A Simple Starter for Two: Scallops with Bacon and Minted Pea Puree

Where has January gone?!  After a very busy few weeks at work and trying hard to rebuild my social life after the rollercoaster that was 2012, it seems we are in February already!  Although I cook most days, I haven’t had as much chance to try out new recipes and experiment recently.

Even if you lead a busy life and things are rather hectic, there really is no excuse to neglect your health and not cook yourself yummy, healthy meals.  Trust me, you will benefit from taking half an hour out and doing something for yourself plus, your body will thank you for not filling it full of nasty processed food just because there is a perception that its ‘easier’!  After receiving Jamie Oliver’s ’15 minute meals’ (review to follow!) for Christmas, I have been taking a lot of inspiration from Jamie’s philosophy and have been attempting more speedy, nutritious meals.  Remember people, cooking doesn’t have to be long and laborious and really shouldn’t be seen as a chore!

With the above in mind, a few weeks ago I came up with a delicious and healthy starter which was ready in a flash!

Scallops with Bacon and Minted Pea Puree

4 scallops

Tsp flora extra light

100g frozen peas

100ml chicken stock

Handful of mint leaves

2 smoked back bacon rashers, all fat removed

Fry light

Salt and pepper

1.  Chop up the bacon into very small slices.

2.  Heat up a large frying pan.  Add the bacon to one side of the pan and allow to cook gently, using a wooden spoon to move it around every so often to prevent it burning.

3.  Heat the flora in a small saucepan.  Add the peas and cook for a couple of minutes.

4.  Transfer the peas to a food processor along with the stock and mint.  For less washing up just add the stock and mint to the pan and grab a stick blender.  Blitz the pea and mint mixture for a few minutes until smooth.  If using a food processor, transfer back to the pan to keep warm whilst you cook the scallops.

5.  Season both sides of the scallops and transfer to the other side of the already hot frying pan.  Cook the scallops for about a minute on each side.

6.  To dish up, swirl a line of pea puree on a plate, top with 2 scallops each then crumble over the cooked bacon pieces.

Such a simple and quick starter and its pretty healthy too ( 0.5 syns on Slimming World plus full of Omega 3 to keep your joints healthy!).   Plus, I really like my food to be colourful so the vibrant pea puree with the lightly caramelised scallops with the pink bacon looks really good.  This starter certainly looks a lot more impressive than it actually is…one to pull out at dinner parties time and time again!

Singapore Chilli Crab (Another Entry from my Golobetrotting Father!)

To say my Dad has travelled extensively over his lifetime would be a bit of an understatement! He is fortunate enough to have visited some really exotic locations in the course of his work and a love of food and sampling the local cuisine certainly runs in the family! My Dad’s latest post is all about a recent trip to the Far East…

Typical ‘Hawker’ stalls

Singapore is an expensive place to eat out but you would expect that to be the case in one of the world’s centres of finance and trade. I first visited Singapore over 40 years ago and it has changed markedly: the streets are now safe and clean and the roadside food stalls all but disappeared. In recent years the Government has concentrated the old-fashioned food stalls into smart ‘Hawker Centres’ (a Hawker is a street vendor) housing a number of small stalls around a central eating area.

May and a very fresh crab

On a recent business trip I ate in several different ones but my favourite by a mile was the one at Newton Circus. This always seemed very busy and was full of many locals as well as tourists. We ate at May’s Stall (No 61) several times and were never disappointed. The food was very fresh: indeed much of the seafood was displayed live and could be selected there and then for immediate cooking. I never really found out what May’s specialities were but we chose the stuffed prawns followed by Chilli Crab, a Singapore speciality. All this washed down with local beer. The prawns were huge and extremely tasty and the meaty Chilli Crab certainly didn’t disappoint. But beware it was really quite chilli ish and very, very messy. Even so it something you just have to try when in Singapore.

Stuffed prawms

Singapore is a great tourist destination but a great place to eat too, the restaurants vary from expensive and world-class down to pretty indifferent but for value and local colour do try one of the Hawker Centres.

Chilli Crab

Edible Presents 3: Gu Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

I absolutely love buying new cookbooks. It really is becoming a bit of a problem as I’m running out of room for them due to my ever-expanding collection! Other people flick through magazines or a paper when they have a bit of down time, I read cookbooks! It has not been unknown for me to have a pile of them next for my bed for a little bit of bedtime reading…possibly a bit concerning….!

I love the inspiration that new cookbooks can bring – they can open your eyes to new techniques and flavour combinations. Looking up recipes on the internet just isn’t the same (although I do a lot of this too). There is also the bonus of beautiful food photography that can give any amateur a goal for the future, not to mention the interesting and helpful forwards and tips often found on the last few pages.

