Italian Aubergine Bake

20th January 2015

Another one from the Good Food magazine. I'm back on my aubergine binge so this one looked good.

First, the aubergine was sliced and diced, covered in oil and salt and roasted for 15 minutes.

Next the chopped tomatoes, olives and basil was stirred in and everything was baked for a further 10 minutes.

Finally, I tore a small baguette into pieces and layered those and the grated mozzarella on top of the aubergine. This was baked for another 20 minutes until crispy. 

This was absolutely delicious and very easy to make. The baked cheese on the croutons were amazing and the Italian flavours were extremely warming on a cold winter night.

Chunky Vegetable and Rice Soup

17th January 2016

Two in two days! Today is a soup day because its absolutely freezing for the first time this winter. Snow everywhere..except south London. This recipe is also taken from the January Good Food magazine.

This was a very easy broth type soup to prepare. To start with the onion, carrot, parsnips, celery and herbs were lightly fried in a pot. I added a small amount of water so the veg wouldn't dry out or stick to the bottom. This was covered and left to cook gently for around 15 minutes.

Meanwhile I weighed out the rice (half brown, half white) and measured out a litre of water for the stock. These were added to the pot and left uncovered to simmer for another 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the rice didn't stick to the bottom.

Finally, the leeks were added with salt and pepper for seasoning and this was simmered for a few more minutes until the leeks were softened.

The recipe recommended to blitz half the soup in a blender and leave the remainder chunky, but I ate the first portion as it was. I slipped with the pepper so it was quite hot, but overall it was a thoroughly warming winter soup.

Sweet Potato Dhal with Curried Vegetables

16th January 2016

Ok, its the beginning of 2016 and I'm ready to get back on this thing. The end of 2015 was incredibly busy and I'm pretty sure I didn't cook a proper meal for the most of December. I will get around to posting Christmas dinner soon, promise.

So to start of the year I flicked through the January copy of the Good Food magazine. There's a few great looking veggie recipes so I think I'm going to draw on these for a little while.

The first recipe I went for was a sweet potato dhal after a freezing cold day out playing netball. To start an onion was fried in oil until golden brown. Garlic paste and curry powder was stirred in until the onion was coated. Next, the red split lentils, chopped sweet potato and a litre of water was added to the pan and simmered until the lentils were soft and most of the liquid was boiled off.

Meanwhile, I chopped the cauliflower, green beans and carrots into small pieces and these were boiled for a few minutes and drained.

Another onion was fried, and the drained veg were added into the pan with curry powder. Roughly chopped tomatoes were added next with a small amount of water to fry lightly.

I actually ended up with too much liquid in the dhal, so there was a bit of a straining job to get rid of the excess. It didn't need the whole 50 minutes recommended, and it looked mushy and dhal-like after about 30 minutes.

The dhal was split into four portions and the veg topped it off. Overall it was a success and a nice warming dinner to heat up after netball. It was a little bland though, and for the remaining portions I plan to add some more seasoning. But I'd definitely make this again.

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.