Sweet Roasted Carrots and Parsnips

When applying for Uni, there were many reasons why Sunderland swung the decision for me (one of them being to get as far away as possible from 'home') one of them being that I had some friends of a friend that lived pretty much in the city centre, that I know would be more than willing to help me out, if ever I needed to be. When I moved up here they invited me round for dinner and asked if there was anything in particular that I would like to eat I obviously suggested a roast!! (I feel like it is important to add here that these friends were American.) When I arrived I was greeted by a whole table FULL of food with lots of different vegetables. My favourite had to be their sweet roasted carrots and parsnips....a modern twist on a classic accompaniment to a roast, but something I find typically American - sweet and calorific!!

***

Ingredients

3 Parsnips

3 Carrots

1 tbsp Golden Syrup/Honey

2tbsp Sunflower Oil

Salt

1. Pre heat the oven to 200degrees C.

2. Pour the oil and syrup into a roasting tin and heat in the oven.

3. Chop the parsnips and carrots into thin slices/chunks. Boil in a pan of salted water until soft to the touch.

4. Stir the carrots and parsnips into the syrup and oil mixture, making sure all sides of each piece is coated in the sugary goodness. Cook for about 30mins or until roasted and crispy. The sugar will boil and burn so the veg will look dark and flipping gorgeous!! TUCK IN!!

***

Perfect if you are trying to impress, or just fancy something different with your roast. Plus, if you have these with your main, I tend to find that you don't really need/fancy a dessert afterwards.

Bon Appetit!!

Lamb Hotpot

When I did GCSE Food Technology, I decided to do my main project on potato based ready made products. I had to buy, taste and evaluate a range of ready made meals (gives me shivers now). We never really ate ready meals - even when Mum or Dad weren't there, my sister and I would still make something ourselves. It was only when I had to start food shopping for myself that I experimented with the ready made rubbish that is on sale now. One of the products I evaluated was a hotpot and it was horrid! Was basically mush. It really put me off hotpots, but I have decided to give a home made version a go. I have never tried a home made hotpot, so to me, this tastes fab!!

***

Ingredients

300g Lamb

Sunflower Oil

1 Onion

1 tbsp Plain Flour

250ml Hot Water

50ml Red Wine

Glugs of Worcestershire Sauce

Salt

Pepper

4 Medium Potatoes

Butter

1. Pre heat the oven to 170degrees C.

2. Gently fry the lamb in a large saucepan with the oil until all sides are lightly grey. Place the lamb into a casserole dish and leave on the side.

3. Fry the onion in the leftover oil and fat from the the lamb. When the onion starts to turn slightly brown at the edges, stir in the flour until combined. Pour in the wine, water and worcestershire sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep on the heat until thickened and simmering. Pour on top of the lamb in the casserole dish.

4. Peel and slice the potatoes, layering them on top of the lamb. Add a few knobs of butter on the top and season with salt and pepper again. Place the lid on top and put in the oven. Allow to cook for 1hour.

5. Remove the lid and cook at 200degrees C for another 30mins or until the potatoes are golden and crisp.

***

Lamb really is a treat at the moment, it's far too expensive to make a regular meal, especially when it is as scrumptious and succulent as this! I tend to find that up until a certain point, the longer you cook lamb, the nicer it tastes. I was so proud with this dish, considering it was the first time I had baked it. Maybe a glug or two extra of the red wine would make it that bit nicer, but other than that, this is the perfect winter warmer and a great wholesome meal for the whole family. Presentation wise - looks fab in the casserole dish, but when I served up it all went everywhere...maybe a tsp or 2 more flour needed? Still, I don't care, it was flipping gorgeous!!

Bon Appetit!!

Minced Beef and Potato Pie

So, what with my recent desire to conquer my pastry fears, I recently bought a really pretty pie dish off of Amazon so that I could bake some pies!! I've got to admit, when the weather starts turning cold, wet and miserable, there is nothing that I find more comforting than a nice pie, a bit of mash and some veg. Plus, pies are typically northern and cheap filling grub!! So, when I asked Andy what kind of pie he would like me to try first he picked a double crusted Minced Beef and Potato Pie.

