fioridizucca

Oaty cookies

2012-02-07T16:35:00.000-08:00

These can be cooked at a higher temperature (180 with a fan oven) or lower (170 with a fan) depending on how brown and crunchy you like them (higher is more crunchy coz sugar has caramelised). I read loads and loads of cookie recipes, some science of cookies and messed about with the proportions until I like to texture to get the following ratios of butter:wet:sugar:dry:filling of 1: 2 : 1.2 : 2.4 : 1.75 some were rounded to make it easier for me to weigh stuff out. I used a 2:1 ratio of oats to flour.

170g butter
200g sugar
2tbsp maple flavoured golden syrup
2 eggs
133g plain flour
266g oats
2tsp baking powder
100g mixed berries (cranberries, blueberries and sultanas)
50g walnuts chopped/crushed
150g milk chocolate

Beat the butter and sugar together then add the syrup and eggs followed by the flour and oats and finally the filling ingredient. Place spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet, as the dough is quite dense it needs to be flattened a bit. Bake at whichever temp suits you (I went for the lower one) for about 15 mins (depending on how big you make them: I used a tbsp). Lift to wire rack to cool.

Baked vanilla cheesecake

2012-02-07T05:37:00.000-08:00

Cheesecake is very versatile and consequently there are many versions between and within countries. This is a rather basic Irish style cheesecake that can very easily be altered to one's own taste.

The amount of biscuits you need to used depends on the size of the baking tin you use (I used one a bit bigger than the classic 20cm round spring-form tin). On that note if you don't have a spring-form tin this shouldn't prevent you making a cheesecake, I used silicone bakewear and transferred the cake to a plate upside-down then onto another the right way up.

You can easily change the biscuits used to vary the flavour. I think might use cookies with a baileys flavoured filling next, though gingernuts with orange flavoured filling might also be good. Basically it can be changed quite a lot.

9-10 digestive biscuits, crushed
85g butter melted
600g cream cheese
200g (1 tub) creme fraiche
2 tbsp flour
175g caster sugar (you can adjust this a bit to taste and according to the ingredients e.g. berries might need a bit more sugar)
2 eggs
4tsp vanilla essence

Mix the crushed biscuits with the melted butter and press into the tin to make the base. Then beat together the other ingredients and pour into the base. Bake for about 40 mins at 170 degrees Celsius (180 if you don't have a fan oven). Allow it to cool, then remove from the tin and refrigerate.

Spaghetti carbonara

2012-02-07T05:36:00.000-08:00

The aim of the dish is to get a wonderfully creamy sauce that is cooked but not scrambled looking. Funnily enough in Italy (in my experience) it is mainly served scrambled. If you do want it scramble simply apply more heat; to get it smooth add the eggs etc. off direct heat, using just the residual heat in the pan to cook it through while stirring/mixing.

It's a really quick and easy meal whose quantities can be easily adapter to suit the number of people.

The ingredients listed below are per person

100g pasta
a bit of bacon lardons (or chopped up bacon or similar, even ham will do at a push)
1 tbsp of cream or creme fraiche
1 egg
about 1 tsp of grated pasmesan (depending on taste)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or very finely chopped (can be more depending on taste)
a bit of pepper

Cook the pasta as normal thought perhaps leave it a bit al dente. Fry the bacon when the pasta is nearly done. If the pan is non stick you won't really need any oil. Mix the rest of the ingredients together. Strain the pasta and return to the still hot pan adding everything else and mixing until you have a smooth sauce. You may need to, very briefly and gently, heat the pan again.

This is a single clove of garlic. I got a small basket of these in Lidl..
It is enough for 2 people.

Cooking for Geeks

2012-02-05T13:21:00.000-08:00

I'm currently reading Cooking for Geeks by Jeff Potter (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328476607&sr=1-1) and it's fantastic. It fun to read and we have a similar approach to cooking. I particularly like where he breaks down a recipe into a chart with % deviation. I've been doing that but with equivalents (I am a chemist after all).

So far I've learned lots of random cooking science but there's one thing I came across that I really want to share:http://foodtimeline.org/
You can click on the different items in the timeline to get a history of each one. Absolutely brilliant. A lot of work must have been put into this but I think it was worth it.

I'll put up more about the book once I've finished it as I'd like to start including some cookbook reviews.