When the GU cookbook came out, I could not resist giving it a try! Although I do try to limit the amount of calorific ‘naughty’ cooking I do, the GU cookbook seemed like a good place to turn to for the occasional treat. Plus, I am aware that there is still a lot I have to learn in relation to cooking with chocolate so this book seemed ideal.

I bought the cookbook from Amazon however, there are several other good deals out there.  You can even purchase a Kindle edition of the cookbook….I must admit I have never understood why someone would buy a cookbook for their Kindle, call me old-fashioned but I just think a lot of the magic is lost!

The first thing that struck me about this book is how strangely it is laid out!  There are chapters for ‘Breakfast and Brunch’, ‘Feeding Friends’, ‘Treats’, ‘Teatime or Anytime’ which seems fairly straight forward however, the book  contains not only chocolatey treats, but also savoury type dishes, so I found it strange that the book wasn’t laid out more similar to a ‘traditional’ cookbook which features starters, main courses, desserts, bakes etc.  I have found, over time, that it is more difficult to locate any of the recipes I have previously seen whilst flicking through without using the index however, maybe this is just my frazzled brain talking and others do not find the ordering of recipes a little irritating!!

Anyway….this cookbook features some stunning recipes that I cannot wait to try such as ‘Jaffa cake lollipops’, ‘Raspberry chocolate mousse pops’ and ‘Chocolate stuffed crust pizza’ as well as many recipes for chocolatey gifts such as ‘Milk chocolate, orange and cardamom truffles’, ‘Chocolate bubble wrap’ and ‘Chocolate macaroons’….watch out for chocolatey gifts this year people!  The two chefs who created the recipes for this book, Fred and Jerome, have also devised some delicious ’savoury’ recipes which contain small amounts of chocolate to add a depth of flavour such as ‘Open dark chocolate venison raviole’ and ‘Rabbit ragu’; I have already tried the Gulash and it was delicious so these strange-sounding recipes are definitely worth experimenting with!

For a Christmas bake sale at work, I decided to try the ‘Triple Chocolate Cookies’ recipe, and I am certainly glad I did!  These cookies melt in your mouth and give a real chocolate hit so the cash spent on the chocolate chips is most definitely worth it.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

Makes approx 30 cookies

150g margarine

225g light brown soft sugar

1 egg

Tsp vanilla extract

225g plain flour

4 tbsp cocoa powder

Half tsp bicarbonate of soda

Half tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

150g dark chocolate chips

150g milk chocolate chips

150g white chocolate chips

1.  Cream the butter and sugar together for 5 minutes using a mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the egg, vanilla extract and mix again until well combined.

2.  Sift the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.  Stir in the egg mixture until just combined then lightly knead in all of the chocolate chips.

3.  Refrigerate the mixture for at least 24 hours.  This makes a big difference to the texture of the final cookie – if you decide to cook them straight away the cookies will have a firm rather than soft, melt in the mouth texture.

4.  Preheat the oven to 170 degrees when ready to bake and line a few baking trays with baking parchment.

5.  Roll the cookie dough into 30 equal pieces roughly the size of a walnut in it’s shell.  Place the cookie dough on the prepared baking trays allowing room for the cookies to spread a bit when cooking.

6.  Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden but still soft in the middle.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

YUM!!  These cookies really are delicious!  Another great thing about this recipe is that, once you have rolled the dough into cookies, you can place the dough balls in a tuppawear container in the freezer for up to a month and you can bake the cookies from frozen when needed, they will just need to stay in the oven a little longer!  Perfect for impromptu guests or when you need something for a bake sale in a hurry!

Remember people, edible presents aren’t just for Christmas, they are for life!

Edible Presents 2: Christmas Cupcakes

For Christmas, I was very spoilt and received lots of lovely cooking and baking equipment from my loved ones, including a cupcake carrier (similar to the one above) from Neil.  I always find transporting cupcakes a little difficult as I worry that the icing will get crushed!  If only I had received my Christmas present earlier, as I made two lots of Christmas cupcakes in December; one for a bake sale at work and the others for my parents’ annual Christmas party however, these cupcakes would also make great gifts too!

Half Christmas cake, half cupcake, this recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery’s ‘Cake Days’ is fantastic and each bite is a reminder of the Christmas season with hints of almond and cinnamon.  These cupcakes also contain alcohol soaked fruit….what is better than cake?  Cake AND a little tipple!