***

Ingredients

(Serves 6 - fits a 26cm x 26cm x 5cm pie dish)


Filling                                                                    Pastry
Olive Oil                                                                400g Plain Flour
1 White Onion                                                       Pinch of Salt
2 Garlic Cloves                                                      100g Butter
600g Minced Beef                                                 100g Lard
2tbsp Plain Flour                                                   4-6 tbsp Water
200ml Beef Stock
2 tbsp Tomato Puree
2 tbsp Brown Sauce
2 Large Potatoes
Salt and Pepper

1. Start by making the shortcrust pastry - sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter and fat into small cubes and using your finger tips, massage the fat into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. 

2. Add 1tbsp of water at a time and using a knife to mix the ingredients, make sure that the water combines all of the dry ingredients. When you can see that the pastry is beginning to stick together, use your hands to kneed it into a ball. You should be able to use the pastry ball to 'clean' the mixing bowl of any bits of flour or fat. 

3. Wrap the ball of pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 30mins. At this point, pre-heat the oven to 200degreesC and place a baking tray in the centre of the oven.

4. Meanwhile, fry the onion and garlic in a large saucepan until they become translucent. Add the mince and brown. Afterwards add the flour, making sure the mince is covered. Pour in the beef stock, tomato puree, brown sauce and cubed potatoes and simmer for about 10mins or until slightly thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. Take off the heat and allow to cool.

5. Remove the pastry from the fridge and on a lightly floured work surface cut into two equal portions. Roll out one portion of the pastry so that it is big enough to line the base of your pie dish....then line your dish.

6. If you choose to use a pie funnel, place it in the centre of your dish and then spoon in the beef mixture, doming in the middle.

7. Roll out the other half of the pastry and gently place on top of the pie (making a hole for the funnel). Crimp the edges together with your fingers and using a pastry brush, gently brush either milk or egg yolk on top of the pie for a nice golden colour. You will probably have some excess pastry left over - I just use mine to add some extra decoration on top. NEVER throw away pastry.

8. Place the pie dish on the pre heated oven tray and allow to cook for 40mins or until crispy, flaky and golden. Serve with fresh carrots and frozen peas.

***

Quite impressed with how this turned out! Only thing is, I definitely need to invest in a pastry brush, as trying to dab milk on to the top of a pie using your finger tips really doesn't work and instead gives a rather patchy effect. The pie tasted good, but I think it needs to be served with gravy - the beef stock thickens up quite a lot in the pie making it a little dry and the shortcrust pastry doesn't really help. Might give flaky pastry a go next time as it's a bit more flavoursome and less floury.

Bon Appetit!!

Banana Bread

Every time I pop down to Kent whether it is to see friends, attend a meeting, or help staff the Children's Activity Holiday, you can guarantee that I will always come back up with a home made Banana Bread in my bag. 'The Hartley's' Banana Bread is infamous amongst the holiday staff and it is no secret that it is one of my FAVOURITE sweet things to feast on. (It's also pretty much guaranteed that by the time I arrive at King's Cross that i've already started tucking in to 'The Hartley's' speciality.) So, with 5 ripe bananas soon to be considered unusable, there was only one thing I could do with them...BANANA BREAD!!

***

Ingredients

225g Self-Raising Flour

1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

Pinch of Salt

100g Caster Sugar

100g Butter

1tbsp Golden Syrup

450g Mashed Bananas

2 Eggs

1tsp Lemon Juice

1. Preheat the oven to 180degreesC. Line and grease a 23cm loaf tin (I don't have a loaf tin, so I just use a square cake tin).

2.Sift the flour, cinnamon, salt and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Chop the butter into small cubes and add to the flour mixture. Using your finger tips, massage the butter into the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Add the golden syrup, mashed bananas, eggs and lemon juice and stir thoroughly until everything is mixed in together and has the consistency of cake mix. Make sure no dry ingredients are viewable. 

4. Bake in the oven for 40mins and then reduce the temperature to 170degreesC and allow to bake for another 20mins or until the bread/cake it dark in colour, has risen considerably and is soft to the touch. Leave in the tin for 15mins to cool and then remove from the tin and place on a cooling rack. (I normally can't wait and have a slice when it is still warm with a cup of tea....yum-me!)

***

Absolutely-blooming-gorgeous!! Mine looks a little stodgey, but for me, it's perfect! Slightly crispy on the outside, warm and doughy in the inside. Must admit though, it's not quite as good as 'The Hatley's' as their's is more bready than mine..mine is more of a cake. Not a bad second best though!

