Chicken Liver Pâté

Everyone knows that this weather is prime picnic time... and what picnic is complete without pâté?!? Especially when it's so quick and simple to make!

                                       











It's best if you have a food processor or blender to whizz up the livers to create a smooth texture, but if you prefer chunky pâté, then mashing it up with a fork will do just fine

Ingredients
10-14 Chicken livers (around 250g) TIP: You could substitite chicken for duck or goose livers if you fancied it
100g Butter plus extra for sealing the top
1 Garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
50ml brandy (madeira or similar could be substituted here if you prefer)
50ml double cream (optional)
salt & pepper for seasoning

If you like prunes (i'm not a big fan) I hear they work superbly well in country pâté. Finely chop 2-3 prunes and add to the pan at the same time as the garlic and thyme.

Serving: 4-6

Method
1) Take a small frying pan and melt 2tsp of the butter on a medium heat. When it bubbles and goes frothy, add the livers.
2) Cook for a few minutes, turning occasionally, until they turn pink/grey.
3) Place the livers in a blender and whizz up until it reaches a consistency you like. I like it super smooth.

4) Put the frying pan back on the heat and gently heat the thyme and garlic for a minute or so, until soft.
5) Add the brandy, slowly and carefully, to the pan and let it bubble for a few minutes.
6) Once reduced slightly, pour into the blender. Also add the remaining butter (except the bit you've left for the top) to the blender and season. This would also be the time to add your double cream if you're using it.
7) Whizz until it reaches your desired consistency and voila, ready to take to your picnic :)

8) If you're not going to eat it immediately, pop it into a jar... a Kilner jar looks pretty awesome...melt your leftover butter very slowly, not allowing it to bubble and then pour over the top of the pâté.
9) Allow to cool and store in the fridge for up to 5 days, although I know you'll eat it all before then.

You can make 1-2 portions of pâté with the chicken liver you'll get with your giblets if you buy a roast chicken for your Sunday Lunch. I find it so satisfying to use every part of the roast chicken, or any joint of meat for that matter! If you do want to make a smaller amount with your left over chicken liver, you can scale down the above recipe. TIP: Just remember to add the same size amount of butter as you have livers (in volume, not weight).

Please share your pâté picnic snaps, and let me know what pâte varieties you like. Enjoy the sun... responsibly :p

Summery Sundried Tomato Fish

I love eating outside in the evening and the lovely weather we've been having recently means that I've been doing it a LOT. However, I don't know about you but there's only so many times I can eat a BBQ. Last night, instead getting the BBQ out, I cooked a lovely summery fish recipe inside and served it up with salad and new potatoes to eat outside. Divine. It's also such a simple and quick dish.

My absolute favourite fish is Turbot - but it's pretty difficult to come by, so any white fish would be just fine. I used Seabass this time and it worked out great!

Ingredients
2 Fresh white fish of your choice, deboned and scales removed (you can also use fillets if you prefer)
1-2 Fish stock cube
Fresh thyme
1 lemon
Olive oil
3tbsp white wine
Sun-dried tomato paste (TIP: whizzed up sun-dried tomatoes always tastes just that tiny bit better than the paste in a jar)
1tbsp capers
1 handful of cherry tomatoes or 2 sliced up salad tomatoes
Fresh Basil

Serving: 4

Method
1) Preheat the oven to 200degrees (180degrees fan)
2) Make a paste with your fish stock cube and a little water. Add a small squeeze of lemon juice
3) Spread your paste over both sides and inside your fish (TIP: remember to rub head to tail so you don't spike yourself)
4) Place a few sprigs of fresh thyme inside the fish. If you're using fish fillets, just place it in the pan just before you add the fish
5) Choose a frying pan that can go both on the hob and in the oven and coat the bottom with olive oil. A cast iron one works brilliantly if you have one
6) Heat your pan of oil and when it's hot place your fish in. Turn the fish over so that both sides fry for around 25seconds and both sides are sealed
7) Transfer your pan into the middle shelf of the oven
8) Meanwhile make your sauce - Mix 2tbsp Olive oil, white wine, sun-dried tomato paste, capers, cherry tomatoes, basil and half a lemon's worth of juice in a bowl
9) After 12 minutes has past, take your pan out of the oven and pour your sauce evenly over the fish
10) Place the pan back into the oven for another 5 minutes, or until your fish has cooked through
11) And there you go. Remove your fish and serve up with your choice of sides....mine would be new potatoes and a nice simple salad.

One summery, quick and simple dinner. Enjoy :)

Cookie Time Saver

Don't you sometimes wish you could have just one (or two) freshly baked cookies without having to make and cook a whole batch?

Here's how you can do it!

Take your favourite cookie recipe (mine is the chewy kind - see this one I have on my blog if you're looking for one) and make more dough than you need.

Form balls of dough, just like you would if you were baking the cookies, and lay them on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet flat in the freezer for 2-3 hours.

