Lasagne - A slightly healthier version

I am currently attempting to eat more healthily than I have done, with a few treats at the weekend. I love my lasagne and have been trying to tweak the recipe to make it more diet friendly. This is the recipe that has worked with Turkey mince and courgettes.

Ingredients - makes 4 portions

1 courgette - sliced thinly lengthways
150g Goats cheese
1 tin good quality tinned tomatoes
400g Turkey mince
Handful of mushrooms
Chicken stock cube dissolved in half a cup of water
2tbsp Tomato purée
1 Garlic clove - crushed and chopped
1 Red onion - finely chopped
1 heaped tsp mixed herbs
1 tsp Hendersons Relish or Worcestershire Sauce

Method

1.   Preheat your oven to 180.
2.   Dry fry onions, garlic and mushrooms in a nonstick pan until soft. Add mince and brown off.
3.   Add stick and purée. Mix well to coat all ingredients with purée.
4.   Add Hendersons relish/ Worcestershire sauce and herbs. Stir well.
5.   Add tomatoes and leave to simmer and reduce for 20 - 30 minutes.
6.   Layer the lasagne by putting mince in first, then sprinkle goats cheese over. Layer the courgette next. Repeat again. Then you should end with a layer of mince and cheese.
7.   Bake in the over for about 25 minutes until the cheese is golden on top and the courgette cooked through.
8.   Serve with a side salad.

Cauliflower Breadsticks

I know... Cauliflower and bread does not sound right together! But bear with me. Recently I've been attempting to eat more healthily and one thing that I do miss is bread. Once a daily affair it's now reduced to being a treat. So I had a look on Pinterest and it seemed a lot of people were substituting cauliflower bread for the beautiful wheat laden stuff! I tweaked a few different recipes and came up with the following that seemed to work best. Whilst it's never going to fully replace bread in my life it certainly stops any cravings and is a great side dish.

Ingredients

1 large cauliflower head
1 egg or 2 egg whites - beaten
Seasoning of choice
3/4 cup of grated cheese (I used low fat mature)

Method

1.   Preheat oven to 160.

2..   Pulse cauliflower in a food processor until it resembles fine breadcrumbs as below:

3.   Microwave for 7 minutes in a bowl covered in pierced clingfilm. Stir halfway.

4.   Allow to cool. You will now need to strain the cauliflower in a linen cloth or teatowel. This is a really important step as cauliflower actually has a high water content. Without this stage you'll just end up with mush!

5.   Add seasoning of choice (I used a dried mixed herb), half of the grated cheese and the beaten eggs or egg whites. I used 6 tbsp. of two chicks egg whites. Each carton contains 15 egg whites. You need 3tbsp for each egg white. It's a really handy standby as you can freeze the carton too. And useful for meringues so you don't have to spend a fortune on eggs!

6.   Mix all ingredients together well and tip into a baking dish lines with parchment. pat down to fill dish to edges. I found it best to use my fingers here as a spoon tended to just move the parchment around! It should look a little like this:

7.   Bake for around 15-20 minutes until golden. It may catch slightly at the edges, but don't worry too much as that part actually ends up being the nicest!

8.   Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until cheese has melted.

9.   Remove from the oven and cool. Remove from dish and cut into slices. I got 8 out of this dish.

10.   Enjoy!

So it has been well over a year since I last posted! Work and life has taken over in a good way. But I've recently reached a kind of calm and going to crack on with some more posts! As always food related, but having recently lost a few stone there will be a fair few healthy recipes thrown in! I'm hoping to give a few recommendations for good products and places to eat out too. I shall get cracking this weekend, so check back soon!

Chicken and Chorizo Risotto

I love this risotto... but completely forgot to take a photo!

Chicken and Chorizo Risotto

Serves 2 (Easily doubled)

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breasts – chopped and either fried off or grilled till cooked

3 uncooked chorizo – diced

160g Arborio Rice

1pt Hot Chicken Stock

1 White Onion – diced

2 Garlic Cloves – chopped or 1tsp Garlic Puree

1 Large glass white wine

1tbsp Chopped Fresh Basil or 1tsp Dried Basil

1tbsp  Butter

1tbsp creme fraiche

2tbsp grated Parmesan plus extra to serve

Salt and Pepper- to season

1. Melt butter in a large frying pan. Add onion, chorizo and garlic and fry until soft and the chorizo has let out some of its juices.
2. Tip in the rice and coat with butter and onion. It should slightly glisten. Add wine and bubble until the wine has reduced.
3. Add in a ladle at a time the chicken stock. Let each amount be absorbed by the rice before adding the next. Repeat until rice is cooked. You may not need all of the stock.
4. Fold in the basil and the cooked chicken. Heat through. Season to taste.
5. Before serving fold in the grated parmesan and the creme fraiche. Serve hot with more cheese if you wish!