Orange and chocolate buns

2012-02-02T03:56:00.000-08:00

I wanted them to taste like Terry's chocolate orange. The options hot chocolate comes in an orange flavour that's really good especially when made with milk. Kudos to Karl for coming up with the idea of using the orange hot chocolate for the icing. This makes 24 buns.

75g butter
200g caster sugar
90g soft brown sugar
2tsp orange essence
zest of one large orange
3 eggs (the ones I used were quite small)
225g plain flour
65g cocoa
1tbsp baking powder
220ml milk

Beat the butter and sugar together then beat in the eggs, followed by the essence and the zest.

A note on zesters: get one. It may seem like a pointless piece of kitchen equipment but if you get one you'll find you use it all the time as they give lovely strips of zest.

Anyway, stir in the dry ingredients (putting in a bit of milk if necessary), then the rest of the milk. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 mins if making regular sized buns (if making larger adjust accordingly but beware of opening the oven to check too often as you lose a significant amount of heat everytime). Cool on a wire rack. Then ice (see below).

For the icing

200g icing sugar
50g cocoa
50g drinking chocolate (if you have orange flavour use that)
100g butter softened
about 5 tbsp milk

Sieve the dry ingredients together and beat in the butter. It should look crumbly, if it doesn't add a teaspoon more. Add the milk little by little until you get a nice smooth consistency.

Nutella Muffins

2012-01-29T15:11:00.000-08:00

This recipe is adapted from The Humming Bird Bakery Cake Days. Great book overall (despite the whole vinegar and bread soda thing here too) but they tend to make way too much icing (I only make about half of what they say. If you are into baking I would thoroughly recommend it. All the recipes from it that I've tried have been great and even if you don't like to follow recipes it's great for inspiration. Amazon have it at a massive discount http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hummingbird-Bakery-Cake-Days-Recipes/dp/0007374798/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327878152&sr=8-1

I would regard them as breakfast rather than dessert muffin they were still really tasty. I made 12.

300g plain flour
120g caster sugar
1tbsp baking powder
half tsp bread soda
pinch of salt
3 eggs
90g butter melted
160g nutella for the mix and as many tsp as you have muffins for the filling
hazelnuts to top

Just beat the mixed dry ingredient with the mixed wet ingredients (except for the nutella and butter) and stir in the nutella. Half fill 12 muffin cases (in a muffing tray obviously) with batter, add a spoonful of nutella and then fill. Sprinkle with crushed hazelnuts. Bake at 170 degrees Celcius for about 30mins (check at 25). Then cool on a rack.

The reason the muffin top is nicer than the bottom is that it can expand freely unlike the bit in the case so I filled my cases completely (they suggest two thirds) to get a nice big top.

Next time I think I might try adding some frangelico to the mix for extra nuttiness or some chocolate liqueur. Or I might put melted chocolate instead of nutella and some walnut liqueur.

Red velvet cake

2012-01-29T14:34:00.000-08:00

For the cake

125g butter
300g caster sugar
3 small eggs or 2 large
300g plain flour
230ml milk with a squeeze of lemon juice/vinegar (or just if you have butter milk use it)
1tsp salt
2tsp vanilla
30g cocoa powder (sieved)
3tsp red food colouring
1tsp bread soda

For the frosting

160g soft butter
140g icing sugar (sieved)
400g cream cheese
2tsp vanilla

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. add the eggs, then alternate the dry ingredients with the wet ones. Divide between 2 round lined and grease baking sheets (I use the silicone ones, put just a roughly ripped piece of greaseproof paper on the bottom and brush with oil), spread the filling out evenly and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 25-30mins. Cool on wire racks.

For the icing beat the butter and sugar together then add the other ingredients. You can just sandwich the rounds and spread with icing but I cut them in half to make 4 rounds and sandwiched these together with icing to make a prettier effect, then spread the whole lot with the remaining icing and sprinkled some decorations on top.

I took a photo as soon as I could but it was disappearing fast hence the small bit in the pic.

I am a bit dubious about the whole sifting things to get air in. I think the main purpose of sifting dry ingredients together is to mix them so providing you mix them together well you don't have to run out and buy a sieve. However cocoa powder and icing sugar tend to clump so I sieve them to ensure there are no lumps.

