Life, love and muffins.

Right Now

2010-01-03T03:48:00.005-08:00

Listening- Songs of the Auvergne
Roddy Frame

Watching- All the episodes of Gavin and Stacey that I missed because I was "Stichin'" and re-runs of Dynasty.

Wearing- Ecco boots- it's snowy out!

Surfing- Awful Library Books, I want so many of them.

Buying- Dream Cream from Lush, lovely even on inflamed skin.

Making-A canvas for Gary.

Mood- Relentlessly positive and delighted to be free of dieting.

Happy New Year

2010-01-03T03:37:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling really good about the coming year and hope it brings us all happiness and fulfilment. I'm going to change this blog a little, it will still have lots about food and cooking but I'm also going to include some of my other obsessions. I'll talk about what I'm crafting, watching, reading, listening to and thinking. I'll show you some of my favourite websites and share more about my life. It'll be a kind of on-line diary, self-indulgent and fun (for me!).

Graze

2009-11-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

I had a lovely surprise this afternoon when a cardboard box full of wholesome yumminess arrived on my desk. Graze send boxes of fruit and nuts to you at work but as I usually don't know where I'll be working this is the first time I've ordered from them. I recommend them wholeheartedly, they're not cheap but I think they're good value when you consider the variety you get in your box. And it's like getting a present at work.

I had fresh pineapple, dried raspberries, and a mixture of pecans, cranberries and almonds. It was all delicious.

This isn't a picture of my box, I'm not called Stephen, but I couldn't take a picture of my box in the classroom (snigger).

If you want to try Graze go to their website at www.graze.com and see their offers. If you quote CL12ZZKL I get money off my nest order which would be most welcome. I don't know what's happened to the typeface, odd isn't it!

Warm Winter Salad

2009-11-22T09:22:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure that this is a salad, but it's delicious whatever it is. Clearly my appetite is returning as I was tempted by the wood-pigeon breasts my local butcher was selling, you don't get much more free-range than wild game so I prefer buying them to buying farmed meat. It's also kind of appropriate as I know my Dad has trouble with pigeons eating his cabbages.

Four pigeon breasts
Half a savoy cabbage
1 small red onion
4 rashers of streaky bacon
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper

Fry some chopped streaky bacon until half-way to crispy and then add finely chopped red onion. Cook til the bacon is crispy and the onion soft and then put in the garlic- use a garlic press or chop and squish with your knife. Add the pigeon breast cut into strips and cook until brown. Add sliced and chopped Savoy cabbage and stir. If the mixture looks like sticking add a little water as this will also have the affect of steaming the cabbage. Add seasoning and eat with crusty bread or mash. If you want to make it a bit more luxurious you could stir a little cream through.

Chicken Livers and Spaghetti

2009-11-22T03:53:00.000-08:00

I've finally started to feel better this weekend and have felt like cooking for the first time in more than five weeks. Last night Gary came round to help me with a hair emergency and I made a quick but hearty pasta dish. Even if you've never liked liver this is worth a try as this is nothing like the tough and bitter liver of your childhood, even my liver-phobic ex loved this. We had this on it's own but it would be lovely with a strong-tasting green salad like rocket or watercress. These quantities served two, but with enough pasta and a salad it could serve three or four.

I packet of chicken livers- my packet was 0.45 kilograms
2 red onions
4 rashers of streaky bacon
Cream-I used double because I wanted it for the pudding but you can do as you wish.
2 tablespoons of brandy, vodka, dry sherry or some other alcohol.
Salt and pepper.

Cut the bacon into small pieces- it's easiest with kitchen scissors- and fry in butter or olive oil until they start to darken in colour but before they crisp up.

Add the chopped red onions and continue to cook on a low heat until the bacon is crisp and the onions soft.

Add the livers and turn the heat up to a moderate to high heat. I don't really like handling them so I bung them in and once they start cooking I cut them into smaller pieces with kitchen scissors. Keep the mixture moving so it doesn't burn and cook for the minimum amount of time to brown the livers and cook them to your taste. They don't need to be cooked right through and I often leave them pink, but if I have friends round I cook them til the pink is JUST gone. This only takes a few minutes and you need to be really careful as over-cooked liver is tough and only good for the bin.

Add the brandy- make sure the heat is high enough to burn off the alcohol and turn it into a sauce.

Add the cream. I used two tablespoons but if you are feeding more people than I was then upping the cream will make the sauce go further.

Season with a generous amount of freshly-ground black pepper and sea-salt. You can garnish with a chopped herb of your choice, I didn't but it was raining and I didn't want to go into the garden!

I served this sauce with wholewheat pasta because it was what I had and the robust flavours worked surprisingly well together but I must admit that I've eaten this- without the cream-on french bread.
Serve with a strong red wine

Love Local.

2009-11-22T03:07:00.000-08:00

I've lived in the same part of Hull for more years than I care to remember. The failure or success of different places I've rented has been down to various factors but probably the most important has been how close I was to my beloved Newland Avenue. A friend once pointed out that I'd spent my teenage years trying to get away from a village only to turn my part of a city into one.

Love Local is a fantastic campaign designed to encourage people to shop on Newland and use all the small independent traders rather than give all their money to the big chains. I can't claim to be someone who never goes to supermarkets (their opening hours make them attractive when you work) but there are huge advantages to shoping locally. My local pet shop will drop off heavy bags of cat litter to save me carrying them home, my butcher knows I love chicken livers so got in some free-range ones on the off-chance and kept them in the freezer til I was next in, and my pharmacist will lend me an inhaler if I've c*cked-up my prescriptions (and has consequently probably saved my life more than once). I love being part of a community and shopping in places where people recognise you and tell you your cold sounds better or your new hairstyle suits you.

Seemingly one pound in every seven spent "on the high street" is spent in Tesco, if we want places like Newland to survive we need to spend our money there. I pledge to make an effort to shop on Newland on a Saturday morning each week even if I need to go to supermarkets during the week.

Bloody Mary Sausages

2009-11-03T22:42:00.000-08:00

I've read a lot recently about how we're copying America in celebrating Hallowe'en and I couldn't understand what everyone was talking about as we always had parties as children. Of course I grew up with an Irish mammy and in Ireland Hallowe'en is the autumn festival for many reasons, not least that Guy Fawkes night isn't celebrated (funny that!). I was thinking about the foods that we ate at this time of year and remembering lots of sausages and lots of home-made tomato soup. I'm not a tomato soup fan at the best of times, and certainly not when I already have a sore throat so I've made up this recipe.

