All That I'm Eating

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

Salmon Nicoise Quiche

By 6 Comments

This quiche is full of vegetables and that is a great way to disguise the fact it’s actually got double carbs in. Potatoes AND pastry; who doesn’t love that? My salmon nicoise quiche is a great way to take leftovers to another level. I made the nicoise salad, so everything was prepped and cooked, and then assembled the quiche the next day. Served alongside some mustard flecked dressed lettuce, this is a perfect lunch for me.

Delicious served warm from the oven you can slice this nicoise quiche into portions and freeze them individually, ready to be defrosted and warmed up another day. read more

Smoked Salmon and Broccoli Quiche

By 28 Comments

I used to think of quiche as a dull, beige pastry which got wheeled out from old cookery books from time to time and no one was particularly fussed about it. Turns out I was wrong. It’s a most excellent pastry. I cooked my smoked salmon and broccoli quiche a few weeks ago, divided it up and froze it in wedges. Now I’m working from home I love to have something interesting for lunch. When it’s quiche day, it’s the best day of the week.

The freshness of the broccoli and spinach combined with the flavourful smoked salmon is a winning combination. It feels rather luxurious to have it for lunch. read more

Baked Eggs with Spinach and Cheddar

By 16 Comments

Also known as eggs en cocotte this is a classic recipe and one I can’t believe I’ve never made before! My baked eggs with spinach and cheddar take no time at all to make; it’s on the table in under 15 minutes. Don’t be fooled though, this simple recipe is seriously luxurious and packed with comforting flavours.

Once your fork (or spoon!) hits that runny yolk it mixes with the soft spinach, melted cheese and double cream and it is truly a joy to eat. The egg white should be just set and the yolk still runny. They are delicious served on their own but served with some crusty bread for dipping you really can’t go wrong. read more

Smoked Bacon and Kale Soup

By 11 Comments

There’s something special about watching the steam rise from a hot bowl of soup after you’ve been working in the garden all morning; you just know it’s going to fill you up. My smoked bacon and kale soup came about simply to use up some ingredients in the kitchen. I cooked up enough for six portions so there’s plenty in the freezer for a wet and windy day. We have rather busy weekends and when lunchtime comes it’s nice to stop, take some time and eat something nourishing. read more

Green Summer Vegetable Lasagne

By 19 Comments

It is important to note that this recipe is not shy on calories. There’s cheese, double cream, lashings of olive oil, layers of pasta and plenty of veg. My green summer vegetable lasagne is quicker to make than a traditional lasagne (there’s no baking) and you can use the sauce with any pasta if you so choose. I like to think that all that green veg negates the calories and I happily ploughed through a whole plate of this. Bear in mind, I am very greedy and although the recipe below says it’s for two, it would definitely stretch to three or four! read more

Strawberry and Peanut Tart

By 12 Comments

Strawberry and Peanut Tart

Minimum fuss and maximum results were the name of the game with my most recent dessert. Another hot day, the last thing I needed was to be baking pastry, so I didn’t, but made a tart nonetheless. My Strawberry and Peanut Tart makes use of a few sneaky kitchen shortcuts to make a delicious and impressive pudding. A chocolate and peanut base smothered with cream and stacked high with fresh fruit it almost seemed a shame to cut into it. But, you know, someone had to.

Ingredients

You will need (for 6-8 servings):

  • 180g dark chocolate digestives
  • 2 heaped tbsp peanut butter
  • 3 tbsp salted butter
  • 300ml double cream
  • 150ml low fat Greek yoghurt
  • Strawberries and cherries (or other berries)
  • 2 tbsp peanuts

Method

Start by heating the peanut butter and butter together in a small pan on a low heat. Stir from time to time until melted and mixed together.

Add the digestive biscuits to a bowl and then smash them up with the end of a rolling pin until you have a breadcrumb texture. Pour over the melted peanut butter and butter and mix together well.

Line a 20cm spring form cake tin then tip the biscuit mix into the tin, spread out over the base and flatten the top using the back of a spoon.

Refrigerate for an hour minimum, longer if you have it.

Prepare the fruit; chop the green bits off the strawberries, stone the cherries if you like, and put to one side.

Add the peanuts to a small, dry frying pan and heat on medium to toast the peanuts. Remove from the heat when lightly golden and smelling marvellous then crush in a pestle and mortar or in a bag with a rolling pin.