Oh and one more thing, a lot of recipes I see for red velvet something seem to end in the reader having to mix vinegar with baking soda. I do not understand this at all. All you have afterward is some sodium acetate (a seasoning) and carbon dioxide which is now gone and has done nothing for your baking. I get the whole carbon dioxide as a raising agent (hence the acidic buttermilk and the bread soda in the recipe) but they are not supposed to react before you even add them. So I ignore this step and the recipes have always worked.

Healthy breakfast bars

2012-01-27T09:33:00.000-08:00

You can put pretty much any kind of dried fruit and nuts into these bars and they are perfect if you have to ear breakfast on the go or need a healthy snack. They are also really cheap to make since they involve store cupboard ingredients that keep well. The sesame seeds in particular give a really great flavour. Of course some pumpkin seeds can be used instead of sunflower seeds but I had sunflower seeds. Any kind of sugar can be used but brown sugar gives a nice flavour and soft brown sugar has small particles that melt easier and faster. I recently got some dried pineapple, papaya and mango which I can't wait to combine with dried apricots to make tropical fruit bars.

200g oats
100g sunflower seeds
50g sesame seeds
100g butter
100g light muscovado (soft brown sugar)
Handful of mixed dried cranberries, sultanas and blueberries
Handful of dried apricots chopped into pieces
Handful of chopped walnuts
I added 2 tsp of cinnamon and some orange essence to give them a wintery taste but use whatever you feel like.

Melt the butter and sugar together and add any flavourings you may wish to use then simply stir in everything else. You can also add a couple of spoonfuls of honey, golden syrup or maple flavoured golden syrup (regular maple syrup is not viscous enough) if you see the mix as being too dry or to add extra flavour. Then press it all into a tin and bake at 160 for about half an hour. Cut into bars when warm but leave to cool completely before you try to pick them up as until the toffee hardens they will not hold together. Should keep for several days.

Patatas bravas

2012-01-24T14:05:00.000-08:00

I'm currently trying to learn some Spanish so I've decided to write up one of my favourite Spanish dishes. This is a really quick and easy meal. It can be padded out with some chorizo but I don't think it is necessary. This can be made as spicy as you like, personally I like it mild though the sour cream really dampens down the spice.

4 portions of potatoes
olive oil
1-2 onions depending on the size and how oniony you like it
4 garlic cloves
a generous pinch of chilli flakes
2 tsp paprika
A splash of white wine to rinse out the tin from the tomatoes (not essential but you might need some liquid to stop it getting too thick)
Tin of chopped tomatoes
A good sprinkling of thyme
Sour cream to serve

How you cook the potatoes is up to you. They should probably be sauteed but I often steam them and then lightly fry them. You can always use roasted wedges or whatever you feel like.

Anyway, gently fry the onions, add the garlic and chilli falkes (do not burn these! gently heat with oil so it's not direct). Add the paprika (off the heat coz it's delicate) then the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for about 15 mins not forgetting to season. Always taste as you season and remember that the chilli and paprika will flavour oil better than water (oil soluble molecules) so start with a nice bit of oil (2-3tbsp) The sour cream, with it's high fat content, cools your mouth as it dissolves and carries away the chilli heat.

When serving put the potatoes in a dish with the sauce over them and a dollop of sour cream onto.

Our enchiladas

2012-01-18T14:57:00.000-08:00

This recipe actually began years ago on my J1. I was living with my bf and we used to get jars of sauce in safeway. The chicken breasts were ridiculously big, in the packet they looked normal but they just kept unfolding and unfording! Anyway we'd fry some chicken breasts, onions and peppers then add the sauce and simmer. The fruit and veg in California was great and very cheap. We'd add some fresh pineapple chunks to counteract the sauce's spiciness. We'd fill tortillas with the sauce, grated cheese and rice, roll them up, sprinkle with cheese (and any leftover sauce) and bake them for 10 mins.

Today I didn't have the sauce (obviously) so I had to make it up. I fried up the chicken breasts with onions and peppers as before and then added at tin of chopped tomatoes. I mixed about 1 tsp each of paprika, chilli powder, cayenne pepper, cumin (slightly less than 1tsp as I often find it a bit overpowering), ground coriander and oregano. After adding the spice mix I seasoned the sauce and let it simmer until the peppers were soft. The rest of the recipe I carried out as we used to. I omitted the pineapple though (my flatmate doesn't really like it).

I thought about how to layer the ingredients. First the sauce because that way it would end up on the top and the sauce mix with the other ingredients. Then the cheese to bind it all together and finally the rice. I found it best to fold in one side then the top and bottom and the the remaining side. Obviously they were placed in fold down to keep them closed on an oiled baking tray.

