of the dish.
6.  Cover with the last of the cheese.
7.  Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top.

 8.  Bake in the oven at 200 C / 390 F for about 35 - 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Tortilla cake

The other day I made a tortilla "cake" I called this a tortilla cake because I baked it in a cake tin and I did it like that because I wasn't up to making a bunch of burrito's to put in the oven so decided to make my life easy. It's a bit like making lasagne.

Ingredients:

• 1 pack of  tortilla's - I used small tomato flavoured ones because that's what I had in the house.
• A pound of minced (ground) meat - I used half pork and half beef but you can use what ever you prefer.
• 1/2 - 1 sachet  of taco spices - or use your own mix of herbs  if you prefer.
• Chillies (optional)
• Half a pound of grated cheese
• Tinned or fresh tomatoes diced (1 tin or about a pound of tomatoes).
• Tin of tomato purée (optional - Best used if you only add half a pack of taco herbs)
• 2 finely chopped onions.

First make the sauce - this can be done in advance and left over night (makes for a better taste) if you are short of time on the day.

1. In a large pan fry the onions in a bit of oil, margarine or butter.
2. Once softened add the meat and fry till brown using a spatula or wooden spoon to break the mince up into little bits.
3. If using fresh tomatoes: Once brown add the tomatoes and fry for a bit and a pint of water (about 500 ml )
4. If using tinned tomatoes then add the tomatoes and about 2 tins of water.
5. If using the tomato purée add it now.
6. Add the taco herbs at this stage and mix well.
7. Bring to the boil and allow to gently simmer for a good 30 minutes this will allow the tomatoes to get nice and soft.

To make the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 C / 340 F.
2. Find a round cake tin (a spring form is easiest) that is about the same size as the tortilla's.
3. Butter the cake tin.
4. Set aside half the cheese
5. Place a tortilla at the bottom - don't worry if some edges stick up a little, tortilla's are not perfectly round - just press against the sides and make sure that every time you add a layer that sticky up bit ends up in another place.
6. Spread some sauce over it, about 3 - 4 tablespoons
7. Sprinkle a little cheese over the top of the sauce. 
8. Place another tortilla on top.
9. Repeat till you place the last tortilla in the tin.
10. Put another layer of cause on and use a liberal amount of cheese you set aside earlier on the top.
11. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes (if you used warm sauce) / 35 minutes if you used fridge cold sauce.
12. Leave to stand for a few minutes then remove from the cake tin .

Enjoy!

I know we did!

Apple Cinnamon Cake

Sometimes a cake I made using someone else's recipe is so delicious I want to share the recipe and even more occasionally I get permission from the publisher to do so :) The apple cinnamon cake is just one such cake and The National Trust is that publisher. This recipe comes from "The National Trust Book of Teatime Recipes" by Jane Pettigrew that was printed in 1991 ( © National Trust/Jane Pettigrew 1991). Sadly it's out of print but fortunately The National Trust does have another book by the same author Good Old Fashioned Cakes and many more wonderful books in their on-line shop. And now on to the recipe I have copied from the book, I'm going to copy it as faithfully as I can so it won't be in my usual format.

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Apple Cinnamon Cake

Makes 1 x 8in (20 cm) round cake

FOR THE CAKE

7oz (200g) self-raising flour, sifted	5oz (150g) margarine, softened
3oz (75g) caster sugar	1 large egg

FOR THE FILLING

2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced	2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar	2 tablespoons strawberry or apricot jam

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F, 180°C. Grease and line an 8 in (20 cm) round tin. Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar, margarine and unbeaten egg. Using a wooden spoon mix the ingredients gently for about 2 minutes until thoroughly combined. Turn two-thirds of the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth. Lay the apples on top and sprinkle with the granulated sugar and cinnamon. Drop spoonfuls of the remaining cake mixture on top of the apples but do not spread. Place teaspoonfuls of the jam in between the came mixture. bake for 1 hour until golden and firm, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.