Once fully hardened, you can remove the baking sheet, and place all of the uncooked cookie balls in a plastic bag and pop the bag back in the freezer.

Then, when you fancy one, place one in the oven on a small lined baking tray and cook as per your cookie baking recipe, adding on 1 or so minutes to the cooking time!

And there you go, in a matter of minutes you'll have one freshly baked cookie without all the faff of mixing the dough. YUM!!!

Chewy Cookies - the best kind I think!

I know some people like the crispy kind of cookies, but they're just not for me...well, i'm not going to say no to any kind of cookie actually, but the chewy kind are always far superior in my opinion.

I've searched and searched for a good recipe, but they always spread out too much, go too thin, end up being crunchy, and have a slight taste of burnt sugar. BUT recently I found it, the secret of getting beautifully puffed up chewy cookies... Cornflour!

Have a look at this recipe, try it out and let me know how you get on :)

Ingredients
170g unsalted butter at room temperature
150g brown sugar (I like to use a mixture of light brown sugar and a muscovado sugar of some kind)
50g granulated sugar
250g plain flour
25g corn flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2tsp salt
1 egg, beaten - free range please
2tsp vanilla extract, or a drop of vanilla paste
150g chocolate chips
Optional: Add two pieces of stem ginger cut finely for an extra wow factor

TIP: You can have fun with the chocolate chips - white, dark or a mix. Or try substituting the chocolate chips for caramel drops, fudge pieces, dried fruit or jelly sweets (it really works). Have fun with it - experiment.

Serving: around 20 cookies

Method
1) Cream together the butter and both sugars in a large mixing bowl until it becomes light, pale and fluffy. It may take a long time, but getting it to turn pale really is the secret to baking
2) Beat in the vanilla to the butter/sugar mixture
3) Sieve the flour, cornflour, bicarb of soda and salt together into a medium sized bowl
4) Alternate adding the egg and flour mixture gradually until a soft dough forms
5) Now add your chocolate chips, make sure they're evenly spaced in the dough
6) Preheat your oven to 175degrees (155degrees for a fan oven)
7) Take a baking sheet and cover it in greaseproof paper
8) Take a ping pong ball amount of dough, roll it roughly into a ball and place on the sheet. Repeat this until you've used up all of your dough

9) Place the baking sheet into the fridge for 20 minutes to allow the dough to cool. TIP: This step is crucial to getting thicker chewier cookies, as it stops the cookies spreading out as quickly when they cook
10) Take your cookies out of the fridge and bake in the oven for 8-10minutes
11) The cookies are done when they are JUST starting to turn golden around the edges (they shouldn't brown on the top). Don't cook them for over 10 minutes, or you'll end up with crispy cookies. The cookies continue to cook when they're out of the oven, so don't worry.
12) Allow to cool (a little... I know how tempting warm cookies are) and there you go, beautifully chewy cookies for everyone to enjoy :)

Time Saver: These cookies are pretty quick to make, but if you find yourself wanting some cookies but only have 10 minutes to spare, try freezing the cookies when they're still balls of dough. You can bake the cookies in exactly the same way from frozen (adding a minute or so to the cooking time) - have a look at this blog post to see how.

Sunday Treats - Shortbread Brownies

Last weekend I was in a quandary ... did I fancy shortbread or brownies? It was like Sophie's choice (I exaggerate....kind of)

So, after spending about 20minutes searching for pictures of each to see if my eyes and stomach could make a decision, I decided... Shortbread Brownies!

I took my favourite brownie recipe, my favourite shortbread recipe and combined the two. I definitely made the right decision - it was exactly what I fancied!!

Ingredients
Shortbread
120g butter, softened
55g golden caster sugar
130g plain flour
40g dry semolina
pinch of salt

Brownies
275g golden caster sugar
190g unsalted butter
185g good quality chocolate (I like to use 80% cocoa) but standard plain chocolate will do the job just fine
90g plain flour
3 large eggs (free range please guys - or even better...fresh!)
Optional: 70g Rice Crispies

The brownie recipe also works perfectly well without the shortbread. My favourite recipe as it's not too rich :)
Serving: 24 triangles

Method
1) Start with the shortbread. Beat the softened butter with the sugar and salt until pale and creamy. TIP: It's hard work creaming butter and sugar together until pale, but it really is the secret of successful desserts :)
2) Sift the flour over the creamy mixture and add the semolina. Beat until combined and it forms a dough - it should just about stick together
3) Line a large baking sheet with parchment or baking paper

If you haven't already, get the kids involved. And if you don't have kids, YOU get to act like one now!

4) Time to take little bits of the dough and roll them into many many little balls. The balls should be around a 1cm across

5) Once you've used up all the dough, place the tray in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up again. Preheat your oven to 150degrees (130degrees fan oven)
6) Place the shortbread into the oven for 30minutes. You don't want the shortbread to brown, so if you can see signs of them turning golden, reduce the heat. Take out the oven and leave to cool

Lets start the brownies!

