A weekend at home..

I was lying in bed on Friday morning in Uni, and had not planned anything for the weekend. so I thought why not go for for the weekend?! It was a very spontaneous decision resulting in me packing like a maniac and hot and bothered-ly (new word) running to catch the next train at Leicester Station. But it was well worth it as I had a lovely few days with the family :) I was also glad to use a washing machine that dosnt charge me £2.50 to use each time i wash my clothes... Uni problems..

Anyway! i pulled my weight and made a lovely roast Lamb dinner for us on Sunday which was very scrummy, and went for a lovely walk with Scott, mum and the dogs.

I love the colourful orange carrot peelings! I roasted carrots and parsnips with butter, olive oil, and honey and they were DELICIOUS! Have I ever said that my favourite vegetable is a parsnip? If not i'm saying it now! Theres is no comparison to a overly roasted parsnip :)

I just drizzled a little olive oil over the lamb, seasoned it and added a few sprigs of rosemary from the garden!

Mum took a few snaps of us on the walk! This never happens.. I'm usually the irritating one that likes to take pictures of EVERYTHING ...
Scott and the dogs were quite excited to be walked ;)...

I really like this photo of Scott, and Ella running on ahead as she does :)

Molly (Seabear) patiently waiting until we turned around so she could carry her lead home ... this happens every time, and she refuses to walk unless we let her carry it :)

The girls and myself! I wasn't expecting to be snapped in my lovely painting coat and farmer wellies but this is the kind of terrible dog walking outfit I usually wear so theres no point kidding anyone I guess!

And lastly Molly basking in the delightful, stinky, Sheep poo ridden pool she manages to always find on any walk we go on....

Berry Custard Flan

It's now a standing joke on family meal night that where possible I like to add toffee sauce to everything. I mean I do make my own sauce and it is very tasty and everyone likes it, I just seem to try and pair it with everything ;)

So once again this dessert was paired with a lovely homemade toffee sauce. The beautiful thing about this dessert is that it looks so pretty and tastes very yummy, but requires very little skill or effort, which is very handy when you've been paying more attention to the main course :)

This is similar to a dessert I've already posted except I changed the cream to custard and chose berries instead of strawberries ....

Ingredients:
1 store bought flan case.
custard - I used birds custard powder and made it thicker than the instructions said but you could be fancy and make your own
your jam of choice
a selection of berries or your favourite seasonal fruit.

Method:
Cook the custard according to the instructions / your recipe.  Remember to make it thicker than usual as it will need to set and hold it's shape. Place in the fridge to set and cool. (roughly and hour).
Spread an even layer of jam on the flan case, this I like to call the moist maker like on friends with the turkey sandwich episode? anyone ? no, ok...
Now spread/pour on the cold custard and return to the fridge to set again, roughly half an hour or so.
Now your flan is ready to decorate s you wish. I used raspberries, blueberries and red currents but you can choose what you like.
Layer them on top of the custard and that is it!

TOFFEE SAUCE.
1 large knob butter
3 tablespoons soft dark brown sugar
1/2 pint double cream.
 Melt the butter in pan, add the sugar, gently stirring, and then add the cream. Do not over cook, but make sure the sugar is dissolved.  I serve my toffee sauce warm so it is runny as it goes thicker is cool.

 It's a little messy to dish up, but I think that was because my custard wasn't quite thick enough, so be careful not to make it too runny..

Lastly Alfred was being a little pain as I was photographing the dessert, cheeky little worm :)

Moroccan Chicken One Pot

Officially the, or at least one of the nicest stews/evening meals I think I've ever made. I honestly can't describe how good this was, but we had it for family meal night, and the whole family were in love with it. maybe it was because it was the last family meal night before I go to uni, or maybe it was just that good, but something when on tonight and this was awesome.

I was inspired by the front cover of good Food magazine. It's a sort of Moroccan stew/one pot dish which I adapted in my own way.

I don't usually document savoury dishes as often as i do sweet on here as they are much harder to photograph, and I'm not the best photographer!! But this was so tasty I felt it had to be shared with you.

ingredient's: (my version of the good food dish)

4-6 chicken breasts

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 onions

4 tomato's

1 tin chopped tomato's

ginger for grating

3 garlic cloves or a dessert spoon of garlic puree

1 tsp turmeric

1 desert spoon of cumin,coriander 

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 large butternut squash

1/2 bag thinly chopped cabbage (obviously you can chop your own they were just reduced in Tesco)

 1pt chicken stock

 2 tbsp vinegar (red wine or cider)

1 tablespoon honey

handful of dries cranberries.

method:

In a frying pan with the olive oil, brown both sides of the chicken breasts, and then set to one side. With the remaining oil in the same pan, add the onions and tomatoes (I blitzed mine in a food processor to form a sort of paste, but you could chop them finely if you don't have one). Add the grated ginger and the garlic. return the chicken to the dish and add the chopped tomato's and chicken stock. now add the vinegar and honey. Now add your spices (turmeric,cumin,chilli flakes,and coriander. chop the butternut squash into pieces (small-medium) and add to the dish. season and cook in the oven for about 2 hours on gas mark 3-4. 