So, it's a very simple recipe and doesn't require many ingredients that you don't already have in your cupboard. Perfect if, like me, you have some rather ripe bananas that you don't fancy eating just as they are. If you are feeling fancy, you could always sprinkle some icing sugar on the top to make it look a bit more 'professional', but I'm not fancy!!! Perfect warm with a nice brew :-)

Bon Appetit!!

Review: Pastry Cook by Catherine Atkinson (Book)

I wanted to share with you a book that Andy bought me, to help conquer my fear of pastry!! When I saw it in the 'The Works' I wasn't too sure whether I would actually use the recipes within it, or whether it was a bit too 'professional' for me, but since I've sat down and gone through it and tried some recipes, it has now become my Bible!!! At only £2.99 it is an absolute bargain!!

 

The first 60 odd pages are dedicated to giving you step by step instructions on how to make a variety of different pastries and sauces, as well as informing you on what pastry is used for what, how to make and use sweet and savoury fillings, lining different tins and decorating pies and tarts. The photos are great at showing you exactly what kind of finished product you are after.

 There is such a wide variety of recipes within this book ranging from Beef Wellingtons to Baklavas, Cornish Pasties to Chocolate Eclairs and  Sausage Plaits to Pumpkin Tarts.

Every recipe is accompanied by great photos and easy to understand steps. Accompanied by the tips at the front of the book means that even the least experienced 'baker' will be able to attempt any pastry baked goods...hence I have the book! I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to experiment with different pastries, sweet or savoury.

Rating: 5/5

Apple and Cinnamon Crumble

Right, so I bought some cooking apples recently and noticed they were going slightly brown, so (not wanting to waste them) I thought I would try and make them into a crumble.  Must admit, I was a bit anxious about making a crumble, as whenever I see someone make one on 'Come Dine with Me' or other 'non professional' cookery programmes, they always seem to go wrong, even though the recipe seems pretty simple. After researching recipes, I was quite happy at adapting and cross referencing two recipes to make my own version of an Apple and Cinnamon crumble.

BUT...

Basically, I messed it up!!! So I won't be sharing the recipe with you. I'm going to keep on trying and adapting it until I am happy with it. 

It didn't look bad...but I think the apple:crumble ratio was waaaaay off! Too many apples, not enough crumble. Also, when making the crumble I didn't think it was 'crumbly' enough, meaning either I was using too much butter or not enough flour. And I think I got a bit too 'spice' happy with the cinnamon as I added it to the apples and the crumble. Parts of the crumble were too lumpy meaning some bits were raw and some were over cooked. Also, the apple had a distinct taste of apple sauce (was wondering were my roast pork was!!) ...maybe not enough sugar?

PROPER DISASTER!! But, like I said, it doesn't look too bad!? If anyone has any ideas on how to make the perfect crumble, PLEEEEEASE share. I hate getting things wrong. Looks like Andy and I will be eating different versions of crumbles for now until....forever!!

Cottage Pie

One of the nicest, typically British dinners that I regularly bake is a Cottage Pie. I must admit, I do cut corners with my recipe, but for me, it is perfect! Without sounding pompous, I have never tried a Cottage Pie that is as tangy, smooth and blooming scrumptious as MINE!!! This is my special recipe and something that one day I would love to share with my family. It has some perhaps 'odd' or 'different' ingredients, but that's what makes it so great. The perfect autumnal dinner. 

***

Ingredients

(Serves 2-3 or 3-4 if served with trimmings)

330g minced beef                                             1/4 pint beef stock

1/2 white onion                                                600g potatoes

180g tinned carrots                                           2 knobs of butter

180g frozen peas                                                2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp brown sauce                                           1 tbsp sunflower oil

1/2 - 1 tbsp branston pickle                                  Black Pepper

2 tsp wholegrain mustard                                    Salt

2 tsp tomato puree                                               2 cloves of garlic

1. Peel and chop the potatoes. Place them into a saucepan of boiling salted water. Allow to boil for the whole duration of making the minced beef filling. Preheat the oven to 200degreesC.

2. Fry the onion and garlic in the sunflower oil until sizzling. Throw in the peas and carrots and fry. Add the minced beef and stir continuously so that the meat is cooked evenly.

3. Add in the brown sauce, mustard, pickle, puree, black pepper and stir. Add the beef stock and allow to simmer for 20mins. Stir every few minutes.

