All That I'm Eating

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

Baked Blackberry Cheesecake

By 22 Comments

baked blackberry cheesecake
You know when you go out blackberry picking you end up eating pretty much all of them and have nothing to show for it when you get home? As much as it is very hard to resist keeping any of the berries for later I thought it would be well worth the effort for a sort of hidden gem baked blackberry cheesecake. Beneath the pillowy layers of soft cheese you can find little bits of sweet, purple fruit. I didn’t have to save too many either as you only need a handful for this recipe. They do say that picking blackberries in October isn’t a good idea as the devil is meant to have peed on them. If you feel like living on the edge then by all means take the risk; if not, a quick trip to the shops should sort you out.

Ingredients

You will need:

  • 180g digestive biscuits
  • 75g butter
  • 600g cream cheese
  • 220g caster sugar
  • 150g sour cream
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tbsp. plain flour
  • Large handful blackberries

Method

Line the base of a 20cm spring form cake tin. Spring form is your friend for this.
Preheat an oven to 130C.

Crush the digestive biscuits in a bowl; I like to use the end of my rolling pin as it’s immensely satisfying. Melt the butter and mix this into the biscuits.

When the biscuits and butter are well combined press the mixture into the bottom of the cake tin and then chill in the fridge.

Whisk together the cream cheese and sugar then mix in the sour cream.

Add the eggs one at a time then add the flour. read more

Passion Fruit and Jasmine Iced Tea

By 19 Comments

passion fruit and jasmine iced tea
When it starts getting a bit colder and the evenings are getting darker earlier this seems to coincide with me increasing my calorie consumption. I like to think that I’m planning for the winter and storing some (ahem) insulation but really, I think we all know, I’m just plain greedy. To counteract this I have done a bit of exercise; I’m as shocked as you. With exercise comes the desire for cleanliness and a lack of guilt so that is what this refreshing drink is all about.

Ingredients

You will need (for around 1 litre):

  • 3 tsp jasmine tea
  • 1 tsp palm sugar
  • 3 passion fruits
  • Ice cubes
    • read more

    Millionaire’s Tart

    By 25 Comments

    Millionaire's Tart with Salted Chocolate - All That I'm Eating
    Baking is something I save for one of two occasions; a rainy day (classic excuse) or a day where my eyebrows have been almost continuously furrowed. With the return of the Great British Bake Off on our screens I felt it was high time I got out my scales and greaseproof paper to make something truly indulgent. Well if you’re only going to bake occasionally then why make something healthy? Millionaire’s Tart is possibly my favourite tart of all time. Also, I wanted to make sure that I could retain my pastry skills to ensure I avoided the dreaded soggy bottom.

    Ingredients

    You will need (for a 20cm tart):

    For the pastry –

    • 220g plain flour
    • 120g butter (I used salted)
    • Cold water
    • 1 can dulce de leche

    For the chocolate topping –

    • 200g high cocoa chocolate
    • 150ml double cream
    • 25g salted butter
    • Sea salt, I really like Cornish Sea Salt for this as I think it has a lovely clean flavour

    I was so impressed with how my pastry case turned out I felt I needed to provide evidence that I had made it myself!

    Method

    Make the pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour until you have a breadcrumb texture then bring the mixture together into a dough using a little cold water.

    Knead the dough lightly on a floured surface then roll out and line a 20cm tart tin.

    Cut or roll off the excess and prick the base with a fork. read more

    Wild Hazelnut Brittle

    By 25 Comments

    I have been noticing more and more things in the hedgerows. Perhaps it’s due to the purchasing of a foraging handbook which has become the mainstay of my bedside table or maybe my observational skills have drastically improved. Whichever the reason it has meant even more slowing down and stopping on a walk; not irritating if you are me but rather tiresome if you are walking with me. Apparently. read more

    Elderberry and Einkorn Scones

    By 25 Comments

    Einkorn flour for scones with elderberries
    I think it’s fair to say that autumn has arrived. I feel like I made the most of summer this year so I welcome the autumn with much more gusto than usual. It’s been a very long time since I had an apple or a pear so I am looking forward to getting my hands on some fine specimens at the farmers’ market or when I’m lucky enough to find a fruitful tree. Until then I have elderberries to tide me over. 

    I’ve been waiting for the elderberries to come out this year as I have a hawk’s eye when it comes to finding the elderflowers so I knew where to start to find what I was looking for. I picked these elderberries on a drizzly day and perhaps a week or so sooner than I should have done as there were a fair few green berries I had to pick out.

    The birds had already had their share of the berries so the first few stops were a bit thin on the ground. By the time I had found enough we were pretty damp but the rain can easily be ignored when your foraging companion ever so kindly offers to put you on their shoulders so that you can reach the very best berries; much more fun than scrabbling around in the depths of a thicket. read more

    Cardamom infused Porridge with Raspberries

    By 20 Comments

    raspberries on top of porridge
    A weekend breakfast is a completely different thing to a weekday breakfast. I don’t know about you but my weekday breakfasts consist of shovelling yoghurt (if I’m lucky I’ve added some fruit or nuts) into my mouth while running around trying to get ready being very careful not to spill anything on myself. It’s not what you would call relaxing. A weekend breakfast is a whole new affair; the possibilities are endless. Pancakes, pastries, fruit, tea, coffee, juice, a full English, toast and jam and many others are all contenders but can sometimes involve a need to purchase these items in advance. This cardamom infused porridge is for one of those mornings where you feel like something luxurious but only have basic ingredients.

