Multi-Vegetable Paella

23rd April, 2015

I was quite excited to try this recipe and see how different it was from a risotto.

To start, I friend the onion for a few minutes and then added the peppers and garlic until everything was softened and golden. I omitted the fennel because I always end up with too much fennel left over and no idea what to do with it. Limiting waste.

Next, I added the bay leaves, paprika, turmeric and pepper and stirred into the vegetables. Instead of sherry I just used extra stock which went in with the paella rice, along with a packet of paella seasoning which was just easier to use than buying things like saffron. It smelt amazingly smokey which made me instantly hungry. As always, this was left to simmer for around twenty to thirty minutes until all the liquid had boiled off and the rice was tender.

In the meantime, I defrosted the frozen broad beans with boiling water and chopped up the cherry tomatoes, olives and tinned artichokes. Once the rice was cooked, these final ingredients were stirred in and fried with the rest of the paella for a few minutes until they were warmed and seasoned.

This definitely tasted better than a regular risotto. The smokey flavours and the unusual combination of ingredients made this extra special.

Chocolate Lime Mud Cake

22nd April, 2015

This one is a bit of a glorified brownie, but much gooier and creamier and yummier. It was worth all the extra effort for this one and my colleagues certainly seemed to agree!

To start, the chocolate was melted in the microwave in short bursts, and the butter was stirred in until it melted along with the lime zest. I used some fresh lime juice also because I prefer my brownies the gooier the better. This was set aside to cool.

Next came the interesting part. With the eggs separated (and I find such satisfaction in doing this for some reason) the yolks were quickly beat with a third of the caster sugar to ribbon stage, quick so the sugar didn't cook the eggs. Next the whites were beaten until they begun to foam, and I added the remaining two thirds of caster sugar one tablespoon at a time until the eggs formed soft peaks. Without the aid of an electric whisk I did this all by hand until both arms felt like they would drop off. 

The egg yolk mixture was folded into the chocolate, and then this in turn was folded a third at a time into the egg whites without mixing too much to retain as much air in it. This will have a slight marbled look. Finally the flour was sifted in a tablespoon at a time and folded until combined, without over mixing. This mixture was poured into a lined cake tin and baked for twenty-five to thirty minutes until risen and crispy on top. Much like a brownie.

I cut it up into small pieces to take into work for my colleagues and it went down a treat, leaving none for me to bring home! Success.

Chocolate Mug Cake

18th April, 2015

Big chocolate craving this week and not really enough time to bake something substantial before working the evening shift. So what better than trying out a mug cake for one?!

I took this recipe from the BBC Good Food website.

Into a large mug goes self raising flour, caster sugar, cocoa powder, an egg, sunflower oil and any additional flavours and ingredients you like. I added some toffee sauce in an attempt to make it gooey in the middle.

Once mixed altogether (or as best as possible in my really tall mug), the cake was microwaved for two minutes until risen.

The toffee sauce seemed to bubble out quite a bit and the cake itself was pretty dry. And not only that, the calorie content for one mug was through the roof! So I only ate a bit. I might try the rest with some ice cream after work ;)

Pasta Bake

16th April, 2015

Here's another one for using up leftovers today. I used inspiration from an Oxfam Vegetarian Cookbook pasta bake recipe to use the remaining veg from the ratatouille last week.

First I fried the cubed butternut squash, aubergine, courgette and green beans and tossed in some diced pepper until beginning to tender. Next I added a backup jar of pasta sauce and simmered for ten minutes until all the veg was cooked through.

Next the pasta was boiled in salt water for five minutes until cooked and mixed into the pasta sauce and veg. This was poured into a dish and topped with grated cheese.

Finally, I baked the pasta dish for twenty minutes until the cheesy topping looked bubbly and browning, and served immediately!

Cheat Cauliflower Cheese

14th April, 2015

Needed to use up some leftovers this week so the first recipe is a cheating cauliflower cheese from River Cottage Veg Everyday.