20 mins before serving add the chopped cabbage, and when serving add the cranberries.

 I served our with pan fried mange-tout with salt and pepper, and mash potato. It was a real hit and so comforting on a cold September evening :) I also added a few leaves of mint because once again I like to add mint to EVERYTHING, and it also added a nice green colour.

 I hope you enjoy as much as we all did at home!

Giving it a go - Apple Lattice Pie

I have never been any good at pies. it's usually the pastry where I tend to fall, but even when that goes right I can never guarantee success with the filling ! This pie however (with the sneaky aid of shop bought pastry)  was pretty darn good to be honest. I've never made a lattice pie before (the ones that look like weaving on the top) but was heavily influenced by a couple of American food blogs and decided it was finally time....

I chose apple and ginger as it's not quite blackberry season, and Tesco don't sell fresh blackcurrants at the minute.

I've also recently made a pumpkin pie, but my family devoured it before I had time to photograph it, so I will have to make that again as it was very worth posting on here!

ingredient's:

1 pack shortcrust pastry (or you could be good and make your own)

5 cooking apples

fresh ginger

2 tablespoons caster or brown sugar

sprinkle of cinnamon

egg yolk for brushing over the top

Method

Roll our your pastry and place it into your desired oven proof dish. scrape away the excess pastry from the rim and chill in the fridge whilst you prepare your apples. Keep the excess ass you'll need it for the lattice part..

preheat oven to gas mark 6.

Cut up your apples into chunks. This part is totally your call - some people like the apple thinner, some chunky, some mushy some firm etc.

I like some chunky firm pieces but also a nice bit of oozy apple.

Stew your apple in a pan along with the sugar and cinnamon, you may need to add a dessert spoon of water to stop the apple sticking to the pan initially. I then grated the fresh ginger into the apple mixture and left to simmer for a few minutes. If you want a few chunky pieces in the pie hold a few back on a little plate and add them to the mixture once the rest have almost cooked.

I put my apples into a bowl and left them to cool before adding them to the pastry.

once the apples have cooled, add them the prepared pastry dish.

Now roll out the remaining pastry, and cut thin slices (long enough to cover the top of the pie).

If your having trouble, there are plenty of videos on you tube showing how to do this part). Brush the top pastry with egg yolk for colour, and you can always sprinkle a little more sugar on here too.

once you've finished preparing your pie it's ready for the oven.

Cook for about 30 - 40 mins, depending on how browned you like it.

And that's it!

 Scott and I had our pie with clotted cream, and my grandparents and dad enjoyed theirs with custard!

I feel all autumny recently as the weather has changed so quickly, and i'm already enjoying bringing out the winter socks, blankets and warming puddings :)

Chocolate dipped ice cream cones

Once again family meal night has been around, and last night I made these pretty little cones for dessert! They are the perfect thing for a quick effortless pudding, for children or sunny days outside! Adding your own chocolate and toppings changes the store bought cones into a more personal pudding that can then pass as you 'making' the dessert ;)

We had them after our main meal which was roasted sausages, tomatoes, red onions and swede. My Grandma wasn't here this week as she was at a writing course in Swanick with her friend, so it was my parents Scott , Grandad and I.

 

Ingredients:

Ice cream cones - I would have preferred the thicker wafer cones, but our local supermarket only had these cheapies, but they were still lovely too (and only 15 calories each??!)

milk, white or dark chocolate. - I used milk but any variety would have worked well.

A large handful of nuts - I used Pistachio's and whole Almonds

chocolate or candy sprinkles

(Or any topping of your choice - marshmallows, dolly mixtures, seeds etc)

Method:

Melt you chocolate in your desired way, I always prefer to melt it over hot water, but the microwave works well too.

Chop your nuts and place them in piles on a chopping board or clean surface. I would advise you chop them quite well, as initially i tried to leave them quite large, but after trying to put them on the cone the heavier pieces fell off. 

Roll (or spoon) the chocolate onto the top of your cone, you could also add a little bit to the bottom of the cones (inside) like Cornetto's do, I always feel a little disappointed if their is no chocolate at the bottom of my cone, but this bit is up too you!

Get read a large try, or one that will fit in the fridge/freezer. 

Now for the fun bit - Roll your cone with the melted chocolate into your piles of goodies. For my last cone I used a mixture of everything, but the one that were either just pistachio, almonds or sprinkles looked better. 