7) Break up the butter and chocolate into small pieces and place in a Pirex bowl. Half fill a small saucepan with water and place the bowl just inside the saucepan so that the bowl is resting on the edges of the saucepan. Make sure the water isn't touching the bottom of the bowl. This is a type of Bain Marie

8) Place the Bain Marie on a low heat and gently melt the butter and chocolate, stirring occasionally. Once melted, leave to cool

9) Take a large mixing bowl, break your eggs into it and add the sugar. Whisk them together until they form a thick, pale, creamy consistency which is about double its original volume. This may take around 5 minutes - if you want to cheat a little, use an electric whisk on a medium speed for 2-3 minutes

10) Slowly pour in the chocolate mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Gently fold the chocolate in, until everything has combined. Fold instead of mix to keep the air in - this way your brownies will stay light and airy

11) Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into the mixture. Gently fold together until a glossy gooey mixture forms, but don't fold too much or you'll loose that lovely airy texture

Everything is about to come together... eek, can't wait!!

12) Fold in the cooled shortbread - or the shortbread you have left... I can guarantee quite a few of the little drops of heaven have already been consumed! TIP: Now is the time to add those optional Rice Crispies. The Rice Crispies go soft and make the brownie a little more chewy.Turn up the oven to 180degrees (160degrees for a fan oven) once the shortbread has been removed

13) Line a brownie tin (around 24x20cm) and pour the mixture in. Place in the oven for 25minutes. If after 25minutes the middle of the brownie still feels wobbly, pop it back in for 5 minutes

14) Remove from oven. Once it has cooled slightly, take a knife and mark out your brownies

15) Now this might be the hardest thing in the world, but you SHOULD allow the brownies to cool completely before turning them out. I'll leave that decision up to you

YOU'RE DONE! Eat, enjoy, freeze some (yer right), take them to a picnic and give some to friends (again, yer right)



Time Saver: I must confess that this is definitely a 'Sunday Treat' and isn't the quickest thing to make... BUT both the shortbread and brownies on their own are pretty quick and simple. PLUS you could double the brownie mixture, cook them all and then freeze the ones you don't want for another day - simple pop them in the oven for 10minutes to warm through. OR make double the shortbread mixture and freeze the other half - I recommend freezing the dough in the shapes you like (cut out biscuit fingers for example) rather than the cooked shortbread, as it turns out much better







TIP: If you want to use the shortbread recipe on it's own to make thicker shortbread fingers, leave in the oven for around an hour and sprinkle them with brown sugar once they've just come out of the oven. Mmmm tasty!

Have you combined two recipes to make one giant success? I'd love to know!

Buttered Carrots

What do you think of when you think about adding veg to your meal? Boiled greens and carrots?...That would be most people's answer. No more!

I don't know about you, but personally I find boiled vegetables vastly over-rated; whilst perfectly acceptable, it often simply serves a '5-a-day' purpose. Because of this we don't always get our much needed vitamins because we find eating veg quite tasteless and boring. Boiling veg is also not a great way of getting our vitamins because most of the goodness ends up in the discarded water.

This is where the wonder of buttered carrots comes in - seriously, I could eat them all day and as a consequence, I eat much more veg that I would do otherwise.

Method
Now, I can hear you saying 'but butter is really bad for you'. In large quantities, yes, but all I use is teaspoon's worth per 2 carrots.

1) Chop your carrots into chunks - I like to julienne them
2) Place them in a small saucepan (which you have a tight fitting lid for)
3) Add a teaspoon of butter
4) Add a teaspoon of water
5) Place the lid onto the saucepan. Make sure to leave your leave your lid on; this stops the butter and water evaporating
6) Gently heat for 7-8minutes, shaking the pan occasionally
And you're done

Using this method you eat up all the vitamins that would have otherwise been discarded, and more importantly, you'll love every mouthful

Variations
Add a little honey to make them sweet
Add a tiny amount of Marmite - this doesn't actually make them taste Marmitey, just gives a bit of saltiness and coming from a marmite hater, tastes pretty good actually!
Add a little soy sauce if your having a chinese dish
Add a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar if you want a richer taste

You can cook most vegetables using this method and everyone will ask you how on earth you made them taste so nice! It makes even courgettes taste good ;)

Have you got any other ways of eating your 5-a-day?

Sunday Roast is over... Lets make soup!

Everyone loves a good roast - but we don't all make the most of everything it has to offer. After all, a roast takes some (albeit enjoyable) time to prepare and cook. So why not get more from your next Sunday Roast....and make some soup!?!

All you'll need are the left over bones, some vegetables and spices/herbs. I'm going to talk you through a couple of chicken based recipes, but there's no stopping you using any other kind of meat as a base.

Serving: One medium chicken carcass will give you around 5 servings

Method
1) First step is to make some stock - place the bones in a large saucepan and add 3 pints of boiling water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 40mins with a lid on the saucepan

TIP: Try and remove most of the fatty parts left on the bones, as otherwise you'll end up with a fat layer that you'll have to remove at the end - which can be tricky.