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Personal notes:

• It's really really important to line the tin - if you don't the stickiness from the jam that ends up on the lining paper will get on your tin instead and it will be a nightmare to remove. (I found this out the hard way some time ago when making jam tarts)
• The mix is much much drier than most cake mixes and it needs to be - don't go and add more liquids! (no I didn't but I'm just mentioning this hehe)
• You will feel that there isn't enough cake mix - this is normal and will pass once the cake is baked.*grin*
• Use a teaspoon to put the spoonfuls of the remaining cake mix on the top - a tablespoon leaves larger lumps like the one on the right of my cake AND you won't have many spoonfuls to put on the cake.
• I used strawberry jam on mine, I'm partial to apple/strawberry jam and knew this would be loved by the kids.
• YES you really, really need to let it cool first! Jam gets VERY hot in the oven and a burnt mouth from hot jam is no fun at all. (yup first hand experience here.. that will teach me not to be impatient when wanting to sample jam tarts)
• I'm going to try this without cinnamon next time, while it was very good like this the kids asked to try it without next time.
• Don't allow your kids to eat all the cake in one go.. they won't want dinner!

Enjoy!

Summer day camp reward

The kids have spent all week at a summer sports day camp and as a thanks I made the people who had made the week so much fun for the kids cupcakes. There were 40 people working there and about 60 kids so it was really well staffed and they had put a LOT of effort in to make things fun.


I made 4 batches of cupcakes - chocolate, apple cinnamon, strawberry and of course vanilla. The people there were thrilled with the treat :)


I don't think I've mentioned how I make the apple cinnamon cupcakes yet so here goes:

• One batch of My favourite cake batter made with/omitting:
• Omit the vanilla flavouring
  
• Add 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• Add an additional 5 ml / 1 teaspoon of milk
• About 50 grams / 2 oz chopped dried apple (this stops the cake from going soggy from the apple juices)

• If you wish to ice this use:
• Icing made with lemon juice 
• Caramel glaze made with: 
• 125 gr / 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 - 2 tablespoons of caramel coffee syrup
•  Half a batch of caramel frosting as found here

Enjoy!

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Some of the best things in life are healthy - like this smoothie.  I like my smoothies simple so just go for fruit and yoghurt with a bit of sugar to sweeten the yoghurt, which is needed here as the plain yoghurt here is unsweetened.

All you need is for about 4 large glasses:

• About 2 pints/a litre of natural low fat yoghurt
• 3 banana's broken into bits.
• About a pound of strawberries.
• Sugar to taste (or sweetening if you can deal with the artificial taste it adds)

Use a kitchen machine or blender to make this. Just put all the ingredients into the machine and turn it on till smooth.

I had a couple of raspberries that needed using up so I threw them in as well - any soft fruit will do really - apples will give a chunkier result unless you finely grate them first.

Old favourites... Part 4 - Fish pie

Last week I made fish pie for the kids - normally I'd instantly blog about it but the IRS in my shoulder started playing up and I have been resting my arm as much as I have been able to, so blogging stuff had to be put on hold. Fish pie made like this is one of the kids favourite fish dishes and the love it when I make a mashed potato top instead of the more usual pastry one - not really sure why they like it more like this but well... that's kids for you *wink*

Ingredients for a medium large oven dish (2-4 people depending on size of appetite) :

•  Leftover mashed potato, enough to put a layer on the dish or 750 grams /  1 1/2 pounds potatoes cooked and mashed.
• About  100 grams/ 4 oz salmon
• About 200 grams / 8 oz cod
• 2 small onions, finely diced.
• Milk
• Pepper
• 1 small bay leaf (fresh if possible)
• Knob of butter
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1 - 2 fish stock cube ( to taste)

How to make it:

