All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

Archives for December 2013

Boozy Hot Chocolate with Nutmeg Marshmallows

By 12 Comments

homemade marshmallows on top of hot chocolate
Marshmallows have always scared me a little; I thought they were terribly complicated to make and completely not worth the time. As it turns out they take nowhere near as much time or effort as I anticipated and they are so much better than any marshmallow I have had before. So to end my series of festive posts this makes a great winter evening drink. Add a little rum for the adults and a little extra milk for the children, a marshmallow in the mug and even better if you have some forks and an open fire to toast the rest. If you don’t fancy adding any alcohol then leave it out, or you could give these peanut butter hot chocolates a try instead!

Ingredients

You will need (for two hot chocolates):

  • 60g 70% dark chocolate
  • 50ml rum, whisky or Cointreau
  • 225ml whole milk
  You will need (for plenty of nutmeg marshmallows):  
  • 1 tbsp icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • Vegetable oil
  • 8 sheets of gelatine
  • 2 egg whites
  • 450g unrefined caster sugar
  • Nutmeg

Method

Sift the icing sugar and cornflour together. Rub a tin lightly with the vegetable oil then dust with the cornflour sugar mix.

Put the caster sugar in a pan with 200ml water and bring to the boil. Boil until it reaches 127C on a sugar thermometer.

While you wait for the sugar to boil put the gelatine sheets into 150ml water.

When the sugar syrup is ready add the gelatine with the soaking water and mix well. Grate around 1/2 tsp nutmeg into the syrup.

Whisk the egg whites in an electric mixer until stiff then continue to whisk them while you pour in the hot sugar syrup. Keep whisking until the marshmallow is stiff. read more

Potato, Swede and Bacon Dauphinoise

By 4 Comments

Festive Potato Gratin
Roast potatoes are important in any roast dinner. Sometimes I find I can pay them a bit too much attention and end up spending less time on the other vegetables. This dauphinoise recipe is a great way to use some swede to make a great side dish and also incorporates potatoes so you can do a two in one. Not to be greedy but there’s no reason you couldn’t have this and roast potatoes for a roast!

Ingredients

You will need (for 4 as a side):

  • 350g potato, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 350g swede, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 4-5 rashers smoked, streaky bacon
  • Oil for frying
  • 150ml double cream
  • Salt and pepper
  • Butter

Method

Fry the bacon in a little oil until crispy then set to one side.

Layer up the potatoes, swede, garlic, bacon, and add a little salt and pepper to each layer, finishing with a layer of potatoes and swede in an ovenproof dish.

Pour the double cream over the veg then dot the top with butter.

Place into an oven at 170C for 1 and 1/4 hours or until soft through when tested with a knife.

If you find it’s browning too quickly cover the dish with some foil before returning to the oven. read more

Christmas Trifle

By 10 Comments

Christmas Trifle
I’m not one for Christmas pudding or Christmas cake. It’s a bit too intense for me. I think if I made my own my opinion may change but until then I’ll stick to alternatives. It doesn’t help that I despise marzipan. To make an equally lovely centrepiece I thought I’d try my hand at a festive trifle: mulled wine jelly, panettone and orange juice and softly whipped cream reminiscent of a snow scene. All it needs is some edible glitter; but they’d run out when I went to get some.

Ingredients

You will need (for 6-8 portions): 400ml mulled wine 5 sheets gelatine 100g sugar 160ml water

Few slices panettone
2 tbsp fresh orange juice

150ml double cream

Method

Make the jelly by dissolving the sugar in the water on a low heat. Put the gelatine into some cold water. Bring the sugar syrup to a boil then remove from the heat, squeeze out the gelatine and then stir it in to the sugar syrup. Add the mulled wine and stir well. Pour into the dish you’ll be serving the trifle in then refrigerate until set.