2) Well that was easy, you've just got some fresh and immenslely tasty stock. Next take your choice of vegetables (around 2 medium bowls full, roughly chopped) and place them in the boiling stock.

3) Season and then add herbs/spices if your chosen soup requires them

4) Simmer for another 25mins, until vegetables are soft

5) Take off the heat and blend - make it as lumpy or as smooth as you like. If you prefer thick soup, add some cornflour (remember to mix it with cold water before adding it to the soup) or thickening granules

6) And you're done - so simple and so much cheaper/healthier than soups you buy in shops!

I love making the most of our Sunday Roast - I find it so satisfying to take all the chicken off the bones, saving that for another meal and then making stock/soup from the left overs as well! You can use the fresh tasty stock just as stock with other recipes if you don't fancy making soup out of it.

So there's your very basic soup recipe. Below are a couple of my favourite vegetable/herbs/spices combinations using a chicken base. But don't forget - experiment! Try adding lentils for a thicker more warming result (great for a wintery day), cream, or even noodles.

Spicy Butternut Squash - Try adding cayenne pepper, cumin, a small amount of chilli powder and of course butternut squash (1 whole butternut squash would do around 4 servings)










Roasted Pepper & Sweet Potato - This is great if you roast the peppers and sweet potatoes before adding them to the stock (if you do this, you'll only need to simmer the veg for 5-10mins). Add lots of fresh herbs - I like thyme and a little rosemary.






Stock Tip: If you have some leftover stock or don't fancy soup - try freezing it in ice-cube trays so you'll always have fresh 'stock cubes' to use at a moments notice

Experiment and find your favourite soup :)

Delightful Jam Doughnuts

Now, don't blame me if this recipe results in some serious weight gain... but, if you do have a special occasion coming up, these will be your shining moment of domesticity and your friends/family will be over every Saturday begging for more.

I'd always wondered how difficult doughnuts were to make, and assumed that all of that heavenly taste came from umpteen chemicals and preservatives. I was wrong, very very wrong.

Give this recipe a go, and you won't be sorry! I prefer the sugar coated ones, but if you prefer glazed I've added a suggestion for that too.

Ingredients
190g Strong White Flour
15g Caster Sugar
20g Unsalted Butter left at room temperature
1 Packet Fast Acting Dried Yeast (7g)
Pinch of Salt
65ml slightly warmed Milk, I use semi skimmed but whole milk would be richer if that's what you prefer
45ml Warm Water
1 Egg, free-range please :)
1 litre Oil to deep fry - vegetable oil or something similar
3 tbsp Jam

TIP: Why not try different fillings, apple sauce (heat up some apples and blend with some sugar and cinnamon), custard or even a toffee sauce.

Coating
15g Caster Sugar, or as much as you like for dusting
OR
20g Unsalted Butter
85g Icing Sugar
20ml Warm Water
1/2tsp Vanilla Paste

Serving: 6 large doughnuts or 8 guilt-free (almost) doughnuts

Method
1) Combine all of the dry ingredients in to a large bowl or bread maker
2) In a small bowl, pour the warmed milk and water over the butter. Stir until the butter melts
3) Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture along with the egg. Stir to combine. A dough should form; firm, but not stiff. If it's still a litte sticky add a bit more flour, or if it's too stiff add a little more milk
4) Now for the fun part.... kneading. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Or, if you're pressed for time, pop in the bread maker on the dough setting and let it do it's thing for 10-15 minutes whilst you get on with something else
5) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place, an airing cupboard is great for this, or on top of a boiler, for about an hour, until dough has doubled

Get on with some house chores and get excited for some evening indulgence

6) Divide dough in to 6 large or 8 smaller balls
7) Secret Tip: Take one side of a ball and pull the edge into the middle, do this all the way round the ball, so that it looks a bit like when you make a fist with your hand. Place the ball on a lightly floured tray smooth side up, making sure all the edges are tucked up underneath. Repeat with all the balls
8) Cover with a damp tea towel again and leave for another hourish (if you're desperate then you could just wait 40mins)

More chores... nearly ready! Here's a pic to keep you going...