Raspberry and Vanilla Madaleines

It's been a while since I posted.  Sorry peeps! My new job has taken up a lot of time but I have really enjoyed it.  It's great to be involved in so many new projects there.

But things have quietened down slightly and as it's a bank holiday baking was on the agenda.  I made a raspberry angel delight cheesecake with an Oreo crust. And these Raspberry and Vanilla Madaleines.  An adaptation of a traditional Madaleine recipe from Michel Roux Jnr. I have recently purchased a Madaleine tin so this was an excellent opportunity to try it out. 

Makes about 15

Ingredients
100g Plain flour
100g Butter melted and slightly cooled
100g Caster sugar
1tsp Baking powder
2 Eggs
1tsp Vanilla extract
About 15 raspberries

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180. Beat eggs and sugar till fluffy. Grease tin and dust with flour lightly.

2. Add vanilla extract, baking powder and flour. Pour in butter. Beat to a thick batter.

3. Leave batter to rest for about 30 mins.

4. Fill tin mould 3/4 full. Pop a raspberry in the centre of each and gently push down.

5. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden around edges and risen.

6. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Chocolate Fridge Cake

So my last day came and went on Thursday. I was sad to say goodbye to a number of people I now call friends. But onwards and upwards and my new job is a promotion so too good to turn down! As I said I would I made cake. Always a good thing in my book! TheVictoria Sponge was similar to the recipe I made for cupcakes last month. The cornflake and jam tart however was an epic fail I brought wheat and rice flakes, not cornflakes. The result did not taste very good! So I will have to try again with the right ingredients! I did make the Chocolate Fridge Cake though. Recipe below:

Ingredients:

100g Butter

200g Milk or Dark Chocolate - whichever you prefer!

4-5 squeezes of Golden Syrup (about 4 - 5tbsp)

225g Chocolate Digestives - roughly chopped

A bag of Malteasers (the sharing bags about 135g) - roughly chopped

A bag of Munchies (the sharing bags about 125g) - roughly chopped

Method:

1.   Line a square tin with parchment.

2.   In a heavy bottomed pan melt together the milk chocolate, syrup and butter on a low heat until melted and glossy. Set aside to cool slightly.

3.  Add all your chopped ingredients to the melted chocolate and mix. Pour into a tin and set in the fridge.

4.  Cut into squares.

Vanilla and Jam Cupcakes

I had two celebrations this weekend - my friend Caroline moved to Northampton and I accepted a new job offer. So I decided to bake some cupcakes (any excuse for cake!). One of mine and Caroline's favourites is Victoria Sponge so I decided a cupcake with Vanilla Icing and Jam in the middle would be a winner.



Makes 12

Ingredients:

Cupcakes -
180g Self Raising Flour - sifted
180g Caster Sugar
180g Butter or Stork - softened
1tsp Baking Powder
3 Eggs
1tsp Vanilla Extract
Your favourite jam

Icing -
200g Unsalted Butter - softened
400g Icing Sugar - sifted
Colouring or decorations if you want



Method:

Cupcakes -

1.   Preheat oven to 180/ 350/ Gas 4. Line a tin with cupcake cases. Set aside.
2.   Cream butter/ Stork and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract.
3.   Add in eggs a little at a time. If mixture curdles add a little flour.
4.   Fold in flour and baking powder.
5.   Put a heaped tbsp of mixture into each cupcake case. Bake for a couple of mins This will help seal the bases so the jam wont sink too much.
6.   Put half a tsp to a tsp of jam in the centre of the cupcake base (amount depends on the size of your cases). Top with more cake mixture until about 2/3rds full.
7.   Bake for approximately 20mins until golden and fluffy. Cool completely.

Icing -

1.   Beat sugar and butter until combined. If a little stiff add a couple of tsp of milk. Add colouring if using.
2.   Spoon or pipe icing onto cupcakes and top with chosen decorations.

***Don't make the mistake I did if premaking your icing in advance - take it out to soften before you need to ice the cakes. I didnt and struggled as a result!