When set, lay the slices of panettone on top of the jelly and drizzle over the orange juice. Whip the cream until firm and then smooth over the top of the panettone. Decorate however you like. read more

Stilton Scones with Sloe Port Jelly

By 15 Comments

stilton scones
Is it just me or does everyone seem to open their fridge at some point in December and a wodge of Stilton has magically appeared? Cheese and biscuits is a must over the festive season but sometimes you can get left with an odd or and end of cheese that’s not only in the way but is also stinking the fridge out. Enter Stilton scones. They take minutes to make and around 10 minutes to bake so they are a quick and simple way to use up a bit of cheese. Delicious with any membrillo, redcurrant jelly or whatever else, I knocked up some sloe port jelly to accompany these powerful scones.

Ingredients

You will need (for 10-12 scones):
240g self raising flour
Pinch of salt
Black pepper
50g butter
60g Stilton
130ml milk plus extra for brushing

For the sloe port jelly:
100ml sloe port (any other port would be good too)
60ml water
30g sugar
2 sheets gelatine

Method

Make the jelly first.

Put the gelatine into some cold water to soften.

Get a small saucepan on a low heat and add the sugar and water. Once the sugar has dissolved squeeze out any excess water from the gelatine and stir the gelatine into the hot sugar syrup. read more

Christmas Couscous

By 10 Comments

Christmas Couscous
Around every corner there seems to be some sort of turkey and cranberry and/or stuffing sandwich. All those crazy festive sandwich fillings come out now for us to enjoy in an intense but short space of time; some more questionable than others. It seems you can put almost anything in a sandwich; I’m waiting for one to come out with a Brussels sprout and mincemeat filling. It is nice to be able to take in all the flavours of Christmas in one mouthful but what about when you just don’t want any more bread? Have no fear because you can have all the tastes of a festive lunch in my Christmas Couscous.

Ingredients

You will need (as a light lunch for 4):
150g couscous
250ml chicken (or turkey) stock
50g walnuts, chopped and lightly toasted
4-5 rashers smoked, streaky bacon
10 sprouts, shredded
50g dried cranberries
Salt and pepper
Oil for frying

Method

Put the couscous into a large bowl. Bring the stock to a boil and pour over the couscous. Cover and put to one side for five minutes.

Add a little oil to a frying pan on a medium heat and add the bacon. Fry until golden brown.

While the bacon cooks add the walnuts and dried cranberries to the couscous with some salt and pepper and give it all a good mix together to fluff up the couscous. read more

Cinnamon Spiced Stained Glass Window Biscuits

By 9 Comments

Cinnamon Spiced Stained Glass Window Biscuits
I vaguely remember making these biscuits before, many years ago, but I can’t remember what they tasted like. It was about time I tried them again because I love the idea of them hanging on the tree catching the light. What I didn’t anticipate was the sheet brute force needed to break the boiled sweets up. I thought it would simply involve a swift whack with a rolling pin but after several increasingly ferocious attempts they just wouldn’t break. So I used my mini blender to reduce the sweets to a fine crumb. It made a hell of a racket but it did a great job.

Ingredients

You will need (for around 24 biscuits):
180g plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
110g butter
50g caster sugar
1-2 tbsp milk
Boiled sweets, different colours and flavours
Greaseproof paper
Ribbon, string or other hanging devices

Method

Preheat an oven to 180C and line two baking trays with grease proof paper.

Rub together the flour, cinnamon and butter until you have a breadcrumb texture. Stir through the sugar and then bring the mixture together with drops of milk until it forms a ball.

Knead the mix lightly then chill for 30 minutes. read more

Granny’s Sage, Chestnut, Apple and Onion Stuffing for Sausage Rolls

By 16 Comments

apple onion and chestnut stuffing sausage rolls
A few years ago a friend of mine bought me one of those blank cookery books that you write up your recipes in over time. I had always cooked with my Granny and this seemed the perfect place for her to store some of her recipes for me to refer to in the future. One of the recipes she included was one for Sage, Chestnut, Apple and Onion stuffing which had a rather festive feel to it. She had also included a recipe for sausage rolls a few pages along so it seemed right to merge these two recipes together and create ‘Granny’s Sage, Chestnut, Apple and Onion Stuffing for Sausage Rolls’.