    Ingredients

    You will need (for 2 bowls):

    • 1 cup of milk
    • 1/2 cup of oats
    • 1 cardamom pod
    • 1 tbsp sugar
    • Handful raspberries

    Method

    Crack open the cardamom and add to the milk in a saucepan. Heat the milk and cardamom very gently for about 20 minutes. Remove the milk from the heat when done. 

    Put the oats into another saucepan and then sieve the milk into the oats. Cook the oats, stirring often, on a medium heat to the texture that you like; some like it so rubbery you could bounce it and others prefer it very thin. I go for somewhere in between the two.

    When the porridge is ready remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar. Stir half of the raspberries into the porridge and then put the remaining berries on top. I enjoyed this with a nice cup of tea. read more

    Chocolate Covered Salted and Sweet Popcorn Bars

    By 23 Comments

    Chocolate Covered Salted and Sweet Popcorn Bars - All That I'm Eating
    I love popcorn. I don’t know what it is that makes it so addictive that you carry on eating it even though you know it’ll be stuck in your teeth for hours afterwards. I think popcorn is responsible for starting a lot of arguments; queuing at the cinema inevitably results in the question, “Salted or sweet popcorn”? and the ensuing debate afterwards discussing the merits of both flavours. 

    If I had to choose it would be sweet. Fortunately I no longer have to make this decision as the ingenious people from Toasted have made the ultimate popcorn; sweet and salt. If ever there was a day to rival the invention of sliced bread it has to be this. Never again do we need to decide and end up wishing we’d had the other. This popcorn deserved to be treated to something a little special.

    You will need:
    300g milk chocolate (I used Milka with Daim)
    A few large handfuls of popcorn (salted and sweet ideally)
    100g white chocolate read more

    An Autumn Picnic 3 of 3: Caramelised Pears with Crumbled Parkin

    By 21 Comments

    A picnic must always have something sweet to round it off; a jam tart or two, some chocolate biscuits or even a slice of cake. This being an autumn picnic meant that the sweet must have a seasonal feel. Pears were an obvious choice but you can’t finish a picnic with just a pear that would be akin to having a carrot instead of a birthday cake. No, these pears needed some warmth and caramelised pears seemed just the ticket. 

    Parkin is a traditional cake eaten on Bonfire Night so I made some a few days before the picnic as I had heard it is a cake better left before eating. This would be the perfect accompaniment to the warm gooey pears. read more

    An Autumn Picnic 2 of 3: Garlic Butter Mushroom Burgers

    By 14 Comments

    Autumn Picnic - Garlic Mushroom Burgers
    By now those picnic attendees that are left will be crying out for some sustenance and these garlic mushroom burgers really hit the spot; they are warm, juicy and full of flavour. There are several reasons why I chose to use mushrooms rather than meat: you don’t need to take an extra pan, minimum effort is required for delicious results and I think they are actually nicer! Also they sit happily on the BBQ needing barely any attention so you can get on and enjoy the picnic without having to stand and watch over them.


    You will need:

    4 large mushrooms Garlic butter (butter, garlic, parsley and black pepper) 4 bread rolls

    I prepared the butter before I left by crushing three garlic cloves into about 50g butter and mixing it together with a few sprigs of chopped parsley and some black pepper.
    Take the mushrooms and wrap them (gill side up) in some foil so they are completely covered. Put the parcel onto the edge of the BBQ, so it is not directly over the heat, and leave them to soften in their own juices for about 20 minutes. When they are soft put a little of the garlic butter onto the mushroom gills and leave the parcel open so that some of the moisture evaporates. After about five minutes toast the buns on the BBQ and put a mushroom in each bun. read more

    An Autumn Picnic 1 of 3: Spiced Cider and Sticky Chilli Sausages

    By 18 Comments

    Autumn Picnic - Making Spiced Cider
    Who doesn’t love a picnic? The optimum picnic is of course one where the sun is shining, the birds are singing and everyone has some food that they enjoy. This perfection can normally successfully be achieved in summer where there are lower risks of rain, wind and cold. However, that’s not to say you can’t have a picnic in the autumn; as long as you’re a bit clever with what you make. The idea of this autumn picnic is to encourage you to embrace the outdoors even when you might think outside entertainment is over. In the next three posts I’ll be showing you the recipes I created to keep everyone warm and fed on a blustery afternoon adventure. I did actually make this picnic outside; you can find some pictures of it on my Facebook page, and everything I needed for it fit into a picnic set and one other small bag (two saucepans and some foil). The only additional piece of equipment you need is a BBQ or stove; both to cook the food on and to warm your hands and guests.

    To kick the picnic off to a good start I made some spiced cider. The reason for this was twofold; it’s a marriage made in heaven when mixed with cinnamon and I thought if my guests drunk a little cider they might get their cider jacket on and forget it’s cold.
    When the BBQ is good and hot, put the cider into a saucepan and add a few cloves, a stick of cinnamon and some star anise. Keep on the heat until lovely and warm and then pour into cups and warm up your hands and your insides.

    read more

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