9) Heat the oil in a high-sided saucepan. And, if you're like me, get out every fire blanket and extinguisher you have in the house
10) Wait until the oil is at 160degrees. If you don't have a thermometer, take a tiny piece of dough and drop it in the oil - it's the right temperature when the dough fizzes and floats straight back to the top
11) Carefully lower balls into the oil with a slotted spoon. It's best to only have 3 balls in the oil at one time. Leave for 2-3 minutes and then turn over. TIP: Use a chopstick to turn them over by pressing down firmly on one side of the ball
12) Whilst the doughnuts are cooking, get your coating ready:
           
12a) If you fancy plain sugar, just pop the 15g in a bowl
12b) If you're more of an american at heart and want to try the glazed option, melt the butter and mix with all of the other ingredients. Set aside to cool

13) Once your doughnuts are golden both sides, carefully remove them from the oil and place them straight into your coating of choice, turn over the doughnut until it's well covered and place on a cooling rack
14) Cook up the next batch of doughnuts, 3 at a time, until they're all done
15) Now for the filling... mmmmm YUM. Get a piping bag and place your jam inside TIP: Or, if you don't want to wash up, make a cone from some greaseproof paper and pop the jam in there, remembering to snip off the end of the cone
16) With a skewer, make a hole in one side of the doughnut and push through to the middle
17) Put your piping bag into the hole and squeeze a little jam inside

You're DONE!

They'll probably all be gone by the morning, but just to let you know, doughnuts don't keep amazingly well, so it's best to get some friends over to eat them all at once. Saying that, i've been known to have a cheeky one for breakfast.

Enjoy everyone, and let me know how you get on. Oh, and be safe with the oil guys!

xxxx

Pulled Chicken Enchiladas

This recipe has evolved over the umpteen number of times I've made it, and it always delivers. I think I've perfected it now, and this meal makes me want to open a mexican 'grab and go' restaurant every time I make it....oh the possibilities of streamlining this dish....anyway, back to the recipe.

Time Saver: This comfort dinner can be made in around 50 minutes, which includes 20 minutess in the oven. 30 minutes in the kitchen for a special dinner like this isn't too bad in my eyes. I hope you agree :)

These are the rough proportions I use, however play around with the ingredients to find your 'perfect enchilada'

Ingredients
400g Pulled Cooked Chicken (TIP: use left overs from a roast) or 2 large fresh chicken breasts chopped into strips
1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Large Onion
1/2tsp Chilli Powder
1/2tsp Paprika Powder
1/2tsp Cayenne Pepper
1tsp Cumin Powder
6 Flour Wraps
1/2tbsp Corn Flour (Optional)
Sour cream (I use around 2tbsp in total)
Cheese, grated (I use around 100g of mild cheddar)
Tomato Ketchup....the secret ingredient (about 1tbsp)

Salsa
1 Medium Onion, finely chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
2 Fresh Tomatoes, finely chopped
2 x 400g Tin Chopped Tomatoes
Fresh Basil
Fresh Thyme

Serving: Makes 6 enchilladas, which will serve around 4 people

Method
1) First start your salsa off, as this will need to reduce as you cook the other ingredients, heat a little olive oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add your chopped onion and stir occasionally until softened.
2) Add your garlic and stir for a couple of minutes. Add fresh tomatoes and stir for another few minutes.
3) Add the rest of the salsa ingredients (tinned tomatoes and herbs). Season it to taste.
4) Now leave the salsa to simmer, stirring occasionally whilst you make the rest of the meal. It should reduce so that most of the liquid disappears.

5) Chop your peppers and onion into long thin strips. The easiest way to do this with an onion is to cut the onion in half from top to bottom, peel, cut off the stem end (the longer one), and then slice all the way across until you get down to the bottom of the onion. Voila, long thin strips of onion!



6) Heat a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan. When hot, add the onions and peppers and conintue to stir over medium heat until they have softened and start to brown. They should turn glossy.




7) Whilst the peppers and onions are cooking, mix your spices into the chicken TIP: If you're using fresh chicken breasts, add a little corn flour as well, as this will help the spices stick to the chicken.

Don't forget to stir your salsa!!

8) Heat a little more oil in your frying pan and then add the chicken. If you're using raw chicken breasts you'll need to cook this for around 12 minutes, but if you're using cooked pulled chicken you'll just need to warm it through, around 4 minutes.
9) Add your peppers and onions back to the frying pan and mix them up with the chicken. Fry together for a few minutes.

Time to put everything together!

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (180 degrees fan)
11) TIP: Sprinkle flour in the bottom of a large serving dish - it helps the wraps to come out easily as it absorbs some of the moisture.


12) Arrange your wraps in the serving dish next to each other.



13) Now divide your pepper/chicken mixture between the wraps, spreading it out along the length of the wrap.



14) Your salsa should now look something like this...




15) Add a small spoon full of salsa in to each wrap, spreading it out over the pepper/chicken mixture. You should use aboute a third of the salsa.

16) Dollop a couple of small teaspoons of sour cream into the wraps.



17) Fold the ends of your wraps over each other, locking the ingredients inside.


If the ends of the wraps end up falling over the top of the next wrap along, tuck it down into the gap - it'll make it easier to separate the wraps once their cooked.


18) Spread the remaining salsa over the top of the wraps, keeping the ends flat.

19) Secret ingredient time - Ketchup! Squeeze some over your salsa. It's SO good and adds a little sweetness to the meal. YUM!

20) Sprinkle over your cheese.


21) Place in the oven for 20 minutes, until cheese has browned slightly.