* 1 packet of good quality sausages (this would work with quorn or other veggie sausages too)
* 4 medium red onions
* 1 cup of puy lentils
* 2 tins of plum tomatoes
* 1 glass of vodka
* olive oil
* 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
* 2 cloves of garlic
* spices of your choice- I used two teaspoons of ground chilli flakes and a generous dash of tabasco.

Put the sausages in a heavy based pan or casserole and brown in the olive oil. Peel and quarter the onions, break them apart and throw them in too. Bash the garlic cloves and add- no need to peel, just look for them when you serve and remove. Cook until the sausages are a nice colour and the onions are translucent. Add the lentils and any spices and stir. Put in the tins of tomato, this will seem like a massive amount of liquid but you'll be cooking it down. Add the sugar and season.
I cooked this on a low heat on top of the cooker for 45 minutes until the tomatoes were reduced down to a sticky sauce, but you could cook in a moderate oven with the lid off.
About fifteen minutes before serving I added the vodka and turned the heat up enough to cook off the alcohol but leave a richness behind but you could easily leave this step out.

The lentils mean this doesn't need an extra carb serving but it would be lovely with mash and a favourite green veg for colour.

Chicken should not be spongy!

2009-10-31T16:15:00.000-07:00

In my defence I have been ill and the idea of cooking has not appealed most days. But that really doesn't excuse buying a Sainsbury's Chicken in Mushroom and Wine Sauce and Mash ready meal from their Great British Dishes range. The sauce was nice enough, the mash was lovely but chicken SHOULD NOT HAVE A SPONGY TEXTURE. I bit in and it was immediately clear that either it was a reconstituted piece of meat or that it was a genuine breast but had been injected with water to reach a standard size. Either way, it was horrid and a complete waste of money so I'm back to only eating free-range chicken. Obviously free-range chicken is more expensive than the intensively reared stuff but, even putting aside any ethical considerations, I'd rather have a small amount of the better stuff anyday.

Back online!

2009-10-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

I collected my laptop today! It cost me £80 to have it mended where "someone" decided the power inlet was faulty and needed adjusting with a pair of tweezers. I'm delighted to be back online and will be posting random musings and recipes.

Blogging

2009-09-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't forgotten about this blog but it's difficult to post without a computer. I'll be back on with more recipes when I'm back online.

Beetroot and Goats' Cheese Muffins.

2009-09-19T04:57:00.000-07:00

Disappointingly, though the mixture for these was wonderfully vivid, they did not bake pink. I'm going to try them again soon and try grating the beetroot. I'll let you know.

Carrot Soup

2009-09-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

In my quest to find a carrot soup that doesn't contain coriander I invented this recipe on Sunday night. It's so simple I think I might be making it often.

2 large or 3 medium carrots
1 medium onion
Cooking oil
A generous knob of butter
1 pint milk (I use semi-skimmed)
Salt and pepper

If the carrots are a bit old you can peel them, otherwise just cut them in to large chunks.
Peel the onions and cut into large chunks.
Put the carrots and onions into a food processor (I have a blender attachment for my stick processor thingy) and whizz until very, very finely chopped.
Cook in the oil and butter on a low heat until soft, this could take up to fifteen minutes so be patient.
Add the milk, salt and a generous serving of freshly ground black pepper and cook on a moderate heat for at least another 10 minutes.
Check the consistency and add water if you like a lighter soup.
Garnish with something green (chives, your leafy herb of choice), croutons, cream or a drizzle of flavoured oil.

Serves 2-3 as a lunch (with good bread) or 4 as a starter.

Cheddar and Rocket Muffins

2009-09-13T04:39:00.000-07:00

Given the name of this blog it's surprising there haven't been any recipes for muffins before! I'm on a bit of a muffin madness spree at the moment though and have been experimenting with different flavours. Yesterday's were Cheddar and Rocket, very yummy they were too.

Preheat the oven to 375 F, 190 C

200g plain flour

1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

75 ml oil (I used olive oil because it was all I had but vegetable oil or melted butter work well and if you're likely to be cooking for my ex may I suggest groundnut oil...*)

1 small packet of Rocket

100g of Mature Cheddar Cheese

Sift the flour and bicarb and baking powder into a large bowl, add the oil and mix. I used my Kitchenaid which has decided to work again but you could use a handmixer or a strong forearm.

This is your basic batter and you can now have fun adding the flavours of your choice. Mine were a small bag of rocket which I snipped into the mixture with scissors and the cheese which I chopped into "chips" rather than grated. Mix these in by hand and then fill muffin cases or a silicon muffin tray 2/3 full. This will make about 9 generously sized muffins. Cook for 20-25 mins and eat whilst warm. They're also nice cool and I think they keep for a few days but I've never had reason to find out.

I'm thinking the addition of some dry mustard powder at the dry ingredients stage may make these even better but I'll leave it out of the recipe until I've had a chance to play with the quantities.

*Obviously you shouldn't use groundnut oil if there is any possibility of your muffins being eaten by someone with a nut allergy.

Flatbread

2009-09-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

I cooked for my friend Scott on Wednesday night. We had Lentil Curry but I forgot to taste as we went along so it was a bit bland, an important lesson to learn. I read a cookery book by some top chef the other day and he said that a good chef can smell if a dish is properly seasoned. B*ll*cks! Taste, taste, taste!
Anyway, I didn't feel like eating rice with the curry so I made flatbread, it really is the simplest thing to make and people are enormously impressed...maybe I shouldn't tell you how to make it.

Put some plain flour in a bowl and add seasoning. I'd put in a good pinch of sea salt and twist of pepper for each cup of flour. Add some lukewarm water a little at a time until you have a nice firm dough. You want to be able to manipulate it without it crumbling, but it shouldn't be sticky. Knead a bit in the bowl, but there's no need to take too long. Shape into flat patties the size of your palm and then cook in a heavy-based frying-pan or grill pan with no fat until it has some brown patches(or ridges if you use a grill pan) on both sides.. Pile on a plate, garnish with fresh coriander and tell your friends how clever you are.

Store-Cupboard Tortillas

2009-09-08T01:44:00.000-07:00

This is a brilliant recipe that can be made almost entirely with store cupboard ingredients. It's quick, easy and full of savoury yumminess.