New Year's Eve Feast

2012-01-17T08:27:00.000-08:00

Since this is a new year's resolution I should start with ushering in the new year. It has sort of become tradition to have a Christmas dinner at our apartment to celebrate the new year. Having begun as an early Christmas dinner for just the flatmates it is now on New Year's eve with lots of friends.

This year was the biggest yet with 18 people to feed. I spend several days working on the menu using my favourite recipe source bbcgoodfood.co.uk

The menu was
Caramelised onions and carrots: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3062/caramelised-carrots-and-onions
Broad beans and peas with mint butter http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1397634/broad-beans-and-peas-with-mint-butter

Creamy parsnip and squash bake http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4963/creamy-parsnip-and-squash-bake

Ham
Turkey with orange and thyme
Lemon and herb stuffing http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/72613/lemon-and-herb-stuffing

Cranberry and orange stuffing http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10374/turkey-with-lemon-and-sage-butter-and-cranberry-an

Roast potatoes
Cranberry, pecan and ginger loaf http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3051/cranberry-pecan-and-ginger-loaf

Trifle (pretty much the same as last year).

I multiplied the veg recipes by 3. Which in retrospect was a ridiculous amount of food and most of it didn't get eaten.

We could only find a medium sized turkey but it worked out in the end. I used orange zest and thyme butter to flavour it and giftwrapped it in bacon.

The ham was massive:7kg and had to be boned and rolled. The rolling was particularly challenging but by tying in X shapes the ham was defeated and managed to fit into the stock pot. It was soaked overnight and then boiled after the water was changed. In Molecular Gastronomy by Herve This I read about how cooked meat reabsorbs the liquid it lost during the cooking process while it cools so I always let my ham cool in the cooking liquid overnight. The next day I scored the skin, glazed it with honey and mustard (wholegrain and dijon) and roasted it.

I had to modify a couple of the recipes. The cranberry and orange stuffing in particular needed some work. The recipe suggested that the sugar be melted by heating directly and then the butter added. I really don't like the idea of heating sugar directly as it's a great way to burn your sugar. It's better to heat it with the butter to make a caramel of sorts.

I increased the quantity of spices used for the loaf (doubled) and used mixed berries (blue berries, cranberries and sultanas) and about 1.3 times what they used.

I might put up the trifle recipe some time soon.

The Prodigal Blogger returns

2012-01-17T08:17:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's been 4 years and I'm living somewhere new, living with a different friend and working on a PhD having gotten my degree. In short I am a different person. Somethings however have not changed, in particular my love of cooking and food.

In the intervening years there have been many recipes, cook books, cookery magazines and randomly inspired recipes. I cannot even remember most of what I have cooked and eaten but I will, hopefully, overtime include at least some highlights.

My New Year's resolutions include reviving this blog and making a proper effort with it. I want to archive what my foodie knowledge and inspiration.

Pancakes

2007-10-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

These are a bit lighter and fluffier than regular pancakes by using a much lower flour to liquid ratio and the added oil helps prevent them sticking reducing the need to grease the pan between pancakes.

100g plain flour
2 eggs
300ml milk
1tbsp oil

Beat everything together(incl the oil). Makes about 8 pancakes.

The classic failed first pancake problem can be solved by heating the pan properly prior to beginning to cook. Another common problem when cooking pancakes is having too much oil in the pan. The pancake is not supposed to fry in oil, it is supposed to cook with a mainly dry heat. I find it best to either brush the pan with oil when cooking or at the very least pour off any excess oil (though this can be messy). In general don't try to move the pancake until you are sure the side in contact with the pan has cooked as it will not stick when cooked, this is how pancakes get broken. If keeping pancakes warm for later put a bit of greaseproof paper between them to ensure they don't stick.

You can have pretty much anything you want on your pancakes. I particularly like nutella, toffee sauce, bananas, peaches and yoghurt. As regards savoury pancakes I'm not too keen but cheese and mushroom can be very good.