***You'll notice I also topped some with good old chocolate spread! An easy stand by for cake toppings!

Corned Beef Hash

A cheap and cheerful comfort food favourite. Just what's called for in this weather ad was perfect for when I got in from a run cold and wet! It's quick, cheap and easy to make. I've done my recipe for one as it was just for me, but it's easily multiplied!

Ingredients:

1 Potato - cubed and lightly boiled until al dente

Half a white onion - chopped

Splash of Worcestershire Sauce or Hendersons Relish

Salt and Pepper

Clove of Garlic - chopped

About 80 - 100g Corned Beef (a quarter of a 340g can) - chopped

Knob of butter

Method:

1.   Parboil potato cubes and drain. Leave to dry off for a few minutes.

2.   Melt butter in a large pan and fry onions and garlic until soft. Tip in the potatoes and combine. Fry until potatoes are starting to turn golden.

3.   Add corned beef, seasoning and Worcestershire Sauce/ Hendersons Relish. Combine and fry till golden.

4.   This is the basic recipe but add whatever you fancy to it. This time round I had some mushrooms and a green pepper so chopped them up and put them in. I serve mine with a poached egg on top and ketchup on the side. A friend of mine loves his with cheese on top. So go with what tickles your fancy!

 

Smoked Mackerel and Cream Cheese Tagliatelle

Having gotten in from work and a class late and being starving I didnt feel much like waiting for my dinner to cook. Pasta dishes are always a good stand by and as I am attempting to be good during the week fish was on the menu too! I just threw together a few ingredients from the fridge, freezer and cupboard. It actually tasted lovely!

Ingredients:

Half a white onion - finely chopped

Garlic puree - about half a tsp

Squeeze of lemon juice

Handful of mushrooms - chopped
Handful of frozen peas

A couple of smoked mackerel fillets - poached in water and rough chopped

A heaped tbsp light Philidelphia

Handful of spinach - chopped

Some fresh dill - chopped

Tagliatelle

Method:

1.  While fish is poaching and pasta cooking fry onion in a little oil. Add mushrooms.

2.   Add cream cheese, garlic puree, dill and lemon juice. Add a little hot water if too thick to make a sauce. Add peas to the pasta a few minutes before its finished cooking.

3.   Add mackerel to cooked and drained pasta and peas. Stir through spinach - it will wilt with the heat of the pasta.

4.   Stir through the sauce and combine to coat.

5.   Serve!

 

Golden Syrup Pudding

After a day's sledging to take my mind off a few pieces of bad news I decided comfort food was in order. With the ingredients I had in the cupboard golden syrup pudding was the one!

 

 

Ingredients:

 

100g Butter -softened
100g Caster Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
100g Self Raising Flour
6 - 8tbsp Golden Syrup

 

 

Method:

 

1.   Preheat oven to 200/ Gas mark 6.

2.   Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time.

3.   Add vanilla extract.  Fold in flour. Combine well.

4.   Pour syrup into a  greased baking dish. Spoon over sponge mix.

5.   Bake for about 35 - 40mins until risen.

6.   Serve with whatever accompaniment you fancy!

 

 

Angel Delight Ice Cream - Review

Everyone who has read this blog knows I do like my Angel Delight. So I was pretty excited (I even did a little dance in Morrisons!) when I spotted they now have a version especially for ice cream. Well I had to give it a go! I purchased the strawberry and butterscotch versions. I followed the instructions to a tee and you only need a hand whisk and 150ml semi skimmed milk.

I am pleased to report it actually tastes okay. Granted it's never going to be the same as Ben and Jerry's, but for a quick stand by and fairly low in fat it did the job.

Smoked Fish Risotto

Risotto is much easier to make than people seem to think. And as it only takes about 30 minutes it’s a great midweek meal. Once you’ve made it the first time you can switch the ingredients about-different meats, herbs, or make it veggie instead. Just keep the basic rice, onion, and stock combo the same.

Serves 2 (Easily doubled)

Ingredients:

2 Smoked fish fillets (I use smoked trout or haddock usually)

150g Arborio Rice

1pt Hot Fish or Chicken Stock

1 White Onion – diced

2 Garlic Cloves – chopped or 1tsp Garlic Puree

1 Large glass white wine

1tbsp Chopped Fresh Dill or 1tsp Dried Dill

1tbsp Butter

1tbsp creme fraiche

Salt and Pepper- to season

1. Melt butter in a large frying pan. Add onion, and garlic and fry until soft.
2. Tip in the rice and coat with butter and onion. It should slightly glisten. Add wine and bubble until the wine has reduced.
3. Add in a ladle at a time the stock. Let each amount be absorbed by the rice before adding the next. Repeat until rice is cooked. You may not need all of the stock.
4. Fold in the dill and the fish. Heat through. Season to taste.
5. Before serving fold in the creme fraiche.

