All That I'm Eating

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

My Favourite Recipes To Use Up Leftovers

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At the end of the year and the beginning of the next I like to have a big clear out of my fridge, freezer and cupboards. For two reasons. First, and I think this is true for many people in December, there’s plenty of leftovers. Second, I like to take stock of what I have ready for the next year. These are the dishes I cook which I come back to again and again: my favourite recipes for using up leftovers.

Dried Fruit and Nuts

There always seems to be a packet or two of nuts, fruits and seeds in the cupboard. Half used in a cake or something. A great way to use up lots of dried fruit and nuts is to make some granola. Whatever combination of leftovers you have, just stick to the proportions in my recipe and voila! read more

Honey Cake

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There’s honey, and then there’s honey. I like all of it but my preference is for local honey. Delicious in so many recipes I wanted to make the honey the star of the dish; so I set about baking a honey cake.

At a market recently I tried some different honeys from a local producer. Not only were they different to each other, and commercial honeys, in colour and texture but the taste was out of this world. I chose the wildflower honey and remembered I had wanted to bake a honey cake for a while. The name ‘honey cake’ conjures up images of fine summer picnics in the garden, tall glasses of lemon barley water and sounds like you imagine it tastes. read more

Mince Pie Crumble Bars

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Mince Pie Crumble Bars, out of the oven

In my perfect world, a mince pie would be 70% pastry, 30% mincemeat. It’s not that I don’t like mincemeat I just don’t like too much of it. That’s where my mince pie crumble bars come in. A thick layer of buttery shortbread, a spiced mincemeat middle and further crumbly shortbread on the top. Let’s be honest, it’s mostly biscuit with a hint of Christmas. Perfect.

Ingredients

You will need (for 12 mince pie crumble bars):

  • 300g softened butter
  • 100g sugar
  • 400g plain flour
  • 1 small jar mincemeat

Method

Grease and line a baking tray or dish. The one I used was approximately 20cm x 30cm. Preheat an oven to 170C. read more

Christmas Meal Plan

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At Christmas there are four things that I like to do: eat, go for walks, play games and watch festive television shows. I do like to plan ahead and this year is no different with my Christmas meal plan. With a plan in place there’s no last minute rush to the shops for those forgotten ingredients and no blank looks when someone says “What’s for dinner?”. With a little bit of careful planning, some batch cooking and a few shortcuts I am looking forward to a relaxed festive break. read more

My Favourite Spring Recipes

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Tuscan Sausage Ragu

There are different shades of green in spring; the deep greens of kale and purple sprouting broccoli and the vibrant greens of asparagus and wild garlic. It is around this time each year that things seem to come alive, the evenings are getting longer and the days warmer. Trees are blossoming and everyone seems to awaken from a winter slumber to shake off those cobwebs (literally and figuratively). I start to cook lighter meals at this time of year but there’s always room for something more indulgent for those chilly evenings that catch you by surprise. With so many things about to come into season there’s much to look out for and these are my favourite spring recipes.

A few of my favourite hearty meals, which also lend themselves very well to a bit of batch cooking and freezing, are all pasta related! There’s my Tuscan Sausage Ragu which was inspired by a meal I had in Tuscany; you’ll need excellent sausages for this. My Layered Ragu and Aubergine Pasta Bake takes a bit of time to make but it is so worth it, the more aubergines the better as far as I’m concerned. For something a little lighter, and my favourite way to cook with chard, my Chard and Bacon Open Lasagne is much less effort than a normal lasagne. I do love a bit of spice and a tomato based curry is one of my top comfort foods; this Slow Cooked Lamb Curry is full of spices and fresh flavours.

A quick and easy weeknight dinner is always a bonus; it allows for extra time in the garden on those long evenings. A baked aubergine is one of my favourite things to eat; be it with pesto, jerk seasoning or my Miso Glazed Aubergine. The smoky flavour of chipotle chillies and the sweetness of the sweetcorn work so well together in my Chipotle Sweetcorn Hash. For a real hint of summer my Artichoke and Red Pepper Gratin is just asking to be enjoyed outside with a cold glass of wine and some warm crusty bread.

