All That I'm Eating

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

Five Minute Salmon Noodles

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I blinked and it is the end of January! I can’t believe this is my first post of 2021. But these five minute salmon noodles are quite an apt recipe for now. I’ve been working from home and the appeal of toast and sandwiches has worn pretty thin. However, I don’t want to be making a time consuming lunch each day. So I started to think about food I could make in a few minutes; a few basic recipes which will add variety to my working week and be a doddle to make.

I used some sweet chilli hot smoked salmon for these noodles. It was reduced and I used it for two lunches (the other of which I’ll tell you about below). A handful of fresh vegetables, dried noodles and a soy dressing made from store cupboard ingredients are all you need for a delicious lunch in minutes. read more

Blackcurrant Frangipane Tart

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I can’t say no to blackcurrants; whatever they are in I will like it. They have such a distinctive flavour and when I found some at the market I had to set about making a blackcurrant frangipane tart. This tart is a marriage of two of my favourite things: blackcurrants and sweet almond frangipane.

The best thing about this tart comes from using raw blackcurrants. As they cook in the frangipane filling they burst and become sweet and sticky. The blackcurrants retain their sharp berry flavour but taint the tart with splashes of deep purple impromptu jam. With autumn just around the corner I can’t think of anything else I would rather spoon into my face. read more

Peach and Cherry Crumble

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Whenever peaches are in season I always plan to cook something with them. More often than not though I just end up eating the peaches from the fruit bowl because they’re irresistible. Not this time! My peach and cherry crumble is so deliciously summery and the colour of the fruit once it’s baked is divine. I’m so glad some of the peaches survived to make this crumble.

The delicate white flesh of the peaches combines so well with the vibrant red of the cherries. As the fruit was really ripe I only added a small amount of honey as that’s all it needed. Don’t skimp on the lemon, it brings a much needed sharpness to the crumble. We enjoyed this as it is but it would be even better with a dribble of double cream. read more

Baked Cauliflower Curry

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Baked Cauliflower Curry

I really like this curry sauce. A lot. I’ve been working on my baked cauliflower curry for a while now and I’m so pleased with it! Baking the cauliflower gives the curry a delicious nutty taste. The flavour and texture of the sauce when it’s blended is really similar to a sweet korma sauce, but all the sweetness here comes from vegetables. It’s a really flexible recipe too; there are some suggestions for changing it up at the end.

Ingredients

You will need (for four):

  • 1 small cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 1-2 tbsp olive oil, for cooking
  • Salt and pepper

For the curry sauce: read more

Spring Vegetable Tray Bake

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There’s a certain time of year where the contents of the veg box are suddenly more vibrant. There’s something red or orange which isn’t a carrot and something green which isn’t cabbage. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against a good brassica but when the first spring vegetables come through you know that it’s not long until the spring and summer veg are in full swing. To mark this occasion I made a spring vegetable tray bake; to celebrate all that is delicious at this time of year. read more

Lemon and Coconut Flapjacks

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Lemon and Coconut Flapjacks

When I cut into a lemon I can’t help but give it a good sniff. It’s the same with lime and grapefruit. There’s something about that citrus smell that I just can’t wait to inhale; especially if it’s a drizzly day. I also love tropical flavours at this time of year: coconut, passion fruit, mango, you name it! Combining a bit of citrus and a bit of tropical was the idea here so I set about baking some lemon and coconut flapjacks.

ingredients

You will need (for 12 flapjacks):

  • 125g butter
  • 125g soft brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp golden syrup
  • 225g oats
  • 25g desiccated coconut
  • Zest 1 lemon
  • Juice 1 lemon
  • 4-6 tbsp icing sugar (I used unrefined)

method

Preheat an oven to 180C and grease a baking dish well, the one I used was 20cm x 20cm.

In a small saucepan melt together the butter, brown sugar and golden syrup on a low heat. Stir often to ensure everything gets well combined.

Stir the oats, coconut and lemon zest together in a large bowl.

Once the butter, sugar and syrup have melted pour them into the oats and mix everything together well to ensure that the butter mix has coated everything.

Tip the oats into the baking dish and flatten the top with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the flapjacks from the oven and mark into portions while they are still hot. Leave to cool for at least 20 minutes before removing and leaving to cool on a wire rack.

To make the icing squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl. Sift in three tbsp icing sugar to start with and see how thick the icing gets. Keep adding more icing sugar until the icing becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Drizzle, splat or dunk the flapjacks in the icing to decorate.

