Wednesday 31 July 2013

Peanut butter Dreams

I really fancied making cookies so I thought I'd experiment with a few ingredients and see how they turned out :) Once baked they turned out amazingly delicious , I was over the moon. And with such few ingredients they took little time to make and were eaten even faster lol.
I hope you try this recipe out :)


Ingredients:
1/2 cup of peanut butter smooth or crunchy ( I used smooth)
1 egg
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla sugar 

Preparation Method :

Pre heat oven to 180.
In a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients together and mix well until all the ingredients are incorporated .

Now line a baking tray with grease proof paper and drop spoon fulls of the cookie dough  onto it leaving enough space between them as the cookies spread while they bake.

Now reduce the oven temp to 150 and place the baking tray on the middle shelf and bake for only 12 minutes.
Keep an eye on them to make sure you don't over bake them as they will burn quickly.

Let the cookies cool a little before lifting them as they are delicate. These cookies are chewy in texture.

Enjoy  :)


Thursday 25 July 2013

Gingerbread

I've only ever tried shop bought and My other half's Mam's Homemade Gingerbread, I'd I have to say I'm a big fan of it :)
It looked quite daunting to make but I thought to myself if I don't try I'll never find out what it will turn out like.
So here's my take on it . It turned out amazingly moist, light and tasty :) Great for a first time try.

Ingredients:
3 fl oz Golden syrup
2 Tbsp Treacle
3/4 cup dark muscovado sugar
1 1/4 cups boiling water
2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
6 tbs softened butter
1 tbs white sugar
1 large egg
1/4 tsp salt

Preparation Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 then turn it down to 150 when you put the Gingerbread in to bake.


Combine the golden syrup, treacle, brown sugar and boiling water in a pan. Stir and set aside until it reaches room temperature.


Mix together the flour,spices, baking powder,baking soda and salt.


In another bowl cream together the butter and white sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat egg into the mixture and add the cooled syrup .
Stir in the dry ingredients only to blend together.




Butter and flour a 9 inch square baking tray.


Pour the batter into the tray and pop in the oven for 30- 40 minutes until the skewer comes out clean.
Mine took exactly 30 minutes but ovens may vary so please keep a check on your gingerbread.



It's ready :)


Let the Gingerbread cool down for 10-15 minutes before cutting into squares.


Enjoy with cream or custard or even as it is with a lovely cuppa :)

Tuesday 16 July 2013

Spicy Kidney Bean Salad

As the weather is getting hotter, light meals are more popular than eating a big heavy meal. I decided to make this refreshing easy and tasty salad which was lovely and light and can also be used as a wrap filling.

Ingredients:
1 can of kidney beans (washed)
1 small can of sweet corn
Sliced cucumber as needed
Lettuce as needed
Pink radish sliced as needed.
2 tomatoes sliced
1 red bell pepper diced
Lemon and dill Olive oil ( as needed)
Splash of balsamic vinegar or as needed.
Grated cheese as needed
Black pepper as needed
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Peri-peri salt ( spicy Portuguese seasoning) 

Preparation Method:
Chop all the salad and put it into a large bowl.
Add the seasonings and mix gently.
Now add the flavoured olive oil around the edge of the bowl along with the balsamic vinegar.
Gently turn through with a large spoon.

Enjoy :)
This salad is lovely eaten with wraps.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.





Wednesday 10 July 2013

Strawberry And Green Chili Jam

I absolutely adore Strawberries and always get a punnet on our weekly shop. Whatever strawberries don't get eaten are cut up and and stored in a ziplock bag and frozen. I find it a sin to let them rot.
Another fave ingredient of mine is fresh chilies and I also have plenty of them in the freezer at hand. So I thought why not combine my 2 fave things and turn them into a yummy Jam :) So I went ahead and did it :) It tastes sooooooooo gooooood :)

Ingredients:
I punnet of sliced frozen Strawberries(you can use fresh) 
5 Green Birdseye Chilies ( topped and blended) I kept the seeds in for added heat but you can remove them if you wish.
1 Brown sugar ( not the packed one just ordinary)
1 cup White granulated sugar.
Juice of 1 lemon

Preparation method:

Put the frozen strawberries In a large bowl and Add the 2 types of Sugars  and the blended chili.