2 tins of kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
A squeeze of lime juice (lemon would work if you don't have lime, but I always have a bottle of lime juice in the fridge anyway)
5-6 teaspoons of chilli sauce
4 spring onions ( a small amount of ordinary onion would do at a pinch, but I usually have spring onions- or scallions as they're called in Ireland- in the fridge as I never know when the urge to make Champ will strike me)
2 cloves of garlic
Cheddar cheese to taste.
Four large Tortilla wraps (I keep these in my store cupboard as they last and are useful when you're out of bread)
1 pot of guacamole or sour cream (optional, and the only thing you'd have to buy specially)

Pre-heat the oven to 200C, Gas Mark 6

Roughly mash the beans and add the lime juice and chili sauce.
Finely slice the spring onions and crush the garlic and stir into the beans.
Spread the mixture on to two of the tortillas and sprinkle grated cheese on top.
Top with the other tortillas to make a sandwich.
Place on a baking tray and cover with foil, bake for 10 mins. Remove the foil and bake for a further 10 mins.
Quarter and serve with the sour cream or guacamole. This is also good with a green salad.

Soup.

2009-09-04T05:28:00.000-07:00

Gary came to dinner last night and for a starter I made pea soup. It's really easy, you fry a medium onion til it's translucent add a small bag of frozen peas and some water or stock and cook for about ten mins. Blend (preferably with a stick blender and without getting soup on the ceiling) and then add milk to taste and warm through. Season and serve with the garnish of your choice- I used cream, but creme fraiche, yoghurt, sour cream or flvoured oil would work just as well.
I served this in my Nigella Cappuccino Cups with a side of sourdough bread from Grain Wholefoods on Newland Avenue. I know I could have made my own but I like Grain's organic bread.

2009-09-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

Blackberries

2009-09-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

Hannah and I went brambling on Wednesday and I have the scars to prove it. We had a great time wandering through fields and looking for foraged food. We lay in a field and looked at the clouds (and sneezed, damn hay-fever).
Hannah made shortbread and served it with whipped cream and blackerries steeped in cherry brandy. It was fantastic. Here's a picture of Flapjack overseeing the cooking.

Shortbread

Ingredients

125g/4oz butter
55g/2oz caster sugar
180g/6oz plain flour

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
2. Beat the butter and the sugar together until pale.
3. Stir in the flour to get a smooth paste. Turn on to a work surface and gently roll out until the paste is 1cm/½in thick.
4. Cut into rounds or fingers and sprinkle with a little extra caster sugar. Put on a baking sheet and chill for 20 minutes. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until pale golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Birthday Cake

2009-09-01T03:15:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd post a picture of my nephew's birthday cake. We went a bit over the top with the decoration, but it tasted wonderful. This is after the stripy candles and feather birds had been removed. There's also a picture of the wine we had that day as his dad was rather proud of the collection.

Marrows!

2009-09-01T02:56:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year when the garden is full of marrows. My dad gave me one to bring back with me when I was there last week. I wish he'd grow courgettes but he and my mum like to eat marrow stuffed with a savoury mince similar to Bolognese.

I found this recipe in one of Hannah's books, I think it was Leith's Vegetable Bible.

Caramelized Marrow with Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

3 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon of soft light brown sugar
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 thinly sliced onions
1 oz butter
1 oz caster sugar
1 marrow- cubed
3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of fresh sage
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F, Gas Mark 4.

Mix together the seeds and the brown sugar and spread on a non-stick baking tray.
bake for 7-10 mins and then allow to cool.
Heat the oil in a large pan and then cook the onions slowly until translucent.
Add the butter, caster sugar and marrow to the pan ad stir well.
Cook for 10-15 mins ntil the marrow is tender.
Increase the heat and add the vinegar.
Cook over a high heat until the moisture has evaporated and the marrow is slightly brown.
Add the sage, salt and pepper to taste and the seed mixture.
Eat and enjoy!

Gingernuts

2009-09-01T02:27:00.000-07:00

My sister Carol used to make these for me when I was a child. I loved the raw mixture as much as the finished biscuit. I was at her house in Devon last week so I went through her recipe books til I found this.

All measurements are "level" unless otherwise mentioned.

Ginger Biscuits

Heat the oven to 200C, 400F, Gas Mark 6.

4oz plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
2oz butter
2 oz castor sugar
1 heaped tablespoon of golden syrup

Sift the dry ingredients together, add the butter and "rub-in"- this can easily be done in a food processor or mixer as you don't need the same light touch you would for pastry.
Add the sugar and mix in.
Warm the syrup in a small pan over a low heat until it is runny. Add to the mixture and stir in until you have a soft dough.
Shape in to a sausage and cut into 16 equal pieces (this is easy to do, halve the sausage, halve the two pieces etc. until you have 16 pieces).
Roll each piece into a ball, dip into a saucer of castor sugar ( golden sugar or flavoured sugar would be lovely at this point), and put on to a large greased baking tray (they spread so make it large).
Bake for 15 minutes.

I'm back!

2009-09-01T02:25:00.001-07:00

Not just back to the blog, but back from the painful place my marriage and its end took me to.

A lot of time has passed and I have a whole notebook full of recipes.

Endings and Beginings.

2009-04-18T01:52:00.000-07:00

So as you all know Adam left me in January but we carried on living together until late March when I discovered some things that made that situation untenable. Since then I've been desperately trying to save my marriage and to "save" Adam from himself as I saw it. I had plenty of advice from people telling me to move on and the majority was kindly meant but I wasn't able to move on until I was convinced I'd fought for the man I (still) love. However, yesterday we went for our last counselling session and things changed for me.

Adam was very reluctant but came because I asked him to do that for me. He knew it would be painful and he was right, it was one of the most difficult experiences of my life but it was hugely cathartic and extremely valuable. I was able to try one last time to make Adam see my point of view and what I thought should, or could happen and he was able to tell me why it just won't. I still think he's wrong and am very sad about it but I've done all I can and I have to let him live his own life and make his own mistakes. I just pray they won't be of the same scale as what he has done to me.

I feel ready to start moving on now. I've got plenty of hard work ahead of me and I need to grieve and rebuild my life but I can START that process now. I'm going to need lots of help. I want to meet new people and do new things. I'm not looking to find love, just peace.

Wish me luck.

Wireless!

2009-03-07T05:46:00.000-08:00

Hurrah!
I'm delighted to say that we now have a wireless network here at no.69 which means I can write on here without depriving The Boy of his beloved internet. Expect more postings and musings in the weeks to come.

Spanish Potatoes

2009-03-06T01:38:00.000-08:00

This isn't really a recipe but it's a dish my sister Elizabeth made for me when I was staying with her in Norfolk a few weeks ago. She made it in a lovely Spanish Terracotta dish, I had to use Pyrex!

Heat the oven to about 200 degrees.

Finely slice some floury potatoes, I use Desiree. I'm no longer afraid of my mandolin (despite slicing my thumb on New Year's Eve) so I use the widest setting on that. Layer them in a medium shallow dish with finely sliced onions and some cherry tomatoes cut length ways into quarters. Season with salt and pepper as you go. Put in a good glug of olive oil and a cup of water and cook in the oven til the potatoes are soft and there's a delicious gravy at the bottom.