Having some delicious veggie meals stashed away in the freezer means I always have something I can serve with baked potatoes, rice or bread and my Smoky Cowboy Beans and my Lentil and Black Bean Chilli are two of my favourite recipes.

It wouldn’t be spring without Easter and a wonderful Easter Afternoon Tea is well worth a try; sandwiches, sausage rolls, scones, chocolate shortbread and rice krispie nests. For something a little different to the usual why not give my White Chocolate Easter Egg Nests a go?

There’s always room for some baking and these Spanish Fennel Biscuits are similar to something I tried in Madrid. Delicious with cream cheese and sherry! I like my cookies crisp on the outside and gooey in the middle and my Double Chocolate and Orange Cookies are exactly that!

A few other things to look out for at this time of year are Bergamot lemons and I’ve got plenty of Bergamot Recipes to try: as a salad dressing, in a cake and in a cocktail! If you’re lucky enough to find some wild garlic there’s plenty of cooking inspiration if you take a look at these Wild Garlic Recipes. And don’t forget about the Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Rhubarb! What will you be cooking up this spring?

Easter Afternoon Tea

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easter afternoon tea

There are so many delicious cakes and biscuits which appear from the recipe books ready for Easter. Simnel cakes, hot cross buns and Easter egg nest cakes to name a few. Frankly I think it’s shameful that all the Easter treats aren’t served all at the same time with a huge pot of tea and some excellent company. So that’s exactly what an Easter afternoon tea is all about. An excuse to scoff all the tasty cakes and biscuits along with some sandwiches (which of course contain some sort of vegetable to negate the cake calories) and scones (because it’s not afternoon tea without a scone).

Of course, an afternoon tea can comprise whatever takes your fancy, below is what I chose to serve for mine:

  • Cucumber, cream cheese and chive sandwiches
  • Smoked ham and chutney sandwiches
  • Locally made sausage rolls and a small pork pie
  • Sultana scones with clotted cream and jam
  • Rice krispie Easter nest cakes
  • Caramel and chocolate hot cross buns (I bought these!)
  • Chocolate, thyme and lemon shortbread

A nice pot of tea and coffee on the side to wash it all down with finished it off perfectly.

I do really like chocolate Easter egg nests and I have made some delicious white chocolate and coconut ones before. This batch of krispie cakes needed to be slightly on the bitter side as they were being served alongside other sweet foods. I also prefer them when they are the sticky cocoa covered kind rather than the melted chocolate variety as they are much easier to eat!

Ingredients

To make your own rice krispie cakes you will need:

  • 125g rice krispies
  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 100g golden syrup
  • 25g cocoa powder
  • Chocolate eggs to decorate

Put the rice krispies onto a baking tray and put them in a warm oven so they get lovely and toasted.

Melt the butter and golden syrup in a large pan on a low heat. When melted and combined sift in the cocoa powder and mix everything together well.

Tip the krispies into the cocoa mix and stir everything together so it’s well coated.

Divide the cocoa covered rice krispies between 12 cupcake cases and top each one with a couple of chocolate eggs.

You might have noticed that my scones were a little on the flat side. I know exactly why, it was my mistake. I cooked them on foil backed baking paper and I think this stopped the heat from getting to them how it normally would and they didn’t rise as much. They still tasted great covered in clotted cream and raspberry jam though! Plenty of fuel for an afternoon Easter egg hunt!

As much of a fan of a traditional Easter Sunday roast as I am I think this afternoon tea is a fantastic alternative. And the leftovers you have afterwards are excellent.

Mince Pie Fruit Loaf

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Mince Pie Fruit Loaf Baked

I love a mince pie, but they have to be just right. I want the pastry to mince filling ratio to be almost 50:50; too much filling and you can forget it. Preferably my mince pies will be warm and covered in (clotted, ideally) cream. However, I can’t possibly eat that every single day and I still need my mince pie fix. This is how my Mince Pie Fruit Loaf came about; designed to have all the fruity spiciness from a mince pie but without the pastry and cream. Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of butter for spreading!