1. Put the fish in a pan with the bay leaves, some pepper and onions.
2. Pour in enough milk to cover and bring to the boil, allow to simmer for 10 minutes if fresh 15 if frozen.
3. Strain the fish, catching the milk in a bowl.
4. Preheat the oven to 220 C/430 F  
5. In a clean pan melt a knob of butter.
6. Add the flour stirring all the time till it bubbles.
7. Pour in some of the milk and stir till thickened, keep adding the milk till it's all gone, making sure that you don't stop stirring.
8. Turn the heat down low.
9. Crumble the stock cube(s) into the sauce - do one at a time and taste to make sure you don't add too much.
10. Add some pepper to taste if needed.
11. Take the bay leaf out of the strained fish/onion mix and flake the fish.
12. Add the fish/onions to the sauce.
13. Stir gently to mix and put it in the bottom of an oven dish.
14. Cover the fish with spoonfuls of the mashed potato.
15. Gently spread it over the fish where needed to make it smooth and about even.
16. Put in the oven for about 30 - 45 minutes depending till brown on top and hot all the way through.

Enjoy!

The most divine cupcakes ever...

Sometimes i have idea's about how to make something - last night after baking some cupcakes for a client I had this most wonderful idea but was too tired to mix up another batch of cupcake batter to try it out. Needless to say it was the best idea ever and I'm glad I took the time to try it out.

What I did was bake a batch of caramel cupcakes using My favourite cake batter  and replace just milk with a mixture of 1 - 2 tablespoon of caramel coffee syrup mixed with 3 tablespoons of milk.

Then after baking while the cakes are just out of the oven make a gooey Fudge mix:

• 150 grams / 6 oz finely grated fudge (it's a bit of a pain to do but worth it)
• 2 - 3 table spoons of milk

 How to make:

1. Put a small amount of water in the bottom of a small saucepan
2. Bring the water to the boil and turn down so it just simmers.
3. Put a bowl over the pan making sure it doesn't touch the water (you can throw away some of the water if it does)
4. Put the milk and fudge in the bowl and gently melt the fudge while stirring.
5. When completely melted take the bowl off the pan (turn the heat off) and allow to stand for about 5 minutes.
6. Use a syringe with a large opening (take the needle off) to suck up the fudge mix
7. Stab a cupcake in the middle with the syringe and squirt some of the fudge into it - it will spill out a little when you take it out.
8. You will need about 1/3 of the fudge mix for this.

Then using the rest of the still warm fudge mix make the fudge frosting - you will also need:

• 1 - 2 table spoons water
• 125 grams of icing sugar

How to make:

1. Add the water and the icing sugar and whisk till blended - add a little water if needed 
2. Spread the mix over the cupcakes
3. Allow to set.

Enjoy! ( I know I did *wink* )

Pasta bake...

Every now and then I like to surprise the kids with a cooked lunch - pasta is favourite for this as it's cheap and tasty and today I did an easy pasta bake for them with bacon, cheese and finely chopped onions As I like a crunchy crust on oven dishes I sprinkled breadcrumbs on the cheese to get that extra crunchiness.

Ingridients:

• about 250 grams / half a pound of pasta
• 100 grams / 4 ounces bacon - I used thinly sliced bacon that I chopped up
• 150 grams grated cheese with extra for on top
• 1 small onion - finely chopped
• 1 glass of milk ( 1/4 litre / 1/2 pint)
• 2 glasses of water ( 1/2 litre / 1 pint)
• handful of breadcrumbs (optional) 
• 25 grams / 1 ounce margarine or butter

How to make:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C / 392 F
2. On a high flame (highest setting on an electric etc. cooker) Lightly fry the onions in the margarine
3. Add the bacon and fry till cooked
4. Add the water and milk and stir well
5. Bring to the boil while still stirring
6. Turn the heat off and add the cheese bit by bit - it doesn't have to completely melt at this point.
7. Half fill a deep dish with the pasta
8. Pour over the sauce you just made
9. Sprinkle the leftover grated cheese over the pasta and the breadcrumbs if you are using them
10. Put in the oven for about 45 minutes

Enjoy!

PIZZA!!

