Experiments in a small kitchen

Birthday cupcakes

2011-10-14T12:00:00.000+01:00

Bit of a boast-post, this one, and a little late in coming... I was lucky enough to be joined by some really awesome friends on my birthday a couple of months ago, so I'm glad I pulled out all the stops to feed them!

I made three different types of cupcake: peaches and cream, triple chocolate fudge, and miniature chocolate orange.

Peaches and cream:

Triple chocolate fudge:

Miniature chocolate and orange:

Huge thanks to the staff at the Royal George off Charing Cross Road, who were lovely to us, and very complimentary about the cake!

Fake Pot Noodle - with prawns, carrot and courgette

2011-10-12T12:00:00.002+01:00

I saw a Hugh F-W cookery show ages back that looked at creating some 'alternatives' to Pot Noodles, but on a similar theme. I wanted to try it at the time but never really got round to it...

... until yesterday morning. Full of cold, I'm craving spicy, soupy broths with plenty of fresh veg and lean protein. I bought some delicious noodles at the weekend - brown rice with wakame - and I knew I had some frozen king prawns in the freezer, so I put myself together a little pot. I didn't take a picture at the time because, frankly, it was 7.21am or some such hour, and I wasn't thinking of the blog... I'll try to get one later this week.

So, to make sure the noodles fitted into the pot. I poured over some boiling water and let them sit for a minute, until they were slightly soft, then refreshed them in cold water and left them to drain. I finely sliced some spring onions and a clove of garlic (soooo good for getting rid of colds), sliced a stick of lemongrass (from a jar, I didn't have any fresh) and sliced half a large carrot and courgette into ribbons.

I chucked all of this, along with a teaspoon of vegetable bouillon, a quarter of a teaspoon of chilli powder (no fresh, thought this would do), a quarter of a teaspoon of chinese spice powder (not five spice - I'll have to dig out what it is) a splash of both fish sauce and mirin, and a half teaspoon of wakame flakes into a 550ml round sealed container, and into my bag. The prawns (12 king prawns, frozen) went in to a separate tub in the bag. Four or five minutes, done.

Once lunchtime rolled around, a opened the fake pot noodle container and filled it with boiling water poured on top of the contents, tipped it all out into a bowl, added another 200ml of boiling water, stirred in the prawns and microwaved it on hot for 2.30 minutes.

It came out like this:

For next time, I'd make a couple of changes: I'd use fresh chilli and lemongrass rather than powder and preserved respectively; I probably wouldn't pre-cook the noodles, as they came out a bit soft. However, in terms of flavour, the heat/spice, and the veggies and protein element, this was delicious - and it took barely any time at all to prepare. I'm also aware that I've probably mashed up a whole host of food cultures in one dish - but I felt great after, it was tasty and it helped to clear my head.

Yum!

Ingredients:

2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
1 stick lemongrass, sliced diagonally
1 tsp vegetable bouillon
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp chinese spice mix
1/2 large carrot, sliced into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
1/2 large courgette, sliced into ribbons as the carrot
1/2 tsp wakame flakes
1/2 portion of rice noodles
12 king prawns, cooked and frozen

Smart leftovers - chicken bacon muffins

2011-10-10T12:00:00.000+01:00

The night after the Southern Grilled Chicken, I wanted to use the leftover chicken to make something fun. We wanted something quick, and using up some of the bits we had in the cupboard... cue the best burger/muffin ever!

I grilled a couple of slices of smoked bacon, warming the chicken up at the same time. This went on to a toasted wholemeal muffin, along with some sliced tomato, some spinach, and a sauce I made from some low fat mayonnaise, a little ketchup and a pinch of smoked pakrika.

Tasty!

Fake takeaway - Southern Grilled Chicken

2011-10-06T12:00:00.002+01:00

I love to cook. Some nights, I want to get home, get in the kitchen and make something really tasty and maybe a bit complicated for dinner, and enjoy the making of it. Some nights, however, I'm knackered and I just want takeaway.

Being on a fairly serious economy drive, combined with the effect of inflation and the pretty big increase in food costs in the last nine months or so, has meant that I do question, more than ever, buying food when there is food in the house. Tuesday night was one such night. I wanted something quick and easy - and probably a bit naughty. I knew we had some chicken breasts in the fridge, some bread that was past its best... and on my cycle home I formed a plan.

The chicken, before cooking

I cut the chicken into rough chunks, about four pieces per breast. I blitzed three slices of slightly dry wholemeal bread in my little choppy do-dah, scattered it into the bottom of a tray, shook over some cajun seasoning and some garlic salt, and popped it into the pre-heated oven to toast. It can catch and burn quickly, so you need to keep an eye on it and take it out the shake it every few minutes. Once browned a bit, I took them out and turned them over in my hands for a couple of minutes to cool down and let some of the moisture evaporate.

The chicken is coated in flour (didn't season it as I thought it would be drowned out by the breadcrumbs), then dipped into the egg and finally coated with the breadcrumbs - then laid on a grill tray and put into the middle of the oven (about 200 degrees) for about 20 minutes.

I served them with potato wedges (which I only season with olive oil, a bit of garlic salt and plenty of black pepper, about 45 mins in the oven) and salad and coleslaw. Not quite as crispy as fried chicken, but definitely delicious and not a drop of extra fat to be seen anywhere.

Healthy fake-takeaway win! And all in the time it would take to get one delivered.

Ingredients:

2 medium chicken breasts
3 slices wholemeal bread past its best
2 tbsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
100g plain flour
1 egg, beaten

Oat cookies (with dark chocolate, coconut and cranberry)

2011-10-03T12:00:00.005+01:00

I love these cookies - they're simple to make, create very little washing up, and they are so much more satisfying than biscuits you can buy (in my humble opinion).

The other great thing is that you can mix and match the ingredients - dried fruit and nuts in any combination you like.

The combination below is one I hit upon recently, as we had some dark chocolate in the house for the first time in a while. I always keep dessicated coconut for baking. Other combinations include raisin and walnut (chopped walnuts work better than halves), and cranberry and macadamia. I started using honey instead of half the sugar, which tastes lovely, but you do have to keep an eye on them in the oven as honey can burn easily.