The remaining cauliflower was chopped into small florets and boiled until tender in salted water. Once drained I added some butter and a tablespoon of milk and mixed it in, pouring the mixture with some salt and pepper into a small casserole dish. This was topped with a mixture of grated cheese and breadcumbs.

This was baked in the grill for five minutes until golden brown and crispy on top, and served with some veggie sausages.

Camomile Vanilla Cupcakes

9th April, 2015

Time for more baking today! Finding time in my bizarre work schedule has been hard lately, but I'm glad I got chance to try these.

To start, I had to replace my curdled milk with fresh milk. Good start. This was simmer on the hob with melted butter and camomile tea bags for a few minutes. It smelt like slightly fragrant custard which was amazing. The infused mixture was separated 1/3 to 2/3 and put in the fridge to cool for twenty minutes. This is aided if you remember to shut the fridge door...

Next I weighed out the caster sugar to be beaten into the larger proportion of the butter and milk mixture and beat them together using the Kenwood mixer. Next to be added was three eggs and the vanilla extract. I used the wrong sized spoon and ended up adding almost three teaspoons instead of one and a half teaspoons of vanilla, but worse things have happened.

The flour, baking powder and salt were weighed out in a separate bowl and stirred together before folding into the wet ingredients. This was beaten together until it became a smooth thick batter with dropping consistency. The batter was divided into the twelve cupcake cases ready for baking.

These baked for fifteen minutes until risen, golden brown and cooked in the middle. Meanwhile I made the butter icing with the remaining butter and milk infused mixture. Icing sugar was slowly added until it reached the right smooth consistency.

I decided to give the piping bag another try. I was confident the butter icing was the perfect consistency this time. And it actually worked! The only drawback was that I was running out of icing after only four cupcakes and there was no more infused butter. So I went back to using the palette knife.

A bit shoddy and mish-mashed but I'm still learning the art of cake decorating. I'm definitely much better at the baking side of things. Considering I don't like tea, I was quite surprised by how much I liked these cupcakes and I licked out all the bowls and piping equipment! 

Tamara's Ratatouille

8th April, 2015

Something rammed packed with vegetables this time.

To start, an epic veg chopping marathon. First into the pan went the onions until they begun to turn golden brown, and then the garlic, chilli powder and peppers were added for a few more minutes. Finally, the butternut squash was added (after a couple of minutes in the microwave to soften) and fried for a further 5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, the veg was removed into the casserole dish and a bit more oil added to the pan. Next it was the turn of the green beans, aubergine and courgette to fry lightly for a few minutes.

Finally, everything was added back to the pan, with the potato, tomatoes, sugar, tomato purée, salt, pepper and enough water to cover half the veg. This stage required two pans as my largest wok was brimming! This was left to simmer for thirty minutes.

Finally, the veg was tipped back into the casserole dish with the stock from the pan poured on top and placed into the oven to cook for another thirty minutes.

When cooked, the vegetables are all very soft and served with rice.

Cadbury Creme Egg Tray Bake

28th March, 2015

This was a nice Easter treat to bake while a friend was visiting. We entered into the realms of My Drunk Kitchen and almost ended in disaster.

We preheated the oven and lined two smaller tins to start. In a bowl we beat butter and sugar and then added the eggs one by one into the mixture. Next the flour, baking powder and cocoa was folded in to make a stiffer batter. We decided to add some smashed creme eggs into the mixture at this stage as well for extra chocolatey goodness.

This mixture was poured into the tins and put into he oven. As we used smaller tins and divided the mixture in two, we set the oven timer to just 15 mins to check on it. Somehow the oven went bananas and we smelt burning long before the timer went off! The top of both cakes was burnt black. Fortunately it was only superficial. With a knife we were able to scrape off the top burnt layer and leave the rest of the cake to cool while we made the icing. 

The icing sugar and cocoa was weighed out and we added water slowly to the mixture to make a spreadable paste which was spread onto to the cooled cake. Finally we took a rolling pin to five creme eggs and smashed them to smithereens to top the cake.

Despite the mishaps, it was delicious. And unfortunately eaten too quick for photos. Whoops!