Whip the double cream until you have firm peaks. Gently fold the yoghurt through the cream.

Remove the base from the fridge and put onto a large plate. Pile the cream on top of the base and then top with the fruit. Sprinkle over the crushed peanuts.

This was one of those desserts that was so satisfying to cut through with a knife. Firstly you have to move it through the heavy fruit into the fluffy cream, then you meet a little resistance at the base with a very satisfying chink when knife meets plate. The dark chocolate in the digestives gives a hint of chocolate throughout the tart without being too overwhelming and the peanut taste in the base mirrored by the peanuts over the top brings a great taste and texture. Adding the yoghurt to the cream not only makes the cream go further without adding any extra fat but also gives a nice tang and freshness to the whole dessert. Juicy strawberries and cherries made a fantastic topping for this but any berries would work well too.

Strawberry, Basil and Shortbread Mess

By 11 Comments

strawberry and basil mess

When there’s strawberries in the house that’s how I know it’s summer. I never eat them out of season; I feel like it’s worth the wait to abstain from eating strawberries for nine or ten months of the year and then gorge on them from late May until they disappear again. Mostly I just eat them as they are but sometimes I like to make something a little more interesting. This Strawberry, Basil and Shortbread Mess is exactly that. Something that doesn’t take long to make but turns a weekday evening into something a little more special. And it does look rather lovely if I do say so myself.

Ingredients

You will need (for two small puddings):

  • 1 shortbread wedge – see recipe below
  • Handful very ripe strawberries
  • 100ml double cream
  • Few sprigs fresh basil

For the shortbread:

  • 225g salted butter
  • 100g sugar
  • 275g plain flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

There are two ways of making this. The first, and the best in my opinion, is to make your own shortbread. The second is to use some shop bought shortbread or other biscuits.

To make the shortbread grease a 20cm tin with a little butter. I used a round one for this but I have used a square one for the same recipe, it just needs a slightly shorter cooking time.

Beat the butter until pale and creamy then add the sugar and vanilla and beat again until very pale, smooth and creamy.

Add the flour to the bowl and gently mix it in.

Tip the dough into the tin and then press it down with the back of a spoon. Prick the shortbread all over with a fork and mark into wedges.

Bake in a preheated oven at 160C for an hour or so or until the shortbread is golden brown.

Leave to cool and then re-mark the lines for the wedges before leaving to cool completely and then removing from the tin.

Marking and then re-marking the wedges will make it much easier to cut into pieces when you take it out of the tin.

Whip the cream until you have soft peaks. Finely chop three or four big strawberries and some of the basil leaves and then stir this through the whipped cream.

Divide the cream into two glasses or bowls then add some slices strawberries, crumbled shortbread and a little more basil.

Strawberry and basil is one of my favourite flavour combinations; I love the sweetness of the berries with the aromatic flavour of the soft basil. There’s just a small amount of cream in this, it would be a little heavy otherwise. The buttery, crumbly shortbread adds a fantastic texture to this little pudding and it would work really well with other summer fruits too. Trying different biscuits is certainly something I’ll be trying too!

Artichoke and Red Pepper Gratin

By 11 Comments

artichoke and red pepper gratin

It was one of those days where I wanted something simple but interesting. A dish which would take a few minutes to make and take plenty of time to enjoy eating it. I tried something similar to this artichoke and red pepper gratin when in France last year and have wanted to have a go at making it myself for ages. It’s a perfect recipe for a rainy Sunday afternoon and although made from a few simple ingredients is so much more than the sum of its parts.

Ingredients

You will need (for two greedy people or four less-so-greedy people):

  • 2 red peppers, thinly sliced
  • 2 tins artichokes – see note below
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp olive oil plus extra for roasting
  • 200g soft goats cheese
  • 150ml double cream
  • Salt and pepper

Note – I used tinned artichokes in water. If I made it again I would use the chargrilled artichokes in oil because they would give a lovely, smoky flavour but they would need draining really well.

Method

Put the sliced peppers onto a baking tray and mix with a little oil and salt and pepper. Bake at 200C for 20 minutes until starting to char at the edges.

While the peppers are roasting add a tbsp olive oil to a frying pan with the garlic and thyme. Add the artichokes and fry gently for a few minutes.

Add the artichokes and peppers to a roasting dish.

Gently warm up the double cream in a small saucepan. Stir through the goat’s cheese and a good grinding of black pepper and carry on stirring until the cheese has fully melted into the cream.