Ingredients

You will need for one loaf:

  • 30g dried cranberries
  • 125g raisins or sultanas
  • 60g dried figs, chopped
  • 300ml strong Lady Grey tea
  • 425g strong white bread flour
  • 7g fast action yeast
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg, grated
  • 1/2 tsp mixed spice
  • 30g caster sugar
  • Zest 1 orange
  • 60g butter, melted
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 150ml milk, plus extra for brushing

Method

Stir the cranberries, raisins and figs together with the tea then leave to stand for an hour or so. Drain well and put to one side.

I used a mixer for this recipe but you could easily make it by hand with a bowl and a wooden spoon.

Add the flour, yeast, spices, sugar and orange zest to a mixing bowl and stir lightly to mix it all together.

Whisk the melted butter, milk and egg together in a small bowl. While the mixer is on a low speed slowly pour in the milk mixture. Once it’s all been added increase the speed slightly and tip in the drained fruit.

Knead the bread in the mixer for five minutes or so. Cover the bowl and leave the bread in a warm place for 50 minutes or until doubled in size.

Lightly flour a standard sized loaf tin. Knock back the dough lightly then shape it to fit the loaf tin and pop it into the tin. Cover again and leave in a warm place for another 30 minutes.

Preheat an oven to 190C. Brush the top of the bread with a little milk then bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes and the top is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little before removing from the tin and cooling on a wire rack.

This fruit loaf is wonderful in two ways. Firstly, take a slice when it’s cooling down after baking and just watch the butter melt into the bread. The photo above shows my very lumpy butter, that’s how I like it so it forms pools across the slice as it melts. Secondly, serve it toasted for breakfast, again with a good scraping of butter. The fruit, spices and orange are so festive and it keeps so well you can enjoy it for days.

No Alcohol Pomegranate Mojito

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bashing the lime and mint together for mojitos

When it comes to adult soft drinks there are some good options but I don’t like any that are overly sickly and sweet. Fruit juices can be good but they are a little dull; I’m after something which is a bit snazzy. A drink where there has been a little effort put in. My no alcohol pomegranate mojito is so easy to make and packed full of flavour, the pinks and greens are so lovely together and using tonic rather than lemonade gives this mojito a nice bitterness. I made these recently for two guests that came round as I knew both of them wouldn’t be drinking and they went down a treat. You can’t go wrong with mint and lime together as far as I’m concerned.

Ingredients

You will need (per glass):

  • 2 quarters cut from a lime
  • 2 small sprigs fresh mint
  • Pomegranate juice
  • Tonic water

Method

Start by putting the lime and mint together in a glass and bashing them together with the end of a wooden spoon. You can use a muddler if you have one. Squeeze the lime juice out and bruise the mint well to let all the flavours mingle.

Pour the pomegranate juice in until the glass is about two thirds full then top up with tonic water.

If you have any pomegranate seeds or ice to add in they would be great additions.

Pomegranate has such a rich fruity flavour that works really well with the slightly bitter tonic to lift the drink up. The sharp lime and aromatic mint are classic mojito ingredients and you could of course add a little rum if you wanted to. Soda water would be worth a try instead of the tonic too. I like to add a little mint leaf or lime wedge to the side of the glass so it looks a bit more special. I can see several more of these being mixed up soon!

Three Easy Soup Toppings with New Covent Garden Soup

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Mushroom Soup with Cheese and Crouton Topping

I like to look forward to my lunches; whether I’m using up some leftovers to make a quick salad, sticking all sorts of ingredients in a sandwich or slurping on soup. Sometimes it can be very tempting to just grab the quickest thing in the kitchen but if I do that I am invariably disappointed at lunch time. So say hello to my three easy soup toppings which can all be made in less than five minutes, using ingredients you probably already have and can be made in advance to enjoy at work.