You can serve these as a main dish with a green salad, something strong like rocket or watercress would be ideal or use it as a side with meat or fish. It's especially good with chops as the integral gravy stops the meal being too dry but Elizabeth popped some (ethical, line-caught) cod from The North Norfolk Fish Company (where she worked til last October) on the top ten minutes before it was ready.

Lily-Lo Cosmetics

2009-03-06T01:24:00.000-08:00

I have trouble finding good foundations and concealers due to a variety of reasons.

1. I have very pale "cold-toned" skin and most cosmetics in this country are too peachy or creamy coloured.
2. I have incredibly sensitive skin that is allergic to a vast array of random things.
3. I have very dry skin that is prone to flaking, make-up makes it look worse.
4. I can't use Lancome, Maybelline or The Body Shop as they are all at least part-owned by Nestle.

So imagine my delight when Amy recommended Lily-Lo cosmetics. They're a small, independent company that does mineral cosmetics. They have the best colour matches I've ever seen, their concealer is miraculous, it lasts for ever and is easy to use. It doesn't irritate my skin as it's full of natural minerals and low on nasty stuff, in fact it qualifies for entry in the Green Beauty Bible. They sell samples on their website so you can get your match right. A little goes a long, long way. And their service is just amazing. I ordered some yesterday about lunchtime and it arrived this morning. I know they're in the same county as me, but even so...

I cannot recommend this highly enough, order a sample I promise you will be absolutely delighted.

Lily-Lo Cosmetics.

Spring

2009-03-06T01:17:00.000-08:00

It really feels Spring-like today, it's cold but sunny but more to the point I feel happy. I'm still having a difficult time of it, sharing the house with my ex means it's impossible to move on properly and he's having trouble understanding what the boundaries are. He sailed into my room this morning looking for a shirt before I was even dressed. Actually sailed implies calm, stormed is probably more correct. (It wasn't in my room, of course, it was in the laundry pile downstairs where he'd left it). He rings me to tell me what he's doing socially and to ask if it's ok that he goes out. I guess it's good that he's attempting to be considerate but his social life is really none of my business- a fact made very clear by the majority of his friends who have ceased all communication with me.

I'm off into town later to get a wireless router as I'm fed-up with having to ask if he could possibly stop playing Magic On-line so that I can spend a few minutes on the computer.

What's in a name?

2009-01-31T07:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I stumbled on this site that claims it can deduce your character from your name. How is that possible? Your name is given to you by your parents for all sorts of reasons, your character is unlikely to be one of them.
Anyway, mine is clearly nonsense. Prudent? Business acumen? Yeah, right...

NATASHA-You tend to be critical of yourself, not always expressing your true desires. You have an interest in health and health matters. You have much enthusiasm with a driving attitude toward achievement in life. Your privacy is important to you. You have a rich inner life. You have a need to be up front. You try to be prudent. You have good business acumen. You work hard to achieve material success through your own efforts.

What does your name mean?

New Year, New Life.

2009-01-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted for ages as before Christmas I was working and commuting rather than cooking. Since Christmas I've been licking my wounds and contemplating my short, disastrous marriage. I'm going to start posting again now, recipes and musings on life, single or otherwise, but what I want to know is...is two and a half weeks after your husband leaves you too soon to be thinking about dating?

A new President.

2008-11-04T22:46:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to say a huge amount on this subject. My left-wing politics, my personal contacts in The States, my degree subject all combine to mean that I woke up this morning to the best news I could have hoped for. I hope he gets the chance to fulfil his potential.

Mushrooms

2008-11-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

My local greengrocer has chips of mushrooms- that's those baskets things- for £1.39 at the moment. They often have them this cheap but I never seem to use all of them and end up with a kitchen full of fruit flies and a giant case of guilt. This weekend I decided to get one and use them all, here are a couple of ideas.

1. Dried Mushrooms. I put the mushroom caps- face down- on a cake cooling rack and put it in the oven on its lowest setting for the whole day. When they were dried out I put then in a clean dry coffee tin with a table spoon of salt. I used smoked salt for a bit of extra flavour but anything would do as the salt is designed to draw even more moisture out of the mushrooms and stop them going mouldy.

2. Bottled Mushrooms. I finely chopped an onion and fried it in good olive oil (!), then I added a lot of garlic and the stalks from the mushrooms I'd dried. When they were cooked and seasoned I put them in a sterilized jar (I left it in the oven while they mushrooms were drying) and topped up with olive oil.

I'll use the dried mushrooms in casseroles and slow cooked sauces and the bottled mixture in quick pasta sauces and the like.
I'm off to get another chip tomorrow!

The best biscuits in the world.

2008-10-28T04:57:00.000-07:00

This is the simplest recipe you can imagine and makes the best biscuits. I love them so much I once ate an entire batch made by my class and had to come in early the next morning to make a new lot. I make them plain and then add flavour through different icings, but you could experiment with different flavours.

It's a simple 3-2-1 combination.

* 6oz plain flour
* 4oz butter
* 2oz caster sugar
A few drops of vanilla essence.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Mix the dry ingredients together. Put the butter in- in small pieces and "rub-in" until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the vanilla and a few drops of water (be very careful you need very little). Form into a ball, roll out and cut into shapes.
I have a big cookie cutter collection, but you can use a cup or a jar top if you don't have one.
bake for between 10 and 15 minutes until golden brown. I can't be more exact as it does depend on the size and shape of your biscuits.

These are delicious with or without icing.

Pumpkins

2008-10-28T03:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my pumpkin carving session with Hannah's class, and the finished product. I love carving pumpkins and wish it was a talent I could put to use more than once a year.
Thanks to Hannah for the photos. I use a melon baller to hollow out the inside from the back rather than the top and an awl to prick out the pattern from a paper draft. Then I use a scalpel style craft knife or very sharp vegetable knife to cut the pieces out. It's easier with a bigger pumpkin, but they're harder to find now.

Potato Ricer.

2008-10-18T15:09:00.000-07:00

I got one of these the other day in TK Maxx. It's like a giant garlic press and I used it this evening to make the best mash I've ever made. As my national dish, mash holds a special place in my heart and is my ultimate comfort food but I've never been particularly successful at making it lump-free. Tonight it was light, fluffy and lump free.

