All That I'm Eating

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

Elderflower and Blueberry Jelly

By 15 Comments

elderflower and blueberry jelly
I do like a jelly; easy to make, it doesn’t need many ingredients, it looks lovely and it makes for great entertainment when trying to serve it into smaller bowls. You might have seen I made some elderflower cordial recently and other than trying it with sparkling water in the evenings this elderflower and blueberry jelly was what I rustled up to take to a Sunday evening BBQ with my parents. A fantastic dessert to make in advance and forget about in the fridge.

Ingredients

You will need (to make enough for four generous servings):
  • 150g blueberries
  • 1 pint water and elderflower cordial, mix it slightly stronger than you would to drink
  • 1 sachet powdered gelatine
  • 8 tbsp boiling water (or whatever your gelatine says!)

Method

Put the blueberries into the bowl you will serve the jelly in. Add the hot water to a large measuring jug and sprinkle the gelatine on top. Stir to make sure the gelatine is well mixed in and fully dissolved. I ended up adding a little more water to help the gelatine along. Pour in the elderflower cordial mix and stir together well. Add the elderflower mix to the blueberries and refrigerate until set.

I’m not sure why some of the blueberries sank but the majority floated; it didn’t matter at all, if anything it added a slight curiosity to the dessert. A large serving spoon is your friend when serving this up lest it wobble its way off a smaller spoon onto the table or floor. I made it in a bowl as I thought it looked pretty but you could divide it between glasses or jars as I did for my blackberry and perry jelly previously. I love the delicate colour of the elderflower jelly broken up with the little blueberries. The flavours worked really nicely together too; a light bowl of summer perfect for the warm evenings. read more

Homemade Elderflower Cordial

By 17 Comments

picking wild elderflower
If you’ve been reading my blog over the years you’ll know I love anything elderflower. This year I was invited to go foraging in the grounds at Audley Inglewood, home to restaurant The Walmesley, and to knock up a batch of homemade elderflower cordial with their head chef Gert Pienaar. It was great to go out to the fields, pick the elderflowers and have a good old chat about food at the same time. I’ve not made elderflower cordial before; syrup and sugar yes but this was my first cordial attempt.

Ingredients

The recipe we used was written down in Gert’s secret black book but it was very similar to this one on the BBC Good Food site. Apart from the added ingredients below.

You will need (for around 1.5 litres of finished cordial):

  • 20 elderflower heads
  • Sugar – all the recipes I’ve seen vary so much in sugar quantity so it’s how sweet you like it
  • 1.5 litres boiling water
  • 2 lemons, zest and juice
  • 50g citric acid
  • 1 stalk lemongrass

Method

Tap the elderflower heads on the side of a bowl to get rid of any insects then put them into a bowl with the sugar, lemon zest and juice and citric acid. 

Pour over the boiling water and whisk everything together well.

Add everything to a sterilised jar, whack the lemongrass with a knife and add this to the jar too. read more

Pulled Pork Ribs with Carrot & Ginger Slaw

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I’m often a bit slow on the uptake. Pulled food, more specifically pulled pork, has been doing the rounds for some time now and it’s not something that I had attempted. Yet. I wanted to make an Asian coleslaw that used some spring carrots (I demoed this at Eat Reading Live) but wasn’t too sure what to serve it with. It seemed an ideal time to attempt some sort of pulled pork. If, like me, you can’t be bothered with pulling anything I think this would be fantastic with some leftover roast pork or chicken in a nice soft roll. read more

Spring Carrots with Crème Fraîche and Herbs

By 12 Comments

spring carrots
Carrots seem to be in my fridge no matter what time of year it is. Earlier in the year and around this time they are skinny spring carrots bought or delivered with their huge green fronds still attached. In the autumn and winter months they are the sturdier, larger carrots which are essential for roasting, stewing and making into a hot soup. I do sometimes find myself at a loss for what to do with spring carrots; other than nibbling on them as they are or serving simply with butter. I needed to find something new to try, something to cut through but complement their sweetness: a recipe for spring carrots with crème fraîche and herbs. 

Ingredients

You will need (as a side dish for two):

  • 1 small bunch spring carrots
  • 3-4 spring onions
  • Few sprigs fresh oregano, dill and parsley
  • Olive oil for cooking
  • Juice 1/2 lemon
  • 100ml crème fraîche
  • Salt and pepper

Method

Scrub the carrots. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the carrots. Boil for around 10 minutes or until soft but still with a little bite.