4. Drain the potatoes and add butter, salt and milk. Mash until soft and fluffy.

5. Put the minced meat into an oven proof dish. Flatten to avoid the gravy boiling over the potato. Add the mashed potato on top of the meat and using a fork, flatten and make a pretty pattern! Bake in the oven for about 20mins or until the potato has gone golden and crispy.

***

Serve super piping hot and if you fancy, with fresh veg and yorkshire pudding (see previous blog post) if not, just treat yourself to a super massive portion!! The brown sauce and branston pickle really make a difference and add a little sweetness to the meal. This is a great family recipe, wholesome and filling and a great way to sneak in some veg if you have sprogs that are opposed to anything green!

Bon Appetit!!

Leek, Potato and Bacon Bake

Being a student and all, it's really important not to throw away food....nothing I buy is ever thrown away or allowed to perish. I still had some leeks left over from making the quiche the other day, so I started looking at ways of using them up cheaply, with ingredients I've already got in the fridge/cupboard/freezer. I found this recipe and thought I'd give it a go. Known in French as 'Pommes Boulangere', it's a pretty simple, filling and healthy meal ....aka good student grub!! 

***

Ingredients

(Serves 2-3)

600g potatoes, peeled

2 leeks

5 bacon rashers

3/4 pint vegetable stock

Black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200degreesC. 

2. Put the vegetable stock on the stove and allow to boil. Meanwhile, peel and thinly slice the potatoes and chop the leeks. Add the potatoes and leeks to the stock and work them up to the boil again, season with black pepper. Allow to boil for 5minutes.

3. Lightly fry the bacon until the oil has turned clear. Chop into little pieces and allow to cool.

4. Drain and keep the stock from the potato and leek mixture. Arrange the potatoes and leeks into an oven proof dish and scatter the pieces of bacon on the top of the potatoes. Wrap the dish in foil and bake in the oven for 20mins. After 20mins remove the foil and cook for a further 20mins to allow the bacon to crisp up.

***

I really liked this meal. A very cheap, warming dish that can easily be blended into a lovely soup and served with home made wholemeal bread. When making the dish, I thought maybe the bacon would be best scattered throughout the layers, but after trying it on the top, I would say that the crisped up bacon is perfect - a different texture and the saltiness adds flavour to the potatoes. Plus, presentation wise, the colour looks fab! I did think about grating cheese on top, but it really didn't need it. It tastes a bit like a vegetable stew and dumplings would be perfect with it. 

Bon Appetit!!

Review: Lakeland Square Roasting and Baking Tin

Second review for my blog, here we go! 

So, after having borrowed my flatmates roasting dish for the last 18months I thought it was about time that I bought my own. I love roast potatoes and I know that the longer you keep your roasting oil, the more flavoursome it becomes so I hate having to chuck my oil after every batch of roast potatoes I do. I knew it was time to invest!! Also, Andy's favourite sweet is caramel shortbread and he has been pretty persistent about me giving it a go. Turns out I had all the ingredients in the cupboard...all I needed was a square tin. After a little research I found the perfect non-stick tin that could handle both jobs....

I located my local lakeland (Eldon Square, Newcastle) and my friend will tell you, I was like a kiddie in a sweet shop!! So much to look at and the ideas just started rolling. Thought this tin was a bargain at only £8.29. It's a 23cm square, 4cm deep and has got 2 layers of Quantum 2 non-stick coating, (perfect for me and my MANY sticky mistakes!) also, it's heavy duty, suitable for fridges, freezers and dishwashers. I've used it twice now - once for home roasties and once for a caramel shortbread. It's done a fab job both times and the non-stick is extremely helpful. Would definitely by another piece of baking/cooking apparatus from the lakeland range.

Rating: 5/5 

Caramel Shortbread

So, the weather has quickly changed and we have gone from having 'summer suppers' to 'winter warmers' and nothing satisfies you more when you are tucked up indoors, with the rain thumping on the windows than a nice cup of tea and biscuits to follow. A biscuit that will never disappoint and will go with any hot drink is probably the most fattening biscuit of them all...caramel shortbread. 

Before trying this recipe I had never had a home made caramel shortbread, but it's always been one of my favourites. I just can't stand it when you try a shop bought piece and it's made with that cheap and tacky chocolate. This is the full fat, full pleasure version...no skimping goes on here!!