Place them in the freezer or fridge for a few minutes after adding the toppings so that they set and the sprinkles don't fall off! - And that's it!! Now your ready to add ice cream, we had Cornish clotted cream ice cream which is so yummy. 

The only problem was carrying them too the table as they were all top heavy! But if everyone takes them as soon as they are ready then there shouldn't be a problem! :) 

  

Family meal night - Platter

For this week's family meal night I wanted to make something light and summary, as we have had quite sunny weather for the last few days. I started with this platter, consisting of prawns, smoked salami, Thai crispy thin crackers, soft goats cheese, cheddar cheese and chutney. We had had grilled mackerel and salad, with a few a crusty baguette and a few chips. 

I made tiny parcels of prawns (in a Marie rose sauce) in a small Romaine lettuce leaf topped with half a cherry tomato and a few coriander leaves. They were perfect! So simple and really tasty -

Prawn Sauce

2-3 tablespoons Mayonnaise

1 tablespoon tomato sauce

Big squeeze of lemon

A dash of Tabasco

Salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients together, add the prawns and chill until ready to serve.

It was such a simple tea but full of flavour, and fun for once to mix and match little bits and pieces opposed to having one main dish. I still think it was such a brilliant idea to start family meal night (usually on a Thursday) as it brings the whole family together and encourages me to try all sorts of new foods. I haven't repeated the same dish twice, and always make sure we have home-made dessert of some description :)

We had the Panna Cotta from one of the below posts for pudding, which really finished the meal off perfectly. I recommend if you can find the time, to dedicate one night a week to trying new foods and making a bigger effort to cook a full meal , either for yourself, family or friends, as it is truly satisfying and a fun way of trying new ingredients!

Proper Rice Pudding - grandma style

Proper rice pudding, not any of the ambrosia rubbish, reminds me of both my grandma's. It's one of those dishes they both made when I visited whilst younger (well I still go to tea with my grandma, but now I also make her her tea as part of family meal night), and it would always be so delicious. Its creamy and sweet, and I've always been a fan of the skin on the top, some love it, others like my mum really hate it! 

So as part of family meal night, I decided to give it a go myself - and boy was it worth it.We had chicken and summer vegetable stew with cheese and leek mash, then followed by this bad boy.

My grandad actually said  it reminded him of how his mother (my great grandmother) used to make, which caused quite a stir with my grandma (in a funny way) whilst we devoured our molten hot pudding.

Scott usually joins us on family meal night but he's currently volunteering as part of the Olympics in London, and is away for two weeks, but I've been documenting Everything and  vice versa, so we can both keep up to date with what each other are doing :)

He sorely missed out on this weeks tea though....

 Ingredients :

Makes 4

 I did 4x the amount as we all eat big portions and it keeps in the fridge for a day or two

50g pudding Rice

1 pint of whole milk.

1 can evaporated milk (the small ones)

30g or one ounce of sugar

2 knobs of Butter 

Ground Nutmeg

1. Turn the oven on to Gas mark 3 

2. Grease an oven proof dish with butter, then wash the rice in cold water and drain thoroughly. Add all the ingredients to the dish and stir until everything is well mixed.

3. Cook for 30 minutes.

4. Now remove the rice pudding and give it a good stir. You may want to repeat this after another 20 mins or so.

Cook for another hour - or hour 1/2 depending on the texture of the pudding. I like having a browned skin on the top, but if you don't you could peel it off or stir it in to make it less noticeable.

And that's it! The instructions are simple, the only hard part is being patient whilst it cooks as it can take between 1 - 2 hours to cook properly.

 We had ours in Bridgewater bowls, and served with a good helping of strawberry jam. 

Enjoy :)

Sticky lemon and honey chicken - YUM

This is a recipe I use quite often for family meals. We are all chicken fans and its an ingredient you can do so much with, but this recipe seems to be a firm favourite. 

Ingredients:

1 Pack of chicken breasts/ thighs or a combination

3 tbsp Honey

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic

5 sprigs thyme

juice of 2 lemons

salt &pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and pour over the chicken. leave to marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours. Then place chicken and the mixture in an ovenporoof dish (I use the cruset) and cook on gas mark 7 for 40 mins. 

Check the chicken at about 30 mins, and if the colour is pale, remove the lid to allow the honey to caramelise and turn darker.

I like to serve the chicken with cous cous, as I can use the leftover juice to flavour the cous cous (it's too good to waste).

 It is very simple to make, and tastes so gorgeous. The sticky honey and lemon is the perfect flavour combination, and although I'm not a fan of chicken skin, even I can eat it when it tastes this good!