While the carrots are cooking, slice the spring onions finely and then gently fry in a small frying pan in a little olive oil until softened but not brown.

Drain the carrots and put to one side.

Add the lemon juice, herbs and salt and pepper to the spring onions, keeping it on a low heat, then mix in the crème fraîche. Allow it to warm through a little. read more

Dark Chocolate, Orange and Hazelnut Brownies

By 16 Comments

Gooey orange and hazelnut dark chocolate brownies
I sit at home sometimes, nothing unusual there, and things pop into my head and then I can’t get them out. If I have a hankering for a particular food, place to go or thing to do nothing else will suffice until I lay my hands on that thing. One evening last week I really needed some chocolate. I didn’t want wishy washy unsatisfying chocolate I wanted full on, one slice is enough, complete chocolate indulgence. The kind where you feel like you have a chocolate hangover when you’re halfway through the first bite. My dark chocolate, orange and hazelnut brownies were created out of desire and the need to use up some hazelnuts in the back of the cupboard. I’ve been practising my brownie recipe for some years now so I thought I’d try a variation on my plain recipe.

Ingredients

You will need (for nine brownies):

  • 100g salted butter
  • 180g golden caster sugar
  • 70g light muscovado sugar
  • 120g dark chocolate with orange (the stuff I used had caramelised orange peel in)
  • 1 tbsp golden syrup
  • 2 eggs
  • Splash vanilla extract
  • 100g plain flour
  • 2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 50g roughly chopped hazelnuts (mine were blanched)

Method

Line a (roughly) 20cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper. You could grease the tin but anything for a life of easier washing up. Melt the butter, sugars, chocolate and golden syrup together in a pan over a low heat until melted and well combined. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Beat the eggs and vanilla extract together then whisk in the cooled chocolate mixture. Mix the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together then fold this into the chocolate mix. Gently mix in the hazelnuts. Pour the brownie mix into the tin then bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 25-30 minutes. Mark into pieces while still hot.

I think everyone likes their brownies differently; some prefer them cakier, some want them still gooey and others will have them like fudge. The thing I like about this recipe is the corner pieces are cakier than the edge pieces which are fudgier and the (best) centre brownie which is still slightly liquid. The middle piece is my favourite and I try to take it out when it’s fresh from the oven to enjoy hot. This of course is somewhat awkward as you need all manner of kitchen implements to try and extract it; it’s like culinary Operation but well worth the effort. The chocolate is just intense enough, the orange is more of a whisper and the hazelnuts add a welcome texture. Exactly what I wanted. read more

Dried Blueberry and Almond Cereal Bars

By 19 Comments

Dried Blueberry and Almond Cereal Bars
You know when you buy an ingredient to make something and the remainder of it sits in the cupboard waiting to be used? I had a bit of this going on with oats, flaked almonds, seeds, maple syrup and dried blueberries. To use them (or as many of them as I could) up I made some lovely crumbly cereal bars. I wanted to keep the butter to a minimum to try and keep them a little on the healthy side.

Ingredients

You will need (for 12 cereal bars):

  • 225g oats
  • 100ml maple syrup
  • 150g butter
  • 75g dried blueberries
  • 50g flaked almonds
  • 1 tbsp poppy seeds

Method

Preheat an oven to 180C and lightly grease a baking tray. The one I used was about 20cm x 20cm.

Melt the maple syrup and butter together in a saucepan on a low heat until melted and well combined.

Mix the oats, dried blueberries, almonds and poppy seeds together then pour in the syrup and butter and stir together until well mixed.

Press the mixture into the prepared baking tray and then place into the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Mark into pieces while still hot then remove from the tray when cooled. read more

Victoria Sponge with Rhubarb and Vanilla Compote

By 20 Comments

It’s always nice to see some bright pink rhubarb poking its head out at the market but as it’s the first of the season it can be quite pricey. So when you have only £1.80, what can you do with two rhubarb sticks? Make a lovely, vibrant rhubarb compote/jam to sandwich in the middle of two fat slices of cake of course. Other things that you can do with two sticks of rhubarb include: jousting, a spot of relay running or making a parasol (if you have the leaves left on) but none of those would be anywhere near as good as this cake. 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

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

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

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