For ten cookies, you will need:

50g butter or baking margarine
50g golden caster sugar
50g runny honey
1 egg
50g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
175g oats - I use whole oats
50g dessicated coconut
50g dark chocolate, chopped into 1/2cm pieces
60g cranberries

Pre-heat your oven to 170 degrees.

Mix the ingredients in order, sieving the flour and baking powder together. The mix at this point will look like a runny cake batter, and not much of it! Don't worry, it will be enough.

You then add the oats and stir in well. It will just about coat the oats, and look very crumbly. You then add your selected ingredients, mix well and sort out your tins.

Use two tins, both lined with baking paper. Divide the mix into five piles on each tray, and flatten them slightly, then bake for about 12 - 15 minutes.

They'll be soft when you take them out; they firm up and become chewy once cool.

Enjoy!

Comforting Roast Chicken Broth

2010-11-22T11:30:00.000Z

Bit random for mid-week, but given our current remit of low-carb, low-fat (I am so over low fat cottage cheese...) we roasted a large chicken this week, with a simple lemon thyme butter rub. Once done, we pulled all of the meat off the bones (except the wings and drumsticks), and portioned it up. Once clean, we popped the bones back into the oven, along with the reserved meat juices (I poured the fat off the juices) and made a chicken stock in the slow cooker.

If you've never made chicken stock before, I would really urge you to try. You get a depth and character of flavour that I've never been able to recreate with a store-bought stock or a cube. With an electric slow cooker, it's so simple.

Chicken stock: makes 1.5 litres

You will need:

whole large chicken carcass
3 sticks of celery, cut into quarters
1 carrot, cut into large diagonal slices
1 white onion, cut into rough chunks
2 bay leaves
a handful of black peppercorns

Once cleaned of meat, put the carcass back into the oven at 200 degrees for about half an hour. Remove, then place into a small slow cooker with the other ingredients. Pour over about 1.7 litres of hot water, and leave on 'Low' overnight. In the morning, strain the stock and leave the ingredients to drain for twenty minutes or so. It should give you 1.5 litres of stock, which I divide into bags of 0.5 litres for freezing.

The chicken broth is really, really simple! I used up whatever vegetables I've got, plus any we have in the freezer, to make it really vegetable rich.

Serves two

You will need:

0.5 litres fresh chicken stock
teaspoon of butter for frying
1 leek, sliced thinly
1 carrot, cut into ribbons (I do mine with a vegetable peeler, to get it really thin)
1/2 cup frozen broad beans
1/2 cup frozen garden peas
200g leftover roast chicken
salt and pepper to taste

Start by putting the stock into a large saucepan and place it on a low heat, to bring it to the boil slowly. You'll want to do this with a lid on to stop is evaporating along with way. Next, add the butter to a saute pan, followed by the sliced leeks. Cook the leeks gently for five minutes until they soften, then add the carrot ribbons. Cook this for a few minutes, then add the frozen vegetables and continue to cook.

By this time your stock should be boiling gently. Add the leftover roast chicken to the stock to heat through, then add to this the vegetables from the saute pan and cook gently for a few minutes to allow the flavours to mix. You might at this stage need to add some salt - I never add salt to stock - and maybe a twist of black pepper. Divide into two warm bowls and serve.

This broth is also good with pearl barley in, and would no doubt be tasty with sage dumplings (I can't wait to try this once the diet is done!)

Screw low fat: chocolate orange cupcakes

2010-11-15T11:00:00.000Z

Two weeks of low carb, low fat food can send a girl crazy, so I needed a break. I've been involved with an event through work, and wanted to thank those colleagues of mine who'd also poured heart and soul into the project. What else could I do? I made cupcakes...

Chocolate orange cupcakes...

They went down a storm, I'm pleased to say, though I didn't try one myself, keen to stick to the diet.

Makes 18 cupcakes

You will need:

6 oz butter or baking margarine
6 oz caster sugar
3 medium eggs, beaten
4 oz stoneground wholemeal flour
1 oz cadburys cocoa powder (not drinking chocolate!), sifted
2 oz dessicated coconut
zest of 1 orange

and for the frosting:

100g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
400g icing sugar, sifted
3 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
zest of one orange
1 milk chocolate Terry's chocolate orange

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees. Beat the baking margarine and sugar together until well mixed, then add the eggs and beat well. Add the flour, cocoa powder, coconut and orange zest, and mix thoroughly. The mixture should be the colour of milk chocolate. Here's the magic bit - leave the mixture for ten minutes. The citrus oils will leak out of the orange zest and combine with the cake mixture, giving you that wonderful orange scent.

After ten minutes or so, divide into 18 muffin or large cupcake cases in a muffin tin, and bake for about 15 minutes, or until they're nicely risen and a cake tester can be inserted without leaving any mix on the tester. Place on a cooling rack and leave for at least an hour, or until completely cooled.

For the topping, beat the softened butter with a hand mixer or in a kitchen mixer, and add the icing sugar a bit at a time. After about half the sugar is added, you'll need to add a tbsp of the orange juice; after 3/4 of the sugar, add another, and once all of the sugar is incorporated, add the third and final tbsp. Then add the orange zest and again, leave the mixture to sit for ten minutes or so, so allow the flavours to mix. The orange juice won't add much of a flavour - most of it comes from the zest.

After ten minutes, give it a good mix and spread on the top of the 18 cupcakes (I piped mine with a 1M large star Wilton nozzle). Finish each cupcake with a piece of Terry's chocolate orange. There are 20 pieces per orange, so treat yourself to the last two by way of self-congratulation. Yum!

Tasty chicken saag (spinach) balti

2010-11-10T11:00:00.001Z

Anyone who has known me for long enough will know that I am rarely happier than when sat before a chicken saag. There's something comforting about a freshly cooked balti - it reminds me of home, of the Ladypool Road in Birmingham, and of many happy nights spent with friends in my formative years. There's also something luscious about the texture of spinach in a balti - I can't get enough of it.

I've been on a mission for some time to find a recipe that tastes and feels as luxurious as the restaurant version, but without all that ghee (clarified butter). I'm really pleased with this recipe as it's simple, it's easy, and to me it's as good as its restaurant counterpart, but without all the fat.