Pour the cheese sauce over the vegetables then put everything back in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on the top.

Serve with crusty bread.

The best way to serve this is at the table with a plate each and a serving spoon. You can scoop up as many artichokes and peppers as you like onto your plate and then load them onto crusty, ripped off pieces of bread and enjoy every mouthful. The sweetness of the peppers with the delicate, slightly grassy artichokes and smooth cheese sauce is truly delicious. A little bit of added thyme finishes everything off beautifully and if I could have got my hands on a fougasse to serve it with it would have been even better.

Blood Orange Posset

By 14 Comments

blood orange possets in individual glasses

Slicing open a blood orange has an air of anticipation about it. Will it be intense purple almost throughout, have a few red stripes or actually be mostly orange? Whichever colour you end up with they all have the same fantastic flavour. I love cooking with blood oranges; adding a splash to a cocktail or baking them into something delicious. This recipe for blood orange posset was something I had never tried before and I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make. Just three ingredients are needed for a pudding that tastes so much more than the sum of its parts.

Ingredients

You will need (for four individual possets):

  • 400ml double cream
  • 150g golden caster sugar
  • Zest and juice two blood oranges

Method

Add the cream and sugar to a large pan and bring the cream up to the boil. Stir it all the time to ensure the sugar dissolves and the cream doesn’t catch.

Boil the cream and sugar together for three minutes stirring continuously.

Remove the cream from the heat and add the blood orange zest and juice.

Pour the posset mix into four glasses or cups and then leave to set in the fridge for at least four hours.

When you are ready to serve grate over a little dark chocolate.

These are fantastic served with chocolate shortbread so you can dip the shortbread into the posset and scoop it all up!

Can you ever go wrong with chocolate and orange together? I don’t think so and this classic flavour combination is so honest in this dessert. Such simple flavours; no fuss or flair, just pure zingy orange mixed into thick cream and dark chocolate. It’s almost unbelievable how well it sets considering there are just three ingredients but it’s thick, rich and spoonable and perfect served with crunchy shortbread. For a pudding that takes just minutes to make this blood orange posset will be my go to dessert for any dinner party!

Smoky Chipotle Tomato Soup

By 21 Comments

Smoky Chipotle Tomato Soup - close up

I made some enchiladas a few weeks ago and added one chipotle chilli for four people. You couldn’t taste it at all; there was a little bit of smoky flavour but no chilli heat; it wasn’t the end of the world, they were still very tasty. When I made this Smoky Chipotle Tomato Soup I added one chilli again, this time for two people, and it was probably the hottest thing I have ever eaten. It’s amazing how different two chillies that look just the same can have completely different heat levels. Despite it being so hot, it was actually rather delicious. Served with lots of bread and a glass of milk.

Ingredients

You will need (for two generous bowls):

  • 1 onion, roughly chopped £0.10
  • 1 carrot, diced £0.08
  • Olive oil for cooking £0.10
  • 1 large garlic clove, crushed £0.05
  • 1 chipotle chilli, roughly chopped £0.20
  • 1 tin tomatoes £0.75
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste £0.05
  • 250ml vegetable stock £0.30
  • 150ml single cream £0.55
  • Salt and pepper £0.05

Total £2.23

Method

Start by frying the onions and carrot together in a little olive oil on a medium heat. Cook them for at least 15 minutes and then add the garlic and chipotle chilli and fry for another five minutes.

Pour in the tomatoes, vegetable stock and tomato paste and bring everything to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes.

Blend the soup until it’s the texture you like (I like mine almost completely smooth) then return to a low heat, add a little salt and pepper and the cream. Stir everything together then serve with some crusty bread. You can top with a little fresh coriander if you like.

I served this with some bake at home baguettes that I had pre-sliced before baking and I spread a little sundried tomato paste and parsley to each slice before baking.

I do like adding a dribble of cream to a tomato soup; in this case it did help to take the edge off the chilli. The base of carrots and onions adds a lovely sweetness to the soup along with the savoury flavour from the stock and the slightly acidic tomatoes it ends up lovely and balanced with a smoky backbone and, in this case, very spicy. If you don’t fancy it as hot, add a little smoked paprika for a similar smoky tomato soup without the chilli heat. Simple to make, cheap and easy to scale up for more portions this is a vibrant, happy soup for a rainy spring day.


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