Black Eyed Bean Stew with Herb Smash

30th April 2017

I'm really into spicy food right now so I quite fancied giving this one a go. 

To start, the leek was chopped very finely and fried gently in some coconut oil. After a few minutes, chilli and garlic were added too. I included some mushrooms and courgette for additional veggie goodness. 

When the veg was beginning to brown, the black eyed beans and passata were added to the pan along with the juice from half a lemon. I chopped the remains of the lemon into segments and put them in the pan for flavour whilst the stew simmered. 

Meanwhile, I made the "herb smash". Fresh coriander, green chillis, garlic, honey, sunflower oil and lemon juice were put into a blender and blitzed together. Chopped walnuts went in next for a light blitz to create a smooth green paste. Although I perhaps put in too much oil since it was a little on the runny side. I also stirred in extra pine nuts for good measure. 

Finally, once the passata had reduced significantly, I mixed in chopped spinach for the last couple of minutes. 

This was served in a bowl with the herby dressing on top, along with some pitta bread. Despite the three chillis in here, it wasn't spectacularly spicy. I will have to add extra chilli flakes when I reheat the rest. Really need that spice kick at the moment!

Carrot Cake

22nd April 2017

For my boyfriend's birthday, I baked one of his favourites - carrot cake. I borrowed the recipe from his sister, Kerry the Lady of Cakes: https://theladyofthecakes.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/carrot-cake-cupcakes/

It was a pretty simple cake recipe to do, and a good one to do after so long away from my cake tins. First, the wet ingredients were combined in the mixer, the butter, eggs and sunflower oil. Next the grated carrot, raisins and orange zest were mixed in, and I included some of the orange juice too. 

Finally, the flour, bicarbonate of soda, nutmeg and cinnamon were mixed in until smooth. The cake batter was quite runny but this is apparently fine. Instead of cupcakes, I poured the mixture into two sandwich tins to make a larger sandwich cake. 

This was baked for 40mins which my oven decided to brown a little too much! Thankfully nothing was damaged. 

While the cakes cooled, I made up the cream cheese frosting. I've never ever been good at frosting, even following recipes to the letter. This was no exception! I beat the butter with a wooden spoon until fluffy and then mixed in the icing sugar to made a slightly crumbly consistency - so far so good! Then I added in the cream cheese bit by bit until about two thirds quantity to make the frosting. It was juuuuust turning too runny at this point. I just don't even...

I trimmed a bit off the top of one of the cakes to make a flat top, spread in a third of the frosting and lay the second cake on top. The rest of the frosting was spread over the top with a palette knife and the cake was put into the fridge to help the frosting set...and prevent the top sliding off!!

The cake was delicious, and I thank Kerry for the fantastic recipe. It went down a treat with Carl and we devoured the thing in less than 3 days!