The Joyful Cook!

Beetroot Salad and Orgasmic Carrot Cake........!

2012-02-13T04:07:00.000-08:00

Hooray, my blinds are now adorning my living room windows - how proud am I?! Just two curtains to go (don't hold your breath!).

I've been eating lots of seasonal veg this week. I LOVE beetroot; boiled, raw, roasted. It is SO good for you and so earthy and wintery, I can't eat enough of it. Brilliantly, my mum loves to boil them for me, so if she's over and there is a bunch in the fridge - wham bam and they're boiled ready to eat (just cover with water and bring to the boil, then simmer for about 45 minutes depending on the size. Pour away the water and leave to cool). I just sliced them anyhow and then drizzled olive oil and cider vinegar over, with a teaspoon of grainy mustard on top. DELOVELY!

I feel the same way about cauliflower! I used to try to get the kids to eat it when they were little. Now they love it smothered in cheese sauce, but back then they were a little more reluctant, so I was left with a colander full of cauliflower which I used to devour with RELISH!

I am always interested in bread making; a bit of a passion of mine. So, I tried the sourdough recipe in this month's Country Living magazine. I had some of the sourdough starter left from that apple cake recipe, having made a couple more cakes in the meantime, so rather than wait for 5 days for a new starter I used some of that. I left it to rise for about 6 hours and it only looked a bit bigger than when I left it, but I turned it out on to a baking tray and I cut some shapes into it with scissors like the recipe said. Well, it was fab! Tiny and a little sweet because of the sweet starter, but fab. I will definitely be trying that again soon. You just have to make sure you have enough time for the process!

And finally, I was researching a wheat-free carrot cake recipe for the book a friend and I are writing, and decided to try it out on my Knit and Natterers on Friday. Well! What a reaction! Groans of delight, with quote "better than sex" and "best carrot cake I've ever had" and "the best thing you've made"! So, here it is. I used a recipe from a wheatfree website and tweaked it, see what you think. Have a look at glutenfreecooking.about.com for more inspiration. Molly, if only you were here!

Beautiful Beetroot Salad

4-5 medium, cooked beetroot

1 tbs olive oil

1 tsp cider or wine vinegar

1-2 tsp grainy mustard

Seasoning to taste

Peel the beetroot and cut into bite-sized chunks. Add the oil, vinegar, mustard and seasoning and toss until coated.

Cauliflower Cheese

1 large cauliflower, broken into largish florets

425ml cold milk

20g plain flour

40g butter
100g grated cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and cook the cauliflower for 10 minutes, then drain. Turn the grill on to high and warm a shallow, oven-proof dish.

Meanwhile, place the milk, flour and butter into another saucepan and bring to the boil slowly, whisking all the time. This is Delia's all-in-one white sauce method and it is great! Once the sauce has thickened, turn the heat down to very low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. It will thicken up as it cooks. Add most of the grated cheese and stir until melted. Tip the cauliflower into the warmed dish. Pour over the sauce and then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Place under the grill for a few minutes, until the cheese is melting and golden. Serve immediately!

Orgasmic Wheatfree Carrot Cake

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups oil

2 tsp vanilla essence

2 cups Dove's Farm self-raising gluten free flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup chopped mixed nuts
3 cups grated carrots (about 3 large carrots)

4 tbs butter

3oz cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 1/2 cups icing sugar

Heat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3. Grease and line two sponge tins. Cream the sugar and eggs in a processor or with an electric whisk. Mix in the oil and beat. Then add everything else but the nuts and carrots, and mix well. When creamy, add the nuts and carrots and mix. Tip into the sponge tins and bake for 45-55 minutes. Leave to cool while you make the icing. Beat all the ingredients together and use half to sandwich the cakes together and the rest to ice to top. Be prepared for the groans of delight!

What I have been cooking:

Pasta with salmon and beans: Cook pasta for 4 people in salted boiling water. Add some chopped green beans for the final 4 minutes, drain. Heat 142ml cream in a saucepan with a peeled, uncrushed clove of garlic and some seasoning. When hot but not boiling, add some basil leaves, two chopped tomatoes and the blanched beans. Tip in the pasta and serve straight away.

Tortilla: Heat a frying pan. Add a tbs olive oil, a chopped onion, a chopped pepper and stir fry. Add some chopped fresh herbs and some chopped garlic. Whisk 6 eggs together and pour into the pan. Season the top and sprinkle with some grated cheese. Cook until you can slip a knife around the edges. Put under the grill for a few minutes to set the top and serve.

Nigella's Flourless Chocolate Brownies:

Preheat oven to 170C/gas mark 3. Melt 225g dark chocolate, 225g butter and 2 tsp vanilla essence. Take off the heat and mix in 200g caster sugar, 3 eggs, 150g ground almonds and 100g chopped walnuts (optional). Tip into a 24cm square tin and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Delicious and gooey enough for a dinner party pud.
(from Nigella Express)

Wednesday Chocolate Cake

2012-01-25T08:48:00.000-08:00

Another busy week! Am the only one to be chasing my tail most of the time? Still, I managed to finish the blinds for my sitting-room - only the year in the making! And I have written my course notes for Professional Finishing Techniques (knitting) for the course on Sunday. Not a lot of time to cook; we had fish fingers and mash yesterday. But I am always after great recipes and have yet to find a really good everyday chocolate cake. Yesterday I just threw some ingredients into the mixer and we will taste the results for tea. Tonight we are having Chilli. Got to eat a bit less wheat. Wheat causes an acidic state in the body which has been linked with cancer. So although I won't be giving up wheat by any means, I am going to counteract its effects by getting more fruit and veg into our diet and by eating more pulses. I already have a recipe in my blog somewhere for houmous....I'll look for it and post it again.
Have a good week!

Everyday Chocolate Cake

250g butter
250g caster sugar
75g cocoa powder
175g self-raising flour
1tsp each baking powder, instant coffee powder and vanilla extract
4 tbs milk or yoghurt

Cream the butter and sugar, then add the remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. Line and grease two sponge tins and spoon the mixture evenly into them. Smooth the mixture and bake for 25 minutes in a 180C/gas mark 4 oven. Cool in the tins, then turn out.
Cream 100g butter with 100g icing sugar with 2 tbs cocoa powder. Spread on the bottom cake, place the other cake on top and dust with icing sugar.

Delicious, well, it all went by the next morning!

Vegetarian Chilli non Carne with Guacamole and Roasted Vegetables

1 onion, chopped
2 tbs vegetable oil
1/3 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 spring onion, sliced
1 packet Quorn mince
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1small tin kidney beans
Seasoning
Fresh coriander to serve

Fry the onion in the oil until transparent, add the chilli, spring onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add the Quorn, tomatoes, cumin and beans. Cover and simmer for at least 20 minutes. Serve with rice and sprinkled with coriander leaves.

Guacamole
1 spring onion, chopped finely
3-4 slices of red chilli, chopped
2 avocados, peeled and mashed
juice of 1/2 a lime
seasoning
Fresh coriander

Mix everything together and serve with chopped fresh coriander.

Serve with toasted pitta bread cut into slices.

Roasted Vegetables

Chop an aubergine, peppers, onions and mushrooms into 2cm sized pieces. Mix with 3 tbs olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a 200C/gas mark 4 oven for about 25 minutes until slightly charred.

What I have been cooking this week:

Spanish Omlette: serves 4. Heat a pan with a large knob of butter, chop an onion, a yellow pepper, a tomato and some fresh herbs and add. Stir until nearly cooked. Break 6-8 eggs and mix with a fork. Add to the pan. Pull around a little to cook the underneath. Season well and sprinkle cheese over the top. Heat the grill, and as soon as you can run a spatula around the edge, place under the grill to finish off.
Puy lentils with tomatoes: fry a chopped onion in olive oil until cooked. Add a cup of Puy lentils with 3 cups of water, a bay leaf and lots of seasoning. Simmer for 20 minutes then add a tin of chopped tomatoes. This is a Nigel Slater recipe and is delicious for lunch with some salad or bread.

Long time no blog!

2012-01-21T08:15:00.000-08:00

Hedgehogs!

Hi folks!

After an exhausting term of all three children starting new schools, I now feel able to make a few blog entries again, hooray!

I have been getting a weekly veggie bag from Village Greens in Ockley (see above) and this week's looked so lovely with the beetroot and cabbage that I took a piccie. I think a beetroot and potato pie maybe with par-boiled and sliced potatoes and beetroot, layered in a dish with cheese and some dill and seasoning and a little soured cream and topped with a pastry crus. Then coleslaw with the cabbage and carrots and a noodle dish with the ginger, perhaps chicken noodle soup for the others and some salmon for me. My lovely friend, Sally has just moved to Singapore so I will pick her brains. I also love baked potatoes, so those will be on the menu. See above for my daughter's favourite 'Hedgehog Potatoes'. Just slice nearly all the way through criss-crossing the potato, drizzle some olive oil on to each one and bake for about an hour in a 200C oven (Gas mark 5).

Meanwhile, a friend gave me 'Herman', a sourdough friendship cake. You leave the batter on the windowsill for about a week, feeding it with some milk, flour and sugar, and then divide into four, give three away and bake what is left with apples, sultanas and spice. It has that sourdough tang and is makes a very light sponge, something to do with the chemistry of the acid and the baking powder. That's why many scone recipes call for soured cream or yoghurt to help the rise.

I am also plugging that I have about 5 bin liners full of donated British yarn for the knitting of cushions for the Olympic athletes. Check out www.woolsack.org for more information, and come to The Fluffatorium in Dorking to get some free yarn. About 14,000 cushions are needed, so come on down! You can see a picture of my friend Yvonne Robertson (sorry about the fold Yvonne!) and me in the Surrey Advertiser this week!!!

Happy baking!

Happy Holidays!

2011-08-04T04:35:00.000-07:00

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside......!
Thanks to the heavens that it's warm this week and I can feel like it's the summer holidays. I was worried for a moment that we were to have a repeat of last year with wet, cold and wind being the main characters....

Today (1st Aug) is the ancient Pagan celebration of Lammas, which was originally celebrated at the time of the first harvest on the 1st of August. Bake some bread today and light a fire in celebration of the harvest. Be grateful for the earth and her abundance!

Went camping this week to a lovely campsite in the Witterings (near Chichester), called Stubcroft Farm. Very low key, clean and full of eco ideas, my children had a ball cycling round and round and round and staying up late, and I had a ball with lovely friends and baking Orange Muffins in the embers, Mushroom Risotto for tea and Wheat-free Pancakes for brekkie. The Orange Muffins were from The Cool Camping Cookbook, a must for all adventurous and easily bored cooks! Check it out www.coolcamping.co.uk

Hope everyone has a lovely time wherever they are! Get some fresh air and sunshine - they really do make the world go round!

Easy Bread

500g strong bread flour (or spelt)
35g butter
10g fast acting yeast
10g sea salt
300ml (approx) hand hot water

Preheat the oven to 210 degrees C/gas mark 8. Mix all the ingredients together to form a dough, then keep pushing and folding until it feels springy and silky. Place in a bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for an hour, then gently form it into the shape you want. For a basic round loaf, knead gently to retain all the gas and fold the edges underneath to form a ball, slightly stretched over the top. Sprinkle with flour and leave to rise for another 20 minutes. Slash across the top four or five times, then bake for 30 minutes.

Orange Baked Muffins (Serves 6)

6 oranges
100g plain flour
80g butter
1 egg
80g brown sugar
80ml milk
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder

Cut the top of the oranges and scoop out the insides, until a shell is left (easy with a teaspoon).
Make the muffin mix by mixing all the ingredients together, whisking to mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the empty shells, to about half full. Wrap well with tinfoil.

Place the oranges on the embers of the fire and leave for about 20 minutes. Or we also cooked them on the grill but they take a bit longer. You can check they are cooked when they are puffing over the top of the orange. Delicious!! (I took the dry mixture in a sealed plastic bag and just added the wet stuff when we were going to cook)

Mushroom Risotto

A knob of butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, sliced
250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
a small handful of dried, wild mushrooms
250g risotto rice
100ml white wine
200ml vegetable stock
a handful of fresh herbs, roughly chopped
Another knob of butter
a good grating of Parmesan cheese (about 4-5 tbsp)
Salt and pepper to season

Cook the onion and garlic in the butter until golden. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat all the grains. Pour in the wine and stir every few minutes until the liquid is nearly absorbed. Add half the stock and stir occasionally until absorbed, then add the rest of the stock and repeat. When nearly all the liquid has gone, add the herbs, butter, Parmesan and season well. Taste, beat vigorously and serve with more Parmesan.

Wheat-free pancakes

200g wheat free flour mixture
Wheat free baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg
About 150ml milk to mix
Butter for cooking

Heat a frying pan on a moderate heat. Tip the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack in the egg. Add half the milk and whisk, adding the rest of the milk until you get a stiff batter. Add a knob of butter to the pan, swirl around, then add large tablespoons of the batter with a little space in between. Cook until holes appear on the surface, flip and cook for another 2 minutes.
Serve with blueberries, maple or agave syrup and butter.

What I have been cooking:

Tuna melts: paninis split open, covered with tuna/mayonnaise/mozzarella/seasoning and toasted, then closed up and toasted briefly on each side.
Orzo with vegetables and Halloumi: cook Orzo (rice shaped pasta) according to the packet. Meanwhile, fry a chopped onion with garlic in olive oil then add mixed fresh herbs and cubed halloumi. Add two chopped tomatoes and 2 tbs sun dried tomato paste and season well. Toss with the pasta and serve
Pasta pomodoro: Cook some spaghetti, meanwhile fry a chopped onion and a clove of garlic in olive oil, tip in a little red wine if you have it, a tin of chopped tomatoes and a sprig of basil. Season well and bubble until the spaghetti is cooked, then serve with Parmesan grated on top.

Prawns and Chilli

2011-06-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hi all, hope you're enjoying the balmy weather. Bob and I are busy finishing the hard-landscaping of our garden - I am much fitter than I was before! He starts a new contract on Monday (hooray) so we have to get it finished.......
I have been thinking about my cookbook and I really want to get it finished and published. If I'm going to do it myself then I have to start cooking some of the dishes and taking decent photos of the results. I much prefer to have a picture to refer to; to have some idea of the looks of the end result!

Try these dishes, fairly quick and lovely, they can be knocked up in less than half an hour - and I can spend more time laying bricks.........

Prawn and Chilli Linguine (serves 4)

4 tbsp olive oil
2 red chillies, seeds removed (or half a tsp of dried chilli flakes)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
400g linguine
12 large raw prawns (or a packet of defrosted smaller ones)
a knob of butter
2 large handfuls of rocket
the juice of 1 lemon

Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente (usually about 10 minutes).

