Noodles with Aubergine and Mango

3rd November 2015

Time to get back on the healthy bandwagon after a couple of weeks of cheese and pastry!

To start, I made the dressing. This comprised of vinegar, sugar and salt heated on a low heat until the sugar had dissolved. Then the garlic and chilli powder were stirred in and left to cool.

Next the aubergines were cubed and fried in batches in oil and salt. Each batch was left to drain and dry in the colander whilst the next batch fried.

Meanwhile I wrestled with the mango. I realised I've never actually eaten a mango from scratch before. Firstly I was pretty surprised to find a stone inside. I feel like I should have known that, but it was a lot larger than I would have expected... I tore chunks off the stone, sliced the skin off and diced into small chunks. 

The aubergine and the mango was put into a mixing bowl.

Once the dressing had cooled I added the lime zest and juice.

Next I sliced half a red onion very thinly and separated the slices. This was added to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients.

The noodles were lightly simmered in a pan of salt water, for just a few minutes. This is one of the beauties of buying ready to wok noodles! Once drained, these too were added to the mixing bowl.

 Finally, the basil leaves were chopped and also added to the bowl.

Finally the dressing was added and everything was mixed together. This was really refreshing and very delicious. A bit more like a summer salad than a winter salad but just as hearty and very filling.

Caramelised Onion Tart

19th October 2015

Whilst putting a shopping list together for this recipe I misread it. It was supposed to be a caramelised garlic tart, but I think this was a better idea.

First the onions were peeled and sliced, I used two brown and one red. They were fried slowly in a pan with some oil until they were golden and soft. Meanwhile I rolled out the pre-made pastry (Bake Off has finished so sue me!) large enough for two small sandwich tins as I am still without a pie or flan dish. I like making two small ones for leftovers.

The pastry was blind baked for 15 minutes whilst sugar and balsamic vinegar was stirred into the onions (which were delicious!).

Next I made the cream filling. Double cream, crème fraîche, eggs, salt and pepper were whisked together.

To assemble the tart, pieces of both hard and soft goats cheese were scattered in the bottom of the pastry cases, followed by a few spoonfuls of the caramelised onions.

Then the cream filling was poured on top, covering  (but not fully submerging) the cheese and onions, and making sure all the gaps are filled.

The tarts were baked in the oven for just over half an hour until brown and crispy on top. I served mine with a green salad and it was the perfect treat for after work. I forgot to take a picture before I ate a piece!

Orange and White Chocolate Loaf Cake

5th October 2015

Its Bake Off final week and I think that means its a bit of a free for all - no big show stoppers for me. I thought I'd go for a recipe I've been tempted to try for a while.

Of course I forgot to take out the butter to soften before going to work, so I started by melting the butter the old fashioned way to I didn't break a wrist creaming butter and caster sugar. Next the orange and lemon zest was mixed in as well as the eggs and milk. I also squeezed in some lemon juice for extra flavour.

Next went in the flour, baking powder and salt which was folded in to a smooth consistency. Finally I mixed in the chocolate chips, hopefully in an even spreading - no-one wants them to all sink to the bottom! A few milk chocolate chips got mixed in there too just to bulk it out. I'm sure it won't hurt!

The mixture was poured into a lined loaf tin and baked for almost an hour.

I was supposed to make the syrup while it was baking, but I didn't read it properly. After the cake came out I began the syrup, which only took a few minutes to heat the orange and lemon juice with some caster sugar. This was poured into holes pricked in the top of the cake. It almost felt a shame to dampen the top of a nice crisp top with just a single crack! I used just about all the glaze so I hope I didn't ruin it with too much moisture! I wonder if that's even a thing with gluten free cakes.

Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins

29th September 2015

Its chocolate week and semi-finals! Only two weeks of gluten free baking to go! I went for something small and individual rather than yet another large bake this week. And muffins are always fun!