I

Today my oldest son's best friend was over and I'd promised him that we'd make pizza again next time he was here so that's what we did. I made the dough and put it in the shapes then I let the kids loose to add toppings of their own choosing. The pizza above was the one shared by my oldest and his friend.  The ones below are made in a dish that has 5 "boat" shaped holes that I filled with dough and me and youngest put toppings on them. These end up as "deep pan"  pizza's while the top one is more Italian style.

Ingredients for the dough (you can also "cheat" and use a packet to make the dough but it's so easy anyone can do this) enough for the top pizza:

• 15 gram / 1/2 oz fresh yeast or 1 packet active dry yeast
• 2/3 cup / 150 ml warm water (Not hot! - hand warm)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt

How to make the dough:

1. In a small bowl put the yeast and warm water mix well and leave for about 10 minutes.
2. Put the flour and salt into a bowl and mix.
3. Add the yeast and mix till it's all absorbed
4. Knead the dough till it well kneaded (5 minutes or so)
5. Put the dough back into the bowl and cover with a clean cloth or with cling film and put in a warm place. (I find above the central heating works OR on a windowsill of a closed window in the sun OR on the cooker with the oven turned on to the lowest setting) Leave for an hour.
6. After that time give it a gentle knead for about 1 minute.
7. Oil the tray your are going to bake the pizza on or line it with greaseproof paper to avoid having to scrape the pizza off the tray *wink*
8. Then you can roll out the dough into your desired shape. I pressed the dough into the boat shapes but rolled the dough for the larger pizza after pressing it as flat as I could first by hand.
9. Preheat the oven to   230 C / 450 F
10. Give it 10 minutes rest as dough tends to shrink a little after rolling before going on to the toppings.

The toppings basically you can use anything you have around the house as a topping. This is what we used:

•  Tinned chopped tomato mixed with some French herbs and pepper for the tomato sauce on the base.
• Cheese - this can be cheddar, mozzarella or something else that melts nicely. We used mature Gouda as that's what we had in the house.
• Salami
• Ham
• Turkish sausage
• Sweet green pepper freshly picked from the garden (oddly enough the kids will eat this but not shop bought)
• Sliced onion

How to proceed:

1. Put some tomato mix on the base - a thin even layer.
2. Scatter cheese over the base
3. Put toppings of choice on top
4. If, like my kids, you like extra cheese put more cheese on now
5. Place in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes

Enjoy!

PIES!!

I love baking pies - I just don't bake them often enough.  Today however I did bake pies - one for dinner and one for pudding. For pudding I made an apple pie and for dinner a beef and potato filling.

Ingredients for apple pie (no real amounts this time as how much depends on the size of the dish used).:

• Pastry (enough for the dish you wish to use)
• Apples (one per person)
• Cinnamon (to taste)
• Brown sugar (1/2 table spoon per apple)

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 220 C/430 F
2. Butter the dish you wish to use with butter
3. Line with pastry leaving a flap sticking out on each long side that is about enough to reach to the middle.
4. Core the apples and cut them into 8ths
5. Mix the sugar with the cinnamon in a bowl 
6. Add the apples to the bowl and stir to cover the apples with the sugar
7. Put the apple/sugar mix into the dish with the pastry.
8. Fold the flaps over so they meet in the middle - leave an opening and then cover the top with any sugar left in the bowl you mixed the apples with the sugar in.
9. Bake in the oven for about 30 - 45 minutes.

The beef pie takes a bit more work but tastes lovely. I used bacon fat for my version as my father had taught me to keep the fat from cooking things like bacon and using the fat to cook other things with. This gives a special flavour to the food you are cooking and makes it taste even better.