Clockwise - chopped tomatoes, dry masalas, spices, and chopped onion, garlic, ginger and chilli. It's better if you keep the onion separate...

The recipe below will serve two; my pictures are of double those quantities, as I wanted to make a big batch to freeze some.

Normally I'd serve this with pilau rice and a yoghurt sauce - at the moment, with our low-carb plan, we had just the yoghurt.

You will need:

1 tsp olive or groundnut oil
2 chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2 bay leaves
1 inch cinnamon stick
4 cloves
4 green cardamoms
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger root, finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped
5 fresh ripe salad tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp good quality curry powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp salt
150g chopped fresh spinach leaves

The chopped chicken and chopped spinach

Warm the oil in a large, deep pan for which you have a lid. Add the dry spices - the bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, gently, then add the onion. Cook that for 5 minutes (I leave the lid on so it cooks in its own juices), then add the garlic, ginger and chilli. Stir well and cook for a minute or two.

Then you add the tomatoes, stir well to mix in with the spices, and leave to cook gently for about 20 minutes with the lid on. After this, the tomatoes will have broken down and will have taken on the flavour of the spices. I cook the rest with the lid off from here, so it reduces the liquid a bit.

Add the dry masalas - the cumin, coriander, garam masala, chilli powder, curry powder and salt. Stir well, and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the raw chicken, stir into the pan very well, then leave to cook for ten minutes.

When you return, check to see if the chicken is cooked by grabbing a piece out of the pan and cutting it in half. If it's still pink in the middle, give it a couple of minutes more. You could, if you wanted, spend this time picking out the cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon and bay leaves, if you happen to be cooking for someone who hates finding them in his food... once you've added the spinach, it's much harder to do this, believe me!

Finally, add the chopped spinach, stir well, then cook with the lid off for five minutes. (At this point you'll be glad you used a deep pan! It will cook down very quickly.) The first couple of minutes cooking will wilt the spinach and it will start to release liquid; then next couple of minutes will help to cook off some of that liquid. I don't like my baltis very dry, so this suits me. I understand that you can use frozen spinach to reduce the water content, but I prefer to use fresh, and cook it in the pan to retain the goodness.

Serve into bowls, and enjoy. Mine was a little liquid for my liking, but I was hungry...

Lightly spiced turkey burgers

2010-11-09T10:00:00.001Z

A colleague recently recommended that I try turkey mince, as part of our low-carb, low-fat deal. I've tried recipes with turkey steaks, and I find you have to be careful not to let them dry out - turkey being low fat also means it doesn't have much to baste itself to keep it moist as you cook it.

Turkey mince, it seems, is a different deal. We bought the lean, not the super-lean stuff, as I knew we'd be grilling it, allowing any fat there was to drain away. I wanted them to have some flavour, but not to overpower the taste of the meat - and this was perfect.

Confession time - the pictures are rubbish because we dived in to the plated up dinners before I could get a picture. I'm sorry - we were hungry!

Makes 6 burgers

Served with roasted sweet potato (allowed in small quantities at lunchtime!), round lettuce and thin sliced tomato, and a cucumber, mint and cumin dip

You will need:

500g lean turkey mince
1 white onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp olive oil
1/2 green chilli, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp egg white
2 tbsp stoneground wholemeal flour

Warm the oil in a saute pan, gently, then add the onion and garlic and cook gently for five to ten minutes, to soften the flavours of the onion. Allow to cool. Mix everything together, with your hands or a fork. I then leave my mix for a couple of hours, for the flavours to absorb.

Shape the mixture into six patties, then place under a grill until slightly browned, turn, and repeat. Serve on a bed of lettuce and thinly sliced tomato, with roasted sweet potato. These were slightly warming on the throat, but not so spicy that you'd consider them such, and very moist.

Quick Suppers: Leftover Burrito Omelette

2010-11-07T22:10:00.006Z

Quick post this evening - I'll post tomorrow about our main meal today, which I'm pretty pleased with, but for now, our Sunday supper. We had some tasty leftovers from last night's Naked Burrito - a bit of chicken, a couple of cups of peppers and onions, some black beans, and the rest of the guacamole and salsa.

Low fat, low carb, high protein... how about a burrito-flavoured egg white omelette? After all, the egg whites are just the vehicle for anything else you add to it.

Serves 2

You will need:

leftover grilled chicken
2 cups sliced peppers and onions, stir fried
1/2 cup black beans, soaked and boiled
300g egg whites (I use Two Chicks pasturised egg whites in a carton)
30g grated cheddar (or whatever you used for the burritos)
1/2 cup homemade guacamole (see here for recipe)
1/4 cup homemade salsa (as above)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
chopped lettuce and tomatoes to serve

Add the chicken, peppers and onions, and black beans, to a warm saute pan and cook, turning frequently, for five to ten minutes, or until the chicken is thoroughly warmed through. Season the egg whites with a little salt and some freshly ground black pepper, then pour over the pan and shake slightly to coat.

Allow that to cook over a moderate heat until the egg whites look cooked to about halfway through, then place the pan under a moderate grill for ten minutes or so. A few minutes before the end, take the pan out, sprinkle over the cheese, and return to the grill.

Not a bad way to use up leftover food, it has to be said.

Naked Burrito

2010-11-06T20:18:00.007Z

My family have always treated Saturday night dinners as something a bit special, and that's something I've tried to carry on. Dinner tonight signified the end of our first week of low-carb diet, and I wanted it to be something special.

Where we work, we've got access to a range of Mexican cafes and restaurants - and one of them, Mas Burrito on St Martins Lane, will make you a 'naked burrito' - all the requisite ingredients, but in a cardboard salad box instead of a flour tortilla. This seemed like a great idea for dinner, and was surprisingly quick to make, despite the various different elements. It was also pretty tasty, and would make a great meal to share with friends, because of the DIY nature of it.

We decided to forego the rice, but otherwise, that dish is made up of crispy lettuce, grilled chicken, stir-fried peppers and onions, fresh chilli salsa, fresh guacamole, low fat soured cream, black beans and cheddar - everything you'd expect to find in a burrito.

The chicken is marinaded in a packet 'fajita mix' - I had a half packet left over and wanted to use it up. That's cheating, I know, but it worked for us right now. Otherwise, the black beans were soaked and boiled for a couple of hours, and in fresh water with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt for the last half hour.