The ingredients list in this recipe was not in the same order in which they were used which caused a bit of confusion when starting. So after a bit of looking back and forth at the book for a while, I began by melting the butter in the old fashioned way whilst weighing out the sugar - I used a mix of light muscovado and soft light brown sugar due to the first running out. The melted butter was beaten into the sugar and the eggs and crème fraîche (in place of soured cream), ((I think its pretty similar...)), were beaten in next.

I decided to melt the bulk of the chocolate to try and keep peak moisture in the bake, and this too was done the old fashioned way. Boy, I miss having a microwave!

The flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda (yes, lots of raising agent..), and white and dark chocolate chips were weighed out and mixed together.

In went the melted chocolate first, followed by the dry ingredients. I was worried the batter was a bit dry already so I added a bit more crème fraîche to keep it wet. This was beaten just for a short time until it was stiff but not overworked.

This was spooned generously into the cupcake cases and popped into the oven for 15 minutes. There was even some mixture left over which I'm still debating just eating rather than baking some extra muffins later...

I tried one warm and they were delicious. I think I might eat the rest slightly warmed as this seems to keep them moist in the middle and very tasty.

Snickerdoodles

23rd September 2015

There was no way I was attempting patisserie week. For a start its not easily kept if made the day before, and it would certainly not travel well on the walk to my friend's house. So I decided to do something quick and simple: snickerdoodles.

I've made these before (obviously), so I'll just share the link for the method. But I took a few more pictures this time to illustrate the process. Its ridiculously easy and I recommend everyone try it!

The gluten free flour made this batch a lot stickier than usual, so rolling the balls was a bit of a challenge. Lots of yummy fingers to lick afterwards. The bake didn't dry out as much as I feared either. They were crumblier but quite light and fluffy.

Brussel Sprouts and Tofu

21st September 2015

To start I made the marinade, consisting of sweet chilli sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, cider vinegar (instead of rice vinegar), and maple syrup. Instead of tofu I used paneer cheese.  I like both but one is more reliable than the other. The recipe suggested a very specific type and brand of tofu as the easiest to use but I couldn't even find that in my local supermarkets. Tofu is something that I really enjoy in a Thai restaurant, probably prepared, but I can never make it that good and it always ends up being disappointed. So I tried the leftover panner I had from a curry night. Its has a similar sort of use in vegetarian cooking - soak up all the spices and flavours and provide texture amongst the veg. I diced up the paneer and left it to marinade for half an hour.

It was only when I started to chop and prepare the sprouts that I realised I hadn't bought enough. They were sliced into three each and fried one side down in the oil and salt until appearing slightly burnt. Next went in the spring onions for another couple of minutes until cooked.

The mushrooms were cut into quartered and fried in chilli powder and oil. I inhaled the powder as it hit the oil and ended up choking for the next little while! The mushrooms were fried until golden brown and added to the bowl with the other veg.

A little more oil was added to the pan, the paneer was taken out of the marinade and fried one side down until crispy and brown and then flipped for the same treatment on the other side.

This was all then mixed together with some of the remaining marinade and served with rice. It was really delicious and the extra salt really brought out the flavour of the veg. It definitely worked with paneer rather than tofu, but I'm keen to crack the secret of the perfect tofu dish!

Vegetarian Casserole

14th September 2015

I decided I wanted something warm and wholesome for dinner this week and I found a nice lentil casserole website on BBC Good Food website.

This began with a lot of chopping. First the onion was sautéed until transparent and soft. Then the garlic paste, garam masala, paprika and mixed herbs went in along with the celery and carrots. This fried for a few minutes before adding the peppers, courgette and chopped tomatoes and allowed this to simmer for a while while I mixed the vegetable stock up.

I used dried split lentils, so I added this with the stock. This meant I needed an overflow pan to reduce some of the liquid down while. The stew simmered for 25 minutes on the hob, until the lentils were tender. This actually split down into five individual portions, enough to feed me for the entire week with very few calories!