Ingredients:

• 200 gr / 8 ox minced (ground) beef
• 400 gr / 16 oz small potatoes, sliced
• 2 spring onions, sliced (optional)
• 2 large tomatoes, diced (optional)
  
• Bell peppers or other veg that fries well can be added to taste.
• Pepper
• Gravy granules/powder ( I used Bisto)
• Glass of water.
• 25 grams of butter/margarine/grease

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 220 C/430 F 
2. Melt the fat in the frying pan (skillet) you are using.
3. Add the beef and onions 
4. Once brown add the tomatoes and fry for a moment.
5. Add the potatoes and fry for a little longer.
6. Add the water and bring to the boil
7. Add the gravy granules/powder
8. Simmer for about 10 minutes then put in a pie ish.
9. Cover with pastry and put in the oven for about 30 - 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Old favourites... Part 3 - Pasta Carbonara

Saturday I made another old favourite of the kids: Carbonara sauce with macaroni. I made it with bacon, cheese and spring onion this time and although the panful *should* have been enough for 2 meals it was almost completely finished by the kids having not just seconds but thirds and fourths as well!

Ingredients:

• 150 grams / 6 ounces bacon strips
• 3 spring onions - thinly sliced
• 1 onion - finely diced
• 25 grams / 1 ounce margarine or butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 150 grams / 6 ounces cheese
• 1/2 liter / 1 pint milk
• Pasta - enough for 3 - 4 people

How to make: 

1. Put the water for the pasta on to boil
2. Melt the margarine / butter in a frying pan (skillet) on a high heat and keep it high till told to change.
3. Add the bacon and fry for a moment before adding the onion
4. As soon as the onion starts to go transparent add the spring onion.
5. Fry for a bit longer till the onion starts to brown.
6. The water for the pasta should be boiling now so add the pasta to the pan.
7. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon if it's a non stick pan or whisk if it's not.
8. After about 1 minute you can start slowly adding the milk, first enough to cover the bottom and stirring till it's thick - then adding what's left in 2 - 3 goes each time stirring till it's thick again.
9. Turn the heat down.
10. Slowly add the cheese and stir till completely melted before adding more.
11. Turn the heat off.
12. Check to see if the pasta is done and if so strain and serve with the sauce.

Enjoy!

Quiche.. the easy way.

Last night I made quiche as the kids had been asking me to make it for a while and I'd promised them it before the end of the month. Since one of the kids friends was staying for dinner and we all have our favourites I made 4 flavours in 2 dishes. Here in The Netherlands Créme fraiche comes in little cups - 100 grams / 3 1/2 oz and 200 grams / 7 oz. and I use the cup from this to measure with.

For one large quiche you need:

• One large cup (200 grams/ 3 1/2 oz) Créme Fraiche
• Use the cup of the Créme Fraiche as a measure and fill it once with milk.
• Fill the cup again with eggs + one extra added to the bowl. (around 5 - depends on the size of egg but it's always the cup filled with egg +1 egg) - just to add - you crack the eggs into the cup - not the egg shell and all *wink*
• Enough pastry to cover the inside of a rectangular dish - I usually use frozen pastry.
• 1/2 pound cheese - anything that melts nicely works - I used Mature Gouda, Semi Mature Gouda and Old Amsterdam - a really really Mature Gouda.
• Flavourings to taste. ( I used bacon strips, cherry tomatoes and chopped onion)

How to make: 

1. Defrost the pastry if using frozen pastry.
2. Butter the dish you are using really well - sticking pastry really isn't a good thing with this.
3. Preheat the oven to 230 C / 450 F
4. Put the Créme Fraiche into a largish bowl.
5. Measure out the milk and add it.
6. Mix till it's combined and frothy
7. Measure out and add the eggs
8. Mix till it's combined and frothy
9. Line the dish with the pastry
10. Put the flavourings into the dish - you can do 2 flavours in a dish if you keep each to one side.
11. Spread the cheese evenly and then carefully combine the flavourings with the cheese so when you eat it will be evenly distributed.
12. Pour the eggy mix over it all and give it a stir to make sure that the eggy mix is down to the bottom
13. Put the Quiche into the oven for about 45 minutes.

I did one quiche with one half just cheese, one half bacon and cheese. The other one I did with cheese and whole cherry tomatoes and the other half bacon, finely chopped onion and halved cherry tomatoes.

Enjoy - We did!