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over a fairly high heat. Fry the chilli and the garlic for 30 seconds, take care not to burn the garlic. Add the prawns and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, a handful of rocket and the lemon juice. Toss the mixture through the drained pasta.

Serve garnished with the extra rocket.

Apple Pie

I find measuring for pastry easier in Imperial, but just remember 'half fat to flour', or twice the flour to the weight of fat!

6 eating apples, peeled, cored and sliced
12oz plain flour
6oz cold butter
3 tbsp caster sugar, plus a little for sprinkling
1 egg yolk, plus 1 egg for glazing
2-3 tbsp cold water
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/gas mark 7. Heat a saucepan with a splash of water in it. Add the sliced apples and cook gently, stirring occasionally, while you make the pastry.
Process together the flour, butter and caster sugar until smooth (or rub it in with your fingers). Add the egg yolk and 2 tbsp water. Process again until the pastry comes together. You may need to add a little more water if it looks too crumbly. Cut into 2 unequal halves (1 for the top and 1 for the bottom). Roll out the larger half to the size of your pie dish. Line the dish with the pastry and trim around the edge with a sharp knife. Roll the other half and leave on the side. Add 3 tbsp sugar and the cinnamon to the apples, then tip into the pastry case. Wet the edges of the pastry and put the top on, trimming around the edge as before. Make a small hole in the centre of the pie, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with a little caster sugar. Bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown and looking delicious!

Cheesy Muffins!

2011-04-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, I went on holiday alright?! I just couldn't find the time to update the blog in time, sorry!
Here is the promised Cheesy Muffin recipe which is so ludicrously easy that I reckon you might not believe me! Make sure you grease the tin well.

Cooked some pasta for lunch today. I read somewhere that cabbage stalks sprout again if they are left in the ground, so I tried it this winter. And sure enough, little shoots appeared in January and have grown bigger and bigger! I did the same with my broccoli because I couldn't bear the thought that all that energy went into producing one little broccoli flower. On my return from holiday, what do I find but a mass of small shoots (perhaps that is what purple sprouting broccoli really is?) so I picked them all today, cabbage and broccoli, and cooked them in the pasta water for lunch, yum!

I am always looking for a really good cake recipe, moist sponge, fudgy chocolate topping. So here is my latest version, which is really rather moreish, I must say! I cooked mine in a rectangular tin and sliced it in half to make a square cake, but I have given the instructions to make a traditional round one.

Have fun in the sun!

Cheesy Muffins

2 cups grated strong Cheddar
2 cups self-raising flour
2 cups milk
mixed herbs, paprika, fried onions and bacon

Yup, that's it!! Mix everything together until well combined, adding onions or bacon if you like, and spoon into a 12 hole well-greased muffin tin. Top with a little more cheese and some herbs or paprika and bake at 200 degrees C for about 15 minutes.

Broccoli, Pine Nut and Sultana Pasta Serves 4

400g pasta (whatever shape you have to hand)
4 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, sliced thinly
3 tbsp sultanas
4 tbsp pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 anchovy fillets, snipped into small pieces
Seasoning
A large handful of sprouting broccoli (and cabbage), cut into bite-sized pieces

Put a frying pan on a medium heat. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta as per the packet. Set the timer for 4 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
Meanwhile, fry the onion in the oil until soft. Add the sultanas, pine-nuts, garlic and anchovy pieces. Cook, stirring occasionally, unitl everything is golden and the anchovies have melted away. Season well with salt and pepper.
When the timer goes, drop the broccoli in with the pasta to cook for 4 minutes.

Drain the pasta and broccoli water into a large serving dish (to warm the dish). Tip all but 3 tbsp of the water out of the serving dish and add the pasta, broccoli and the sauce ingredients. Mix together thoroughly and taste for seasoning. Enjoy!

Sticky Chocolate Sponge with Fudge Topping

250g soft butter or margarine
250g caster sugar
250g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp cocoa, mixed with 5 tbs milk
4 eggs

Whizz all the ingredients in a processor or with an electric mixer until combined. Pour into two greased and lined 7cm sponge tins and bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees C. Cool.

Topping
Whizz together 300g icing sugar, 100g soft butter, 40ml milk and 40g cocoa powder. Spread a third of the mixture over one cake, place the other cake on top and spread the rest of the icing over the top and sides. Decorate with little Easter eggs!

Aren't I lucky.... this is where I have been for the week!!

What's been going on?

2011-03-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Sorry I've been offline for soooo long! And thanks to my friends for nagging me to start up again!
Well, you'll be pleased to know that I am in the final stages of editing my cookbook, and then I can send some chapters to some hand-picked and unsuspecting publishers! I am also thinking about self-publishing so don't be surprised when you hear about a strange woman knocking on doors in Dorking trying to flog cookbooks..........
It's been a tough few months with the building of my beautiful extension (what a bedroom!) and Bob's dad passing over in October and then a very, very DULL winter. Thank goodness for the sunshine, spring is here at last!

I have been increasingly drawn to raw food. That is, food that hasn't had its nutrients stripped through heating, and I have found a wonderful author, Ani Phyo, who make the most delicious desserts (my passion after all!) which might sound a little weird if you're used to baking like me, but are amazing. Just suspend your disbelief for a moment and make the Blueberry Cobbler! Check out her book, 'Ani's raw food kitchen' on her website www.aniphyo.com
I also am increasingly aware of food allergies in people, and especially children. I have just been reading a blog by a mum from the US, Kelly Rudnicki, whose children have multiple allergies. She speaks of the hypocrisy involved even though differences are supposed to be tolerated and we are meant to be increasingly enlightened. These differences mean people's lives. Anyway, her blog is a good read and she has lots of recipe ideas for dairy, egg, nut free cooking. www.thefoodallergymama.com

I have also been cooking lots from Jamie's new book, 30 Minute Meals. Now, a lot of people scoff because some of his meals have taken them longer than 30 minutes. But I say his meals are delightful, delicious and as he already has Saintly Status, get over yourselves and try some of his ideas!!
Have fun this week!

Summer Berry Cobbler (serves 16)
This is like an upside down crumble and very lovely. Stuffed full of antioxidants to help protect from cancer and heart disease.

Crust
1 cup pumpkin seeds, dry
1 cup almonds, dry
3/4 tsp sea salt
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup pitted dates

Whizz all but the dates in a processor. Add the dates until the mixture becomes doughy enough to press gently into a small pie dish.

Syrup
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup pitted dates
1/4 cup water, as needed

Blend the these with a little water until it becomes a thick, syrupy texture.
To serve, pour the berry syrup over the crust and top with 1 1/2 cups of blueberries. Will keep for two days in the fridge.

Cauliflower Cheese Macaroni
My book already falls open at this page - enjoy!

Hmm, don't have a picture, so take a look at some cheesy muffins instead! Recipe next week!

1 large head of cauliflower
500g dried macaroni
250g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
4 thick slices of country bread
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic, crushed
250g tub of creme fraiche
Parmesan cheese to serve

Boil the kettle. Trim the cauliflower of the tatty leaves and the tough inner stalk, then quarter the head. Put in a large saucepan, core down, with the pasta on a high heat. Cover with boiling water, season with salt and cook according to the macaroni instructions.
Meanwhile, Process the bread, rosemary, ground pepper and a good drizzle of olive oil until you have a coarse breadcrumb consistency.
Drain the pasta , keeping 400ml of the water. Tip the pasta and cauliflower into a roasting tray. Add the crushed garlic to the reserved water and mix in the Cheddar, creme fraiche and season. Mix well, breaking up the cauliflower as you go. Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and bake in a hot oven for about 12 minutes, or until bubbling.
Serve with some salad, with this dressing:

a small bunch of basil
1/2 a 30g tin anchovies (you can't taste them!)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
3 tbsp red wine vinegar

Have fun this weekend!

Cabbage Soup, Tomato Ketchup, Cep Omelette and Huge Scones!

2010-09-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I had visions of halcyon days, spent in meadows with picnics and joyful children, but somehow that didn't quite occur! Ah well, we had a good time anyway. Unfortunately, my beach hut was broken into and we haven't had access for all of August - boo hoo! But we managed to make it to the French Alps, and to Devon and a week in Poole, so we did pretty well.

Hope your holls were sunny and relaxing - I am spending the first day for 9 weeks alone - blissful!

My veggie patch is overflowing, especially with cabbage which I have never grown before and didn't really know when I should pick. So now it stands about 3 feet tall! I dug out a lovely book called, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen and found what turned out to be a delicious Cabbage Soup recipe - perfect for gluts of cabbage from the allotment. Cabbage is a superfood - helps to combat cancer and all sorts of ailments from engorged breasts to prostate problems and contains the vitamins A, C, D and E in large quantities AND it is an amazing immune system booster. We all need to eat more of this very underrated veg!

And I managed to make my annual batch of Tomato Ketchup - which I LOVE! It is a labour of love and rather time consuming, but only because you have to boil it for about 4 hours. If you fancy an afternoon of slow cooking, this is your baby!

It is the North Holmwood Village Day on Saturday, and my usual contribution is to make a large batch of scones for the cream teas. I use a recipe by Paul Hollywood, master baker and all round good egg! Check out his book, '100 Great Breads' - another delightful way to spend a couple of hours in the kitchen. If you've never made bread, now is the time to start! It is very theraputic and I guarantee you'll be successful and SO proud of yourself! I run bread-making courses so get in contact if you're interested.

And finally, I am obsessed with foraging in the forest for food, so you can imagine my delight when I found out that my friend, Mel, has a fungus fetish! I have always wanted to find out what fungi is good or bad to eat, and he gave me a Penny Bun or Cep. I made the most lovely omlette with my mushroom and I am now hooked on looking for more!

Here are the recipes.

Cream of Cabbage Soup (serves 3-4)

1 leek, chopped and washed

1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

1 knob of butter

8 largish cabbage leaves, thoroughly washed and shredded

2 medium potatoes, cubed

750ml of vegetable stock

large pinch of sea salt

A good grinding of fresh pepper

1 tsp caraway seeds

4 tbs creme fraiche

Heat a large saucepan, and fry the leek and garlic in the butter until soft (about 5 minutes). Add the shredded cabbage, potatoes, stock, seasoning and caraway seeds and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Puree in a blender and return to the saucepan. Stir in the creme fraiche, check the seasoning and serve.

Tomato Ketchup

5kg ripe tomatoes

450g sugar

600ml white vinegar

1 tbs salt

1tsp each ground ginger, cloves, nutmeg, paprika and cayenne

Cut the tomatoes into quarters and cook gently in a very large pan until softened (about 20-30 minutes)

Sieve the pulp and pour the puree into the pan. Simmer this with all the other ingredients until thickened, about 4 hours (it will thicken in the jars) and pour into hot jars that you have sterilized before hand (see below). Put the lids on loosely and place in the oven for about 30 minutes at 170 C to sterilize the ketchup. Remove from the oven and do the lids up tightly.

To sterilize the bottles without using nasty chemicals, place them all on a baking tray in the oven set at about 120 C for about 30 minutes. They will be hot and ready for you to pour in the ketchup.

Huge Scones (a la Paul Hollywood)

500g strong white flour

75g caster sugar

30g baking powder

75g softened butter

2 eggs

230ml milk

100g sultanas

Place the flour, baking powder and butter into a food processor and pulse until 'breadcrumbed' (or rub in by hand). Be very gentle and don't over mix. Stir in the sugar, then add the eggs and milk and stir to combine. Work the dough as little as possible. Press out gently to about 4 cm deep and use a 5cm cutter to cut rounds. Place these on a floured baking tray, leaving a little space between them. Sprinkle with a little flour. Bake in an oven set at 200 C for about 10-12 minutes, until risen and golden.

Serve with jam and cream (or is that cream and jam?)

My Mushroom Omlette (serves one)

1 penny bun (or a handful of mushrooms)

1 tsp butter

2 eggs, beaten

Seasoning

Heat a small frying-pan and add the butter and mushrooms. Cook until golden. Turn the heat down and pour the eggs all around the pan. Move the egg around so the mushrooms lift off the bottom and more egg is exposed to the hot pan below. Cook as long as you like it. I don't like runny egg, but the egg cooks a little more when you fold it over. Slide on to a plate and devour with relish!

Have fun!

Carrot Cake, Pea and Leek Tart, Quinoa Salad, Green Soup and Gooseberry Fool

2010-07-08T04:35:00.000-07:00

I have been a busy bee! Hence my lack of posts. But I'm making up for it with these delectable delights!

I had a catering job at the weekend; lunch for 12 on Saturday and Sunday (with the help of my beautiful assistant, Paula!). It is amazing how much work is involved when you are catering for others on a professional basis, but I love doing it! I love that people love my food - it makes me feel great to nourish others!

One of my dishes included Quinoa (pron: keenwah). Quinoa is an amazing super food. It is a complete protein, containing all 9 essential amino acids, it has high levels of magnesium which relaxes muscles and blood vessels and therefore blood pressure; it contains fibre and lots of manganese and copper which act as antioxidants! (Thanks bodyecology.com for the info!). It tastes delicious too and is a great substitute for wheat.

Then I rolled out my Leek and Pea Tart, to sighs of delight, and a fail-safe Carrot Cake recipe. Finally, I bought a load of gooseberries in the market and conjured up one of my child-hood favourites: Gooseberry Fool, mmmmm!

Here are the recipes:

Pea and Leek Tart Serves 6

Pastry

300g plain flour

150g butter

pinch salt

Heat the oven to 200 degrees/Gas Mark 6. Rub the butter into the flour with the salt. Add 2-3 tbs cold water and bring together to form a dough. Roll out and fit into a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Bake blind for 10 minutes and remove from the oven.

Meanwhile, make the filling:

3 leeks, chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp chopped rosemary

Saute the leeks in the oil until softened, stir in the rosemary.

Crush or blend 250g thawed peas, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp lemon juice.

Mix together 2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, 300ml double cream and season well. Pour in the leeks and the pea puree and stir. Spread into the pastry case and bake at 180 degrees/Gas Mark 4 for 30-35 minutes until lightly set.

Carrot Cake

This recipe is adapted from 'brownies and bars' by Liz Franklin and is ideal for fetes and fairs and school events because it is baked in a 20 x 30cm tin.

250g butter

250g golden caster sugar

4 eggs, beaten

300g self-raising flour

3 large carrots, peeled and grated

2 tsp ground cinnamon

juice and zest of an orange

50g sultanas (optional)

Heat the oven to 180 degrees/Gas Mark 4. Cream the butter and sugar then beat in the eggs a little at a time until smooth, alternating with a tablespoon of flour. Stir in the remaining flour, the grated carrot, the cinnamon and the orange juice and zest. I process this mixture so the carrots are really mixed in. The stir in the sultanas.