Christmas Cupcakes

(Makes 12-16 cupcakes)

For the sponge:

300g mixed dried fruit

100ml rum/brandy/port

200g stork

200g soft dark brown sugar

4 eggs

160g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp cinnamon

60g ground almonds

For the frosting:

500g icing sugar

160g stork

50ml semi-skimmed milk

1/2 tsp almond essence

Small festive decorations

1.  Put the dried fruit in a small bowl, pour over the alcohol and leave to soak for a minimum of 30 minutes, preferably overnight.

2.  Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and line a cupcake tin with cases.

3.  Using a spoon or mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.  Break in the eggs one at a time mixing after each addition.

4.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, mixed spice and cinnamon.  Add to the creamed mixture and mix until combined.

5.  Add the almonds and fruit and mix well.

6.  Divide the batter between the cupcake cases until each one is three-quarters full.  Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes until the cakes have risen a little and are springy to touch.  Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool.

7.  Again using the mixer, whisk the icing sugar and margarine until combined and powdery.  Gradually beat in the milk then increase the speed until light and fluffy.  Add the almond essence and mix well.

8.  Ice the cooled cupcakes by using either a piping bag or palette knife then top with the festive decorations.

As Neil isn’t too keen on almonds, I kept the ground almonds in the sponge (as they add to the texture and the flavour isn’t too strong) but used ground cinnamon in the icing instead which worked very well.  These cupcakes are different from normal cupcakes as, due to the addition of the fruit, they are a little denser however, they are delicious and are the perfect addition to any Christmas gathering!

I used a mixture of holly leaves and snowmen to top my cupcakes along with red sprinkles and festive cupcake cases, which I found in my local Tesco and cookshop.  Of course, I could have made the fondant decorations but who has time at Christmas?!

Another recipe to add to the collection for next December but then again I am sure these cupcakes would be nice all year around – just leave off the christmas decorations!

Edible Presents 1: Tiger Butter and Christmas Peppermints

Happy 2013 everyone!  New Year has been and gone and Christmas seems but a dim and distant memory.  I love the Christmas season and am, in some ways, a little disappointed it is all over already! Christmas, for me, represents many things such as, spending time with the people I care about the most, parties, yummy food, presents and decorations.  I particularly love all the baking and delicious cooking I get to do during the festive season therefore, over the next week or so, I am going to share with you some of my favourite recipes that get dragged out as soon as December hits!

I adore spoiling the people I love and do have the tendency to go a bit crazy when doing my Christmas shopping.  Over the last few years, I have also made an effort to make people gifts as well - nothing adds a personal touch like edible Christmas presents!  This year, I gave some of my family and friends tiger butter and Christmas peppermint sweets all of which seemed to go down really well.

The recipe for tiger butter has been in our family for as long as I can remember after it was passed to my Mom from an American friend.  In some ways, I have been reluctant to share this recipe as it will give away just how easy it is to make!!  This recipe is so very, ridiculously, simple that I don’t really think it constitutes ‘cooking’ or ‘baking’; it is, in fact, so easy that even my Dad (who is not a cook in any way!) has been able to make some tiger butter to take into work.

Tiger Butter

(Makes 40+ chocolates)

375g milk/dark chocolate (or a combination)

375g white chocolate

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1.  Using a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt chocolates separately.

2.  Mix the melted white chocolate with the peanut butter.

3.  Swirl the two separate chocolate types together in either a 10″ square pan lined with wax paper or 3+ chocolate moulds.

4.  Leave to set at room temperature or in the fridge until solid.

5.  Remove tiger butter from moulds or cut into squares.

See, I told you it was ridiculously simple and it is always a big hit!!

The next recipe is also fairly simple but requires a little more effort; I came across the peppermint recipe in the November/December 2012 issue of the Co-operative Food magazine (free in store to customers) and it was such a good idea I couldn’t resist giving it a go and making little bags of mints for my parents and Neil’s Mum.

Christmas Peppermint Sweets

(Makes 25+ sweets)

225g icing sugar (plus extra to dust)

100g condensed milk

1/2 tsp peppermint essence

Red and green food colouring

1. Put the icing sugar, condensed milk and peppermint essence into a large bowl and mix well.  The mixture will become fairly hard and more difficult to mix, add a drop more condensed milk to loosen if necessary.
2. Split the mixture in half.  Add red food colouring to one half of the mixture and green to the other.
3. Dust a work surface with icing sugar.  Roll each half of the mixture until flat.  Use Christmas shape cutters to cut out the sweets.
4. Place the sweets on wax paper.  Leave for 2-3 hours to harden.