Billy Bragg

2008-10-17T04:22:00.000-07:00

Growing up in arch-tory rural West Oxfordshire (David Cameron is my parents' MP) It was Billy Bragg that showed me I was not alone in hoping for something different. It was a shock to be told at University that I shouldn't like him as I was from the south- obviously my "friend" Katie's grasp of politics was as tenuous as her grasp of geography.
I remember when the line-up was annouced for Live 8 that I was really angry Billy wasn't included as he'd campaigned far more than the majority of artists on stage. I didn't watch the concert as I went to Edinburgh with Julia for the demo. And there was Billy, singing a new version of Great Leap Forward and turning his back on the corporate entertainment area in Hyde Park by playing for the demonstrators instead.
I love Billy, I love his political integrity, I love that he volunteers at his local school, I love that he never gives up and I love his songs. Anyone unmoved by Levi Stubbs' Tears must have a heart of ice.

Go to his website.

Bean and Pumpkin Curry

2008-10-17T03:05:00.000-07:00

I love pumpkins. Every Hallowe'en I carve incredibly intricate designs that take me about an hour a time. I'm not going to be falsely modest here- they're brilliant! But every year I end up throwing out the flesh which is such a terrible waste. This year I'm determined to put it to good use so I've been inventing recipes. This one is my first and was a huge success. Even the fairly conservative* Boy was full of praise.

I measured my ingredients as I went, but you don't need to follow exact quantities.
Serves about four.

* 600g pumpkin (about half of a medium pumpkin)
* 1 large onion
* 1 tin of kidney beans- rinsed
* 60g creamed coconut
* Paprika
* Cayenne
* 1 whole chili

Roughly chop the onion and cook until translucent in a wok or large heavy pan.

Add the pumpkin. It should be chopped into small pieces or in the strips that you have taken from the pumpkin shell with your melon baller or other tool.

Add the whole chili. We like a mild curry so I leave it whole and take it out when the cooking is finished. If you prefer more heat you can finely chop it and leave it in.

Add a heaped teaspoon of paprika and half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

Stir well and top up with water.

Cook until the pumpkin is soft and the water largely absorbed/evaporated. It took half an hour for my thin strips to be well cooked but chunks may take longer. Don't let it dry out.

Add the coconut and more water if needed.

Add the beans and cook until they are warmed through.

Serve with rice or naan bread.

* Gastronomically, not politically.

Curd

2008-10-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

I love real lemon curd. By this I mean home-made or those from the English Provender Company or Duchy Originals, not the radioactive yellow you may remember from your childhood. It doesn't keep well and needs to be stored in the fridge, but that's not a problem as once you discover how delicious it is stirred into Greek Yoghurt, dripped over vanilla ice-cream or used as the filling of a cake ( a plain Victoria sponge is turned into something sublime by the addition of some lemon curd) it won't last long anyway. It's also a wonderful gift with Christmas coming up.

75g unsalted butter
3 large free-range eggs
75g caster sugar
125ml lemon juice or lime juice (about 4 limes, 2-3 lemons)
zest 1 lemon or 1 lime

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan then add all the other ingredients. Cook over a really gentle heat whisking until it is a custard-like consistency. Take your time as it will be inedible if you burn it. Be careful when tasting it as a burned mouth is unpleasant....
Allow to cool before using or putting in a sterilized jar*. Store in the fridge.

*This will help to keep it fresher, longer. Jars washed in a dishwasher are fine, otherwise I let mine wash under a running tap of extremely hot water and then dry in the oven (turned-off) after I've been using it. Don't go anywhere near them with a tea-towel.

I don't make this very often as I can't be trusted to stand over it with a spoon whilst it cooks. Making a Lemon Cake one Easter I had to do two batches of lemon curd as I ate the first one. It was lovely.

Courgette Cake

2008-10-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

Hannah and I once had the most amazing courgette cake from Lempicka in Beverley. It sounds weird, but let's face it, carrot cake doesn't taste of carrots just warm, moist spiceness. This is Nigella's version. I haven't tried it so can't give you any personal tips but I've never had a problem with any of her recipes. This one is from "How to be a Domestic Goddess."

* 250g courgettes (weight before grating)
* 2 large eggs
* 125 ml vegetable oil
* 150g caster sugar
* 225g self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon of bicarb
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Filling- Lime Curd see below.

Icing
* 200g cream cheese
* 100g sieved icing sugar
juice of 1 lime- more if you like it sharp

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4.

1. Wipe but don't peel the courgettes and coarsely grate them on a normal grater. Put them into a sieve over a bowl or the sink to let any excess water drain off.

2. Beat the eggs, oil and sugar until creamy.

3. Sieve in the flour, bicarb and baking powder and continue to beat until well combined.

4. Stir in the grated courgette.

5. Pour the mixture into two 21cm sandwich tins (the round ones) greased and lined or silicon.

6. Bake for 30 mins until lightly browned and firm. Leave in the tins for 5-10 mins before turning out onto racks to cool.

Sandwich the cakes together with good quality lime or lemon curd either bought or home-made. If you buy one you can sharpen the taste with some lime juice.

To make the icing beat the cream cheese until smooth and then add the sugar and lime juice. Smear it thickly on the top cake and sandwich the two halves together with good quality lime or lemon curd either bought or home-made. If you buy one you can sharpen the taste with some lime juice.

Nigella decorates hers with chopped pistachios, I'd use a little lime zest sprinkled over or just piled in the middle.

Not turning to food.

2008-10-08T01:49:00.001-07:00

So some things are going on at the moment that have made me feel very unhappy. I'm having to try very hard not to turn to food for comfort. Right now I'd like a big mug of hot chocolate and a croissant to dip in it, but I want it for emotional needs not physical.

I did eat for comfort yesterday, I decided I deserved a treat. Thankfully my favourite treat is Sushi, so it was emotionally nourishing and physically nourishing.

York

2008-10-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely trip to York with Hannah. We went to meet Julie from the Beyond Chocolate forum. We had lunch at Betty's - my favorite place in York to eat.
I had a smoked chicken, mushroom and raclette rosti. It was delicious. I love smoked chicken and am going to have a go at making it this week. however I am going to try and remember not to order rosti again as it is a litle oily.
Then we went to Hotel Chocolate and I got Chilli and Orange 74% dark chocolate for The Boy and I got milk chocolate with almonds, milk chocolate with hazelnuts, and caramellow chocolate. Lovely things to eat, lovely sunny day, lovely company and a trip to lakeland for all their catalogues. What could be better!

Autumn Braised Pork.

2008-10-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

We had this last night, it was warming and lovely. It can also be made with a rabbit (sorry Julia).