Old favourites... Part 2 - Weiner schnitzels

Another old favourite of the kids is Weiner schnitzels. Not the huge bit of meat covered in breadcrumbs but smaller bits that you can have loads of. Why have one when you can have 8 instead? *wink*

What I do is I take the unbreaded schnitzel I buy at the supermarket and slice it lengthways to make it in to thinner slices of about 1 - 3 mm thick (no more than 1/8 ") and I sometimes cut them into smaller pieces as well. I then give them all a whack with the rolling pin (when I lived at my dad's still we'd use a washed, empty beer bottle instead so that works too if you don't  have a rolling pin handy). Then I introduce them to the eggy mix ( I put all liquid or soft herbs/spices/garlic into the egg and all the dry herbs and pepper into the breadcrumbs) and then carefully put the schnitzel into the breadcrumbs making sure to keep one hand "eggy" and one hand for the crumbs. I give it all a single layer of breadcrumbs. Once done I fry them all ( a few at a time)  in a large pan and put the ones that are fully cooked into a second pan to keep warm.

Simple to make as you can see but beware! Thinly slicing meat is tricky at best and knives slip easily and you don't really want to be eating YOU schnitzels!

Enjoy!

Old favourites... Part 1 - Macaroni cheese

Today I made one of the kids favourites - mac cheese, not the yucky processed type but the really nice and gooey home made kind. Since they like a crunchy crust on top I put it in the oven after making it but it's also possible to just dig in straight away and skip the long wait before you can sink your teeth in *wink* This may seem complicated but both my kids (8 and 10 at the time of writing this) can make the cheese sauce alone so if they can do it so can you!

Ingredients (all rough estimates as I do this by eye)

• 25 gr / 1 oz butter or margarine
• 1/2 Table spoon of flour
• 1/2 litre / 1 pint of milk
• 100 grams 4 oz mature cheese - cheddar works - I use Gouda cos that's what I can get.
• Pepper to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard
• Pasta (any pasta will do - even spaghetti)  - enough for about 3 people.

How to make:

1. bring the water for the pasta to the boil and cook as per the instructions on the packet.
2. Meanwhile in a small 1 litre/ 2 pint  pan melt the butter on a medium high heat - keep the heat at this level while you do the rest.
3. Add the flour and stir, letting it bubble a little but not brown.
4. Pour in a slosh of milk while still stirring
5. When it's thick add more milk - about 1/4 of what you have left - Don't stop stirring!
6. When it's thick add more milk - about 1/3 of what you have left - stir like your life depends on it *wink*
7. When it's thick add more milk - about 1/2 of what you have left - and yes.. keep stirring.
8. When it's thick add all the you have left and stir till thick.
9. Turn the heat down low.
10. Add the pepper and mustard and stir.
11. Add the cheese a bit at a time still stirring to avoid it sticking and to make sure it mixes through properly.
12. When it's all mixed through and melted turn the heat off.
13. The pasta will be about ready now.
14. Drain the pasta and putit back in the pan.
15. Mix the cheese sauce through the pasta and you are done.

Optional: put the pasta in an oven dish and sprinkle with some more cheese and if you have it a small amount of breadcrumbs will make for a nice crunchy topping (not shown on my pic - I'd run out of breadcrumbs) and put in the oven on a high heat for 15 - 20 minutes.

You can make this in advance if you like but if you leave it for more than a day you should add a slosh of milk to the dish to avoid the pasta drying out.

Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken...

One of the kids favourite things is creamy chicken with rice. With the kids still away I decided to make a more grown up version of it for myself: Creamy chicken with spring onion in a creamy sauce with rice cooked with carrots.