The salsa and guacamole were very easy - details below.

Serves two hungry dieters!

You will need:

2 chicken breasts
your choice of mexican spice mix or marinade
dried black beans
1 red onion, finely chopped
I red onion, sliced
2 peppers (your choice of colour), sliced
1 very ripe large hass avocado
4 medium tomatoes, ripe, peeled de-seeded and chopped (cover the tomatoes with boiling water for five minutes - this will make the skins super-easy to remove)
1 green chilli
juice of 1 lime
2 tbps chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp salt
half a head of iceberg lettuce, roughly chopped.

Marinade your chicken breasts. Soak your black beans, then boil for a couple of hours, with half a teaspoon of salt.

Place the chicken breasts under a moderate grill and cook until no longer pink in the middle. Stir-fry the sliced red onion and sliced peppers in a wok over a high heat. Don't be afraid of having the wok quite hot - if the onions and peppers catch slighly, and go dark brown on the edges, this will give them a lovely, caramelised flavour.

Scoop out the flesh of your avocado, mash, and mix with the juice of half the lime, the garlic salt, and the chopped deseeded flesh of two of the tomatoes. Cover with clingfilm and keep in the fridge until needed.

Put the chopped onion into a sieve, and pour over a couple of cups of boiling water. Place into a small blender or chopper attachment with the other two chopped tomatoes, the green chilli (roughly chopped), the other half of the lime juice, and half a teaspoon of salt. Chop roughly, then tip into a serving bowl, mix with the parsley and place in the fridge until needed.

Divide the lettuce into two pasta bowls. Serve with the grilled sliced chicken, the guacamole, the salsa, the peppers and onions, the black beans (in their water), soured cream and some grated cheddar. Enjoy!

Sausage, broccoli and leek egg white omelette

2010-11-03T10:00:00.001Z

Yesterday evening's dinner was another low-carb, high protein meal, and it was much tastier than I expected.

Quite a simple dish - some part-steamed broccoli florets, a sliced leek, and four grilled sausages made a yummy dinner for two. I honestly didn't notice the difference without the egg yolks. (I was also using up a carton of egg whites that I had specifically for making royal icing, so nothing was wasted.)

Serves 2.

You will need:

100g small broccoli florets
a large leek, sliced thinly
4 good quality sausages
330ml egg whites
50g finely grated parmesan
50g wild rocket

Preheat your grill, place the sausages on a grill rack and into the grill. Steam the florets for five to six minutes, and add the thinly sliced leek to a small amount of oil in a saute pan, and cook slowly so they soften.

Drain the broccoli, and keep turning the sausages so they cook evenly. Tip the broccoli and the softened leek into a bowl and allow to cool for a couple of minutes, whilst you slice the almost-cooked sausages into chunks. Add the sausages to a large saute pan, with a tiny amount of oil, and cook over a medium heat. Stir the egg whites into the bowl of broccoli and leeks, seasoning with black pepper. Tip this mixture into the saute pan and cook over a medium heat for seven or eight minutes. Sprinkle over the parmesan and place under the grill for another few minutes, until the omelette is cooked through.

Remove and serve with the rocket scattered on top, slightly wilted with the heat. Enjoy!

Sticky Barbeque Ribs with winter salad

2010-10-31T21:50:00.000Z

In advance of our holiday in a couple of months, we're currently trying to be good and eat well - and mostly avoid carbs in the evening, low fat, that sort of thing. This dish does have brown sugar in the barbeque sauce, but these ribs are so tasty and it was Sunday so we felt like a treat.

The recipe below is for one batch of sauce. I used two times this amount, for 1.1kg of ribs, and it left me enough over to marinade some turkey steaks for tomorrow night's dinner.

The salad was a concoction of my own, focusing on wintery flavours, and it worked really well - especially when drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar.

Serves 2 hungry boys

You will need:

750g pork ribs, with plenty of meat on
one white onion, roughly chopped
3 tsp mixed herbs
1 bay leaf

For the sauce:

2 3/4 oz unrefined brown sugar
5 tbsp ketchup
3 tbsp orange (or apple) juice
1 tbsp Worcester sauce
1 tsp english mustard
tabasco to taste (I use 1 tsp)

Add to ribs to a large pan, with the onion, the herbs and bay leaf, and enough water to cover. Boil for 45 minutes. Alternatively, place all of the above in a small slow cooker and cook on low for four hours.

Remove the ribs from the water and place in an ovenproof dish. Mix the sauce ingredients together well, then pour over the ribs, turning them over to ensure they're really well coated. Place at the top of an oven heated to 200 degrees, and bake for about 45 minutes, turning the ribs frequently as the sauce thickens, to ensure they're really well coated.

For the salad, cut 200g sweet potato into cubes, season with some salt and black pepper and toss in a little olive oil. Tip into an overproof tray and roast for about as long as the ribs.

Just before the ribs come out, put a big handful of baby leaf spinach in a bowl with half a grated carrot, top with the roasted sweet potato, and sprinkle over some pumpkin seeds. Done!

Orange and raspberry ripple ice cream

2010-07-20T12:30:00.001+01:00

I picked up a couple of packets of raspberries in the supermarket, much reduced because they were getting soft, brought them home and gently stewed them for using in recipes. This one finished the last of the stewed raspberries.

Bear in mind that if you're intending to make this for dinner, and you're not using an ice cream maker (I didn't) you'll have to start quite early in the morning, as the freezing stages take a while. Also, this isn't soft scoop - I doubt you'll get it into a cone very easily, and you do need to take it out of the freezer just a few minutes before serving, to enable you to serve is easily.

Serves 4

You will need:

1 orange, zested
small carton double cream (about 270ml)
150 ml whole milk
1/2 vanilla pod (or extract equivalent)
3 egg yolks
25g unrefined caster sugar
150 g raspberries, gently stewed (I don't add sugar to mine)

Place the milk, cream, orange zest and vanilla pod (or extract) into a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring almost to the boil, but not quite. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until soft and creamy. Remove the vanilla pod from the cream mixture, and pour the hot cream mixture onto the egg/sugar mix, whisking constantly. Return the lot to the pan, and over a low heat stir gently for ten minutes, until it thickens to a consistency that will coat the back of a wooden spoon. Strain this custard mixture into a clean bowl and leave to cool.