4 pork chops
4 medium carrots
2 sticks of celery
1 large onion
1/2 bottle of Copella apple juice
1 cup of brandy (you could use cider or a dry white wine instead, if you use cider, use the whole can and just reduce the apple juice correspondingly)
1 tsp marmite
flour
salt and pepper

Roughly chop the onion and brown in oil in a heavy caserole. Chop the carrots and celery into large chunks and add to the pan. Put the chops in and brown boyh sides. Add enough flour to lightly coat the ingredients and then throw in the brandy and let the alcohol burn off for a moments. Season, add a teaspoon of marmite and the apple juice and cook in a medium oven for an hour.

We had this with jacket potatoes and broccoli.

I should mention that we already had the brandy in the house as I was having a crisis so extreme on Friday that I had to buy Brandy and Chocolate Milk. This only happens about once a year and is a pretty good signal to the boy that he's done something pretty appalling to hurt me. I thought it might be nice to add some to this dish (instead of my usual wine) for a kind of calvados vibe when combined with the apple juice. I guess I could have called this Normandy Pork, but then the onions would have to be browned in butter rather than olive oil. This actually fed the two of us over two nights, we had it with rice on the second night.

2008-10-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah.

I promised I'd mention her.

Hitchcocks

2008-09-29T05:20:00.000-07:00

No, not the films, but the best restaurant in Hull. I'm not saying there aren't places with finer cuisine, but for its fun, its ethics and its eccentricity it can't be beaten.

Hitchcocks serves a yummy vegetarian buffet and fantastic puddings. And their coffee gets the Caffeine Monster seal of approval.

If you live in Hull and you've never been, you really should. You can even play Hitchcocks Bingo. Each person on your table puts 50p in the middle, first person to hear someone in the queue for the buffet say,
"I'll need a steak later. Ha ha."
gets the money.
There really should be a prize for spotting the selfsame "wit" later as he (it's always a he) adjusts his belt to allow for just a little bit more yummyness.

Statement

2008-09-29T03:11:00.000-07:00

I eat meat. I respect those who have made a moral decision to become vegetarian but I am no longer one of them. I have also made my decision after much thought and consideration and am content with my decision.
However, I buy only free-range eggs and wherever possible I make sure that they are not only free-range, but also organic and rare-breed.
I buy only organic milk and am trying to move toward organic cheese and butter as I am concerned about abuses in the dairy trade.
I am increasingly choosing organic meat and will only buy chicken if it has a freedom food label at the very least- usually I chose organic.

I am trying to move toward Fair Trade coffee, tea, and sugar but I am having trouble with Fair Trade chocolate as I just don't like it as much!

I try to boycott ALL Nestle products and brands, even though this has meant giving up my favourite San Pellegrino bottled water and Lancome and Maybelline cosmetics.

I do not tell others what they should believe or how they should live their lives. I make decisions according to my conscience alone.

Baked Eggs

2008-09-29T00:53:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite lunch or supper dishes.

Take a clove of garlic and cut it in half. Rub the cut edge round the inside of a ramekin. Grease the ramekin with butter and drop in a free-range egg. Add a glug of cream- the thicker the better but anything will do, double, single, creme fraiche, even whole milk if you're really stuck- you need about a tablespoon. You can stop there, or you can top with fresh herbs, grated cheese, a sprinkling of paprika, or breadcrumbs. Put into a baking tray of hot water and bake for 15-20 minutes at gas Mark 4/ 180C.

Eat with toast, crusty bread or a green salad.

More than Macaroni

2008-09-29T00:46:00.000-07:00

My mother often used to put some bacon in Macaroni Cheese for the flavour and colour. I never really liked that as I only like my bacon really crispy and hers was always a bit limp and anaemic (apart from this grumble I should say that she's a wonderful cook). I wanted to add a little something to my Macaroni cheese this weekend, so I built it up with layers of cooked spinach (with the water squeezed out) and pastrami before pouring the cheese sauce all over it. I realise pastrami is Jewish not Italian and that by combining it with milk, cheese and butter I'm turning it into the antithesis of Kosher, but I wasn't going for authenticity, I was going for taste, and the peppery coating on the meat was wonderful. It would have been even better with a watercress salad.

New Monday

2008-09-29T00:35:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and for the first time in weeks my heart wasn't racing and I didn't feel close to panic. It has been an odd feeling. I think that I've probably felt this stressed at the lack of work in September before, but in the past I have dealt with these feelings by eating. When I felt sick with worry I'd eat, when I was upset and frightened, I'd eat. This is the first year I have had to face this feeling of impotence and fear for the future without food as a tranquiliser Intuitive Eating isn't always easy, sometimes we don't want to tune in and acknowledge our feelings, sometimes we want to hide from them and their root causes. It has been strange, but ultimately helpful, to wonder why I was worried and look that worry square in the face. And I haven't turned to food!

It doesn't look like I'll be working today so I'm going to take advantage of the sunshine to get some laundry done. I have huge amounts of clothes mostly living in bags and boxes, unsorted and unused. I'm going to try and get lots of them put away today so I can work out what clothes I actually NEED to buy. I have a feeling I might have about twenty little black tops.

Dante

2008-09-24T05:35:00.001-07:00

I followed the links to Julia's blog, which she doesn't seem to be keeping up unfortunately and found this. I appear to be going to Purgatory which is nice. I thought my sexual history would be sending me somewhere colder. I should say that though I am Catholic, I don't subscribe to the doctrinal beliefs of 13th/14th century Italy!
The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	High
Level 2 (Lustful)	High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Very Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Very Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

David Tennant

2008-09-24T05:20:00.000-07:00

I've nothing to say about this except that I'm having a very difficult couple of weeks and I find a picture of David Tennant always helps.

Irish Stew

2008-09-24T04:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted much this week. Things have been getting a bit on top of me but I hope to be feeling less stressed as more work becomes available.
Following on from my Ballymaloe post, this recipe is based on Myrtle Allen's Irish Stew, though I have changed it a bit. I'd give you my Granny's recipe but my Mammy still won't let me have the book!

Ingredients
1.25-1.5kg/2½-3lb mutton neck chops- you can use lamb, but mutton has a much better flavour. I get mine from my local Indian and Continental Stores.
4 medium onions
4 medium carrots
570ml/1 pint stock or water
salt and pepper
4 potatoes
15g/½oz butter
1 tbsp chopped parsley

Method
1. Cut the excess fat from the chops, shred it and render it down in a heavy flameproof casserole, I use the fantastic Le Creuset pan I got for a quid from my parents local dump*.
2. Toss the meat in the fat until coloured.
3. Cut the onions and carrots into quarters, add to the meat and turn in the fat also.
4. Add the stock and season carefully.
5. Simmer gently for approximately two hours, adding the potatoes halfway through. Irish Stew must be cooked on the top of the stove but you need to be very careful not to let it scorch. I did once and it was horrid.
6. When the meat is cooked, pour off the cooking liquid, de-grease and re-heat it in another saucepan. Check the seasoning.
7. Swirl in the butter and parsley and pour back over the stew.