Ingredients

You will need for 16 sausage rolls:
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small apple, peeled and finely chopped
80g cooked and peeled chestnuts, finely chopped
400g good quality sausages
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
Butter or oil for frying
Salt and pepper
1 pack readymade and rolled puff pastry
Milk or egg for brushing

Method

Melt a large knob of butter in a large frying pan on a medium heat. Add the onion, apple and sage and fry for 5-6 minutes or until softened.

Add the chestnuts, salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes longer. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. read more

Spiced Turkey Mini Meatballs with Chillied Cranberry Sauce

By 12 Comments

Spiced Turkey Mini Meatballs with Chillied Cranberry Sauce
Although not my favourite meat you can’t very well ignore a turkey at this time of year. I’m not going to be cooking a whole turkey (there’s only two of us!) so instead, to make a nod to this festive bird, I made these spiced turkey meatballs. They are great with the chillied cranberry sauce. This recipe does have a whiff of a turkey curry about it but it’s an ideal dish to make for party finger food.

Ingredients

You will need (for a good platter of nibbles):
500g turkey mince (not lean)
1 1/2 tbsp garam masala

200g cranberries
125g granulated sugar
250ml water
1 red chilli, finely chopped

Method

Mix the garam masala into the turkey mince until well distributed and well mixed together. Form into mini meatballs then cover and refrigerate until needed.

Put the water and sugar into a pan and heat slowly until the sugar dissolves. Add the cranberries and chilli and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes or until thickened and the cranberries have burst.
Put the sauce to one side to cool. read more

Outrageously Orange Mince Pies

By 14 Comments

Outrageously Orange Mince Pies
Confession time. I’m not a great fan of mincemeat. It’s just a bit too strong for me. Having said that I am a big fan of the mince pie; so long as there’s more pastry than mince. To mellow the minciness of these mince pies I have mixed the mincemeat half and half with marmalade. There’s also some orange zest in the pastry to give them a real citrus zing. I think if someone had given me this less intense mince pie as a child I would have been more inclined to eat the whole thing rather than just the pastry.

Ingredients

You will need (for 12 mince pies):
225g plain flour
120g butter
Zest of one orange
Cold water

130g mince meat
130g marmalade (all the better if it’s a whisky marmalade)

Milk or egg for brushing

Method

Make the pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour until you have a breadcrumb texture.
Stir through the orange zest.
Bring the mixture together with little drops of cold water until it forms a ball. Knead quickly on a floured surface then wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll the pastry out on a floured surface until just less than the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out 12 rounds (fluted or plain) with a cutter that will fit your tin and then 12 smaller rounds for the lids. I used an 8.5cm and 6.5cm cutter.
Preheat the oven to 220C.
Use the larger rounds to line bun tins. read more

Chicory, Walnut and Pomegranate Salad with Walnut and Clementine Dressing

By 11 Comments

chicory walnut pomegranate salad with clementine dressing
At this most wonderful time of year I would estimate that I’m around 10% booze, 20% pastry, 40% cheese, 10% bacon wrapped sausages and 20% mince meat. It’s not a good look. The thought of tucking into a cucumber really doesn’t appeal to me. Not at all. No. If I am in need of some cleansing and a break from all the indulgence it still has to be in keeping with the season. Hence walnuts, clementines and pomegranates all become great mates through the vehicle of chicory.

Ingredients

You will need (for 2 as a light main, for 4 as a side):
2 chicory heads
Small handful walnuts
1/2 pomegranate
2 tbsp walnut oil
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clementine
Salt and pepper

Method

Chop up the chicory so you have individual leaves. Arrange these on a large plate so everyone can dig in.

Roughly chop the walnuts and toast these in a dry frying pan. Once toasted sprinkle these over the chicory.

Bash the seeds out from the pomegranate (or whatever method you choose) and add these to the salad.

Mix together the walnut and olive oil then squeeze in the juice of the clementine. Stir through some salt and pepper before pouring the dressing over the salad. read more

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