BBQ Season

Just a little post to show what I've been up too (and eating mainly) this week. It's been mega hot here in North Wales as many of you are probably aware, and it's been perfect weather for a BBQ. I know it's a bit stereotypical for us British to leap at the chance to have a BBQ  at any hint of sun, but why not when it's so glorious!!!! It dosn't take much to make a lovely BBQ for the family, and even if your not a big meat eater, there are plenty of options available that work well.

Scott was in charge of cooking the meat (which was delicious) and I had the womanly task of marinating the chicken, preparing salads and setting the table... I secretly really like doing this so it's ok ;)

The kebabs got a bit charcoaled, but I suppose it wouldn't be a BBQ if something wasn't at least a little frazzled. We also had asparagus in olive oil, salt and pepper, sausages, and red peppers stuffed with feta cheese (my favourite).

This was a second night where we had marinated chicken breasts, small beef burgers with a peppercorn crust and more sausages. The tin foil is for my mum - she likes to have fish so I think she was having rainbow trout steamed with lemon.

I'm a big shloer fan (the cranberry and white grape combination) so I always try to have it for BBQ's and Christmas.

We had the BBQ as part of family meal night, so my grandparent's were part of it, and from what I gathered they very much enjoyed it!

For dessert we had brandy snap baskets filled with Cornish ice cream, and topped with fresh fruit and a toffee sauce (the same sauce I posted in my 'pudding in a hurry' post).

And lastly - not forgetting seabear who waits patiently under the picnic table for any cast offs and crumbs, she is also a fan of eating outside as she's more likely to be fed from under the table, and as she's a Labrador her life revolves mainly around food - much like mine to be honest :)I hope Ive inspired you to get eating outside and enjoying the sun while it lasts!

Pudding in a hurry

This dessert is a bit of a cheat, but let's face it who really cares in the end as long as it tastes good!

I was stuck for an idea for a pudding after our Thursday meal night, and nipped to the supermarket to find something to make! I could have bought a fully ready made dessert but then you loose the fun of making it and the glory when everyone devours it, so I bought the flan base and topped it with fruit and whipped cream. I also had a toffee/butterscotch sauce to drizzle on top which made it really yummy.

Ingredients:

1 large flan case

1 tablespoon of lemon curd (or another jam/jelly of your choice)

1 tablespoon of icing sugar

300 ml double cream

1 punnet of raspberries

1/2 punnet of strawberries

a few sprigs of mint

Sauce:

75g butter

78g dark brown sugar

100ml  double cream

Simply unwrap your flan case and place on a serving dish/plate. Spread a generous layer of lemon curd of jam along the top of the flan case. This helps to add more moisture as they can be a little dry, and adds a little tang. Now add the icing sugar to the cream and whip until firm but not over whipped. Spread your cream over the lemon curd layer.  Now chop your strawberries and layer them, along with the raspberries over the cream. I added a few mint leaves for colour, but that's optional! Dust with a little more icing sugar and that is all folks!

If you want a sauce- which I highly recommend, then this goes perfectly!

Melt the butter and sugar in a large pan. Stir gently and once all is melted, pour in the double cream. Mix thoroughly and pour into desired jug. I left the jug on the table so everyone could help themselves, and it was very popular!

It's also really good on ice cream or on its own on a spoon if you have no will power like myself....

Stewed Plums

Stewed plums are one of my favourite child hood puddings that I had when I went to my Grandma's house. They came from a Chef who used to work at The Midland Hotel In Manchester, and then found their way into my grandma's amazing recipe book which is full of yummy timeless recipes that she has collected over the years.

 The recipe is potentially the easiest recipe ever, Providing you are not horrified by the amount of sugar!

Ingredients:

roughly 6 plums

5 ounces of sugar at least.

1/2 Pint water.

Place your plums in a pan along with the sugar and water. Bring to the boil, and simmer until the plums are tender but not falling apart. Once this is done fish them plums out with a spoon into your desired serving bowl. With the juice left in the pan, turn up the heat and make a syrup with the sugary plum water. You want the juice to thicken and be sticky and sweet. Once this is done pour over the plums. You can serve them hot or cold,  but I personally like them cold with a scoop of clotted cream.

If you have left over juices, it makes a wonderful salad dressing or a sauce for the top of ice cream and other puddings.

As you can see the water takes on the plum colour which is the most wonderful rich pink! I love when food looks good, but to me it's more about the taste, but this sauce really has a wonderful aesthetic to it which makes it all even better!

This is the recipe from my Grandma's recipe book. It is such a special book and is now one of our family's prized possessions. The book has a hand written index and is meticulously labelled from large cakes to soups, main meals and cooked meats. The cover and pages are that used that it all has to be kept in a large bag so it doesn't deteriorate. I love how precious it is to my Grandma, and how she has always shown me how to do recipes from there since I was young.

I served the plums for dessert as part of my family meal night on Thursday, and it was enjoyed by all!