***

Ingredients

(Recipe for a 24cm x 24cm tin - makes 25 individual squares)

Caramel                                                              Shortbread

2x 397g tins Sweetened Condensed Milk           170g Butter

240g Butter                                                        60g Caster Sugar

150g Brown Sugar                                              300g Plain Flour

60g Golden Syrup                                               400g milk chocolate

1. Start by lining and greasing your tin and pre heating your oven to 180degreesC.

2. To make the shortbread, cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until soft and fluffy. Sift in the flour and fold together until all ingredients are combined. Roll together in your hands and spread the dough as evenly as possible into the base of the tin. Place in the oven and bake for 30mins or until golden and firm to the touch.

3. Remove the shortbread from the oven and allow to cool. Place the butter, brown sugar, golden syrup and condensed milk into a saucepan and cook over a medium heat until all of the sugar has dissolved - MAKE SURE TO STIR CONTINUOUSLY or lumps of uncooked sugar will form and begin to burn making the caramel bitter. Once the sugar has dissolved turn the temperature up and allow to boil (STIRRING CONTINUOUSLY) then lower the heat right down and simmer for 4-5mins or until the caramel has increased in thickness and volume. BE CAREFUL as the caramel will be SCOLDINGLY hot...if you do burn yourself (like I did) make sure to bathe your hand in cold water.

4. Once the caramel has thickened, pour the caramel over the shortbread and using the back of a spoon, spread evenly over the base. Allow to set overnight in the fridge (if there is room) if not, set at room temp. The longer you leave it to set, the better! (I only let it set for a few hours and it was VERY messy to eat!)

5. Only when the caramel has set and is hard to the touch, melt the chocolate in a bain marie. Spread the melted chocolate over the caramel and put in the fridge to set. Make sure to cut the shortbread into squares before it has completely set otherwise it will be IMPOSSIBLE to cut and you will have a slab of yummy caramel shortbread.

***

This recipe is pretty simple to follow, but don't make the mistake I did....I was too excited to get tucked right in, so I didn't let the caramel set for long enough so it was perhaps the messiest thing to eat!! The caramel splurged out everywhere and was very sticky! Needless to say, it was bloooooooming gorgeous!!!!! The biscuit is perfectly crumbly, and the chocolate is thick and chunky. Great for rainy days when all you want is tea and cuddles!

Bon Appetit!!

Chocolate Fudge Brownie Pudding

I always remember being really jealous of all the children at school who got to have school dinners (not that our school dinners were particularly fab or anything) but because they would always get some form of sweet, hot, pudding!! Whether it was rice pudding and jam, jam roly poly or chocolate sponge and custard. The smell of the rich chocolate sponge and thick, creamy custard was one that I spent most lunchtimes dreaming of. This is a classic pudding for days when you fancy something just that little bit more special and nostalgic. Warms you from the inside out.

***

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

Sponge                                         Sauce

2oz butter                                     1/4 pint water

2oz caster sugar                          1.5oz brown sugar

1 egg                                            1.5 tbsp cocoa

30z self raising flour

1 tbsp cocoa

1 tbsp milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180degreesC. Grease an oven proof dish (I used a casserole dish, but you can use a cake tin if you prefer).

2. Cream the butter and caster sugar in a mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in the egg and one tbsp of flour. Wait until this mixture is combined and then sift in the rest of the flour and cocoa powder. Pour and spread the mixture into the base of your greased oven proof dish.

3. Place the brown sugar, cocoa powder and water into a saucepan and heat slowly. Stir continuously until you can feel all of the sugar has dissolved and there is a thin sauce like consistency to the syrup.

4. Now, here is for the weird bit - pour the liquidy sauce OVER the cake mix. As the cake bakes and rises the sauce will soak into the sponge and end up underneath the pudding. It will look a bit odd and maybe some of the spong mixture will begin to flake off, but it will all come together in the end. Bake in the oven for 45mins or until the pudding has risen through the sauce and is cake like. Some of the sauce may still be visible - do not continue to cook despite this or the sponge will dry out.

5. Best served warm with either custard, ice cream or pouring cream.

***

This pudding is completely effortless to make and can easily be made very last minute. Simply double the recipe to make enough for a family of 4 (or enough for seconds!) The smell of chocolate cake baking throughout the house is divine, although do not eat just before bed - it's a very stodgy pudding and will feel quite heavy especially if served with a PINT of custard (whooops, I admit, I have an OBSESSION with custard!)

Bon Appetit!!