Oaty Apple Crumble

2007-10-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

Serves ~6

1.5kg eating apples
4tbsp sugar or jam(give sweetness with flavour)
Juice of one orange or about half a glass of orange juice
zest of said orange if using
280g oats
200g plain flour
4 tsp cinnamon
200g butter
200g light muscovado sugar

Peel, core and slice up the apple and put them into a buttered oven dish (I like to use a large pyrex bowl so I can see the apples cooking)with the sweetener and juice, mix it all together. Mix the dry ingredients together and add the butter in pieces and rub in. Stir in the sugar. Sprinkle the mix over the apples and bake at 180 degrees for 35-40mins. Great with ice cream or loads of custard (if making Bird's custard add a bit of vanilla for extra flavour).

I love using different kinds of jam to vary the taste. You can also add berries of different kinds berries and fruit. Black currants in particular work well. Personally I like a thick layer of flapjack topping but to each their own.

Apple Pancakes

2007-10-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

These are American style pancakes (though Scotch muffins are also a thick kind of pancake) with grated apple in them to make them more moist and tasty.

Serves about 4 though if you make extra they are fantastic cold.

230g self-raising flour
2tsp baking powder
180ml buttermilk
2 eggs
180ml milk
About 4 peeled and grated apples
1tsp vanilla extract or cinnamon (whichever you prefer or according to the season)

Beat everything except the apples together until smooth then stir in the apples. Heat a large pan and brush with a bit of oil. I think this be a good time to say I love tefal and they are sooooo worth the money. I make ones about 15 cm in diameter or 2 spoonfuls but you can make bigger ones.
Great with toffee sauce and yoghurt.

Toffee Sauce

2007-10-26T14:32:00.001-07:00

50g butter
50g soft brown sugar
2tbsp golden syrup
2tbsp creme fraiche
1tsp vanilla essence

Put everything except the cream into a pan and bring to a gentle boil. Boil for a couple of mins until thick and then stir in the cream.

This is quite a flexible recipe. The cream can be replaced by creme fraiche, yoghurt or similar and the the golden syrup can be replace with any syrup or honey though this does effect the flavour. The vanilla essence is not essential but makes a huge difference though you could try replacing or supplementing it with orange essence. I would not condone replacing the butter with margarine but that's mainly because I hate margarine and find butter gives a much better flavour. Of course you could replace the vanilla with spices.

Soft fruits such as peaches (from a tin or fresh), apricots etc. can be added and softened in the toffee. If you do this I suggest you serve it with pancakes and yoghurt (to cut through the sweetness).

The sauces is great with pancakes, ice cream, waffles and similar. I originally saw it in BBC Good Food magazine but I don't know where the recipe cutting is gone and they don't have it on their site. The above is what I've been using (equal amounts of butter and sugar and the same volume of syrup and diary) I do not remember what it should be but this works really well for me.

Minestrone

2007-10-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

Makes ridiculously large amounts.

4 carrots
1 onions
5 sticks of celery
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 potatoes, finely diced
2-3 litres of vegetable stock(enough to cover the veg)
Can of chopped tomatoes
Can of cannellini/butter beans
150g spaghetti broken into short lengths or just some small shapes
A couple of handful of shredded Savoy cabbage

Process the carrot, celery, and onion into small pieces (so much easier than chopping them yourself though this is of course perfectly fine). Fry gently in a huge saucepan with the garlic and potatoes for about 5 mins until softened. Stir in the stock, tomatoes, and some herbs, I like parsley and oregano. Bring to the boil then cover and simmer for about 10 mins. Add the beans and pasta and cook for another 10mins. Finally add the cabbage for the final 2 or so. Season and serve.

This is one of those recipes that can be modified virtually endlessly depending on what you have lying around.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse

2007-10-26T13:09:00.000-07:00

Makes 4 regular glasses worth.

150g white chocolate
142ml cream, softly whipped
A bit of vanilla essence
4 eggs
250g frozen raspberries, thawed(or indeed fresh but I'm being realistic)

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over, but not touching some simmering water. Cool slightly then mix in the whipped cream, egg yolks(beware of curdling) and vanilla. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks. Stir a couple of spoonfuls into the mix to lighten it then fold in the rest. Fold in the raspberries. Put into containers and chill for at least 2 hrs.

Of course any berries can be used but raspberries go particularly well with white chocolate. Milk chocolate and crushed strawberries work wonderfully too.

Sweet Potato and Pepper Soup

2007-10-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

Serves 4 but as I said before I have a problem with soup quantities.