Ingredients for 2 portions:

• 2 - 3 small carrots, grated.
• 2 cups uncooked rice (any kind works - I use long grain).
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch - 2 1/2 cm cubes.
• 3 - 4 spring onions cut into 1/4 inch - 3/4 cm slices.
• 2 small onions, one skinned and cut into 4 the other finely diced.
• Milk
• Pepper
• 2 small bay leaves (fresh if possible)
• Knob of butter
• 1 table spoon of flour
• 1/2 chicken stock cube

How to make it:

1. Put the rice in a pan and add water till it reaches the first knuckle on your index finger with the tip gently resting on but not in the rice.
2. Add the grated carrots and stir.
3. Put the lid on the an and bring to the boil.
4. Meanwhile put the chicken in a pan with the bay leaves, some pepper and onion that was cut into 4.
5. Pour in enough milk to cover and bring to the boil, allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
6. When the rice boils turn it down and let it finish cooking.
7. Strain the chicken, catching the milk in a bowl.
8. In a clean pan melt a knob of butter, add the spring onion and the remaining onion.
9. Lightly brown them on a high heat and then add the flour stirring all the time.
10. Pour in some of the milk and stir till thickened, keep adding the milk till it's all gone, making sure that you don't stop stirring.
11. Turn the heat down low.
12. Check the rice to see if it's done and turn off the heat if it is., keeping the lid on the pan.
13. Add the stock cube to the sauce and additional pepper to taste.
14. Add the chicken and your dinner is ready to serve:)

Enjoy!

Lovely lamb...

One of the things my kids really don't like is lamb - I have no idea why but they don't - a shame really as it's really lovely so I save eating it as a special treat when they aren't around (like now while they are away with ex) I made this on Friday but am a bit behind in adding this. This time I decided to roast it after cutting some slits to put fresh garden herbs in (I have thyme, bay and rosemary growing in the garden that I used for this) and some slices of fresh garlic.I placed the meat in a buttered oven dish and put a knob of butter on top to help avoid it drying out and roasted it in the oven for about an hour on gas 6 - 200 C - 390 F. In another dish I had put unpeeled parboiled potatoes, red bell peppers and onions and a bit of butter to roast them in which I put in the oven at the same time. Then i took the lamb out and put the oven on high to brown the potatoes a bit more before taking them out. Serve the lamb sliced on a plate with the roast veg and mint sauce or gravy to taste.

The image shows the whole piece of meat as I am so bad at carving I decided I'd get a nicer picture if I made it before carving the meat.

The leftovers I had on Saturday night, done the simple way:  I placed the slices of leftover lamb in a small pan and added a little water - just enough for the couscous I was going to cook. I then brought it all to the boil, added the couscous and turned the heat off, leaving the lid on the pan.  All I had to do after that was pour it all onto a plate.

Enjoy!

Redcurrants!

I adore redcurrants almost as much as I adore peaches and nectarines. redcurrants have a short season so I like to pig out a bit when they are around however they are so sour they need a bit of work to make them taste nice. One of my favourite things is to eat them with yoghurt in some way - like in the image above - with finely grated apple (that in this image admittedly looks a bit like worms lol) Making the redcurrants ready to eat takes a lot of time as I like to leave them in the fridge overnight to "sweeten" a little.

Ingredients:

• a pound of redcurrants
• 2 - 3 oz - 50 - 75 grams of castor sugar
• 1 oz - 25 grams of brown sugar
• pint - 500 ml of yoghurt
• small apple, finely grated or chopped

To prepare redcurrant "goo":

1. Wash and take the berries from the stalks, making sure to take out any bad ones.
2. Put the redcurrants and castor sugar (not the brown sugar yet) in a largish bowl squish them with a fork.
3. When you can see no more whole berries cover the bowl with cling film and put in the fridge over night.
4. Just before serving add the brown sugar and stir - this makes it darker but also sweetens it a bit more

This goo can be used for all kinds of things :)

To prepare the yoghurt drink:

1. Put the grated apple into the bottom of a a really large glass or bowl.
2. Add a good 10 - 15 table spoons of the goo till the glass or bowl is half full.
3. Pour yoghurt over the top.

Even though if you taste the goo it's pretty sour still the yoghurt seems to stop the sourness and makes it almost sweet.

Enjoy!