Serve and enjoy (the most difficult step is getting the first enchilada out...I'll leave that one to you - if you find any ingenius methods to do it, please do let us know, I'm still not sure haha).

Why not try making veggie enchiladas; swapping the chicken for refried beans. Or swap the chicken for beef? Anything goes. Share your favourites :)

Quick 'in the cupboard' desert ... Treacle Tart

I don't know about you, but sometimes I'm cooking dinner, and yet all I can think about is how I don't have anything in the house for desert. This, by the way, is a disaster for me because I have to finish off every meal with something sweet!

Whilst dashing about the kitchen looking for something, anything to throw together, all I could find were bags and bags of porridge oats that I usually use for homemade granola. A brain wave hit me ... Treacle Tart!

This is a great desert to use up little bits and pieces from the kitchen; you don't need many ingredients, it's quick and yet it really hits the spot after a weekday dinner.

Ingredients
TIP: Don't worry too much about exact measurements here, just chuck in what you have
- 30g Molasses, if you don't have any brown sugar will be just fine
- 350g Golden Syrup (use up one of those 1994 tins of Lyle's Golden Syrup that is definitely sitting at the back of your cupboard)
- 80g Breadcrumbs - the best way to make breadcrumbs is to whizz some stale bread in a food processor, but if you don't have one, toast some bread very slightly and break it up into really small pieces
- 90g Porridge Oats
- 2 Eggs (free range please guys - poor ol' chickens)
- 1 Lemon, zest and juice
- 250-500g Shortcrust Pastry, depending on how thick you want the pastry to be, and frankly - how much you have in your fridge

Method
1) Grease a tart tin, around 20 cm, but again it doesn't really matter - it just depends how thick you want  your tart to end up. Preheat oven to 160 degres (fan oven)
2) Roll out your pastry and then place in your tin, pushing it into the edges and pricking the base a few times. Trim the excess. Place in the oven for around 12 minutes until the pastry begins to turn golden. You can put some greaseproof paper and baking beans on top to hold the pastry down if you have some... don't worry if not
3) Whilst your pastry is cooking; in a pan gently heat the molasses and golden syrup for 4 minutes. Add the lemon zest and juice, porridge oats and breadcrumbs, leaving a small amount of porridge oats behind. Stir, to combine all of the ingredients
4) Take off the heat, and leave for a couple of minutes. Then stir in the eggs
5) Remove your pastry from the oven and pour in your mixture
6) Sprinkle the left over porridge oats on top
7) Place back in the oven and cook for another 30 minutes
8) The tart can now cook away whilst you enjoy your dinner :) When you're done, take the tart out, leave to cool for a few minutes and then serve.

I served mine with some raspberry sorbet which needed using up - possibly a strange combination, but well... I liked it

TIP: You can tweak this recipe as you like. It may not be the most prestigious treacle tart, but I don't really think this matters for this type of desert.

Enjoy :) Oh, and if you can beat my 1994 tin of Lyle's Golden Syrup - do let me know!

Sunday Treats - Honey Oat Bread

I've said it before but Sunday really is a great day for making bread; it's relaxing, stress relieving and smells heavenly. Treat yourself to Sunday!

Homemade bread can sometimes taste a bit like 'homemade bread'; a taste some people love (me included), but I get it, sometimes you just want some indulgent, sweet, store bought white bread. This Honey Oat Bread is my version of just that - but without all of the unnatural sugars, preservatives and chemicals.

Time Saver: Try using a break maker for this recipe instead for a full proof way to achieve great results. Plus you can start it off and then leave it whilst you get on with your other Sunday jobs, whilst enjoying the smell of freshly baked bread. Follow your owner's manual, but if you've lost it - add warmed liquid ingredients first, leaving the yeast until last. Don't forget to add the warmed honey and sprinkling of oats once the dough has risen in your machine (about 1 hour before end of cycle).

Ingredients:
530g white bread flour
80g rolled oats uncooked
250ml milk
125ml water
3tbsp butter
100g honey
1.5tsp salt
7g dried yeast

For topping
2tbsp honey
2tbsp oats

Serving: 1 medium size loaf or 8 rolls

Method:

1) Gently heat milk, water, butter and honey - then pour into a large mixing bowl

2) Add all of the dry ingredients in to the bowl, omitting half the flour, and stir to combine all ingredients. Leave for 5 minutes, or until mixture begins to look spongey... That's the yeast doing its thing.

3) Gradually stir in the rest of the flour. Time to get messy - get your hands in the bowl, making sure all ingredients are well mixed.

4) The mixture will probably be a little sticky - this is perfect. Lightly flour your work surface and knead the dough. Knead knead knead for at least 10 minutes. If it's still sticky after this, add a little more flour and water if it's too stiff.

5) Put in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1- 1.5 hours, until dough has doubled in size. TIP: On top of a boiler is great for this, or in an airing cupboard.

TIP: Now get on with your daily jobs and start looking forward to some lovely lunch time sandwiches with home made bread!