I am trying to get extra veg into my diet so I added a handful of diced mushrooms, asparagus,a handful of chopped spinach and a handful of peas. Italians don't usually add cheese to fish dishes whether it be a pasta or rice based one, but food is for enjoying so if you want to add some grated parmesan go for it!

Salmon Mousse - Starter

This makes a great starter as it's light so won't fill you up too much, but is still tasty. I served with melba toast. Measurements are imperial i'm afraid as it's an old family recipe!


Ingredients

1oz Butter
Half a finely chopped White Onion
1oz Flour
1/2pt Milk
Pinch Thyme (Dried or fresh)
1 Bay Leaf - Dried
Sprinkling of Nutmeg
8oz of Red Salmon - good quality tinned is easiest, but you can use cooked fresh too
1 Level dessertspoon of Gelatine (dissolved in 2tbsp water)
2tbsp Tomato Ketchup
3tbsp Mayo
Juice of 1 Lemon

Method

1.   Melt butter in a saucepan and gently  fry onion until transparent, but not brown.
2.   Stir in flour and fry off for 3 minutes.
3.   Add milk gradually - stirring all the time.
4.   Add thyme, nutmeg and bay leaf. Simmer over a gentle heat for 10 minutes until thickens.
5.   Remove bay leaf and cool slightly.
6.   Flake salmon into the sauce and beat to combine.
7.   Add gelatine.
8.   Stir in ketchup, mayo and lemon juice.
9.   Season and chill until needed.

Black Forest Cheesecake - Not for the faint hearted!

Pudding combined elements from family favourite desserts – Black Forest Gateaux and a Cheesecake to make... Black Forest Cheesecake. Be warned this is a very rich and calorific pudding. But so worth it!!!

 

Ingredients:

2 Packets of Double Chocolate Chip Cookies or Oreos

70g Butter – melted

500g Mascarpone

1tsp Vanilla Extract

300ml Double Cream

200g Milk Chocolate

200g Dark Chocolate

20 Cherries in Kirsch or Syrup - stoned

2tbsp Kirsch or syrup from the jar

You will also need a 20cm tin – spring form if possible as it’s easier! This cheesecake will need to be set overnight ideally.

Method:

1. Grease tin with butter lightly and line the bottom with baking parchment.
2. Whizz biscuits in a food processor to crumbs. Combine with the melted butter.
3. Tip into the tin and press down to form base. Place in the fridge while you make the filling.
4. Melt the chocolates in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and set aside to cool very slightly.
5. Beat mascarpone in a large bowl with the vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
6. Gently whip the cream and kirsch/ syrup. Fold into the mascarpone.
7. Fold in the melted chocolates and the cherries.
8. Pour into the tin. Smooth the top.
9. Chill in the fridge overnight.
10. Remove from the tin and spoon over some of the syrup/ kirsch from the jar and top with a few extra cherries.

 

Daupinoise Potatoes - Side Dish

Daupinoise are my favourite potatoes and are not for those watching their weight – hence why they are a special occasion dish! They aren’t normally on our Christmas day dinner menu, but they’re my favourite and as chef for the day it was my prerogative to add what I wanted on!

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

4 - 5 Large Potatoes (I use Maris Piper) - sliced widthways about 2-3mm thick

1 Garlic clove

500ml Double Cream

Nutmeg

Butter to grease dish

Salt and pepper to season

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to about 160/ 180/ Gas 4 – 5.
2. Grease a dish about 20cm x 20cm with butter. Then rub the dish with the garlic. Finely chop or mince the garlic and add it to the cream.
3. Layer the potato slices into the dish over lapping slightly until they reach about a cm below the dish top.
4. Pour cream over the potatoes. It should reach to the top of the potatoes. Push the potatoes down so they are all coated with cream. Sprinkle over nutmeg and seasoning.
5. Bake in the oven on a tray for about 45 -50 minutes until golden, bubbling and tender!

Christmas - Stuffing

A basic sausagemeat based stuffing. Add to it with whatever takes your fancy!