1 onion finely chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 tbsp flour
About 750ml vegetable stock
175g frozen corn(or indeed tinned)
Good handful of frozen mixed peppers(or whatever colours you have)
Chilli oil(or other source of chilli flavour)
2 spring onions sliced
4 tbsp creme fraiche

Sweat the onion and potato for about 5 mins. Add flour and cook for a min or so. Add stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 20-25mins until tender. Blend until smooth. Return to the pan and add the sweetcorn, peppers, spring onions and chilli oil (according to taste). Simmer for 5-10mins until everything is cooked to your liking. Season and serve.

I like very mild foods so I tend to serve this with the chilli oil on the table for people to add more if they want a bigger kick.

Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash soup

2007-10-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

Serves about 4-5 depending. I seem to have strange luck with soup whereby no matter how little I put in ridiculously large amounts come out.
When blending soup put a spoon in the blender when you're pouring it in so it takes some of the heat. Take it out before blending obviously(though I often forget and it hasn't broken the blender yet!)

4 garlic cloves
about 300g of peeled and diced sweet potatoes
A butternut squash, peeled and diced
2 heaped tsp of paprika
Chilli oil (or a red chilli finely chopper or dried chilli flakes)
700ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp grated parmesan
a few big spoonfuls of creme fraiche

Fry the garlic, butternut, and potato with the lod on for about 10mins in a large saucepan. Add the paprika and some chilli oil(you can always add more to taste later)cook for another minute. Add stock, bring to boil, cover and simmer for about 20-30mins until tender. Cool a bit, add parmesan and mustard and blend until smooth. Add the creme fraiche and reheat. Season and serve.

This, like most soups freezer well but remember to freeze before adding the dairy.

Vanilla Waffles

2007-10-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

My favourite waffle recipe so far (I tend to google something, read about 10 recipes and then make it up). With them I recommend any of the following:fruit, icecream, yoghurt, maple syrup, golden syrup, honey or nutella. Or indeed whatever the hell you want.
This recipe makes ~8 on my waffle iron. I personally struggle to eat 2.

300g plain flour (I tend to use cream flour for everything)
150g ground almonds (can be made fresh in a food mill)
100g caster sugar
A good squeeze of honey
100g butter melted
4 eggs
450ml milk
3 tsp vanilla essence

Basically put everything in a bowl and beat until smooth. Cooking takes about 3-5 mins depeding on heat of iron and how cooked you like them but that's a rough estimate. Don't open too soon to check coz it'll ruin the waffle.

Dainties from Paula

2007-07-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from one of my parent's friends. Really lovely lady whose house my mother was in when she went into labour with me. My dad at the time was drinking ouzo with her husdand. When my mother went into labour, he drank a litre of espresso strength coffee to sober up.

These look great in little bun cases esp the little gold ones.

This isn't in metric. Tough. It's also in the same format as on my old, now yellow piece of paper where it's written in young Jean's handwriting(actually neater than older Jean's handwriting).

2oz butter
1 cup caster sugar
half cup cocoa
1 cup milk
2 cups dessicated coconut
1 and a half cups oats

Melt the butter, add the sugar and milk and bring to the boil. Boil for 10 mins approximately. Add the dry ingredients and stir until the mixture is stiff. Form small balls and drop onto greaseproof paper. Leave to set for about 2 hours.
Don't boil for too long when you put the oats in.

Chocolate Muffins

2007-07-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

I've tried loads of different chocolate muffin recipies and these are the only ones that are chocolatey enough. I use chopped up cooking chocolate, you could for convenience use chocolate chips but I think they taste like crap(cooking chocolate isn't great but it doesn't burn like normal chocolate). You could use normal chocolate but like I said it burns. i.e. it goes hard and crumbly. This doesnt' have a massive effect so don't stress about it. I came across this recipe when I was really young in the Sunday Times (and still have the cutting somewhere) and it was probably the first thing I ever cooked. It has evolved a bit since then. If I knew who originally wrote it I would send them a massive thank you email but since I cut it out when I was tiny I don't remember.

110g butter
220g caster sugar
2 tbsp honey
2 eggs
180g plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
80g cocoa;
180ml milk
100g cooking chocolate

Beat the butter ans sugar together. Now I've found that if you over beat they tend to collapse, so either do this by hand wiht a wooden spoon or be very, very careful. Beat in the eggs, then bit by bit the milk and dry ingredients, last of all the chocolate.
If you use buncases then you'll make about 24, if you use muffin cases you'll make about 12.
Bake them for 15 minutes or so until they are spongy when poked at 170 degrees Celsius.