6) Knock back (punch the air out). Then place on a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle the width of your loaf tin. It should be about 1cm thick. Roll up the dough tightly and place in lightly oiled loaf tin. Cover, and leave in a warm place for 1-1.5hr, until dough has doubled in size.

TIP: Time for some more chores. What a productive morning you're having!

7) Preheat your oven to 190degrees (170degrees fan). Gently warm the honey for the topping, and pour over the top of the loaf. Sprinkle with the topping oats.

8) Cook for 45minutes until beautifully golden. Take out of oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack. YUM!!!

9) Enjoy your home made, just sweet enough, touch of 'store bought' loaf of bread. If you've got any suggestions, please let me know!

TIP: Why not try making some rolls instead of a loaf. After the first rising period, break up into small balls and place on a greased baking tray. Cover and keep in a warm place for 1hour. Then cook in a preheated oven (170degrees fan) for 30-40minutes. Mmm rolls with soup for work :)

Sunday love x x x

Winter Vegetable Curry

Lets keep warm and cosy this winter with a seasonal veg curry. I always try to make the most of each season's vegetables, and try to minimise the amount of food that gets shipped from millions of miles away. So lets make the most of what Britain has to offer!

Efficiency: Not only is this recipe great on a frosty evening, but is also so simple, and you can leave the pan simmering away whilst you get on with all the other things that you have to get done that evening

(This is one of the meals I included in my vegetarian friend's birthday hamper)

Ingredients:
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
500g potatoes
1.5pints vegetable stock
2tbsp of curry paste (flavour of your choice, or make your own - TIP: make lots at one time, freeze in small containers and use later for a quick, healthy curry
150g red lentils
few sprigs of thyme, and one more for decoration
any other seasonal vegetables you wish, however I like to use:
    - 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
    - 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
    - half a butternut squash, peeled and chopped
low fat yogurt or crème fraîche for a finishing touch

Serving: 4. Time Saver: Why not try doubling up and putting portions in the freezer for when you want a nice quick cosy dinner by the fire

Method:
1) Put a good glug of oil in a large heavy based pan

2) Fry onions and garlic on a low heat until golden (around 4minutes)

3) Put all raw the raw vegetables in the pan, and fry on a medium-high heat for around 7 minutes - the veg should brown, but not burn

4) Stir in the curry paste, making sure to cover all the vegetables. Then season, add the stock and bring to the boil

5) Add lentils and thyme. Leave to simmer for 20minutes, until lentils have swelled and sauce has thickened. Stir occasionally and enjoy the gorgeous aromas that will now be filling your kitchen

6) Don't forget to keep tasting as you go and season as you require. You could even add a little chilli if you felt like it needed more spice

7) Serve with yogurt and fresh thyme, maybe even some poppadoms or naan bread if you have some. Enjoy :)

Scrumptious Breakfast Granola

I look forward to this guilt-free breakfast every morning; it's one of my favourite discoveries!!

Are you ready to eat the table by 11 o'clock every morning after having a bowl of cereal or toast? Are you bored of the bland taste of healthy breakfasts by Wednesday? I was, so I went on a hunt in the shops for a healthy, filling and tasty alternative for my breakfast. Did I find one?? Somewhat unsurprisingly... no!

I quite fancied having fruit and yogurt, but that still left me wishing my pen was edible about 2 hours into the working day, and granola in the stores is SO bad for you. So, after searching far and wide for a homemade granola recipe that ticked all the boxes and several failed experiments, I came up with this.

TIP: Try adding some small pieces of fruit to the granola mix, to make different varieties of granola. Everyone likes different things in our house, so extras get added in the bowl in the morning. 

You might want to play around with the quantities of each ingredient for your taste - you can't really go wrong. But here's what I do.

Ingredients:
Half a pint of vegetable oil, or groundnut oil
50g unsalted butter
50g brown sugar
25g caster sugar
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
120ml maple syrup
600g porridge oats (or enough to absorb all liquid)

TIP: If you like your granola in lumps, substitute some of the oil for butter. If you like the oats more separated, substitute some of the butter for oil.

Serving: around 15 servings

Method: 

1) Put all ingredients except the oats in a large pan, and place over a low heat until butter has melted and sugar starts to dissolve (3-4 minutes) TIP: don't let the mixture boil or the sugar will burn - yuck.

2) Take off heat and add the porridge oats - add enough to absorb all liquid so that each oat is just about covered. My preference is for it to be fairly dry, but still stick together in lumps when pressed.

3) Once covered, spread out onto a tray (no need for it to be non-stick) and bake in the oven at 160degrees (140degrees fan) for 1 - 1.5 hours, depending on how crunchy you like it. And enjoy the gorgeous smell that's about to waft around your house. Lovely. 