Tip into a parchment paper lined tin, smooth and bake for 50 minutes or until risen and golden. Cool in the tin.

To make the topping, beat 250g mascarpone with 100g caster sugar and the remaining orange zest, then spread carefully over the cake. You can also cut the cake and serve with little dollops of the topping, finished off with a piece of orange zest.

Green Soup

It's just dawned on me how useful a recipe this is with allotments about to start producing copious amounts of green veggies! Delicious too and so good for you in a Popeye kind of way......

a large knob of butter

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

3 courgettes, sliced

1 small potato, diced

a large handful of spinach, washed and roughly chopped

500ml or so of vegetable stock

Seasoning

some double cream

Fry the onion and garlic until golden. Add the rest of the ingredients plus some broccoli if you have it, and simmer for 15 minutes. Process in a food-processor until smooth, season to taste and serve with a swirl of double cream.

Gooseberry Fool

Take some gooseberries (about 250g) and place in a saucepan with a dash of water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 10 minutes until they are all bursting. Add sugar to taste. Whip about half a pint (142ml or more) of double cream until softly stiff, then fold in the gooseberries. Tip into glasses and chill until you want to serve. You can also freeze this now for a delicious ice-cream, and you could use Elderflower Cordial instead of the dash of water.

Frittata, Pizza, Quick Pizza, Apple Cake, Meze

2010-06-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well, the strangest thing happened this week. I was invited for lunch at my friend Jen's house, and she cooked one of my recipes for me! She cooked my Fritatta (May 2010) and it was delicious. You know how it is; food that someone else has cooked usually tastes better than your own! Thanks Jen! The pic is a little steamy......

So, after a lack of inspiration, suddenly I seem to have cooked lots this week. We love Pizza and I have developed a dough recipe that is easy and lovely. It is very freezable, especially if you roll it out, spread with some tomato sauce and then bake for 5 minutes to 'set' it.

I have also included my 'instant' pizza recipe, using tortillas for the base. Just Fill, Grill and Go!

I baked an apple cake this week too from Healthy Baby and Toddler Foods by Amanda Grant, a very useful book for alternatives to meat. The cake used to be Barney's favourite..... yes, you've guessed it, he has now decided that he doesn't like it any more! Ahhhhh! It is a great way to use up those apples left in the fruit bowl, and is very portable for picnics.

Another good supper came about by accident. I actually managed to have the ingredients for a Meze in the fridge! Cold potatoes with mayonnaise, houmous, taramasalata, olives, roasted vegetables and some toasted pittas - hurrah! (anyone know what hurrah is in Turkish or Greek?!). I had lunch at the Jolly Farmers pub in Buckland, Surrey on Monday and they had a platter with delicious sauces like houmous and red pepper sauce, and a lovely little dish of marinaded feta cheese with chives, so I tried to make that myself. See what you think.

And last but not least, tomato soup. I had some tomatoes which were past their best in the bottom of the fridge and decided to make them into tomato soup. Mm mm.

Pizza (makes about 5)

500g strong white bread flour

12g fast-acting dried yeast

12g salt

300ml hand-hot water

Toppings:

Jar of tomato pasta sauce

Mozzarella x 2

Pepperoni

Tuna, capers, olives, mushrooms, etc.

Mix all together to form a dough. Knead (pull, push, fold) for about 3 minutes on a lightly floured surface, until smooth and mixed.

Now you can leave this to rise for about 20 minutes, or use it straight away.

Either way, flour your surface again and tip the dough out. Divide into the desired pieces (4-5). We always try to leave some to make dough-balls too.

Roll the dough into the shape you want, either thin and crispy or thicker and more deep-pan. Place on an oiled baking tray and add the toppings you like. I use a jar of pasta sauce for speed spread very thinly, mozzarella sliced thinly, tuna, capers, olives, pepperoni, whatever you like.

Bake in a hot oven (210 degrees/Gas Mark 7-8) for about 10 minutes or until the mozzarella is bubbling.

For the Dough Balls, cut the piece of dough into rough shapes and place on an oiled baking tray. Bake alongside the pizzas. Drizzle some garlic butter or butter over them and eat!

Instant Pizzas

Tortilla wraps (as many as you need)

Tomato sauce

Mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly

Other topping that don't need much cooking

Simply heat your grill. Spread the tomato on to the tortilla, add the toppings and grill until the mozzarella is melted. Watch them all the time because the tortillas burn easily!

Apple Cake

310g self-raising flour

180g golden caster sugar

1/2 tsp all-spice

pinch of nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

115g butter

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

250ml milk

1 egg

2-3 eating apples (no need to peel)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/Gas Mark 4.

In a bowl or a food processor, sift the flour, sugar and spices together. Rub in the butter. Spread half of this mixture into a greased 20cm square cake tin. Pat down evenly.

Dissolve the bicarb. in the milk. Add the beaten egg and some chopped apple and add all of it to the remaining flour mixture. Combine well and pour into the tin. Slice the apples, then arrange on top and bake for 45 minutes until golden. Carefully, cut into slices.

Meze

Houmous (mine was shop-bought!)

Taramasalata (ditto!)

Cold, cooked potatoes, sliced and mixed with mayonnaise and capers

Olives

Cold roasted Mediterranean vegetables (courgette, aubergine, peppers, mushrooms, sweet potato cut into cubes and roasted in olive oil and garlic for about 30 mins)

Feta cheese, cut into cubes, dowsed in olive oil and mixed with chopped chives and pepper.

Pitta bread, toasted and cut into fingers

Enjoy!

Tomato Soup

A knob of butter

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp celery salt or a stick of celery, chopped

8 tomatoes or a 400g tin

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

150ml vegetable stock

Pepper

In a medium saucepan, cook the onion and garlic in the butter until soft. Add the celery salt or celery, tomatoes, ketchup and stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Whizz in a blender until smooth, then season to taste.

Better than a can!

Spaghetti with Prawns, Lasagne and Chocolate Brownies

2010-06-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

Well, another very hectic week here in Dorking! I always forget how busy the summer term is, what with cricket seemingly every night of the week and swimming and May Queen festivals and Prize Days, the list goes on! My ability to cook every night is somewhat diminished, but here are a couple of quick and easy recipes to keep you going. I made some brownies last weekend and my friend, Beth, requested the recipe - Happy Cooking!

Spaghetti with Prawns

2 red chillies, remove the seeds

2 cloves garlic

400g spaghetti

olive oil

12 large prawns preferably raw

a knob of butter

a large handful of rocket

1 lemon, juiced

Using a pestle and mortar, crush the chilli and garlic with a pinch of salt.

Cook the pasta until al dente, 8 minutes for spaghetti.

Meanwhile, heat 4 tbsp of oil over a high heat. Fry the chilli paste for 30 seconds then add the prawns and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, a handful of rocket, lemon juice and the pasta. Toss to mix and serve with extra rocket on top.

Easy Lasagne

1 box lasagne sheets

Olive oil

1 onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

Splash of red wine

400g tin tomatoes

Some fresh herbs

500g creme fraiche (I use half-fat)

3 handfuls of finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus some for the top

Seasoning

1-2 balls of mozzarella, diced

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees/Gas Mark 7. Fry the onion in 2 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan until soft. Add the garlic, stir, then add the red wine. Cook for 2 minutes until the liquid is reduced. Add the tomatoes and herbs and season well. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, tip the creme fraiche into a bowl and add the Parmesan and lots of seasoning.

When the tomato sauce is done, put two spoonfuls into the base of a shallow oven dish and place three sheets of lasagne on top. Spread a quarter of the tomato over and then some dollops of the creme fraiche. Sprinkle some mozzarella over. Repeat these layers, making sure you keep a little of the creme fraiche sauce for the top. Spread the remaining sauce over the lasagne sheets, right to the edges. Sprinkle over some Parmesan and any mozzarella left and bake for 35 minutes until oozing and crispy on the top.

Everyday Chocolate Brownies (from Brownies and Bars by Liz Franklin)

250g butter

500g caster sugar

100g cocoa powder

4 eggs, beaten

100g self-raising flour (use wholewheat to even out your energy levels)

Melt the butter, caster sugar and cocoa in a large saucepan. Add the eggs and beat to mix well. Add the flour and mix. Tip into a baking tin 20x25cm or so, lined with parchment paper, and bake for 35 minutes at 180 degrees/Gas Mark 4. Allow to cool, if you can, and cut into squares. Dust with icing sugar for a professional effect!
These keep in a tin for at least 3 days, and even then are just a little dry around the edges and perfectly acceptable.

Vegetable Curry, Stuffed Tomatoes and Sticky Chicken

2010-06-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

I succumbed to Football Mania this weekend..... or at least, had some people round for the lads to watch it and the ladies to sit and chat! I made some curries and bought some from Waitrose because it was the Crowning of the May Queen at Jolie's school that morning, so the whole day was rather hectic. In fact, I don't think I have recovered yet, because Sunday was Jake's birthday party! Phew!

Anyway, here is my Veggie Curry recipe, which went down very well, and I had a request to include it here (thanks Jane!). Tonight, I couldn't decide what to do, so I threw some chicken thighs in the oven covered with BBQ sauce and, Voila!, Sticky Chicken. The children wolfed it down, which makes a change. I was so fed up the other day that I was going to post the fact that Jolie only really eats chocolate, pesto pasta and roast potatoes.... no wonder she is a skinny-biffer!

And then we have Stuffed Tomatoes. My friend (another Jane) is cutting down on the amount of wheat she eats because she feels so much better. It made me realise just how much I consume, and think that I 'need', so I tried some quinoa (pron: keenwah) in some lovely, beefy tomatoes that were perfectly ripe for a change. Lovely.

Have fun!

Vegetable Curry (forgot to take a pic!)

4 cooked potatoes, diced

2 carrots, sliced

1/2 a cauliflower, broken into florets

2 tbs oil

1 onion, chopped

2 tbs curry paste (I love Bart's Veeraswamy Gujarat Masala paste, from any supermarket)

1 courgette, sliced

1 tin tomatoes

4 tbs double cream

Boil the carrots and cauliflower for 5 minutes, until tender but still with some bite, and drain.

Fry the onion in the oil until soft. Add the curry paste and stir.

Add the cooked vegetables, the courgette and the tomatoes and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add some seasoning. Stir in the cream right at the last minute and serve with rice.

Sticky Chicken

Chicken thighs

HP Original BBQ Sauce (Classic Woodsmoke Flavour)

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees/Gas Mark 8. Slash the thighs a couple of times and smother in a dollop of sauce each. Then bake in the oven for 35 mins until sticky and caramelised.

Stuffed Tomatoes

1/2 a red onion, chopped

1 tbs olive oil

1 courgette, finely diced

6 mushrooms, finely chopped

Handful of fresh herbs: chives, sage, oregano

3 slices of halloumi cheese, diced

1 cup of quinoia (or basmati rice)

4 large beef tomatoes

4 slices of Emmental cheese

Tip the quinoia into a saucepan and add 2 cups of boiling water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes and drain.

Meanwhile, fry the onion in the oil until soft, then add the courgette and mushrooms. Stir until starting to soften, then add the herbs, halloumi and a good pinch of salt and pepper.

Add the quinoia and mix well.

Cut a 'lid' off each tomato, scrape out the seeds and pulp. Fill each one with a good helping of the quinoia mixture, place a slice of cheese on top and bake in a hot oven (220 degrees/Gas Mark 8) for 20 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft. Lovely!

Home-made Ravioli, Cherry Buns, Turkish Beans and Frittata

2010-06-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

I don't cook for a while, and then I cook everything at once! Had a very hectic weekend just gone with my friend Gill's new shop opening on Saturday - the Fluffatorium in West Street in Dorking. She is dealing with all things fluffy, is an expert felt-maker and felt-artist and is also stocking knitting yarn. I am the knitting coach so sign up for some blissful time, click-clacking and eating cup-cakes with me! Knitting is peaceful, calming and allows you time for inspiration to seep into your otherwise hectic mind (it is for me, anyway). It is a meditation without having to get into the lotus postion and light incense sticks! Check out her website at www.gilliangladrag.co.uk

Cooked a few things this week, although I lost the plot tonight and used up some beefburgers, new potatoes and peas for the children! I made a frittata for myself, using up bits and pieces from the fridge. Frittatas are great because they are wonderful hot or cold, so ideal for the next day's lunch-box, or for a picnic. Try this recipe, and you won't look back......

Then, I have been trying to reduce the amount of sugar my kids are eating, and haven't had biscuits or cakes in the house. It's done a world of good, to me if no-one else! But they have just finished a week of exams, so I baked some Cherry Buns for when they came home. So comforting and lovely, they remind me of when I was small, sitting on a stile, having a break from walking with Mrs. Shelton and Steven her nephew on a Saturday afternoon. Lovely!

Frittata

1 onion, chopped

1 tbs oil

1/2 a courgette, coarsely grated

1/2 a carrot, finely grated

a handful of pine-nuts

a cup of peas, preferably defrosted, but ok frozen (or spinach)

5 eggs, beaten in a jug

a splash of double cream

a grating of cheese (I used emmental)

Seasoning

Fry the onion in the oil in a frying pan about 25-27cm across. When soft, add the grated courgette, stir for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle the carrot evenly across the pan, then sprinkle on the peas and pine-nuts. Pour the egg mixture over, pushing the ingredients down a little and season generously. Leave to cook over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes. Preheat the grill. Grate some cheese over the surface of the frittata and grill until the top is beginning to turn golden-brown. Serve with the Turkish Beans below.

Turkish Beans

This recipe came with my organic veg. box this week (www.greenergreens.com), along with some flat green beans. You can try it with any kind of green bean, especially when you have a glut of runners later in the year! I have lost the recipe, but this is the gist of it.

1 onion, chopped

25ml olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed

1 400g tin chopped tomatoes

100ml stock

400g green beans, cut to fit your saucepan

1 tbs sugar (do put this in, it makes all the difference)

seasoning

Fry the onion in a saucepan with the olive oil until soft. Add the garlic and stir, then add the tomatoes, stock, beans and sugar. Bring to a simmer and 3/4 cover. Cook for 30 minutes. Season to taste. This dish should really be kept in the fridge overnight and served cool.

Cherry Buns

125g soft butter

125g caster sugar

125g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 a tub of un-dyed (what is that about?) glace cherries

Process all but the cherries together until smooth. Cut the cherries into quarters, place into the processor and whizz for 10 seconds to mix. Spoon the mixture into 12 cake cases and bake at 180 degrees/Gas Mark 4 for 15-18 minutes. Eat as soon as they are cool enough to handle, or leave to cool!

I will post Home-made Ravioli tomorrow!

Leek and Vegetable Soup and Cheesy Dampers

2010-06-02T01:49:00.000-07:00

Just spent the night camping with my lovely friends in Michelle's paddock. Spent a lovely evening around the campfire, with marshmallows and damper bread on sticks - takes me back to Guide Camp and making out tea over an open fire, so blissful!