Although a little fiddley to get out of the cutters, these sweets worked really well!  I used a star and Christmas tree cutters which gave the peppermints a festive touch but they can be easily adapted and this recipe used all year round.  The sweets tasted just like Trebor extra strong mints!  Sorry about the terrible photo quality….I was so busy over Christmas I neglected my photos a bit!

Stay tuned for Christmas cupcakes, tripple chocolate chip cookies and mincemeat recipes!

Memoirs of an Amateur Cook’s 2012 Round Up

Well, 2012 has been quite a year!  It has been full of ups and downs and has certainly tested my patience at times.  It has, however, been the year I discovered blogging and the therapeutic power of cooking.  At times, I have completely neglected this blog and haven’t posted for several months however, I still continue to cook and get great satisfaction from creating yummy food for my friends and family to enjoy so hopefull 2013 will see more posts and more experiments!

A few of my favourite foodie aventures from 2012…..

1.  Where it all began….my day at Bridge 67 Cookery School

2.  Several delicious cupcake creations….apparently I can bake after all!

3.  Discovering a real gem just on our doorstep in the form of The Walnut Tree Inn

4.  Making some decent cookies, at long last!

5.  A meal of a lifetime at The Paris House

6.  Supporting local businesses, such as Brown’s Gourmet Sausages

7.  Writing a guest blog for Northampton Life and hosting a few guests of my own!

8.  Eventually getting Neil to eat pork.

9.  A trip to France full of foodie adventures.

10.  Growing my own mushrooms, if only a few.

Then of course, there were a few things that weren’t quite as good…..

1.  Receiving criticism for one of my reviews

2.  Some rather disgusting cookies.

3.  More than one dropped cake

4.  A few kitchen mishaps

5.  Getting stroppy about salad!

I don’t know what 2013 will bring but I am certain that it will be full of even more foodie finds, kitchen catastrophes, recipes and blogging!

Happy New Year to all of my readers!

 

 

 

 

A Gingerbread House for Christmas

Over the last year or so, I have become more and more into baking and  I love creating tasty treats for my loved ones to enjoy.  Unfortunately, I am not someone who can ‘have their cake and eat it’ as every sugary bite goes straight to my hips (and bum…and tummy…etc etc!)!!!

Christmas is a time where there are scrumptious, calorie laden delicacies to tempt even the strongest willed person at every turn and like the best of them, I love to get stuck into some festive baking.  In order to enjoy some time in the kitchen but hold off piling on the pounds for as long as possible, I decided to try my hand at a gingerbread house this year as a decoration for my dining room rather than for eating!

I know there are many people out there who use gingerbread house kits however, I just couldn’t help thinking that using a kit with ready made gingerbread was cheating – I really am a glutten for punishment sometimes!!  I couldn’t resist the idea of cooking one from scratch after seeing the beautiful creations of the ’Great British Bake Off’ contestants earlier this year.  I came across this recipe from BBC Good Food and it really is pretty simple and easy to follow however, I did come across a few stubling blocks along the way….precision isn’t one of my strong points and for this kind of bake, it is something I would thoroughly recommend!  Luckily I had my calm and patient other half to help me along the way.

A few tips to make for a foolproof construction:

1. Do not open the packets of sweets for decorating the house when you begin baking.  If your household is anything like mine, they will miraculously dissapear!
2. The use of a stencil comes highly recommended!  Remember not to throw the stencils away when you are baking the gingerbread as you will need to trim it once it has cooled slightly as it will expand a little during cooking.
3. Using flaked almonds for the roof tiles really is quite time consuming.  If you don’t have time to spare, use a sharp knife to score tiles into the roof instead or using chocolate buttons is another option.
4. Be aware that making a gingerbread house takes time!  For a quicker option…..buy one from Aldi for under £10.
5. Shot glasses are the perfect size to prop the walls up when waiting for the icing to dry.
6. Best not to leave the decorating until the next day when you are feeling the after effects of a few glasses of vino….creating icicles is not that easy without steady hands!
7. Instead of using rough icing as snow on the ground, do it the lazy way and use desicated coconut.
8. Make sure all the pieces fit together nicely before you start constructing the house.  Luckily for us we had a flake to hand for a gaping hole in the middle of the roof!
9. Use any extra gingerbread to make people, christmas trees, snowmen etc etc.
10. Cut holes in the walls prior to making and pop a boiled sweet in the hole for a stained glass effect window.

Far from perfect but not too bad for a first attempt!  Happy (somewhat belated) Christmas everyone!  This is one for the binder for next year!