Ingredients

1 Packet of good quality sausagemeat
2 White Onions - diced
1 Small Loaf of Bread -  a day or 2 old
2tbsp Mixed Herbs


Method

1.   Whizz bread into crumbs in a food processor.
2.   Combine all ingredients.
3.   Use to stuff turkey, make into balls or bake in a buttered dish until cooked through.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I've been a bit slack this month with posts. Party season took over with a vengence and I have been trekking to various places for them! In the space of 3 weeks I covered Northampton, Bedford, MK, Aylesbury, Shropshire and London. Boy do I need a few days off at Christmas to recover. I hope you all had an amazing season too!

This year my mum relinquished responsibility for Christmas dinner to me! Okay, so it was only for the three of us and really it’s just a large Sunday roast. But baby steps. The next few pages I will share some the recipes I used to make my three course meal. Those with a star by them will have a recipe for you soon. I’ll hopefully manage to make up some leftovers recipes soon.

If any of you have any recipes you make as a tradition at this time of year I’d love to hear about them!

The actual meal consisted of:

Starter of Salmon Mousse* and Melba Toast

Main of Turkey Crown with the following sides:

Roasted Potatoes,

Daupinoise Potatoes*

Oven roasted honey glazed carrots and parsnips

Sausages in bacon

Yorkshire puddings

Stuffing*

Brussels Sprouts with pancetta (devil food, but my folks insisted!)

Bread Sauce

Gravy

Cranberry and Port Sauce

Dessert of Black Forest Cheesecake*

Tip for you - I used a lot of the throwaway tin trays to bake things in... less washing up. And if you dress your table in silver it fits in well!

Now pretty much comatose after all that food and just in time for cheesy family movies and I am now settling down for the pinnacle (for me anyway) of Christmas Day TV... Doctor Who and Downton Abbey!

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and here’s to the New Year. I look forward to posting even more recipes and random updates. 2013 is a busy year!

 

Clearing out the freezer - Chocolate Tart

Chocolate Tart

As it's the lead up to Christmas I try to clear out my freezer at least a little to be able to stock up on the leftovers I'll no doubt come home with from my parents. This week I had a friend for dinner who needed a little TLC. His favourite puddings are always chocolate and anything without it in is apparently not a pudding!

So, from the freezer I took out some pastry and some frozen cream and let it defrost (I think it must have been buy one get one free!). With that and some bits I had in the cupboard chocolate tart was on the menu.


Ingredients: (All approximates as I made it up!)

300ml Pot of Double Cream
200g Dark Chocolate - broken up
50g Caster Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
50g Butter
Half a block of pastry - about 250g (Shortcrust would be best, but I only had puff)
Dulce du leche - to drizzle


Method:

1. Grease and line a springform tin. Roll out pastry and place in tin so it goes a little up the sides. Blind bake for about 10 minutes until golden. Remove beans and cool.
2. Heat sugar, extract, cream and butter gently until simmering quickly. Add chocolate and mix well until chocolate and sugar have melted.
3. Pour into pastry case. Chill in the fridge for about 2 hours until set.
4. Remove from tin and drizzle with dulce du leche or other caramelly substance! It was yummy but very rich!

(Excuse the picture... drizzling isn't my forte!)

 

Spicy Tomato and Apple Chutney

I love Christmas. One of the best things has to be all of the cheeses and accompaniments that are about this time of the year! I decided to give making Tomato Chutney a go and now plan on giving a few jars away to family and friends.  After a few tweaks this is the recipe I went with.

Spicy Tomato and Apple Chutney

Makes 3 - 4 jars

Ingredients

1kg Ripe (soft) Tomatoes - peeled and chopped

2 Large Onions - chopped finely

100g Raisins or Sultanas

3 Cooking Apples - peeled, cored and roughly chopped

300g Sugar

225ml White Wine Vinegar

2tsp Salt

½ tsp All Spice

½ tsp Pepper

½ tsp Paprika

1. Place all the ingredients in a large heavy pan. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved completely.
2. Bring to the boil – stirring continuously. Simmer on a low heat, stirring regularly to stop the chutney catching on the bottom of the pan and burning.  After about an hour it should have thickened. If not keep simmering until you’re happy with the consistency.
3. Pour into hot sterilised jars and cover.
4. You can eat it after it’s cooled. But it is best left in a dark dry place for a couple of weeks to mature.

 

***To easily sterilise the jars wash them thoroughly and heat in a moderate oven for about 5 minutes – They will be hot!