So, home again with a glut of vegetables and several bags of marshmallows later, I need some nutrition! Aha, Leek and Vegetable Soup, with leftover damper bread dough, to which I added cheese. I will give you my verdict later! I think people are afraid of soup - for no reason atall. It is so simple to create and full of vital nutritious ingredients, which you can enhance by adding lentils, or bacon, or chicken or whatever you have in the 'fridge really. Have a go and you will see how lovely and spirit warming a bowl of your own soup can be.

Leek and Vegetable Soup

4 medium leeks, sliced and washed

a knob of butter

2 carrots, cubed

a head of broccoli, roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

2 potatoes, cubed (I don't always peel them)

Enough stock to cover the vegetables

Seasoning and as many fresh herbs as you can get

Fry the leeks in the butter in a large saucepan, until they are soft and golden - about 8 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning, add the herbs and puree if desired. Add a swirl of cream or milk to bring the soup to your favourite consistency.

Cheesy Damper Bread

300g self-raising flour

a pinch of salt

50ml water

a good grating of cheese (about 35 grates)

Mix all together, adding water little by little until the dough comes together. You don't want it to be too sticky. Tear small handfuls off and form into rounds. Flatten slightly and place on a baking tray. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Eat immediately with a bowl of soup.

Alternatively, find a clean stick and wrap the dough firmly around the end. Hold over the embers until crusted all over. Remove from the stick and eat with lashings of cold butter!

Patatas Bravas, Fried Squid, Flapjacks and Beetroot Salad

2010-05-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

An unlikely mix, to be sure! Time was short this week, so here is a sample of what I have been cooking. A lovely friend (hi Diana!) today wanted to know what to do with vegetables; ideas for new ways to eat our five-a-day. I am someone who tries to plan what I am going to cook, and then just at the last minute I am inspired to do something completely different! And the fact that I have a vegetable box each week means I have to be somewhat flexible, not knowing quite what I'm going to get. If you have a question or a query, please ask, because you will by no means be the only one wondering what to do with your glut of courgettes or a strange looking thing like a kohl-rabi!

On to the recipes. I have just been reading Jamie Oliver's new book, 'Jamie does....Spain, Italy, Sweden, etc'. What a lovely, enthusiastic and inspiring man. I actually found some squid in Waitrose, and decided to do some tapas. Here is my interpretation of his recipe.

Patatas Bravas (Fierce potatoes)

4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered

2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked off

1 tsp each paprika, fennel seeds and salt

Sauce

olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 dried red chilli, crumbled (or one fresh, finely chopped)

1/2 tsp thyme

1 400g tin tomatoes

1 tbs sherry vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Parboil the potato pieces for about 15 minutes, until nearly done. Drain.

In a pan, add 2 tbs olive oil and the onion and 3 cloves of garlic. cook for 5 minutes then add the chillies, thyme leaves and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, sherry vinegar and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a frying-pan, add some olive oil and fry the potatoes until coloured on all sides (about 10 minutes). Add the rosemary and 2 cloves of chopped garlic, cook for another 5 minutes then remove from the heat. Sprinkle over the paprika, fennel seeds and a pinch of salt.

Finally, tip the sauce over the potatoes (you can liquidize if you like) and stir gently. Season to taste.

Serve this with:

Baby Squid

100g plain flour

Seasoning

300g baby squid (cleaned, and I cut them into rings)

vegetable oil

3-4 sprigs fresh parsley

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Season the flour with a big pinch of salt and pepper, then toss the squid until coated.

Heat a pan with enough oil to cover the bottom. The oil will be hot enough when a small piece of bread starts to sizzle. Lower the squid pieces carefully into the oil and fry, turning so both sides are golden brown. Tip on to some kitchen paper to drain, then serve with the parsley and lemon.

I have found a great flapjack recipe, having searched for a long time! They are sweet enough without being sickly, and firm enough without being too crunchy - delicious!

Flapjacks (adapted from a recipe by Liz Franklin in 'brownies and bars')

Melt together:

180g butter

180g soft brown sugar

3tbs golden syrup

1 tbs honey

When thoroughly melted, mix in:

375g porridge oats and 50g cornflakes.

Tip into a tin measuring 20 x 30cm, lined with parchment paper, and bake at 180 degrees/Gas Mark 4 for 25 minutes. Leave to cool and then cut into squares. Makes about 18.

And finally.......

This week I entertained my lovely 'Ladies Who Lunch'; old friends from Pre-school days. I cooked the asparagus tart again (I love asparagus, see previous blog for recipe) and had some raw beetroot hanging around. Here is what I came up with - for you Corrie!

Beetroot and Carrot Salad

1 large, fresh beetroot

2 carrots

1 squeeze of lemon juice

3 tbs olive oil

1 tsp grainy mustard

a handful of mixed nuts and seeds (pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds. Waitrose does a packet)

Seasoning

Finely grate the beetroot and carrot, then mix in all the rest, seasoning to taste. Enjoy! (Took the picture at the last mouthful!)

Salmon Tart and Frittatas

2010-05-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend catering for 19 lunches on Saturday and Sunday, phew! People were so enthusiastic about what I produced, which was simple but completely home-made. And I think that is the difference. People are so used to being offered shop-bought quiche, coleslaw and cake that when they are given the real thing they are over the moon! It really isn't much effort to whizz up coleslaw, but it does take a little forethought and a little extra time. The problem is, we have been seduced by this 'live fast, buy lots of things we don't need but can't live without, constant mobile phone presence' life. I am really bucking against it, even though I have a Blackberry. For the first time really in my life I am taking time out each day to walk my dog and to be solitary in nature, just me and my thoughts. I am finding more and more that I need this space to keep my sanity, and actually, I still have friends even though I didn't vacuum the house this morning!

Anyway, I am feeling calmer at least! Here are two lovely recipes. Smoked Salmon Tart is delicious and really quite impressive, and the Frittatas are tarts without the pastry! Be creative because once you know how to make a tart, the variations are endless! (The picture has some spinach put into the case with the salmon).

Smoked Salmon Tart (Quiche Lorraine if you use fried bacon and onions!)

One pastry case (25-27cm or a similar sized tin)
or
200g plain flour
100g butter
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 tbs cold water

Heat the oven to 200 degrees/Gas Mark 5. Using a food-processor, mix the flour, butter and salt until it looks like breadcrumbs, or by hand, rub the butter into the flour then mix in the salt. Add the water (you may need a little more but don't make the pastry too wet) until a dough is formed. Roll out to 5cm larger than your tin. Place over and push the edges gently down the sides to touch the corner, all the way round. Leave some over hanging and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Trim the pastry with a sharp knife slicing horizontally.

Now the filling:

250g packet of smoked salmon
7 eggs, made up to 750ml with
double cream and milk
Seasoning and paprika
Fresh herbs of your choice: chives, oregano, marjoram, basil, etc. all snipped or chopped

Mix all the above but the salmon together and pour into your pastry case. Cut the salmon into strips and arrange prettily, making sure it is spread evenly. Season the top with salt and pepper and a little paprika. Bake for around 35-40 minutes, until golden brown on top and there is no wobble. Leave to cool for 5 minutes and serve.

Frittatas (Thanks Emma!) (Makes 12)

8 eggs
125ml double cream
50ml milk
Seasoning
2 red onions
A handful of cooked spinach
A carrot, finely grated
A packet of pine-nuts
12 thin strips of smoked salmon
Ground paprika

Heat the oven to 200 degrees/Gas Mark 5. Fry the onions in a little oil until softened. Grease or line a deep 12-hole muffin tin with squares of parchment paper. Layer the onion, spinach and carrot between the holes, season with salt and pepper and top with a sprinkling of pine-nuts. Mix the eggs, cream and milk and season well. Pour the egg mixture into each muffin case, trying not to spill any over the edge (makes it harder to take them out). Place a strip of salmon on each muffin, sprinkle with paprika and bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and puffed-up.

Coleslaw

1/4 savoy cabbage
2 carrots
1/4 red onion
mayonnaise

Slice the cabbage and onion as finely as you can. Grate the carrots and mix all together with mayonnaise until you reach your desired consistency. Keeps in the 'fridge for a few days, just mix well when serving.

Asparagus Tart

2010-05-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

Just been on a lovely trip to the beach with Barney's class! Thank you for taking me - I hadn't been to Birling Gap and it was beautiful! The boys were all very pleasant to be with and very well-behaved.

As we were walking to the sea, I spied some sea kale, which I had read about but not recognised before. While no-one was looking, I picked a handful and we ate it for tea this evening; more iron than Pop-eye could shake a stick at! (Barney declared it poisonous and didn't eat any.... ) Jake and I thought it was lovely; a cross between spinach and curly kale.

Moving on (!), I cooked this tart last Friday, adapted from a recipe by Lucas Hollweg. As I love to cook as much asparagus as possible during it's short season, I am always keen to try new ways to eat it. It is very simple and very tasty.

Asparagus Tart

250g asparagus, ends snapped off

a knob of butter

2 leeks, thinly sliced and washed

1 clove of garlic, crushed

salt and pepper

1 packet of puff pastry

1 egg

100ml cream

50g parmesan cheese, grated

Some prociutto ham, torn

Heat the oven to 220 degrees/Gas Mark 7. Par boil the asparagus in a pan of boiling water for 4 minutes. Drain and cover with cold water for a few seconds to stop them cooking, then drain again. Cook the leeks and garlic in a knob of butter until soft.

Roll out the puff pastry into a recangle, about 40x15cm. Score a line around the edge without cutting through about 1 cm wide. Bake for 5 minutes until a little raised. Remove from the oven and press down the centre rectangle. Mix the egg, cream, cheese and seasoning.

Spread the leeks over the base of the tart, then pour in the cream mixture, making sure it doesn't spill. Arrange the asparagus in lines on the cream and place the ham on top.

Cook for about 20 minutes until the pastry is golden. Leave for a few minutes before eating!

A variation on the theme is Asparagus and Goat's Cheese Tart.

Use the same method, but instead of the cream mixture, us 250g goat's cheese, such as Chevre, thinly sliced and arrange over the pastry. Top with the asparagus, brush the border with milk or beaten egg and bake for about 15 minutes.

Lamb Koftas and Home-made Naan

2010-05-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

My son, Jake (nearly 12) had a cookery session at school last week. He loves to cook and was very enthusiastic about the ladies who were running the class, Kids Can Cook (Find them at www.kidscancook.com). A group of about nine boys produced Lamb Koftas, with Naan Bread and Raita and then ate the lot!

So, I decided he could produce it for our tea yesterday. What a stress (for me!), and what a Success!

Very easy to assemble and to cook, we managed it in around 30 minutes, probably eating within about 40 minutes - pretty good for a weekday! Have a go. The Naan taste very authentic because of the onion seeds, and they are So Easy to make.

Lamb Koftas

300g minced lamb

half medium onion, finely chopped

1.5 cm piece of fresh ginger, grated

1 clove garlic, grated

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

olive oil for frying

Grated carrot and finely chopped lettuce

Raita

Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Grate the ginger and garlic and add all the ingredients to the bowl. Wet your hands and roll into balls, just smaller than a golf ball.

Gently fry in the olive oil until browned and cooked right through.

Serve with naan bread.

Naan Bread

350g self-raising flour

1 tsp black onion seeds

3/4 tsp salt

25g butter, melted

230ml half yoghurt/half water

Mix all the ingredients until just combined. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat another frying pan (or heat the grill). Cut the dough into 4-5 pieces and roll to 3-4mm thick. Dry fry in the pan.

Split and serve with the koftas and raita.

Raita

250g plain yoghurt

10cm cucumber, chopped finely

pinch salt

pinch cumin

handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped

Mix all the ingredients and serve.

Felafels
I also had a go at these again! And this time was quite successful!

A can of drained chickpeas
A small onion, chopped
splash of olive oil
1 egg
2 grated carrots
salt and pepper
pinch of cumin powder

Whizz everything in a food-processor until pureed. Fry in oil until browned on each side, then serve with the above.

WHAT I HAVE BEEN COOKING:

Somerset Apple Cake

What a delicious cake! It is moist enough to be a pudding, and the cider-soaked sultanas and lemon zest lift this cake to something really special. You have to start this the day before and soak the sultanas in the cider overnight. The recipe is from long ago in my recipe book, hence the imperial measurements!

8oz caster sugar

6oz butter

10oz plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

zest of a lemon

2 large Bramley apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

6oz sultanas

5 floz dry cider

Heat the oven to 160degrees/gas mk 4. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time. Fold in the dry ingredients, lemon zest and thinly sliced apples. Add the sultanas.

Tip into a lined 20cm cake tin and bake for about 1 hour until golden brown on top.

Cool and serve with sweetened, whipped cream!

Chocolate Crispy Squares

Last, but not least, I rustled up some of these for a sweet treat. They take all of 10mins to make!

3 Mars Bars

2oz butter

3oz rice crispies

Melt the butter in a medium pan. Add the Mars Bars and stir until melted. Add the rice crispies and coat thoroughly with the chocolate. Tip into a 20cm square tin and put in the 'fridge to set. Yum!

Angel Bread and Orange Chocolate Marble Cake

2010-05-06T03:31:00.000-07:00

I had a very complicated school/train station/cricket match run tonight - enough to test anyone's sanity! What for tea?? Well, not very adventurously, all I could think of that a) I had the ingredients for and b) the kids would actually EAT, c) I could fit in around running people here and there, was a plate of Birdseye fish fingers (I always have a pack in the freezer, just in case....) with homemade chunky chips and sweetcorn.

Then I thought (as I often do under extreme pressure!), what else then? I had decided to bake some chocolate cakes, but as I was mixing, I changed my mind to make Barney's favrourite Chocolate and Orange Marble Cake. Easy as easy and very lovely, the sighs of delight were reward enough!

(But to make it all better, my little doggie, Pepper, was a star at her puppy class afterwards!)

And I have discovered, in a LOVELY book called, 'Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids' by Jill O'Connor, a GREAT breakfast for those of us who can sometimes Be Prepared! They are called Heaven-Sent Angel Biscuits, and are a cross between a scone and a sweet bread roll. Make the dough the night before (no kneading required!!) and just pull bits off in the morning to bake. My kids loved them, and so did I.........

Orange and Chocolate Marble Cake

150g soft butter
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
0.5 tsp baking powder
150g self-raising flour
2 tbs good cocoa powder
zest of an orange and 2 tbs of juice

Set oven at 180 degrees/Gas mk 5.