Once cool, transfer the mixture to a freezer-proof container, preferably with a lid. Freeze for a couple of hours, then remove and give it a good stir. Freeze again for a couple of hours, removing to stir again. At this point you might be able to add your raspberries; you're aiming for a consistency that isn't too solid but will still allow you to stir the stewed raspberries through. Gently swill the raspberries through the custard and freeze again for a couple of hours.

Remove from the freezer five minutes before serving, and enjoy!

Quick suppers: kedgeree

2010-07-19T12:30:00.001+01:00

Another quick supper - or hearty Saturday lunch before a game of golf, apparently... and pretty tasty too. There's something spectacular about the combination of the smoked fish, the spices, and a runny egg yolk... delicious.

Serves 2.

You will need:

300g smoked haddock (or other smoked white fish)
1 pint of cold water
1 cup brown rice
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 leek, finely sliced
1 cup frozen or fresh peas
8 cardomom pods
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
parsley to season
4 eggs

Firstly, place the fish into a saucepan with the cold water, and bring to the boil. After a couple of minutes, remove the fish and set aside, straining the water back into the measuring jug. Tip the rice into a pan, adding the poaching water. Bring to a boil, then put on the lid and reduce to a simmer, for about 18 - 20 minutes.

In a saute pan, add a little butter, then the onion and garlic. Cook slowly for about five minutes, then add the spices, curry powder, cardomom pods and the sliced leeks. Cook together, stirring often, for another 5 minutes or so. Then add the peas and parsley, and cook gently until the rice is done.

Once cooked, strain the rice if necessary and tip into the saute pan. Mix the rice well, to coat with the spices. At this stage, bring another pan of water to the boil, to poach the eggs.

Add the fish to the saute pan mixture, stirring gently so as not to break up the fish too much. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Serve into bowls, topped with the poached eggs.

Enjoy!

Quick suppers: green pasta

2010-07-08T12:30:00.001+01:00

Really simple one, this one - last night we needed something quick to eat before heading upstairs to meet our neighbours.

This is a great option when you've got a load of bits and piece of green vegetables left over from other dishes. This time, we had half a head of broccoli and a green pepper going a bit soft - and peas in the freezer.

It's really easy: start with onions and garlic, then add chicken/prawns/pork, then your chopped veggies. Cook until the veggies are done.

Boil your spaghetti as normal, then stir through a load of green pesto.

Just before the veggies are done, stir through some soft, rindless goats cheese (welsh goats cheese is awesome for this).

Serve the veggies over the pasta. Done!

You could use whatever green veggies you have to hand - strips of courgette, sugarsnap peas, mange tout, leeks, anything... there's also a 'red pasta' version, with red peppers and sundried tomatoes, and tomato pesto... make up your own!

Enjoy...

Super-simple blueberry and orange pancakes with fresh orange syrup

2010-07-06T21:30:00.001+01:00

Sunday was, of course, 4th July - and whilst we don't celebrate the date over here in the UK, it seemed like a good excuse to make pancakes. This is a really simple recipe, and I was really happy with the results.

You will need:

one large bowl
a citrus juicer (mine's just a do-it-by-hand glass one)
a zester
a fork
a spatula
non-stick frying pan
small amount of butter for frying
fish slice

200g self raising flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 medium egg, beaten
300ml semi-skimmed milk
200g blueberries
one orange
3 tbsp golden caster sugar

Place the sifted flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, and start to mix in the beaten egg. You won't be able to mix it fully as there isn't enough egg, so part way through, start to mix in the milk. add the milk slowly, mixing as you go, to avoid a lumpy batter. Zest your orange and add to the batter, along with 3/4 of the blueberries. Leave to sit for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, to allow the citrus oils to seep into the batter, giving it a lovely orange-y scent.

While this is sitting, juice the orange, allowing some of the pulp to slip in to the juice, and place in a small saucepan with the caster sugar. Heat until boiling, and then leave to boil gently for five to ten minutes, or until a thin syrup consistency is achieved. (NB to test this, dip a spoon into the syrup, and then place over a cool plate to allow the syrup to drip. It should cool quickly and you'll be able to see what the consistency is.) Remove from the heat.

Melt a little butter in the pan, and add two small laddles of the batter, to form two pancakes. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then turn and flip with the fish slice. Cook for a further 3 minutes, then remove both pancakes and keep warm in a preheated oven or under tinfoil. Continue until all the batter is gone - should make 10 to 12 pancakes.

Serve warm, with the orange syrup and leftover blueberries spooned over - and fresh coffee, nutella, golden syrup and so on to taste...

Happy 4th July!

Very British Cupcakes - AKA rhubarb strawberry cupcakes with coconut

2010-07-05T20:59:00.006+01:00

A few weeks ago I took a trip to visit my parents up in Warwickshire, and returned with some of the first offerings of the rhubarb abundant in their garden every year. Apart from the way we used to eat it as children, raw and dipped in sugar, there aren't many ways to use it raw, so I stewed it very gently and kept it in the fridge to dip into from time to time.

(By the way, stewed rhubarb over a few spoons of greek yoghurt, sweetened with a little agave or honey as you like, is totally yummy - and beats even the most 'luxurious' custard-style yoghurts you can buy hands down.)

Having a BBQ to go to and nothing to take, I decided to whip up some cupcakes. I'd got some strawberries left over from a dessert which needed eating, so I threw the below together and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. It's a variation on a basic victoria sponge - because of the moist fruit, I didn't need to use quite as much fat, and I added more dessicated coconut so that the sponge was really fluffy.

You will need:

one large bowl
one fork, hand whisk or electric whisk
scales set to ounces
a spatula for cleaning the bowl out - no wastage!
twelve paper muffin cases in a muffin tin

3oz self-raising flour, sifted with 1/2 tsp baking powder
3oz butter or baking margarine
4oz golden caster sugar
2 medium eggs, beaten
3oz dessicated coconut
2 - 3oz strawberries, chopped into 1/2cm cubes (retain twelve small ones)
small quantity stewed rhubarb

Pre-heat your oven to around 170 degrees, as per the settings.