New Covent Garden Soups are currently encouraging everyone to revive their lunch life, something I was really keen to get involved with as I think lunch can make or break a day. Below are my three easy soup toppings and the soups that I chose to serve them with. You can get creative and add any of the toppings to any of the soups and have a go at putting your own twist on them too.

Wild Mushroom Soup with Blue Cheese Croutons

You will need (per bowl):

  • One slice stale bread, crusts removed and cut into cubes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Blue cheese (you could use any other cheese if you prefer)

Mix the bread with the oil, a pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper.
Fry the bread in a non-stick pan on a medium heat for a few minutes until lightly golden.
Leave the croutons to cool before mixing with as much blue cheese as you like, ready to top the warm mushroom soup.

Sweet Potato and Corn Soup with Toasted Seeds and Spices

You will need (per bowl):

  • Handful pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tbsp each cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom seeds

Get a small frying pan on a medium heat. Add the seeds and spices and warm for a few minutes, stirring often, until they are smelling toasted and lovely.
They’re ready to pop on your soup, or store for later.

Tomato and Spinach Soup with Herb and Lemon Oil

You will need (per bowl):

  • Small handful basil
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Juice ½ small lemon

    • read more

    Marshmallow Rice Krispie Yule Log

    By 17 Comments

    Marshmallow Rice Krispie Yule Log - finished

    I tried making a traditional Yule Log a few years ago. It was somewhat stressful. Apart from the fact that my butter is never warm enough and I always lose patience and mix it up anyway and deal with the consequential sponge that turns up the whole process is fraught with danger. The rolling up, unrolling, spreading of cream, re-rolling and hoping for no cracking then furiously patching it up with ganache, chocolate flying all over the place. It’s all a bit much for me; I’d rather be sipping a G&T and relaxing rather than cleaning ganache off of the kitchen tiles. That’s how my Marshmallow Rice Krispie Yule Log came about. It’s easy to make and you can fashion it into any shape that you like; the more dexterous amongst you may wish to attempt an actual reindeer.

    Ingredients

    You will need (to serve 6-8 people with a nice thick slice):

    For the icing

    • 250g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
    • 250ml double cream

    For the filling

    • 50g butter
    • 300g marshmallows
    • 125g rice krispies (you can get some gluten free ones to use if liked)
    • 40g honeycomb pieces

    Method

    Start by making the ganache for the icing. Heat the cream until just hot then stir in the chocolate. Keep stirring until the chocolate has completely melted and you have a smooth mixture. Leave to cool and then refrigerate the ganache.

    In a large pan melt the butter and marshmallows together over a low heat, stirring all the time. Keep stirring until there are no lumps of marshmallow then remove from the heat and stir through the rice krispies and honeycomb.

    Leave to cool a little before turning out the mixture onto some greaseproof paper.

    Once on the greaseproof paper oil your hands lightly and form the mix into a log shape. Or other festive shape of your choice.

    Remove the ganache from the fridge. You have two choices here; either you can pipe the ganache onto the log or you can spread it on with a palette knife. I opted for the former but my star nozzle wasn’t big enough so I ended up smoothing it all over with a palette knife anyway!

    Decorate as you see fit with swirls and patterns and all sorts then refrigerate until you serve it.

    I think it definitely needs a dark chocolate ganache rather than milk chocolate; it would be a bit too sweet otherwise. The honeycomb adds a lovely bit of crunch and caramel flavour; as there aren’t many pieces I think it harks back to hiding the pennies in Christmas puddings. Who knows who the lucky recipient will be! The rice krispie mix is so malleable that if you’re not happy with your shape you can poke and prod it around until you’re completely satisfied. If you wanted to adult-ify it a bit then adding a little booze to the ganache or some of those kirsch soaked cherries (well drained) to the marshmallow mix would certainly be worth a try. This marshmallow yule log is my hassle-free festive centrepiece; I challenge you to stop at just one slice.

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