Whizz the butter, caster, eggs, baking powder and flour in a processor until smooth. (If your butter is cold, whizz the butter and sugar first until creamy, then add the rest).
Grate the zest into the mixture, add the juice and whizz to mix. Spoon half the mixture in blobs over the bottom of a base-lined and greased 7" cake tin. Add the cocoa to the remaining mixture and whizz again until mixed. Blob this randomly into the tin. Take a wooden spoon handle and gently make figure-of-eight swirls in the mixture - less is more though; don't overdo it!

Bake for about 35 minutes, until the top of the cake looks cooked and a skewer or sharp knife comes out clean.

What I have been cooking:

Heaven-Sent Angel Biscuits (from the above book)

1 tbs dried yeast
one cup warm water (maybe more if too dry)
5.5 cups of strong bread flour
1 tsp bicarb of soda
1 tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
14 tbs butter (you'll just have to guess it!)
2 cups buttermilk or natural yoghurt

Measure out all the dry ingredients, then rub in the butter, leaving some pea-sized pieces. Add the water and buttermilk and mix to a stiff bread dough. Place in a sealed plastic bag and put in the fridge overnight (leave some room for expansion in the bag!).

In the morning, before you shower, grab ping-pong ball sized pieces, roll into balls and place on a greased baking tray. Leave to rise while you shower, then place in the oven for 12-15 mins until lightly browned.
Eat with butter and jam - Angelic!!

What's New???

Got to tell you the Most Exciting News of the Moment!! I am the Knitting Coach at Gill Harris-Saunders' new Shop in Dorking! It is a delicious Emporium of all things Woolly. Check out her website and get those needles and woolly inspiration out and come along for a coffee and a chat, or a marvellous Knitting Workshop or make something Splendid at a Felting Workshop!!

www.gilliangladrag.co.uk

Chicken and Chips and Felafels

2010-04-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

Squash and Ginger Soup

Felafels (on a Scooby Doo plate...... classy!)

Being a veggie is sometimes a lonely existence. Bombarded with meaty delights from TV chefs such as Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall and Gordon Ramsay, us poor herbivores are left wondering what on earth we can slap on the barbie, and what to cook for tea tonight alongside meat-eaters' chicken and chips!

I have also been searching and searching and trying felafel (chickpea patty) recipes, without a satisfactory result. So, tonight, as I had a bag of chickpeas in the fridge waiting for something.... I tried a patty-type mixture which turned into felafels! The result was a little dry, and I have yet to adjust this, but the taste was just right for me; subtle and delicious!

Chicken and Chips (serves 5)

1 chicken portion per person (I used breast pieces with skin on)

Olive oil

Floury potatoes, cut into 1cm chip lengths

Clove of garlic, crushed

Seasoning

Heat the oven to 200 degrees/Gas mk 5. Brush the chicken portions with oil and crushed garlic. Season well.

Coat the potato pieces in oil and spread out on a baking tray. Put into the oven and set the timer for about 35mins. Put the chicken in to cook for the required time (my pieces said 30 mins approx).

Meanwhile make the felafels:

Felafels

300g chickpeas, soaked and boiled, or one can, drained and rinsed

1 onion, very finely diced

Olive oil

1.5 tsp salt

Pepper

0.5 tsp ground cumin

4 tsp chopped, fresh mint

1 egg

Splash of olive oil to mix

Fry the onion in 1 tbs of oil until softened. Keep the frying pan on the heat. Tip into a food processor and whizz with everything else until well mixed and still a little coarse. Taste to make sure the seasoning is ok.

Now I was a bit cheffy! Make quenelles of the mixture - take a dessertspoonful, and scoop it off the spoon with another spoon, until you have a sort of three sided, spoon-shaped patty. Place into the oiled frying pan and cook until golden on all three sides (about 10 mins). You may have to add some oil during the cooking.

Slice the chicken into pretty slices and serve with the chips and mayo and ketchup. I added a handful of spinach and rocket to my plate with my felafels. Yum!

What I have been cooking:

I read a recipe a few weeks ago for Squash soup with Ginger. Could I find it again?? So, I had a go. SO EASY and SO DELICIOUS!! Here it is:

Squash Soup with Ginger

1 butternut squash, or some kind of pumpkin, peeled and diced

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

A knob of butter

500ml or so of vegetable stock

2 tsp grated fresh ginger (peel it first!)

Seasoning

Fry the onion in the butter until softened. Add the squash pieces, stir, then add the garlic and stock and simmer for 15 mins. Add 1 tsp of the ginger and season well, then taste. I found that 2 tsps gave the kick I wanted without overpowering the squash, but you can do what you like.

Enjoy!

Salade Nicoise

2010-04-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

(You'll have to use your imagination to picture today's recipe due to technical difficulties!!)

So, my son, Barney, told me the other day to stop worrying about my weight, cos he thinks I am just fine as I am! What a love! Fact is, my jeans are just a little on the tight side just now, and here we are, with the 'Expose All at the Beach with All and Sundry looking on' season almost upon us! Thanks Barns, and I am still going to cut down a little for a while to reduce the damage that a very Prolonged and Damp winter has done!!!

With that in mind, tonight I made Salade Nicoise. I am sure that everyone who reads this will know exactly what one is, but here is my recipe!

Have fun!

Salade Nicoise Serves 2

1 tin tuna, in olive oil (tastes sooooo much better than in brine)

2 eggs, hard-boiled

half a packet of thin, green beans, boiled for 4 minutes

half a pack of baby spinach leaves

a little gem lettuce, ripped

2 ripe tomatoes

a handful of olives

Dressing:

3 tbs olive oil

1 tbs wine vinegar

1 tsp grainy mustard

1 tsp clear honey

piece of garlic, crushed

salt, pepper

Layer everything in a pretty salad bowl. Mix the dressing ingredients and shake well. Drizzle over the salad then toss when you are at the table. Serve with some garlic bread for the more hungry amongst us!

Noodles, noodles, noodles!

2010-04-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

We visited our beach hut again today - bit of a northerly breeze, and not enough clothing, but a great day nonetheless. What joy I feel when I am down by the sea: the expanse of it all, the wilderness, the wind and the sun - I love it!

So, arriving home ravenous, as always, I thought of a quick noodle stir-fry. You will note, again, from the picture just what my kids ate! I do my best!

Have fun and be happy!

Stir-fry with Noodles

(serves 4)

1 packet of dried noodles (use four or five sheets)

2 carrots, chopped into matchsticks

4 spring onions, chopped

8 mushrooms, sliced thinly

handful of frozen prawns

1-2 tbs vegetable oil

Dressing:

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 knob fresh ginger, grated finely

2 tbsp soy sauce

1.5 tbs sesame oil

Cook the noodles according to the packet. Drain and set aside.

Heat a wok or frying pan. Add the oil and the carrots and stir-fry for a few minutes, then add the onions and mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes until some juice is released from the mushrooms.

While this is happening, grate the ginger and the garlic and mix with the soy and the sesame oil. Whisk to mix thoroughly, then tip half into the noodles and mix carefully, and the other half into the stir-fry mixture. Add the prawns to the stir-fry while you dish out the noodles, then, making sure the prawns are defrosted, tip the vegetables on top. Yum!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

2010-04-06T11:50:00.000-07:00

You will see from tonight's picture that I wasn't fibbing when I said my children won't eat half of the goodies I produce for them - the blighters! But, undeterred, I battle on, with the shining, golden thought in the future of that wonderful day when everyone will eat everything and LIKE IT! (sorry, I'm suddenly feeling a little unwell....)

So, tonight's delish dish was Spaghetti and Meatballs with Homemade Garlic Bread. Usually, I make tuna polpettine which are tuna meatballs, but tonight I had bought some beef meatballs from Waitrose (I don't even have to touch the meat!) and I just had the tomato sauce - perfect for Vegetarians, Fussy Monsters and Foodies alike!

Spaghetti and Meatballs (serves 5)

1 packet of spaghetti
1 onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, crushed
a splash of red wine
1 tin tomatoes
sprig of basil, torn roughly
Seasoning
1 packet of fresh meatballs
oil for cooking

Bring a large pan of water to the boil, and add some salt. Heat a frying pan for the meatballs and heat a saucepan for the sauce.
Put a tbs of oil in the saucepan, add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 mins or so until golden. Add the splash of red wine and cook to reduce the liquid for another 2 mins. Tip in the tomatoes and basil, season, and leave to cook while you get on with the rest.

Add a tbs of oil to the frying pan and add the meatballs. Cook them, turning, until they are browned all over (about 12 mins).
At the same time, tip the required amount of spaghetti into the water and cook for 8 minutes (never mind what it says on the packet!).

Whizz the sauce to a puree. Drain the spaghetti, add a few knobs of butter or a splash of oil (to stop it sticking) and serve with a spoonful of sauce and meatballs on the top.

Homemade Garlic Bread

Now, I was a bit of a super-woman tonight! At the same time this was going on, I put about 5 tbs of soft butter (Lurpak spreadable) into a dish, and added two crushed cloves of garlic and a tbs of dried parsley, then mixed them together. I had half a french loaf in the bread bin, so I sliced it almost through into 2 cm slices, then spread both sides of the slices with the butter. I baked it in a 200 degree/Gas mk 5 oven for about 10 minutes.

Baked Potatoes and Roast Veggies

2010-03-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the picture; I started eating before I had taken it! And anyway, I think it is more real to see what I actually cooked rather than a stylised version with napkins and old cutlery and stuff to create a mood. I mean, there is a beauty to that, an art, but sometimes it can put me off because the end product looks so perfect. I want my food to be accessible to everyone, especially me! (And now, I couldn't even upload the pic anyway!!)
Tonight, we had baked potatoes, with the ususal tuna/mayonnaise, baked beans, grated cheese combination for the children. But I had a lot of winter vegetables in the 'fridge which really needed eating, so I opted to do a kind of winter ratatouille. I saw this recipe years ago in a magazine and use it in times such as these. You can just throw in whatever you have lying around in the bottom of the 'fridge, and it tastes wholesome and gorgeous!

Winter Ratatouille (serves about 6 as a side-dish)

1 onion
half a butternut squash
2 carrots
1 parsnip
1 fennel bulb
1 small celeriac.......... all chopped
1 head of garlic
a good slug of olive oil
1 tin tomatoes
150ml veggie stock
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
seasoning

Heat the oven to 190 degrees/Gas mk 5. Bung in the pricked baking potatoes.
Tip the chopped vegetables into a large roasting tin, add enough olive oil to coat all the pieces and add the whole garlic bulb. Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and break them up. Add the stock, balsamic vinegar, season and mix.
Bake for a further 30 minutes or so, adding a little more liquid if they start to catch.

Serve with the baked potatoes. Yum!

We also had home-made 'trifles'. Make up raspberry jelly, add 5-6 raspberries to 4-6 glasses and pour the jelly over the top. Leave to set, then add some custard and whipped cream to the top.

Stir Fry and Rice Pudding.......

2010-03-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

An unlikely combination, I admit, and sweet, scented rice pud really doesn't follow a mouthful of raw garlic......

So, it's Easter Holidays and, as usual, my boys are always hungry. Try as I might, I can't get them to eat the fruit that I'm told I should, so my house is now stuffed full of bread and bread products in the hope of stemming their appetites long enough for me to be able to cook something wholesome!

Today was stir-fry with lots of veggies. I love this recipe; so simple and so lovely. You will be cooking dinner in under 20 minutes - hurrah!

And rice pudding is always a great favourite in my house - wolfed down in seconds, after the hour and a half to cook! It's a great one, though, because it takes about 3 minutes to construct and then you can forget it.

Stir-Fry (serves 4 hungry bods)

1-2 tbs vegetable oil

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks

1 red pepper, cut into strips

5 spring onions, chopped

1 courgette, cut into matchsticks

150g mushrooms, sliced

1 large clove garlic, crushed

1 inch long piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated finely

1.5 tbs soy sauce

1.5 tbs sesame oil

4-5 noodle portions

Cook the noodles as per the packet, then drain and cover.

Heat a wok over a medium heat.

Meanwhile, make the dressing: mix the garlic, ginger , soy sauce and sesame oil together.

Add a tbs or so of vegetable oil to the wok. Add the carrots and stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the pepper, onions, courgette and cook for another 7-8 minutes or so. Add the mushrooms, cook for another 2-3 minutes. Finally, add half the dressing to the noodles and half to the vegetables.

Serve immediately.

(it always appears that chef's children eat everything they cook, making the rest of us feel wholly inadequate - but I'm more real! Only one of my three children will eat the vegetable part of this: the others only have the dressed noodles - so you're not the only one!)

Rice Pudding (serves 4-5 depending on how many hungry boys are present!)

150g pudding rice

75g sugar

750ml milk

fresh nutmeg

butter

Heat the oven to 150 degrees/Gas mk2. Butter a 1 litre souffle dish or equivalent.

Put the rice and sugar in the dish and cover with the milk, poking the rice grains beneath the surface. Grate nutmeg all over the top and dot with pieces of butter.

Bake in the oven for an hour and a half until golden brown on the top.

Friends and Friands!

2010-03-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

A group of my friends and I have decided to make time to practise the lovely creative crafts we learn to do at various workshops. So, every month or so, we choose and evening to get together. Last night, we learnt how to weave willow with my lovely friend Nicky Rowling. She showed us how to make heart-shaped and circular wreaths, and lovely little spiral bird-feeders. I had such a lovely time, just being there, drinking coffee and creating lovely things using such an ancient skill.

I baked some friands for the occasion and they went down so well that I have given you the recipe. Friands are little almond cakes which are very popular in Australia to have with morning coffee, and they are little bites of heaven! Not only that, but they are VERY easy to make; no beating or creaming or folding - EASY!! I realised this morning that they are almost identical to French Madeleines, just subsitute vanilla essence for the lemon zest (easy to whip up in the morning while you are in the shower!).

Have fun!

Friands (Makes 6 big ones or about 12 smaller bites)

4 oz butter, melted

4 1/2 oz icing sugar

1 oz plain flour

3 oz ground almonds

3 medium eggwhites

grated zest of one lemon

3 oz blueberries or cubed apple or pieces of pear or plum

Heat the oven to 200 degrees/Gas Mk 6

Sift the flour and icing sugar and stir in the almonds. Whisk the eggs whites until floppy.

Tip into the dry ingredients along with the lemon zest, stir in the butter.

Grease the tins and pour in the batter. Sprinkle some pieces of fruit on the top and bake for about 18-20 minutes. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out and cool.

ps, turn your computer (or your head) around to view the picture the right way up!

Biscotti

2010-03-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

I love biscotti - sometimes called Cantuccini - those very dry, hard Italian biscuits that you have to dunk into dessert wine or a cup of tea or coffee otherwise you can break your teeth!

They are very easy to make and last an age in a tin, and my children love them! They also contain no fat, for what that's worth!