* I should explain to those of you that eat at my house that I do not make it a habit to cook with items scavenged from landfill sights. The staff at my parents local tip regularly save and sell items left by the well-heeled Cotswold residents. I've had two Le Creuset pans and a proper Espresso pot from there so far. Bet you never realised a trip to Dean tip could be so exciting!

2008-09-21T22:31:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning I asked The Boy what he wanted for dinner that night. Did he want fish, chicken, lamb, beef, pork, or meat-free? He decided to be funny and asked for venison. So I went into the freezer and found the venison burgers I got in the bargain section last week. He should know better than to try and catch me out.
We had venison, mash, and green peas, so no recipe for that I'm afraid. Yesterday we had pie, mash and a mixture of peas and endame beans. The Boy was delighted. I do wonder sometimes why I cook at all!
It was good to have a rest though. My heart still feels like it's trying to escape and it's making me feel tired. I'm back at the doctor tomorrow for tests.

Ballymaloe House

2008-09-19T03:02:00.000-07:00

I was recently trying to remember the best meals I've ever had and I thought my visits to Ballymaloe House in Cork. It's a famous cookery school now but when I went in the 80s it was just a country house hotel and farm with a fantastic restaurant. The food was all fresh and locally sourced and I remember hearing Myrtle Allen on the phone to her son Rory in the mornings checking what was available so she could decide on the menu. They understood seasonal food and Slow Food long before it became fashionable but they were never precious about it, they just saw it as normal. The food was amongst the best I've ever had but there was no stuffiness about the place, they used to come round and offer seconds.

I love the idea that good food should be free of pretension and snobbery and I think Ballymaloe was a huge influence on me. I'd rather eat a dinner made of the best rare-breed free-range eggs than eat a factory farmed chicken, quality not quantity.

Dieting is so often about making sure you fill up on quantities of low-fat, low-calorie, low-quality foods and there's always been a part of me that hated that. I have always chosen to have a small amount of good butter rather than a lot of low-cal spread and one of the reasons that Beyond Chocolate resonated with me was that it encouraged me to eat the best foods I could possibly afford and enjoy them.

My parents couldn't afford a long stay at Ballymaloe but they chose to take us there for a few days rather than a longer trip to a less wonderful place. I must remember to thank them.

Chicken or Quorn Satay

2008-09-18T01:17:00.000-07:00

I've always loved a kind of chicken satay dish that Gill and I used to eat at least once a week. Then I married someone with a peanut allergy. Fortunately The Boy is not allergic to all nuts, he just has asthma attacks when exposed to peanuts, cashews and brazil nuts. I had a bit of a think yesterday and came up with this alternative. It wouldn't be suitable for someone with a severe nut allergy but it's fine for us and actually has a more interesting flavour than the original.

This takes 20 minutes at most. The lemon, almond butter and coconut are all store-cupboard ingredients so I only have to get the chicken or Quorn on my way home from work. Perhaps I should call it a Natasha Express dish!

Ingredients

450g chicken or Quorn pieces.
Juice of 1 lemon
4 tsp almond butter (I used Meridian)
40g creamed coconut

Method

Pan fry the chicken or quorn until cooked through.
Add the juice of a lemon and stir through give it a few minutes so the flavour of the lemon has time to penetrate the chunks.
Add the almond butter and coconut.
Stir til heated through and thoroughly mixed together

Serve with rice or noodles.
We shared this between two but it would probably serve three easily, four if you had a side dish too as it is very rich. In any case I was so full I wasn't hungry for my pudding and am looking forward to having some later today.

Maple, date and banana flapjacks

2008-09-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

My local greengrocers has yummy Dorset Cereals for sale very cheaply as they're at their Best Before date so I thought I'd do somehing with them.

* 450g of Date and Banana fruity porridge oats
* 75g soft brown sugar
* 300g butter (should be unsalted but I didn't have any)
* 75g golden syrup
*75g maple flavour syrup (I guess you could use the real thing but I prefer to save that for pouring)

Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas Mark 5

1. Mix the sugar and the oats.
2. Melt the butter and syrup together on a low heat- you will need a big pan for this.
3. Stir in the oats and sugar mixture.
4. Press into a buttered tin, or a silicone tray.
5. Bake for 25 minutes.

I can't tell you what these taste like as they're in the oven at the moment! I'm going to serve them with whipped cream and bananas for pudding tonight.

Argan Oil

2008-09-17T05:18:00.000-07:00

I love using a few drops of flavoured oil as a simple salad dressing. My absolute favourite is argan oil from Morocco, or from Harvey Nicols in Leeds if you're me! I first had it when my friend Gill brought me some back from her holiday in Morocco. Don't you just love people who bring you things to eat! It's a delicious sweet nutty oil which is also a fantastic garnish dripped on to a summer pea soup.

If you've ever seen those pictures of goats up trees it's the argan they're climbing and contrary to popular myth the oil does NOT come from the nuts the goats have eaten and digested!

Thanks to Berberman on ukcampsite for the picture.

Not only is it a delicious ingredient, but it's a fabulous beauty product AND a way of supporting the women of Morocco.
Find out more here .

Lentil Curry.

2008-09-17T04:48:00.000-07:00

This is the easiest meal in the whole wide world and amazingly adaptable. Quantities are approximate. This probably serves four normal people...

Ingredients

250g red lentils
1 medium onion
1 tin of tomatoes
Half a block of creamed coconut
Spices

Method

1. Finely chop and fry the onion until translucent. (I use red onions and considerably more than one, but that's because we adore onions!)
2. Add your choice of spices or curry paste. (I like to put in a whole red chilli, a stick of cinnamon and some paprika, Hannah uses cumin) Stir well.
3. Add the lentils and the tin of tomatoes.
4. Cook for anything from 15 mins onwards depending on how mushy you like your lentils. Top up with water if it looks like it might stick.

You can stop at this point or add any vegetable you like, fresh, tinned or frozen spinach works really well, but so do roasted peppers, courgettes, green beans or anything you feel hungry for.
If you want a creamy curry proceed to step 5.

5. Add creamed coconut to taste. I shave it off the block a bit at a time and melt it into the curry. For a creamy taste half a block is probably ok.

Originally I thought I once added a whole block of coconut but then I realised that was when I made this with two tins of tomatoes and a sack of lentils!
Serve with rice, pitta, chappatis, homemade flat-bread, jacket potato or anything else you like.
It is also fantastic cold the next day so brilliant for a pack-up.