Voila - one zero effort, guilt-free, tasty breakfast. Put in a Kilner jar for a truly country feel :)

Time Saver: Possibly my favourite thing about this breakfast is that I can make a whole weeks worth on a Sunday night without it interfering with my evening. On a Sunday night I make a big batch, which takes around 5 minutes to put together then I leave it in the oven for just over an hour whilst I get ready for bed, turn the oven off before I go to bed and leave the granola in overnight. Then I can look forward to a weeks worth of prepared breakfasts in the morning, with barely any effort.

TIP: Admittedly, none of the ingredients in this recipe are good for you, BUT you eat so little at a time, it really isn't bad at all. I eat this every morning, it keeps me going until lunch, I look forward to eating it, AND I've very successfully lost weight whilst eating it. Have it with low-fat yogurt and some fruit and you too can have tasty, guilt-free breakfasts :) Enjoy, and let me know if it ticks all of your breakfast boxes! 

Sunday Treats - My absolute favourite breakfast

Now this is pretty indulgent, BUT incredible...Cinnamon breakfast rolls. This is the closest I can get to the real 'Cinnabon' taste. Pure heaven. Let me know what you think!

TIP: While these are probably considered a treat, and you may not want to eat all 12 - the great thing is that they freeze so well! Just pop them in the freezer before you cook them. To defrost place them on a plate for around 10 mins then cook them for 5mins longer than you would normally. The icing also keeps well in the freezer and takes next to no time to defrost on side whilst you perpare your rolls.

Time Saver: Use a bread maker to start the dough - it's a really great investment - quick, simple & makes the house smell amazing! But if you don't have one, it works just fine without one (and great when you require a bit of stress relief), just follow a normal dough-making recipe with the above ingredients.

Ingredients:
For the bread machine
230ml of warm milk, gently heat in saucepan or microwave
2 medium eggs, preferably at room temperature
75g melted margarine (TIP: butter doesn't work so well - it makes the rolls tougher. Therefore you can use a low fat margarine if you prefer)
610g bread flour
1tsp salt
7.5-8g dried yeast
1 level tablespoon ground cinnamon
Inside the rolls
200g light brown sugar
80g softened butter
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Icing
100g mascarpone cheese
75g softened butter
175g icing sugar
1tsp vanilla extract, good quality if possible
pinch of salt

Serving: 12 regular rolls or 24 mini rolls

Method:

1) Place ingredients in bread machine according to owner's manual. If you don't know where your manual is, usually the best way is to put in the liquid ingredients first, followed by the dry ones, putting yeast in last - this is so that the yeast doesn't get activated by the warm liquid too early.

1b) If you're not using a bread machine, add ingredients to a large bowl in the same order, omitting half the flour, stir with a wooden spoon as you go.  Leave until bubbles appear and the mix looks a bit 'spongey' - i.e. the yeast has started activating. Then gradually add the rest of the flour, stirring until it gets too difficult stir. Then you can get stuck in with your hands and knead knead knead. Really go for it for about 10 minutes! Then leave, covered with a clean tea towel in a warm place for around 45 minutes. Once risen knock it back, punch all of the air out. I told you, great stress relief!

TIP: This is the time you can do your normal day-to-day activities, all the while knowing that soon you'll have some really scrummy treats for your efforts- the mixing of ingredients really doesn't take much time.

2) Take out of machine or bowl and lay dough on a lightly floured surface. Cover it again and leave for 10 minutes. In the mean time mix together the cinnamon and sugar, for the inside of the rolls, in a bowl

3) Roll dough out into a rectangle that is about 1cm thick (around 40x52cm or 60x35cm if you're doing mini versions)

4) Spread the softened butter over the dough - I find it's easier with the back of a metal spoon. Then sprinkle with then cinnamon sugar mix

5) Start at one of the long edges and begin to roll into a long sausage shape

6) Once rolled up cut into 12 rolls of around 4.5cm thick (or 24 of around 2.5cm thick)

7) Place rolls on a baking sheet fairly far apart, as they will grow. If you're doing mini ones, grease up a muffin tin and place one mini rolls in each hole. Now cover again and leave for another 30 mins. They should double in size (ish). Also, the butter will begin to melt and it may look like it's oozing out, don't worry about this; it's seeping into the dough to make yumminess too! Preheat oven to 190degrees (170degrees for a fan oven)

TIP: More time to get on with the boring chores. The pieces of heaven are getting closer to completion

8) Uncover the rolls and place in the oven for 15-20minutes until golden. Don't leave them in too long as they'll go hard, soft and gooey wins every time.

9) Whilst rolls are in the oven cream together all of the cream cheese icing ingredients. Don't forget to sift the icing sugar.

10) Take rolls out of the oven, and appreciate the smell in the house, leave on tray for 2-3 minutes and spread 3/4 of the icing over the warm rolls. Serve immediately with the extra icing on the side.

Indulge and enjoy these little beauties. Let me know how you get on, and how they compare to the real thing. And don't forget...freeze them before you bake them and you can have them every Sunday morning - no effort required :)

Sunday Love x x x x