They're best slightly warm with milk.

Butternut Squash and Tomato Soup

2007-07-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

This freezes really well (before adding the creme fraiche). If it's too thick after blending just water it down with some stock or water, or even milk. But I find that if you're freezing it, it's better to freeze a really thick concentrated soup.

This is probably my favourite soup of all time (and involves 2 of my favourite ingredients). You can spice it up with a bit of chilli oil but I like it plain.

Just fry 2(or so) onions(I use white but I guess red'd be fine) until they're soft in some olive oil. Throw in 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, and a peeled and diced butternut squash, along with about 500ml vegetable stock (enough go a bit over the veg as you can always add more later). Herb wise I use my usual combination of oregano parsley, sage rosemary, thyme and basil in varying propartions according to what I'm cooking. To be honest that's derived from Schwartz Italian Herb mix but with my own proportions. the easiest way to gauge it is to smell the food as you season (taste after a bit). Oh, I also throw in a bay leaf. Simmer until the squash is soft. Leave it to cool slightly then blend until smooth(remember to take out the bay leaf before you blend!), reheat and stir in some creme fraiche.

Fantasic with homemade pumpkin seed bread.

Eating

2007-07-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

Actually the previous post puts me in mind of something I think is very important. Every meal should be an experience in itself. The environment you eat in has a massive effect. I love the house we're currently living in because it has a dining table. I always insist that when possible we all eat together and the table is great for that. Darren seems quite taken with this and has taken to filling a jug with water, ice and lemon slices. He too is a fan of setting the table. Now don't get me wrong I don't like anyting fancy, some salad, bread, water, milk, salt and pepper.

Though in truth what makes a meal is the company, you don't necessarily need to all be eating the same thing, but eating with others is just more enjoyable. During the year my flatmates and I ate together nearly everynight, even if someone wasn't eating sometimes they sat with us. We'd usually end up staying at the table for about half an hour after all the food was gone just talking and maybe sipping water. That was probably one of my favourite parts of the day.

TV dinners are not ideal but sometimes can be fun. You can have great meals in front of a television which can actually serve to further stimulate conversation. Bowls of cereal eaten in the morning with Laura while watching Dr.Phill were great!

The key is to savour, enjoy, talk and laugh and never, ever eat to live, always live to eat.

Single Pasta(bit less sad that Lonely Pasta)

2007-07-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

The following is one of my favourite recipes at the moment. I don't often cook the same thing over and over, I'm too fickle for that. But I've made this many times and I love it. I see it as a single student's dish and find eating it by myself strangely satisfying. It's quick, easy and cheap.

I don't like those names of dishes that just basically list all the ingredients but unfortunately that seem to be the least confusing way of naming anyting I cook for this blog. Or I could just dispence with the whole naming thing... too much thinking. I'll just call this Single Pasta.

Anyway it's just however much pasta you see yourself eating cooked then mixed with a good dolop of green pesto and creme fraiche. To this you add some bacon and mushrooms you've chopped up and fryed together, not too gently you don't want soggy mushrooms. Mix it all together and eat.

I've also had it with spinach tortellini.

So there you have it, my first recipe post. Feels weird...

A beginning to everything

2007-07-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

I'm very new to this sort of thing so you'll have to be patient with me. I'm setting this up to catalogue and possibly share what I learn as I cook. I'm not a masterchef by any stretch of the imagination but I am an enthusiastic amateur who tries to make up for her ignorance by means of a willingness to learn and adapt.

One of the most common problems in cooking is the need for a well defined recipe even when in truth the dish is quite freeform. I'll try to provide quantities where possible but you'll have to tolerate the odd handfull and dolop. When I first stared cooking I had trouble recreating the dishes my parents cooked because of how ill-defined the recipes were but over time, as my skills developed, I began to be able to recreate a dish, with my own twist of course, after watching someone cook it.

I don't think I'll ever manage to replicate is my mother's pasta sauce. Everytime I make it it's different but resigned myself to the fact that the only person who can cook my mum's pasta sauce is my mum.

I suppose the point of the above is that you don't necessarily have to replicate a dish accurately for it to be a success. I rarely follow a recipe exactly. If you're new to cooking I recommend following a recipe as closely as possible the first time then adapt it when you cook it again. As time goes on you'll become more confident and develop your own style adapting recies as you go and creating your own.

Anyway even if you fuck up no one need know...