Now when you come to ice the flapjacks don’t be alarmed that the icing dribbles down in between the oats. That tangy lemon hit will settle somewhere inside and be delicious when you come to eat it. By using unrefined icing sugar the icing will come out a pale brown/yellow colour but if you use refined icing sugar it will come out white. I really like using chunky whole oats for flapjacks as I think it gives a great texture and mixed with coconut the overall texture of these is slightly chewy at the edges and soft in the middle. Just how I like them.

Apricot and Coconut Granola

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apricot and coconut granola

I used to think I didn’t like dried apricots. As it turns out, I do, but only the extra squidgy unsulphured ones. When you bite into them or pull them apart it’s almost like they are full of thick honey and you can see the strands of sticky apricot trying to hold on to the other half. They are the perfect addition to some apricot and coconut granola; a burst of sunny-day flavours for breakfast is how I like to start my day.

ingredients

You will need (for a big jar of finished granola):

  • 350g oats
  • 150g mixed nuts (hazelnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, macadamias, walnuts or whatever you like)
  • 75g seeds (poppy, linseed, sesame or whatever you like)
  • 75g desiccated coconut
  • 125g dried apricots, chopped
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • 120ml honey or maple syrup

method

In a large bowl mix together the oats, nuts, seeds and desiccated coconut.

Preheat an oven to 150C and line two large baking trays with baking paper.

Add the honey (or maple syrup) and coconut oil to a small pan and heat gently until the coconut oil has melted. Stir everything together to make sure it’s well combined.

Pour the honey and coconut mixture over the granola ingredients and mix everything together really well with a large spoon.

Tip the granola onto the lined baking trays and spread the mix out over the tray so you have one even layer.

Put the trays into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until it’s smelling toasty. Remove the trays from the oven, mix everything together well and then put back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes so that everything gets evenly toasted. Be careful not to let anything catch but do leave it in long enough for everything to be a lovely golden colour.

Remove the trays from the oven and leave to cool. Add the chopped apricot to the granola mix then tip into an airtight container.

This amount of granola will last two of us at least a fortnight having a generous serving with yoghurt.

I love how dark the apricots are amongst all the other ingredients. You can of course use the orange dried apricots, or any other dried fruit that you like to make it your own. The combination of apricot and coconut together I really like and I think I’d add some coconut flakes next time for more texture. I like to serve my homemade granola over yoghurt and my OH likes to add some to other cereal and make both go a little further.

Banana Bread with Chocolate, Oats and Honey

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banana bread with chocolate, oats and honey

You know those bananas that you keep avoiding in the fruit bowl? The ones which got a bit speckled a few days ago and now are fully fledged brown? Well, throw out your normal go-to recipe because my banana bread with chocolate, oats and honey is the way to go. Adding a few extra ingredients gives it a delicious flavour and texture and I have been very much enjoying having a slice for breakfast each morning. Any excuse to start the day with chocolate.

ingredients

You will need (for one banana bread loaf):

  • 125g butter
  • 3 medium overripe bananas
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g honey
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 250g plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 75g oats, plus a few extra
  • 100g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

method

Grease and line a loaf tin and preheat the oven to 160C.

Melt the butter and honey together in a small saucepan and stir to ensure they are well combined.

Mash the bananas in a large bowl then pour in the butter and honey and crack in the eggs. Whisk everything together well.

Sift the flour, sugar and baking powder into the banana mix and fold everything in gently. Stir in the oats and most of the chocolate chunks.

Pour the mix into the prepared tin and then sprinkle the extra oats and leftover chocolate over the top.

Bake for an hour, then check on the loaf to see if a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle. If not, keep baking and checking it every 5-10 minutes until fully baked.

Leave the loaf to cool in the tin for a few minutes before removing and leaving to cool on a wire rack.

The oats on top of the banana bread have a lovely toasted flavour and the oats inside the bread swell up and have a deliciously chewy texture. Who can resist a slice of warm banana bread? It’s even harder to resist when you know it’s covered in and is full of melted chocolate. Dark chocolate is definitely the best choice for this as it works so well with the sweetness from the bananas, sugar and honey. The honey gives the cake a beautiful mellow flavour and slight sticky texture. If your banana bread lasts a few days and you want to freshen it up, try lightly grilling or microwaving it and serving with plain yoghurt. Honestly one of the best breakfasts imaginable.

Strawberry and Peanut Tart

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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! And if you’re after some more really easy strawberry recipes you can find some here!

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