For me they conjure up sitting in an Italian piazza, watching the world go by, and savouring delicious coffee. On the other hand, my children just love to stuff them down without caring about dental bills......

Biscotti (Makes about 20)

100g almonds
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
250g plain flour (Italian 'OO' flour is authentic)
225g golden caster sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
50g pistachios (optional)

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees/Gas Mk 5. Flour two baking trays.

Lightly beat the eggs and yolk with the vanilla, then sift the flour, sugar and baking powder into a large bowl. Pour in the egg mixture. Add the almonds and pistachios (you can use your imagination and add chocolate chips or walnuts or raisins, etc.) and mix to a very stiff dough.

Turn out on a floured surface and roll into a log shape. Cut in half and place the two halves on the centre of each of the baking trays and bake for 15 minutes.

Turn the oven down to 150 degrees/Gas Mk 2. Remove the biscotti from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Cut the logs into 1cm slices and place these flat on the baking trays. Return to the oven and bake for a further 20-25 minutes until golden and crisp.
Cool completely and store in an airtight jar.

What I have been cooking:

Last night I was organised, for once! With various after-school appointments, I actually had something ready in the oven when we all arrived home. My auntie Barb from the US gave me this recipe for Baked Ziti. Ziti is the equivalent of penne here, but I use any pasta shape that can hold some sauce.

Baked Ziti (Serves 6)

500g pasta
1 tub ricotta cheese (or Philadelphia)
1 egg
seasoning
25-50g cheddar, grated
1 ball mozzarella, cubed
Tomato pasta sauce or Bolognaise sauce

Heat the oven to 200 degrees/Gas Mk 4. Cook the pasta as the instructions. Mix the ricotta, egg and seasoning in a large bowl. Drain the pasta when ready, tip into the bowl and mix thoroughly.

Tip the pasta sauce into a casserole dish. Pour half of the pasta on top and sprinkle with half the cheeses. Tip in the remaining pasta and top with the rest of the cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes until golden.

Serve with fresh bread and a green salad. As my Aunt would say, 'Enjoy!'

Pancakes and Omlettes

2010-03-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

Walked today from Dorking to Leith Hill - what a day for it! I think I may be a little sunburned! I had made some American pancakes for breakfast, so I took the left-overs for the girls. The recipe is below. If you are having them on a schoolday - yes, it is possible - measure out the ingredients the night before, mix the batter in the morning and put the pan on to heat while you are in the shower!

This evening, I couldn't think what to cook for dinner. Then I spied the pack of 15 eggs hanging around near the cooker - aha - omelettes! My children love omelettes (what a strange word now I have typed it twice....) and we sometimes have them for brekkie. Tonight, I gave them the option of plain (with salt for Jolie), cheese (her friend Neva), ham (Barney) and fried onions (Jake). I had a sort of Spanish affair with onions, peppers and left-over potatoes. Delicious. Apologies for the picture; I forgot until I was halfway through!

Omelette (serves one)

3 eggs, lightly beaten
knob of butter
seasoning

Heat a small frying-pan over a medium heat. Add a knob of butter and wait for it to stop sizzling. Add the eggs all at once. Leave for a minute or two, then pull the cooked underneath gently aside so the runny eggs fill the space left in the pan. Repeat until there is not much left running on the surface. Season with salt and pepper.
Now, purists will have you gently slide a palette knife under one side and flip it over, with runny egg inside, which does continue cooking for a while.
But I don't like runny egg AT ALL, so I leave it to cook longer, and sometimes finish it off under the grill.

You can add, grated cheese, chopped ham, herbs, fry some onion before adding the eggs, cooked sliced potatoes, the list goes on.

Breakfast Pancakes (serves 4 hungry people!)

200g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
2 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
milk to mix (about 200ml)

Put a frying pan on a medium heat.
Measure the flour, baking powder and sugar into a large bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla and mix with enough milk to make a very stiff batter. You want it so that it only just drops off a spoon. Add some butter to the pan, then table-spoonfuls of the batter. Wait until bubbles appear on the surface before flipping them over.
Eat with maple or agave syrup and butter. Americans eat these with crispy bacon too.

Cupcakes and Birthdays

2010-03-12T09:30:00.000-08:00

For my birthday this year, I fancied coffee and cakes at my house with my lovely friends. And so it was this morning!

I have been looking at the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook and decided on the Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes. I substituted frozen raspberries from my garden instead and they worked just as well, if not better because the tart raspberries cut through the sweetness of the icing. Hope they will sell more books because I have printed the recipe here!
I have got to say that my lovely friend, Paula, baked a carrot cake and some brownies for me, which went down just as quickly!! Thanks Paula!

Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins Makes 12

Heat the oven to 170 degrees/Gas mk 4

120g plain flour
140g caster sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
40g unsalted butter, soft

Whizz or beat all these until combined and a sandy texture.
Add:

0.5 tsp vanilla essence
120ml whole milk
1 egg

Whizz or beat again until well mixed.

Divide 12 chopped strawberries or 36 raspberries between 12 muffin cases. Spoon the cake mixture on top and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Cool completely.

For the icing, whizz together:
300g icing sugar
50g unsalted butter
125g cream cheese

Spread over each cake. Crush 6 digestive biscuits to crumbs and sprinkle over the top.

Enjoy!

Filo Spinach Pie......

2010-03-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

Hmmm, what's in my 'fridge? A packet of filo pastry which should be eaten this week, some fresh spinach and a tub of ricotta cheese! I confess that I fancied a Spanakopita-type of dish sometime this week, so I had the ingredients. But, you could knock up something just as delicious with some de-frosted puff pastry, some frozen spinach and a pack of Philadelphia cheese. Spanakopita is a lovely Greek dish; great for vegetarians as it is quite substantial.

Using spinach always sounds like hard work, but I have discovered that all you need to do to 'wilt' it (or partially cook it) is to put it into a colander and pour a kettle-full of boiling water over the top. just give it a squeeze to get rid of as much water as possible and then chop. Be careful; it retains its heat for a long time!

My version of Spanakopita (Serves 6-8)

This recipe took me about 20 minutes to make!

1 pack of filo pastry (or puff pastry)
2 leeks, chopped
350g of fresh spinach, wilted and roughly chopped
1 tub of ricotta
60g grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
a grating of nutmeg
2 eggs

Some olive oil for brushing

Heat the oven to 190 degrees/gas mk 4. Brush a roasting tin with oil.
Cook the leeks in a little oil until soft. Combine the leeks, spinach, ricotta, cheddar, seasoning, nutmeg and eggs.
Open the filo pastry and unroll the sheets, then cover them with a damp cloth. They dry out really quickly and then become brittle. Take two sheets and brush the top sheet all over with oil. Place in the roasting tin with the ends hanging over the edge. Take another two sheets, brush with oil and place in the tin, the other way round.
Tip the mixture on to the pastry in a sausage shape. Fold over the sides to make a parcel, then flip the parcel over, so the seam is underneath and make sure the surface is oiled all over.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until crisp and golden.

Then I went mad and baked some biscotti and some little cakes for the children! Phew!

Busy busy!

2010-03-08T06:03:00.000-08:00

A spring picture to brighten your day!

I have been rushed off my feet since half-term (when my children didn't seem to stop bickering), SOOOOO tired, and with no time in the day it seems! Are days getting shorter or something?
Anyway, I find it hard to be inspired cooking-wise during times like these and I struggle to get enough veg into myself, let alone everyone else!

So, what have I been cooking? Try these store-cupboard easy meals:

Beans on Toast
Always a winner! Nutritious and filling, we serve it with a knob of butter on the top and some grated cheese on the side. And I always want a cup of tea to go with it!

Sausages and chips
Easy peasy to make your own oven chips. Take about one large potato per person, peel (I don't always) and slice into chips. Dry in a tea-towel and toss in some oil and seasoning, and a little paprika and bake at 200 degrees for about 35 minutes. I always like to maximise the use of the oven so I often roast some butternut squash, wedges of onion and sweet potato slices.
The sausages you can cook in the oven at the same time, according to the label on the packet.
Tonight we had tuna steaks and chips, with a green salad and some fried onions, mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes.

Toasted Cheese Sandwiches
Try the toaster pockets from Lakeland. Butter both sides of the bread, then fill with grated cheese, ham, pickle, mango chutney, and whatever else you like - brie and cranberry sauce perhaps. Costa does a tuna melt and I have perfected the taste: tuna with mayonnaise, a small amount of grated onion, some grated cheddar and some mozzarella, and seasoning.
Slide the sandwiches into the pockets and toast for about 2 minutes until oozing with cheese and golden brown.

Have fun!

Muffins and other musings....

2010-03-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

I am so disappointed when recipes don't turn out right, and there are a lot of books out there with recipes that just don't work. My cookbook is full of recipes that DO work, and I would welcome comments from you if the recipes in this blog don't work for you for any reason. As you can see, I take photos to show you what everything should look like, and to prove that they do work!!
I tried some carrot cake muffins today from Nigella's book, 'Domestic Goddess'. I really like the way she writes and a lot of her recipes are great, but I knew this wasn't going to work because the mixture just wasn't moist enough. Now, I am an obsessive baker, so I knew what was wrong, but I decided to bake them anyway to see what happened. Lo and behold, they didn't level out in the cases because the mixture was too stiff, but people trying that for the first time would be put off baking muffins - what a SHAME!!

Too much information????

Here is a recipe that ALWAYS works and is DELICIOUS!!!!!! It is from a wonderful book called, 'The Planet Organic Cookbook' by Renee Elliot and Eric Treuille, the proprietors of the organic supermarket and eatery of the same name. Check them out www.planetorganic.com

Blueberry Yoghurt Muffins (Makes 12)

300g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt (don't leave this out)
2 eggs, beaten
175g light brown sugar
250ml plain yoghurt
125ml melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
175g blueberries

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees/gas mk 5.

Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl. Mix the eggs, sugar, yoghurt, butter and vanilla in a second bowl and beat until well blended. Add the egg mixture to the dry mixture with the blueberries and fold gently until just combined. Do not overmix. The mixture SHOULD NOT BE SMOOTH. Divide between 12 muffin cases.
Bake until risen and golden, 15-17 minutes.
Leave in the tin for 5 minutes before removing. Serve while still warm.

These are great because they are just as good the next day, and freeze brilliantly. Try them for breakfast!

Variations:
Banana Cinnamon (you HAVE to try these!!!!!!)
Replace the blueberries with 2 diced bananas and 2 tsp cinnamon.
Lemon Pear
Replace the blueberries with 2 diced pears and zest of 1 lemon.

Enjoy!

Simple, simple, simple!

2010-02-23T05:34:00.000-08:00

It has just begun to snow! I LOVE the snow. Wasn't it blissful in January when there was nothing else to do but go sledging? To me, it seems to make everything clean and new..... until it turns into slush!
After a long, wet day in London visiting the Zoo, we arrived home cold and in need of something substantial but simple. Not much in the 'fridge, but I noticed double cream, and thought of some pasta. I also had frozen prawns and peas, and some fresh parsley on the windowsill. Aha!

This dish is so simple, and uses ingredients I usually have lying around somewhere. Try it and see.

Last Minute Pasta

284ml double cream
1 clove garlic, peeled
a cup of frozen peas
a cup of frozen prawns
a handful of chopped parsley
salt and pepper
500g dried pasta, I use the shells so they scoop up the sauce

Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta for the time on the packet. Four minutes before the end, tip in the peas. 2 minutes before the end tip in the prawns.
Meanwhile, heat the cream in a small saucepan with the garlic clove - don't boil though.

Drain the pasta, put back into the saucepan. Take out the garlic clove and add the cream, parsley and a good grinding of salt and pepper to the pasta.

Serve immediately, before the cream is absorbed by the pasta.

Variations:
Add a handful of chopped, smoked ham
Add a few slices of chopped smoked salmon
Add some sliced salami
Add some cooked, chopped spinach

Quick Easy Bread!

2010-02-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

Ever run out of bread? Yeah, happened to me today, and I had Jake's friend, Daniel, round for lunch too! I remembered a lovely book, 'Morning Bakes' by Linda Collister. It is full of lovely things to make for breakfast or morning coffee and includes a recipe for Cottage Cheese Rolls which you can make and bake in under 25 minutes - perfect! You don't even have to have cottage cheese; cream cheese will do just as well.
Here is my version of her recipe.

Cottage Cheese Rolls (makes about 12)

500g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
250g cream or cottage cheese
1 egg
150ml milk
A handful of chopped, fresh herbs (optional, depends on whether you think your kids will eat the green bits.....)

Whizz everything in a processor, or mix thoroughly in a large bowl. Tip the dough out on to a floured surface, press lightly with your hands until about 3-4cm thick and cut shapes with a knife (as above) or with a cutter. Place on a floured baking tray and bake at 190 degrees/Gas mk 5 until risen and golden around the edges. Serve immediately and let the butter melt!

What I am cooking:

Yesterday, I made root soup again with left-overs and served it with homemade bread (mixed in the breadmaker and shaped by Jake and Barney).

Root Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped
leftover roasted parsnips, carrots, squash and onions
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
500ml approx vegetable stock

Fry the onion and leek in some butter until golden, add the butternut squash and carrots and sweat for about 5 minutes. Add the stock and leftover veggies and simmer for about 20 minutes. Whizz to a puree and season to your liking then serve with warm bread.

Aubergine Adventures!

2010-02-12T06:32:00.000-08:00

I used to be afraid of aubergines! I had had some nasty experiences with dodgy cooking and spongy results and really didn't know how to handle them.
It used to be that they needed salting and rinsing and all sorts of stuff that put me right off from the start - it all sounded too much like hard work and I like quick results. Then I discovered grilling them - and it all changed for me!And now I am a convert to their rich unctuousness and satisfyingly creamy insides.
This recipe is SO EASY as to be ridiculous! It takes no more than 20 minutes to make, and is so lovely to devour!
Have fun!

Grilled Aubergines

Serves 2

2 aubergines, sliced in half lengthways
olive oil
sun-dried tomato paste or pesto or tapenade
a few basil leaves
a ball of mozzarella cheese, or some goats' cheese

Heat the grill to maximum. Brush the aubergine halves with oil on both sides and place cut-side up on the grill pan. Grill for 7 minutes, then turn and grill for another 5 mins.
Turn cut-side up again and spread with the paste of your choice, then two or three basil leaves on each half and finally the sliced mozzarella. Grill for another 3-4 minutes until the cheese has transformed into something oozing and delectable!
Serve at once on top of some dressed salad leaves, and with some bread on the side.
Mmmmmm!