First, beat your butter and sugar together until fluffy, then add the beaten eggs. To this, add the sifted flour and baking powder, followed by the coconut. Mix well. Finally, add the chopped strawberries, and mix well, until the colour of the chopped berries starts to bleed into the mixture, giving it a slight pink tinge.

Divide the mixture into the twelve muffin cases. Make a small well in the middle of each case of mixture, and drop 3/4 tsp of the stewed rhubarb into each.

Bake for around 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden on top.

I topped my cupcakes with a rhubarb-flavoured buttercream (butter, icing sugar and some of the rhubarb) and a small strawberry. They went down a treat after a BBQ, as a bit of sweetness to finish off without being too heavy.

Enjoy!

Banana Coconut Honey Cake

2009-10-22T18:48:00.004+01:00

Evening all!

Last weekend was a lovely combination of domestic bliss and lots of drinking with friends - the result of which was lots of lovely food but no time to blog about it.

First up from last weekend is the Banana Coconut Honey Cake - which is exactly as it sounds. Best made when you've some bananas going a bit soft, the dessicated coconut helps to lighten it. I always use wholemeal flour as I think it carries the wieght and texture of the banana better. It's a variation on the basic Victoria Sponge recipe (4/4/2/4 combo) but where I substituted some of the flour quotient for coconut, I never substititute more than 1/3 of the flour, and always replace it with twice as much coconut as flour removed (I hope that makes sense!) so below it would be 4oz flour, but is instead 3oz flour and 2oz coconut.

Makes one loaf.

You will need:

2 ripe bananas
4oz soft butter or baking margarine
4oz golden caster sugar
2 medium eggs
30z wholemeal self raising flour
2oz dessicated coconut
Honey to taste

Pre-heat your oven to around 180 degrees.

Beat the butter and sugar together. Lightly beat the eggs and add to the mixture. Add the flour, followed by the coconut. Beat well.

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Add to the cake mixture and stir well. Tip into a greaseproof-lined loaf tin, and bake for between 35 and 45 minutes. Test the centre of the cake with a skewer, and when it's done, remove from the oven, and pour honey over the top of the cake. leave this to sink into the cake as it cools - it'll make the top lovely and golden, and sink through the top half of the loaf.

Cool, slice, and serve, with a nice cup of tea. Yum!

I'm still here...

2009-10-17T10:12:00.002+01:00

Sorry for the silence in the last ten days or so - it's been a manic week-and-a-half! I have a new flatmate, my mum came to stay (lots of cooking - no time for blogging...),I had some big meetings both in and out of work, and as a result, most of our fodder for the last week has been simple, thrown-together stuff, or eating up bits out of the freezer.

There's some good stuff to come this weekend though - my recipe for Banana Honey Coconut Wholemeal loaf, which is in the oven at the moment (the cake, not the recipe...) Butternut Squash and Apple risotto this evening, and we're trying Lancashire Hotpot for the first time tomorrow, which I'm sure will end up here too.

So stay tuned - there's tasty goodness to come. Happy weekend!

Quick suppers: Blue cheese Chicken

2009-10-05T22:39:00.005+01:00

I love to come home and cook - I get a great sense of satisfaction from creating something tasty to eat at the end of the day. It helps that the boy doesn't normally get home until 8 or later, so I get some quiet time to myself to prepare and cook. His later hours also mean we don't eat much that's heavy in the evening. Having said that, sometimes you want something simple and quick to prepare, that still tastes good.

Taking all that into account, I'm getting quite good at light supper dishes - often simple meat or fish dishes with fresh vegetables. This one is particularly easy, and goes well with just a couple of boiled potatoes (in the bottom of the steamer, cuts down on washing up...) and some green veg - we had spinach, asparagus and peas.

Serves 2.

You will need:

2 chicken breasts
100g stilton or other blue cheese

Optional: two rashers of bacon per breast

It's very simple - slice a pocket into the side of each breast, being careful not to cut through to the top or bottom as you do so. Slice the blue cheese, and insert into the pocket. Press the pocket shut, and wrap the breast in bacon if desired. Roast at 200 degrees, for about half an hour, or until the juices run clear (if you're using bacon it may take slightly longer).

Steam your vegetables and potatoes, and serve; spoon the meat juices (and melted cheese - yum!) over the potatoes.

I had mine with a tiny bit of Dijon mustard... lovely.

Night!

Roast Duck with Redcurrant and Orange Risotto

2009-10-05T14:12:00.006+01:00

A while back, the supermarket had a good deal on whole duck, so I bought one. I was going to do something oriental-influenced with it, but had a craving for something sweeter on Sunday. The plan was for a cherry risotto, but, disaster - couldn't get cherries anywhere! So I improvised, and the result was pretty tasty.

I've seen a couple of recipes for fruit risotto which use pomegranate juice (pure, not a 'juice drink'), which is prohibitively expensive for me - so I switched it out for red grape juice, which I think is just as tasty.

Serves 4.

You will need:

One whole duck, giblets removed, around 2kg
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 oranges
1 onion, chopped finely
1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped finely
1 1/2 cups risotto rice
200ml red grape juice
500ml water
150g redcurrants
1/2 tsp garlic salt
Grated parmesan to taste (I used 100g)

Rinse the duck and place on the rack on your roasting tin. Cut one of the oranges into eighths, placing four eighths inside the bird, and the other four underneath it. Grind the black peppercorns and salt together (I use a pestle and mortar) and rub them into the duck skin - in the words of Clarissa Dickson-Wright - 'as if you were rubbing salt in the face of your worst enemy'. Prick the skin all over with a fork, and place in a preheated oven at 200 degrees. Roasting times vary, depending on the weight of your bird - a rule of thumb is 20 mins per 500g plus 20. Our bird (just over 2kg) was cooked for just less than that, bearing in mind that it continues to cook when resting, before carving - it was in the oven for 1 hr 30, and resting for 20 mins. To get the best out of your bird, baste it every 20 minutes in its own juices - it's the first time I've properly observed this rule and it was very much worth it.