Now add in the juice of 1 lemon and give all the ingredients a good stir.


Transfer The strawberry Mixture into a large heavy based pan and turn the heat up to low and stir continuously until all the sugar has dissolved and the the strawberries have separated.


Now get a potato masher and crush a few of the strawberries, I like to keep it chunky but you can use a blender at this point to make the jam smooth.
Now turn up the heat and bring the jam to a rolling boil.
Once you reach that boiling point time 10 minutes and keep stirring while the jam is boiling. Do this for only 10 minutes as over boiling will end in disaster and your jam will Crystallize. Remember the jam will set as it cools so don't be fooled by the runniness of it. 10 minutes is perfect.

 After the 10 minutes of rapid boil, you will feel the jam thickening, you should now remove the pan from the heat and try to skim off as much of the scum/foam from the surface and put it aside in a bowl, do not throw this away as this will be your first tasting of the batch that you've made.

Now if you have a canning kit go ahead and follow the procedure.
I do not have a canning kit so I washed two small jars with hot soapy water which does the trick :)


Put your jars on a heat proof surface or a kitchen towel  And carefully Ladle the jam into the jars. Please be very careful as the jam is extremely hot.




Get a wet paper towel and clean the rim of the jars and around the jars and let the jam cool completely before storing them in the fridge.

Enjoy :)


Thursday 4 July 2013

Stuffed Aubergine/Eggplant

Although I've eaten aubergine many times, I've never actually cooked it so I thought I'd give it a go and try something simple to begin with. So I decided to make stuffed Aubergine.

Ingredients:

1 Medium to large Aubergine
1 small onion sliced
1 tomato chopped
1 tsp Ginger ,garlic and Green chili paste
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
Grated cheese as needed
Drizzle of olive oil.

Preparation Method:
Pre heat the oven to 180 or 375
Prepare the Aubergine.


Was the Aubergine and cut off the tip.

Now cut the Aubergine length ways and spoon out the flesh and leave to the side to use later.


Now Chop up the Aubergine flesh and put it in large bowl.
Add in the tomato ,onion, seasoning and Garlic paste.
Drizzle a little olive oil into it and give it a stir to mix well.


Now fill the Aubergine Shells with the filling and top them with the grated cheese.


Place them on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 25 minutes until the Aubergine is softened and the cheese is bubbling and melted.

Enjoy :)


Serving suggestion :


We ate our stuffed Aubergine with a Quorn lemon and black pepper escalope and sweetcorn. It was delicious.

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Butternut Squash Stew

This was the very first time I've cooked with Butternut Squash so I thought I'd make a hearty stew with it.
It turned out yummy :)

Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash peeled and cut into chunks
1 onion sliced
1 tbs Olive oil
1 tsp ginger,garlic and chili paste
2 potatoes
1 vegetarian stock cube
1 liter of boiled water
1 tsp curry powder
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
1 cup of quick cook small macaroni

Preparation Method:

Prepare the veg first!

 Peel, and chop the butternut Squash and potatoes very carefully into chunks.












Add oil to a large pan and heat on medium heat.
Now add the Onions and cook until tender and quickly stir in the ginger, garlic and chili paste.



Now add the veg into the pot and stir and add the curry powder and salt and pepper.



Put one vege stock cube in a jug and pour in the boiling water (1 liter)




Pour in the stock.



Boil the stew for 30 minutes until the veg is tender.
Mash a few pieces on the side of the pan to make the stew creamy.



Now add one cup of small quick cook macaroni to the pan and cook for a further 8-10 minutes until the pasta is cooked.



Serve in a large bowl and enjoy :)

Feel free to add any other veg of your choice :)