Moroccan Tagine

2010-02-10T05:50:00.000-08:00

I have a lovely book by Jane Noraika (head chef at the London restaurant, Food For Friends) called Vegetarian Food for Friends. It is not often I find a veggie book that has recipes that will satisfy me. Meat is so filling and a plate full of vegetables just isn't enough; I need something more substantial. Anyway, her book is full of lovely ideas that are just that: filling and hearty. Also, her puddings look delicious.
So, last night I cooked her Moroccan Tagine, and here is my version of her recipe.

Moroccan Tagine (Serves 4)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 red chilli, de-seeded and chopped
400g can of tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
75g black olives
1 potato, cut into wedges
250g carrots, thickly sliced
500g chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked for 1.5 hours, or a can
3 tbs runny honey
handful of chopped parsely
salt and pepper

4 fl oz couscous (in a measuring jug)
1 tsp stock powder
1.5 tsp salt
knob of butter

Heat the oil and fry the onions until soft. Add the spices and chilli and cook for 2 mins. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree, cover and cook for 5 mins. Add the potato, carrots and olives, cover and simmer for 25 mins. Then add the chickpeas. Finally, just before serving, stir in the honey, parsley and seasoning.

Add 4.5 fl oz (easier in oz!) boiling water to the couscous along with the other ingredients. Stir once and leave to soak for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Chill leftovers (what leftovers?!) asap and reheat thoroughly for lunch the next day!

Chicken, Mushroom and Stilton Pies

2010-02-09T05:51:00.000-08:00

With a packet of puff pastry in the 'fridge and the need for something filling for Sunday lunch, I remembered Pies!
This pie is very, very easy, and so delicious you will wonder why you have never tried it before. My family sighed with delight and, even better, I can satisfy their carnivorous tendencies as well as my own herbidatious ones! (I think that last one is from The Herbs..... remember Parsely the Lion and Dill the Dog?!) Herrrrrrbidatious!!

Chicken and Mushroom Pie, with Mushroom and Stilton Pie for non-meat-eaters

Serves 5

1 pkt puff pastry

1 onion
300g mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp dried thyme
125ml half-fat creme fraiche
4 tbs double cream
Some cubed stilton for the veggie pies
1 pkt ready cubed chicken breast or 3 chicken breasts, cubed

You will need a pie dish approx. 22 cm across and 5 cm deep, and a small dish about 10cm across and 4-5cm deep.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees/Gas mk 6.
Fry the onion in some butter until golden. Add the mushrooms and cook until wilted but not too watery. Add the thyme, creme fraiche, double cream and season to your taste.
Meanwhile, cook the chicken in a frying-pan until golden.

Cut about a quarter of the pastry block off and set aside. Roll the remainder to the size of your pie dish and then roll the small piece to the size of the small dish.

Take some of the mushroom mixture and place into the small dish along with some cubes of stilton. Mix the chicken into the remainder of the filling and pour into the larger dish. Wet the edges of the dishes and put both lids on top, pressing gently around the edge to seal. Cut the excess pastry off and make little leaf shapes. Brush the pastry with beaten egg and stick the leaves in the centre.

Bake for 30 mins or until the pastry is golden and looking delicious!

Happy Baking!

Pizza Party!

2010-02-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

Jake (far right) and Barney (second from left) had some friends over on Saturday and requested pizza for tea. Barney paid me the ultimate Pizza compliment by saying that he liked mine above all others, so I bought enough mozzarella for an army and got kneading!

Pizza dough is just the same as bread dough, and easy to make yourself. There are also pizza dough mixes available in the supermarkets, so you don't have a load of yeast getting old in your cupboard! I love bread making and I run courses to share my passion with others. Making dough is so theraputic, and making your own bread successfully is an amazing experience. Contact me if you would like to know more.......
Meanwhile, have a go!

Pizzas Dough

500g strong white bread flour
10g fast-acting dried yeast
10g salt
300g hand-hot water
2 tbs olive oil

Toppings

Tomato puree, or Tomato Pasta Sauce
Mozzarella (buy the middle range; the cheaper, the more liquid)
Parmesan cheese
Capers, Olives, Ham, Artichokes, Mushrooms, Pepperoni, Tomatoes, etc.

Heat the oven to 220 degrees/gas mk 7

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the water. I use a flat-bladed knife to mix until a dough is formed. You may need a little more water or a little more flour. Sprinkle a little flolur on the table and tip the dough out. Start kneading: fold the dough in half, press down and away with the heel of your hand, turn the dough a quarter turn and repeat. You are aiming for a dough which is not sticky, but smooth, has a silky feel to it, and bounces back when pressed lightly with a finger. It will take about 5 minutes.
Place the dough back in the bowl and leave to rise for 20 minutes or so.

Cut into four pieces and roll out to thin or deep crust size. Place on an oiled baking-tray and spread with tomato puree or a little tomato pasta sauce and bake for 5 minutes (you can freeze them at this stage). Remove from the oven and top with mozzarella, a grating of parmesan and anything else you fancy!

Bake for 8-10 minutes and serve immediately!

Dough Balls

Use one of the portions of dough and cut into small pieces. Bake alongside the pizzas and serve with some butter and crushed garlic.

Something out of Nothing!

2010-02-04T09:06:00.000-08:00

More lovely friends over for lunch today (I seem to be entertaining a lot lately!) and we decided bread and cheese. And there is not much nicer than freshly baked bread, so I cooked the soda bread again.
Looking in the fridge I spied three little pastry tart cases that I made with left-over pastry on Tuesday, and peas were in my brain. I always think you should try to eat what you are thinking about, even and especially if that is chocolate! My theory is that your body is infinitely wise and knows exactly what it needs and so I like to honour that and take heed. Today it was 'peas'! And so, three little pea and leek tarts were born!

Pea and Leek Tarts

6 little tart cases, or cases lined with pastry (no need to bake blind)
1 small leek, sliced thinly
a cup full of frozen peas
2 eggs
4 tbs creme fraiche
Splash of milk
salt and pepper
3 mint leaves (optional)

Put the peas and leeks into a pan of boiling water and bring back to the boil for three minutes. Drain and whizz or mash until squashed but not pureed. Mix the eggs, creme fraiche and milk, then stir in the pea mixture; season to taste. Be brave; the mint adds a great deal of sophistication.
Pour the peas into the pastry cases and bake for 20-25 minutes at 200 degrees/gas mk 5.

The soda bread was a great success and so delicious to eat hot with wensleydale and cranberry cheese, and very ripe French brie from Waitrose. www.waitrose.com

Birthdays and Leek Tarts!

2010-02-02T07:53:00.000-08:00

It is my friend's birthday today (Happy Birthday, Paula!), so I invited another friend, Serena and Paula round for lunch.
What to cook? Didn't want to be too 'cheffy' but wanted something deelicious. Decided on Leek Tart.
Tarts (or Quiches) are so very impressive and really very simple to make, especially if you use ready-made pastry. I like to make my own pastry, but there is no shame buying it when ready-made is so good now. Then you can go to town on your fillings. Use your imagination! Be creative! There are some classic combinations like Quiche Lorraine with bacon and onions, or broccoli and blue cheese, but really anything goes. Try red onion, walnut, blue cheese and spinach, or grilled red peppers and brie, or, as I made today, sweet leeks.
Just make sure the pastry is baked 'blind' beforehand to make it crisp and light, and away you go!

Leek Tart

23-25cm deep tart tin

1 block of shortcrust pastry or:
175g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
90g chilled butter, cut into cubes
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp cold water

Heat the oven to 180 degrees/gas mk 4
Whizz the flour, salt and butter until combined. Then add the egg yolk and water and process until a dough forms. Roll it out to the size of your tin and cut to size, leaving a lip to hang over the edge a little (the pastry shrinks when it cooks, so this makes sure it still fits the tin. Bake for 10 minutes. Trim the top of the pastry around the tin.

Meanwhile, make the filling.

4 leeks, washed and chopped finely
60g butter
2 eggs and 1 yolk
250ml creme fraiche or double cream
1.5 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

Cook the leeks in the butter gently for about 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until very soft. Beat the eggs, yolk, creme fraiche or cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg until well combined. Add the leeks to the egg mixture and stir. Spread the leek mixture over the base of the pastry case and bake until golden, about 30-35 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

I served this today with a salad with lettuce, halved cherry tomatoes, a peeled and chopped pear and some blanched green beans. I rang my friend, Ellen, for her lovely 'almost Caesar Salad Dressing' recipe.

Ellen's Almost Caesar Salad Dressing!
3 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
seasoning

Mix everything together and toss with the salad.

Serena brought the richest cupcakes! They were the 'Nutella Cupcakes' from the Hummingbird Bakery Cook Book. Wow! Even I could only eat one of those - thanks Serena! Check out their websites:

http://hummingbirdbakery.com

http://serenabooth.com

What I have been cooking:

Made 'Tuna Melts' last night for tea. We love Costa!! And the tuna melt is the sandwich of choice. I have sussed it now!

Take a small ciabatta bread and split in half. In a bowl, mix a tin of tuna, mayonnaise and some grated onion. Grate some cheddar and some mozzarella cheese. Spread the tuna on to one half of the ciabatta and then sprinkle over a good amount of the cheeses. Top with the other half and wrap in foil. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or so, then take off the foil and bake for another 5 mins. Yum!

Jamie's Curry

2010-02-01T01:57:00.000-08:00

I have a bit of a cheat today! I was bemoaning the fact that, although I have lots of 'authentic' Indian cookery books, I had yet to find a recipe with that lovely thick gravy that the supermarkets are able to produce. My friend recommended Jamie Oliver's Chicken Tikka Masala, and said that it changed the way he cooked curries.
So, I tried it on my family - and, tadaaah, it worked!
I tried it on Friday night with vegetables instead of chicken, and it was delicious. Just make sure you add enough salt (yes, but I don't use salt much in anything else!) and I have reduced the amount of cream. The secret ingredient is a handful of ground almonds, which transform the sauce from watery to lovely and thick.
Try it!

Jamie Oliver's Chicken Tikka Masala
Serves 4

6 cloves garlic, crushed
7cm ginger, finely grated
2 fresh red chillies, chopped finely
sunflower oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
3 tbsp garam masala
150g natural yoghurt
4 medium chicken breasts, cut into large chunks (or lots of cooked veg., or paneer cheese)
1 tbsp butter
2 medium onions, sliced
2 tbsp tomato puree
a small handful of ground almonds
75ml double cream
a handful of fresh coriander, chopped
juice of 1-2 limes

Mix the garlic, ginger and chillies in a bowl. Heat some oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add them to the garlic mixture along with the paprika, cumin, coriander and 2 tbsp of the garam masala. Put half this mixture into a bowl, add the yoghurt and the chicken and leave for half an hour or so.

Melt the butter or ghee and add the onions and the remaining half of the spice mix. Cook gently for 15 minutes. Add the tomato puree, the almonds, half a litre of water and 1/2 tsp of salt (more if you like).

Griddle or grill the chicken until cooked through.

Warm the sauce, add the cream and the other tbsp of garam masala, taste and season if necessary. As soon as it boils, add the chicken and serve, as Jamie says, with a 'huge bowl of steaming basmati rice, some poppadums and lots of cold beer!'

Extract from 'jamie's dinners' by Jamie Oliver (2004)

This is such a lovely book, a real 'home' cookbook. I love Jamie; he has done so much to rescue our everyday food and make it easy for it to become special and he is my number one inspiration. In my opinion, he deserves to be sainted for his work with schools, what dedication to keep going despite the HUGE mountain he had to climb; all that old, old energy and belief systems! Love ya, Jamie!!
Check him out at www.jamieoliver.com

Parmigiana di Melanzane

2010-01-29T04:31:00.000-08:00

I was about to make the tomato sauce for this most delectable dish, when; horror! No tinned tomatoes! Could it be possible?! Opening my recipe book, I realised that the recipe I copied down years ago actually uses ready-made tomato sauce. Phew, found two jars in the cupboard!

I have included a sauce here so you can do your own, but if you want a jar, I love Sainsbury's Siciliana sauce best of all I have tried (most of the upper-end supermarket sauces). It is thick, with an intense flavour, which makes it really good on pizzas and for lasagne. Check it out at www.sainsburys.co.uk. This dish takes a little time, but if you make the sauce during the day, you can assemble it fairly quickly and then it bubbles away in the oven. It is one of my favourite dishes; rich, filling and luxurious!

Parmigiana di Melanzane (Aubergine with tomato and parmesan)

1kg aubergines
500g tomato sauce or two jars (see recipe below to make your own - about a quarter of the price!)
3x125g mozzarella balls, thinly sliced
100g finely grated parmesan cheese
a bunch of fresh basil leaves
Seasoning

A dish 8"x11"

Heat the oven to 170 degrees/gas mk 4.
Slice the aubergines lengthways into about 4-5 slices. Brush with olive oil and grill on both sides until golden and soft - be sure that they are cooked through otherwise they will be spongy and tough.
Layer aubergine slices, tomato sauce, torn basil leaves and parmesan, ending with a layer of aubergine and parmesan, seasoning each layer well. Remember all the layers, because I always forget one ingredient!
Bake for 1 hour and serve with green leaves and some fresh Italian bread. Wait for the sighs of delight!

Your own tomato sauce is so versatile. My friends will tell you that I am a passionate bread cook, so I always make my own pizza bases (SOOOO easy!) and using your own sauce on top is very satisfying. You can make a lot at a time and freeze it in smaller pots ready to save you time. It is difficult to get away from what the supermarkets can offer, because they use ingredients like thickeners and flavours that we can't get at home. So, be patient and experiment.

Tomato Sauce (Pomodoro)

1 onion, chopped finely
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 glass red wine
2 stalks of basil leaves
2 cans of tinned tomatoes (I like the whole ones)
Seasoning

Cook the onion and garlic in a good glug of olive oil (4-5 tbsp) until they are golden. Add the red wine and continue cooking to reduce the liquid, about 5 mins. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 20 minutes. I then like to whizz the sauce in a processor to make it thicker. Taste it to make sure you have seasoned well enough. This is important to make sure the sauce is not bland and affects the taste of your finished dish.

What I am cooking today:

The above! I am taking it to a friend's house, so I have bought a Waitrose curry for my family which has become a bit of a tradition on a Friday night! I tried making Jamie Oliver's Chicken Tikka Marsala last week and it was really good, with a thick sauce, so I may be tempted to forgo the mass-produced stuff next week. Haven't conquered Korma yet though. Anyone know a good recipe?

Homemade Fish Fingers and Chicken Fingers

2010-01-28T11:11:00.000-08:00

Of course, sometimes I succumb to the lure of Bird's Eye, but more often I remember how easy it is to make your own fish fingers! They look and taste straight out of a restaurant, with not a lot more effort than sticking the frozen ones in the oven.