Roughly 30 minutes before your bird is due to come out of the oven (taking into account the resting time), add your chopped onions to a small amount of cooking oil, and sweat over a gentle heat. As the onions become translucent, add the garlic and stir. Using a zester, remove the zest from the remaining orange, and add to the onions and garlic. Cook together for 3 or 4 minutes to release the oils from the orange zest. Juice the zested orange (it should yield about 100mls of juice) and add this to the pan, stirring, followed by the risotto rice. Stir well to coat.

Once the rice is warmed through and coated, add the grape juice, in two or three lots, allowing it to be absorbed into the rice each time. Once this is absorbed, add 100ml water, and the redcurrants. Keep adding the water 100ml at a time, as it becomes absorbed by the rice, until the rice is almost tender. Stir in the garlic salt to taste, followed by the parmesan, again to taste.

By now, the duck will have been removed from the oven and left to rest, under foil (shiny side down keeps the most heat in!). Drain off the fat, juices and sediment fom the pan. Once rested, carve the bird (I often find it easier to pull the meat off the bones rather than carve, which obviously doesn't look quite as nice, but means you get more off the carcass...). As there is quite a lot of fat under duck skin, you will probably find that not much of it is edible - but if you've pricked it well enough, the skin across the breast should have drained its fat and should be tasty without being fatty. Spoon the risotto into bowls, sprinkle with extra parmesan, and add the sliced duck.

There are a few things you could serve this with - I did leeks softened in butter, and added some spinach to wilt at the last minute, which went very well with it. And of course, a glass of a medium/full-bodied red wine!

There are loads of things you can do with the leftover bits, like the duck fat and the carcas. The fat has been frozen into ice cubes, to be added to roast potatoes one cube per time (bearing cholesterol in mind), and the carcas was chucked into the slow cooker overnight, with a carrot, two sticks of celery and an onion (each cut into four), two bay leaves, the orange segments from inside the duck, and three pints of water. The stock this morning smells delicious, and has made 1.5 litres, which I've frozen into half-litre bags for use in risottos and soups at a later date. Yummy!

'Bastard' Carbonara

2009-09-21T12:02:00.005+01:00

Not really a carbonara at all (hence the name), as it includes chicken and cream, and no egg yolks or pasta... but delicious nonetheless. Beware - this is a rich dish, not for those watching their waistlines! That said, it's really very filling, and delicious served with a huge dressed salad, which helps to balance out the meal somewhat.

serves 2 - 3

500g fresh gnocchi
1 medium onion, chopped
2 small cloves garlic, crushed
1 chicken breast, cut into half-inch cubes
100g cubed pancetta
1/2 pint fresh single cream
50g strong cheddar
fresh ground black pepper

Bring a medium pan of water to the boil, ready to boil the gnocchi.

Into a pan on medium heat, add a little oil for cooked, and then the onion, followed by the garlic. Once softened, add the pancetta, followed by the chicken. Cook through.

Add the cream, stirring well. Heat until the cream begins to reduce - you may need to watch the heat carefully here. Add around half of the cheese, and stir until melted. This will thicken the cream. Add more cheese to taste, and to get the sauce to the correct consistency - ideally it should be quite thick, but enough of it to coat the gnocchi once cooked. If the sauce is too thick, add a little milk.

Add the gnocchi to the boiling water, and bring back to the boil. They're done when they bob to the surface of the pan, which will take just 2 or 3 minutes - don't overcook them or they'll go mushy. While they're cooking, reduce the heat of the 'carbonara' mix, and add plenty of fresh ground black pepper.

Once cooked and drained, add the gnocchi to the pan, stir, and serve.

I usually serve mine with a large salad, of dark green leaves (rocket, watercress, spinach) cheery tomatoes, small-chopped sweet peppers and sweetcorn or something similar. Enjoy!

(No photo I'm afraid - it got eaten before I could take one!)

My slow cooker

2009-09-15T15:25:00.004+01:00

Anyone who knows me will know that I've begun a bit of a love affair with my slow cooker. I've had one for some time, now - as recommended by my little brother, who loves his food, and cooking, as much as I do (thanks Mum! We love you!). He's a well-built lad, with a man-sized appetite, and he told me that the slow cooker enabled him (a student at the time) to cook large portions of food with minimal prep time and not-the-best cuts of meat - essential for the foodie student budget.

The boy has one, too, and he's rather in love with his. I think I picked up my recent enthusiasm from him, and in trying out various recipes, we've had some real wins, and some quite-bad losses - though in each of the latter cases, I've tried to salvage when I could of the ingredients. The losses included a smoked fish terrine (very watery, fell apart, obviously didn't weigh it down enough) and a chicken curry, which taught me that you never, ever add coconut milk at the start, or it separates in a relatvely unpleasant way (though the chicken was dlightfully curry flavoured and rescued very well indeed).

The wins - oh, the wins! If you have a slow cooker and want to try out some different recipes, I heartily recommend this book, Best-Ever Slow Cooker, One-pot & Casserole Cookbook. It's got some great recipes, not least their slow-cooked Tuscan Lamb, and my brother swears by their Jambalaya recipe. It has some great one-pot recipes, too, and caters for those of you who would rather use a casserole dish in the oven.

I also pre-cooked and froze a couple of slow-cooked dishes to take away with us on our recent camping trip - more about food for camping later on.

I'll be posting some of these shortly, with my own adaptations and interpretations, and hopefully some pictures! Stay tuned...

Blueberry muffins

2009-09-15T15:03:00.006+01:00

A combination of factors led me to try this blueberry muffin recipe, taken from the Green Chronicle - I'm trying to economise at the moment, which means an end to buying treats and such when I'm at work (a bad habit for the wallet and the wasteline!); the boy likes blueberries, and they were on offer in the supermarket.

Overall, I think it turned out well; the sponge was light, and not cloying at all, and the blueberries softened but didn't make the muffins mushy at all. The sponge had a fine texture, reminiscent of shop-bought sponge birthday cakes, which I never wanted for my birthday (preferring instead my mum's home-made cakes, which were always delicious and cleverly decorated) but this isn't a bad thing.

One thing we did notice was that the blueberries weren't as sweet as in commercially-produced muffins, and the sponge wasn't quite as moist - then again, it's the cloying sweetness, the size and the heavy 'moistness' of, say, a Starbucks blueberry muffin that make them less healthy, so it's not really an issue for me - nor the boy, who's eaten six already...!