EDIT- If you're wondering what normal means, I mean not someone who takes one bite and then moans that they're full and couldn't passibly manage any more and not someone who eats a huge bowl and then keeps going back to the kitchen for the entire evening until she's eaten the entire bowl. Guess which one is me!

Love Muffins

2008-09-17T04:14:00.000-07:00

I've just discovered that Love Muffins are a euphemism for breasts. As a 38h that seems to be particularly appropriate!

Make ahead courgette salad aka Summer on a Plate.

2008-09-17T03:43:00.000-07:00

I invented this salad as part of my Easter Sunday lunch one year. The joy of it is you can make it an hour or so before (in fact it's better if you do) so you don't have to worry about last minute timings. I love this with lamb, turkey or a vegetarian main course like a good quiche. It was such a success that I make it for every buffet I do now, especially as Hannah usually puts in a special request for it.

Courgette Salad.

Amounts are approximate as I tend to cook by eye and taste.

Ingredients.

Enough courgettes to provide two medium sized veg per person. If you are cooking for a large party you can reduce this to one per person as I find people eat less when there are loads of them. If I'm doing it as part of a weekday dinner I increase the amounts.
Good olive oil
Half a lemon for every four courgettes.
Fresh mint
Salt and pepper to taste (Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper please.)

1. Thinly slice the courgettes with a sharp knife or a mandoline (I'm scared of mine so I use the side of my grater).
2. Heat the olive oil in the biggest frying pan you have, a wok is ideal.
3. Fry the courgettes on a medium heat for a few minutes until most of them have some brown marks on them. Do not worry if some are less cooked as the lemon juice will finish the process. Add a generous sprinkling of finely chopped fresh mint before you stir them one last time and remove from the heat.
4. Squeeze the lemon juice over the cooked courgettes, add salt and pepper, stir and cover.
5. Leave the flavours to soak into each other.

I like to serve this at room temperature but if you made it a long time ahead and wanted to refrigerate it that would work too. I love this dish, it always tastes to me like summer on a plate.

Chickpea nibbles.

2008-09-17T03:05:00.000-07:00

I have no idea if I read this somewhere years ago or not, but one night I was looking for inspiration for an interesting nibble to serve some Veggie friends and two tins inspired this. It might look complicated and a bit frightening but it is easy as anything.

Spicy Paprika Chickpeas

Ingredients

1 tin of chickpeas
Smoked paprika and Maldon sea salt to taste.

* Take a tin of chickpeas and rinse and drain THOROUGHLY letting them dry out by leaving them out for a while or by patting them with kitchen towel. I know you can soak your own, but honestly who has the patience?

* Heat a tiny amount of very good olive oil in a non-stick pan. You really only want enough to stop the chickpeas sticking and if you really trust your pans I guess you could forego this step altogether.

* Add the chickpeas. This is where you will find out if you drained them enough as water will cause them to spit horribly if you didn't.

* Sprinkle with Maldon sea salt and the spice of your choice- I use smoked paprika because it's yummy and I love the religious kitsch of the tin. Be generous with your flavourings, now is not the time to worry about your salt intake! Leave a few seconds just to let the spices permeate and the chickpeas turn a toasty brown colour.

* Drain on kitchen towel.

Eat and enjoy! They're fantastic with a very cold white wine or dry sherry as a tapas.

Slooooow-roasted lamb.

2008-09-17T02:39:00.000-07:00

I love lamb, we had it as the meal at our wedding, in fact my wish for lamb may have been one of the reasons for choosing an Easter wedding!
I found a lovely organic leg of lamb in the supermarket reduced section on Monday and wanted to cook it for dinner on Tuesday. The problem is that The Boy teaches an evening class on a Tuesday night and can be home any time between nine and ten. I usually like my lamb pink but knew there was no way I could get my timings right under those circumstances. Solution- slow roasted lamb.

* Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 3, 170C.
* Seal the lamb on the top of the stove to give it a nice brown colour. I use a touch of olive oil and a frying pan, but you could use your roasting tray.
* Remove the lamb and place it on a bed of herbs and flavourings. I used fresh thyme from the garden and cloves of garlic still in their "paper" but shallots, oregano, carrot, and any other strong flavours would work.
*Season the meat- I always use Maldon Sea Salt.
* Cover the joint in tin foil. The foil does not need to be tight to the meat but it MUST be completely sealed so that the meat does not dry out.
* Leave to cook for 4 hours. You can completely ignore it for that time. If you want to you can turn down the heat after 3 hours and cook it on Gas Mark 1/140C for between 3 and 8 hours!

I love the fact you can leave this for so long without any attention as that completely frees you up to do anything else you need to do like preparing cold starters and accompanying dishes. I'm going to serve this the next time I have friends to dinner. It's also a dream to serve as you don't have to worry about carving, it just falls to pieces. If I were ever to go on Come Dine With Me this is what I'd make!

Hannah's Mud Cake

2008-09-17T02:14:00.000-07:00

Hannah made this decadent cake one day and I loved it. It's incredibly rich so you only need to eat one bar to feel satisfied. I boxed some up to give to friends but I think in future I'd cook it for a few minutes longer if I wanted them to travel as they are fantastically sticky!

I've changed the recipe to include half Mayan Gold chocolate as I think it gives a sophisticated spicy flavour but if I was making these for children I'd include a bar of Green and Black's Milk Chocolate instead.

Ingredients

200g butter (plus extra for greasing)
100g Green & Black’s dark chocolate and 100g of Mayan Gold (their standard bars are 100g which makes life easy)
2 large free-range eggs
100g caster sugar

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Line a 30cm x 16cm baking tray with baking paper, greased and lightly floured.

2 Cube the butter and break up the chocolate. Put in a glass bowl placed over a pan of simmering water and gently melt. Remove from the pan.

3 Whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and mousse-like, then add the chocolate mixture and whisk again.

4 Pour the mixture into the baking tray and bake for 12-14 minutes. Leave to cool, then remove from the tin.

There you go, incredible easy! And if you use silicon bakeware you don't even need to faff about with greasing and lining trays. Home Bargains do a good range of bright red silicon bakeware that is far cheaper than any other I've seen and works just as well as my expensive Tefal stuff.
http://www.homebargains.co.uk/

One small step...

2008-09-17T01:51:00.000-07:00

So, after years of starting and abandoning diaries, I thought I'd try my hand at a blog. I'll include random thoughts and feelings, my favourite recipies, and thoughts on the joys of Intuitive Eating.
Intuitive Eating, or more precisely Beyond Chocolate, overturned at least 23 years of problem eating and unsuccesful dieting and has given me the strength and the tools to mend my broken relationship with food.