Any fish will do, although increasingly we need to be aware of the state of our seas and the over-fishing that has gone on during the past couple of decades. Our seas are in a very precarious position, with many of our native species fished to near extinction in our waters. Please just be aware of what you are buying. It is difficult to know what is best. There are many species that aren't as sexy as milky white cod and are just as tasty; pollack and coley to name two.

Anyway, rant over! Enjoy making your own delicious creations - you'll be hooked........get it??!!

Fish Fingers

2-3 white fish fillets (depending upon appetites!)
About 100g plain white flour
A bowl of breadcrumbs (3-4 slices)
Seasoning
Herbs of your choice
2-3 eggs, beaten in a shallow bowl

Heat a large frying pan on a medium heat.
Mix the flour with some seasoning and some herbs if you want. Slice the fish into 'finger' shapes or cubes. Take the pieces of fish and dip into the flour first, then the egg, and finally the breadcrumbs until they are covered with the mixture. Use one hand!
Pour some oil or butter into the pan and fry the fish fingers, turning carefully as each side becomes golden. They take about 5-6 mins to do all over.
Drain on some kitchen paper and serve straight away.
Dip into garlic mayonnaise (see below).

You can also use the same method to make lovely chicken fingers.

Chicken Fingers (for want of calling them 'nuggets'!

Use the same method but cut up chicken breasts or thighs into fingers.
You can add a handful of grated parmesan and some grated lemon zest to make these taste great. They are lovely cold the next day for lunch or a picnic.

What I have been cooking:

Well, what with a puncture today and various children's activities tonight, I gave in to scampi and chips, although I made the chips myself, roasted with oil and crushed garlic, yum!

Carrot Cakes and Loaded Skins!

2010-01-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

Just look at these beauties! And you can make them too!!

I had an urge to find a good carrot cake recipe, having devoured the most moist, creamy spectacularly delicious cake at an orienteering event on Sunday. Surfing the web, I found a lovely one for carrot cake muffins at www.cooksforcooks.com, a darker sponge with a lovely sounding 'frosting'. Easy to make, they were moist and moreish, although the topping was a little sweet for me. I added more cream cheese, but it wasn't stiff enough. I think the answer is to replace some of the butter with some cream cheese and perhaps cut down on the sugar a little, say 50g. And they needed a little salt.

Anyway, here is the recipe!

Carrot Cakes

250g wholemeal flour
25g baking powder
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
half tsp salt
125g desiccated coconut
250g muscovado sugar (I used light brown soft sugar)
5 eggs
185ml sunflower oil
500g grated carrots
125g raisins (optional)

Heat the oven to 180 degrees/Gas mk 5.
Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls. Add the carrot to the dry mix and stir to break up the lumps. Add the wet and mix until just combined; over-beating makes the muffins tough and dry.
This recipe makes 16 muffins, so divide the mixture between muffin cups, lined with paper cases and bake for 22 minutes. Leave to cool.

Meanwhile, whizz together 250g cream cheese, 125g butter and 325g icing sugar with the zest of an orange in a processor until smooth. Use a piping bag with a large nozzle to make swirls of icing on the top, soooo professional!

What I have been cooking:

Yesterday's tea was a couple of spare baked potatoes from the night before, nearly all of the insides scooped out, cut into six pieces each, sprinkled with lots of grated cheese and baked for 15 mins in a 200 degree oven, yum! We had home-made coleslaw and houmous with it.

Tonight, we had pasta and I made a sauce with butter, onion, two cloves of garlic, shredded cabbage, sliced mushrooms and a splash of soy sauce. Delish.

Breakfast tomorrow will be Waitrose Essentials croissants, which I reckon are better than their normal ones - well done Waitrose! Find them at http://www.waitrose.com

Winter Comfort Food

2010-01-25T10:46:00.000-08:00

I am not a meat-eater. Do meat-eaters crave comforting, warming winter food in the same way as vegetarians, I wonder? I am wanting cheese at the moment, and warm, roasted and baked food. it makes me feel full and satisfied; salads just don't do it for me, not this week anyway! Check out these recipes I baked tonight for tea, mmmmm!

Baked Kabocha Squash

One whole Kabocha squash (or onion or acorn)
Butter
1 leek
1/2 red pepper
Gruyere cheese
Seasoning
2 tbs double cream (optional)

Heat the oven to 200 degrees/Gas mk 6.
Place the squash on a large sheet of foil, on a baking tray. Cut the top around the stalk and take off the lid. Scrape out the seeds (I am going to try washing mine and roasting them with sesame seeds and soy sauce later!) and add some scrapings of butter around the edge of the hole. Replace the lid, fold over the foil to seal and roast in the oven for about 1 hour 15 mins.
Open the foil and the lid may have fallen into the now soft squash and the sides will have split! Tip in the vegetable mixture and a lot of cheese, and I even added a couple of tablespoons of double cream. Seal the foil again and put in the oven again for another 15 minutes.

The squash has a lovely sweet flavour, which is deliciously complimented by the sweet leeks and nutty gruyere!
Fry the leeks in a knob of butter until soft, then add the chopped red pepper for a few minutes to soften. Season well. Eat and sigh with delight!!

AT THE SAME TIME:

Fluffy Baked Potatoes

I couldn't work out how to upload a second picture today - so you'll just have to take my word for it that they looked lovely!!

6-8 baking potatoes, pricked with a fork
50g butter
100g cheddar cheese
2 balls mozzarella
Seasoning

Bake the potatoes for 1 hour 15 minutes along with the squash.
When cooked, slice them in half horizontally and gently scrape out the cooked flesh into a large bowl, leaving some attached to the skins. Place these skins on a baking tray. Mix the potato flesh with the butter, cheeses and seasoning. Replace the mixture into the awaiting skins and give them a good grating of extra cheese. Bake in the oven for a further 15 minutes until golden and looking GOOD!

2010-01-20T07:59:00.001-08:00

With all this snow, warmth is needed. And what is better than tomato soup? Am I the only one who was fed Heinz Cream of Tomato soup as a child? So comforting!

Tomato Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 stick of celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tbs tomato ketchup
about 500ml vegetable stock
Cream to serve

Fry the onion and celery in a knob of butter or oil until translucent, then add the tomatoes and stock to cover the vegetables. Simmer for 15 minutes. Puree in a blender and serve with a swirl of cream and some parsely to garnish. Mmmm!

Mmmm pancakes!

2010-01-19T04:17:00.000-08:00

The pancakes were a great success! So light and fluffy that you wouldn't know they were wholewheat. The children wolfed them down with agave (pron: agahvay) syrup and butter.

I have just scoffed three Lindt chocolates; just couldn't stop myself. In my defense, they were 70% dark choc (loaded with iron) and tasted delicious, which I reckon means they must be good for me! And before you argue that McDonald's tastes good too, I SO don't agree!

I was just leafing through a lovely cookbook of mine, 'The Enchanted Broccoli Forest' for something to cook tonight. Mollie Katzen wrote this in 1982, and it is a bit late 70s Californian Veggie Cuisine, but none the less for that and so lovely to rediscover! I think I will try her Piroshki which is pizza dough pasties with lovely fillings. My family (isn't everything usually centred around what the kids will eat???) like spinach and cream cheese, so that's that!

Piroshki

1 quanitity pizza dough:

500g strong white flour
10g dried yeast
10g salt
2 tbs olive oil
300ml hot (not boiling) water

Filling:

500g cream or cottage cheese
100g feta cheese
1.5 tbs lemon juice
4 chopped spring onions
handful chopped parsley
1/2 tsp dill
150g grated cheddar cheese

Heat the oven to 220 degrees/Gas mk 8.
Make the dough. Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Tip the dough out and knead vigorously for 5 mins until smooth and silky. Leave to rise for 20-30 mins.

Meanwhile combine all the filling ingredients and mix well.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and form into balls. Roll each one out into a circle about 0.5cm thick. Place some filling on one side of the circle. Bring the other side over and seal the edges with water and a fork. Prick with a fork a few times and place on a greased baking tray.
Bake at 220 degrees/Gas mk 8 for 20 minutes and serve immediately.

Egg white pancakes and other stories!

2010-01-18T10:43:00.000-08:00

Well, I was pondering, as my mayonnaise was curdling, 'What am I going to do with all these egg whites? Meringues again?'
First things first, I have now amended the mayonnaise recipe in my book (The Joyful Cook!) and can now say that it works. Funny thing, mayonnaise; so easy, but sometimes temperamental. I have discovered today that it is easier to make by hand than in a food-processor, because the processor can't cope with just two egg yolks; they just get left at the bottom of the bowl. And I had forgotten to add some lemon juice and that is important, apparently. Anyway, all is well!

Mayonnaise (or add two crushed garlic cloves for Aioli)

2 egg yolks
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp lemon juice
200ml vegetable oil (I find olive oil too rich and flavoursome)

Everything should be at room temperature.

Whisk the eggs with the salt, mustard and lemon juice. VERY gradually, I mean drip by drip to start with, whisk in the oil. When it becomes stiff, you can pour a VERY thin stream in as you mix. You should end up with a lovely stiff mayo. Keeps in a jar in the fridge for a week or so.

Then I had 5 egg whites to use, and found some lovely recipes on the web.

This one, www.thespicedlife.blogspot.com has a recipe for wholewheat pancakes using egg whites. Laura maintains it makes a lovely, light pancake you wouldn't really know was wholewheat. I will report back tomorrow after breakfast!

Then I found Erika at http://my.opera.com/wolfeel/blog/index.dml/tag/American%20cookies
with some lovely macadamia and white chocolate cookies. I am on an 'Ultimate Cookie/Biscuit Search'. I'll try them tomorrow too.

What I have been cooking:

Yesterday, I made lasagne using Quorn. As a vegetarian, I miss those meaty dishes and Quorn just about fits the bill. Thanks Jamie Oliver for the creme fraiche sauce idea!

Bolognaise sauce

1 pkt Quorn mince
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 grated carrot
1/2 glass red wine
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbs tomato puree
5/6 basil leaves
salt and pepper

Fry the onion in some oil until golden. Add the wine and bubble to reduce the liquid for 5 minutes. Add the mince, garlic, carrot and tomatoes and basil and simmer for 15 minutes.

For the sauce

500ml creme fraiche
2 handfuls of finely grated parmesan
seasoning

Mix all together.

You will also need:

1 pkt lasagne
2 pkts mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes
Extra grated parmesan for the top

Take a rectangular oven-proof dish and a packet of lasagne. Put two spoons of meat sauce in the bottom and cover with a layer of lasagne sheets. Then spoon on top a third of the bolognaise sauce, 1/4 of the creme fraiche and a quarter of the mozzarella, then a layer of lasagne. Continue like that finishing with a layer of creme fraiche and any mozzarella left. Make sure the sauce covers all of the lasagne on top and finally grate some parmesan over it.

Bake at 200degrees C/Gas mk 5 for about 35 minutes, until golden and bubbling.

And to finish, Pear Tart.
I had some puff pastry past it's best in the 'fridge, so I rolled it out, scored around the edges, put on it some peeled, sliced pears and folded the edges up a bit. I mixed an egg with one and a half tbsp of caster sugar and about 3 tbsp double cream and poured it all over the pears. I baked it for almost 20 mins and served it with more double cream - a hit!

More soup!

2010-01-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

Or as Geoffrey Boycott would say, 'Souper Soup'!

More soup for lunch today, I am obviously in need of some veggies.

Root Vegetable Soup

1 leek, 2 carrots, 1/2 celeriac, 1 parsnip, 1 potato, all peeled and chopped. Tip into a saucepan with a knob of butter and 'sweat' for 5 mins.
Add enough stock to cover the vegetables and simmer for 15-20 mins. Season to taste and whizz to a puree, if desired. Add a swirl of cream to make it richer and serve with some of yesterday's soda bread. Mmmmm!

Tonight will see us having a supermarket curry. 'What?' I hear you cry! Yes, even obsessive cooks need a night off sometimes!

What to eat?

2010-01-15T02:05:00.001-08:00

What to eat indeed? We are overwhelmed with media telling us the latest research on what we should and shouldn't be eating, only to be completely contradicted by other 'expert' research the next day! How can we steer a course through this quagmire of conflicting 'information' that our food and food preparation has become?

The only way, in my view, is to follow your instincts (remember those?) and to eat what you feel like eating. The old adage, 'Everything in moderation' is so, so true. Read about some quantum physics findings and you will find that it is how our bodies treat what we put in them that is more relevant to what we physically eat. So, I think the crux of the matter is to ENJOY what you eat and take time to TASTE what you put into your mouth. Eat only what you need and only when you are HUNGRY!

What I have been cooking:

Yesterday I made a lovely butternut squash soup for lunch with soda bread. So simple and so delicious. You can easily whip this meal up in under half an hour.

1 onion, chopped
1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 potato, chopped (no need to peel)
Vegetable stock (about 500ml)
salt and pepper
a little milk or cream if desired

Cook the onion in a knob of butter (or ghee) until translucent. Add the squash and potato and cook for about 5 mins, stirring. Add the stock so the vegetables are covered. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 mins. Add seasoning and taste. Whizz to a puree.

Meanwhile, make the soda bread.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees, Gas mk 5.

500g white bread (strong) flour
50g butter
20g baking powder
10g salt
2 eggs
150ml buttermilk or natural yoghurt
100-150ml milk

Rub the butter into the flour, baking powder and salt (or whizz in a processor). Add most of the eggs, yoghurt and milk, but the dough should be moist, not sticky.
Tip on to a floured or oiled baking tray and bake for 35 mins. Leave for 5 mins before eating, if you are able!

Serve with butter and the soup.
Food for the Soul!

My new book!

2009-09-25T03:55:00.000-07:00

What do we eat for? Is it pleasure or self-preservation? Well, I can honestly say that I believe that good, home-cooked and home-prepared food, infused with my own energy is infinitely more tasty, sustaining and ultimately life-giving that any shop-bought ready-meal. Just take a moment next time you sit down to eat to become aware of how your food feels to you. After a while, you will become aware that there are different levels of sustenance. I used to think that I was just fussy, but now I realize that I yearn for my own food, not from being pernickety or fussy, but because my own food has an energy unlike any other. It nourishes me in a way that my soul needs and my body cries out for.

In my new book, 'Food for the Soul', and for our fast-paced lives, you will find energy-giving, simple and most of all delicious recipes. The all work, which is more than some cookbooks can claim. They are pretty, impressive and with one or two exceptions, ready in around thirty minutes; not a lot of time to spend on your body's health and vitality!

This is the introduction of my new book. It is crammed full of lovely, lovely recipes and a lot of joy and enthusiasm for sustaining ourselves in these uncertain and confusing times.

Let go of fear and allow yourself to nourish your body as your intuition guides you. You will find that you feel better, have more energy and generally become more motivated and clear about what to do in your life. Combine that with some daily meditation or contemplation time and you are all set to create the life of your dreams!