Makes ten smallish muffins

3oz butter, plus a little more for the muffin pan
3oz golden caster sugar
1 medium egg
8oz plain flour
2tsp baking powder
110ml milk (I used semi-skimmed)
150g blueberries

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.

Beat the butter and sugar together; add the beaten egg and mix thoroughly. Add blueberries to a bowl, with 1 tbsp on the flour; stir to coat and set aside.

Sift the flour and baking powder together into the batter, and stir thoroughly. At this point, the batter will be quite thick and paste-like. Slowly add the milk, stirring in completely with each addition - otherwise your batter will be lumpy. Stir in the blueberries and mix gently.

Brush a deep muffin pan with melted butter, then distribute the mixture evenly. Mine made ten reasonably sized muffins. Bake for between 20 and 25 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Leave to cool for five minutes, then carefully remove from the pan.

Enjoy! Let me know how yours turn out...

whoops...

2009-09-15T15:01:00.002+01:00

Oh dear. I've rather neglected this blog, it seems.

The problem seems to be thus: I love to cook, and I actively look forward to coming home from work and cooking something for dinner. The boy returns about 8, 8.30, by which time, dinner is ready; we eat, I sit and relax whilst he does the washing up, and my inclination to switch on the computer and blog simply isn't there.

This must change.

So, over the next few days, I'll be posting some recipes and bits that I've been looking at for the last few weeks, and we'll see how it goes.

I've been tagged!

2008-10-07T11:52:00.009+01:00

I've neglected this blog for quite some time, now, and Anna has managed to draw that fact to my attention by 'tagging' me in her own blog - I guess it's the harmless, maybe even fun version of a chain letter.

So, seven random facts:

1) The first CD single I ever bought was Brandy and Monica: The Boy Is Mine. I know. It could all have gone so wrong...

2) Of all the foodstuffs I've ever tried, there is only one thing I've found that I actively don't like: sodabread.

3) Driving from my parents' house into the centre of Birmingham, after dark, under streetlights, rock on the stereo, on the way to visit friends, makes my heart swell. Guaranteed, every time, no matter what mood I was in previously.

4) I've only ever started to read one book and not been able to finish it: Catch 22, by Joseph Heller. Having said that, I might try it again soon.

5) To date, I've never been outside of Europe. I intend to rectify this with a trip to New York in December.

6) I share my birthday with, amongst others, Alexander Flemming, Barbara Windsor, M. Night Shyamalan, Geri Haliwell and Barack Obama. It is also the date of Independence Day in Bolivia and Jamaica, and the anniversary of Houdini's famous escape from the sealed underwater tank.

7) I played flute until I was 17. I made it to grade 7 ABRSM. I really wanted to play trombone, but my mum said I 'didn't have enough puff'.

Cheeeeeeese...

2008-03-02T16:00:00.007Z

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love cheese. Cheese is the greatest foodstuff ever - in fact, I challenge anyone to think of a food that doesn't go with some sort of cheese. The best I've had so far is Weetabix, but I reckon you could make a decent cheesecake base out of Weetabix.

A good friend of mine, Anna, came over last night for dinner. We had a lovely caesar salad, fresh tuna steaks and a sort of roasted ratatouille (I was going to get pictures but it was so tasty we couldn't wait to tuck in...), followed by a cheese board.

When Anna comes over, we go to town. We had:

(clockwise from top) soft Welsh goats' cheese, Tickler extra mature cheddar, Five Counties cheese, Blacksticks Blue cheese, and a Discover Pineapple Halo.

It was a really good mix, and we thoroughly enjoyed it - the pineapple cheese was particularly lovely after dinner, being very soft and sweet; although some may turn up their noses at a cheese that isn't gourmet, it was delicious with just-baked bread rolls.

In fact, Anna thought the pineapple chese was so tasty, she wouldn't let any go to waste...:

It's here!

2008-02-29T20:09:00.005Z

Our new mediterranean vegetable box has arrived! It looks like this:

and contains:

three courgettes, two fennel bulbs, two lemons, six plum tomatoes,

an aubergine, three red chillis, a head of radicchio, a large sprig of thyme and seven salad tomatoes.

I lived in Provence for a year during Uni and I can't wait to dig out some of my old recipes to start cooking with this lovely lot...

Vegetable boxes

2008-02-27T13:03:00.005Z

In December last year I restarted our fortnightly organic vegetable delivery from Everybody Organic. For £10.99 a delivery, we got seven or eight vegetables, including staples like potatoes, onions and carrots. I chose Everybody Organic because they offered a good sized box, and I'd heard not-so-great things about people like Abel and Cole; Riverford doesn't appear to cover our area.

Unfortunately, in part due to our wet summer and mild winter last year, the vegetables don't seem to have the 'staying power' - after several days, despite being stored carefully, they are often beyond eating, and some even mouldy. All credit to Everybody Organic, who have put it right; but my dislike for waste is greater than my fondness for organic vegetables, so I was considering stopping the order.

Until I noticed their new Mediterranean box, for £12.49 - with seven items, including things like garlic, chilli and occasionally, store cupboard items like sundried tomatoes. Heaven! And just the right thing to see us into spring, as the weather warms up and you no longer want dark green cabbage or heavy root vegetables, but something a bit lighter. I also find that I'm inspired to use meditarranean vegetables in a larger number of dishes, which means we'll get through the box fairly quickly, and there will be no waste.

The first one arrives this Friday - I'm very excited!

So. Here we are.

2008-02-21T15:40:00.004Z

Hello there, and welcome to Experiments in a Small Kitchen.

Why 'experiments'? I love food, and I love trying new things. I love cooking, and so this blog should provide a way for me to share my new recipes and successes. I love food, but I'm not a snob, which means that the things I cook don't often look much like dishes Michelin-starred restaurants would serve! What I'm aiming for is that they taste good.

I get frustrated sometimes with recipes that sound delicious, but include ingredients that are hard to get hold of, or that you would never use from one month to the next, so some of the dishes I make include subsitutions for other things. Many meals I make up off the top of my head. Most things I make are simple, because there's no point in over-complicating something when simple tastes great.

That'll do for now, I think. I'm hoping to get this populated quickly, so watch this space...