All That I'm Eating

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

Lemon Drizzle Cake

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Zesting the lemons
There have been cakes in my past which I tried either when I was too young to appreciate them or they were a mass produced poor version of what is actually a beautiful cake. An example of this is carrot cake. What I thought carrot cake tasted like was nothing compared to when I made one for myself; it wasn’t dry it was moist, it wasn’t boring it was luscious and the icing is by far my favourite of all icing.  Another cake I had always ignored was lemon drizzle cake. Ones that I had tried were too sticky, not lemony or had so much icing you could have waded through it. This was my unshakable opinion and I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole, until I made it myself.

This turned out to be one of my favourite cakes to bake as it makes your kitchen smell so good. The classic cake baking aromas are wafting around with a bit of lemon thrown in for good measure. This is another recipe from my Granny. Some recipes make the cake in two tins and put lemon curd or butter icing between the cakes, I made one cake for optimum drizzle potential. 

To make the sponge, butter and line a nice deep cake tin. Beat together 175g each of butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Part of the reason I like making cakes is because I feel the beating, whisking and subsequent reduction in circumference of my arms more than compensates for the rather large slice I’ll help myself to once complete. 
Gradually add in three beaten eggs. Sift 175g self raising flour and a teeny bit of baking powder and fold this into the mixture. Grate in the zest of two lemons and mix. Place in a preheated oven at 180C for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Mine took about 55 minutes in the end. read more

Purple French Beans with Steak

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Purple French Beans
I planted eighteen broad bean seeds under their little cloches back in March and I had eighteen successful broad bean plants come up giving me lovely green pods all of July and early August. I planted eighteen French purple bean seeds under their little cloches and I had two plants come up. I’m not sure it was my year for these little chaps.

Fortunately the two little plants that managed to battle the elements (and the neighbours heavy pawed cat) were rather heavily laden and so I had enough to make a meal. They are such a dark colour and look so lovely in the garden it was a shame to pick them. The plant is also a fantastic purpley green. 

I topped and tailed the beans and steamed them gently. I was hoping this would retain some of their purple colour but, unfortunately, they went entirely green! I find that beans are extremely happy with a little lemon juice. I melted a little butter and fried some chopped shallot then squeezed in a little lemon juice to sharpen it up. read more

Foraging

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Foraging - golden gage
I’ve always been prone to getting out an exceedingly large basket and frolicking amongst the hedgerows at this time of year. I’m normally trying to amass as many blackberries as possible before they disappear. This year has been different as my world has become festooned with plums of all colours just ready for the picking.

These plums were no bigger than an apricot and tasted quite similar. The flesh was as bright as the skin and as sweet as honey.

These plums were very similar to the above but slightly smaller and just as delicious. The picture is black and white so you can get an idea of how many thousands of plums I’m talking about here, I’ve never seen anything so covered in jewels.

These at first I thought were cherries as they are similar in size. To be honest I’m still not entirely sure but I can tell you the skin was slightly tangy and the flesh deep orange and unctuous. read more

Blackcurrant Summer Pudding and Red Gooseberry Fool

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Summer is a wonderful time for unctuous puddings. Sweet ones, sharp ones, gooey ones and normally in some shade of pink. I wish I had the willpower to buy millions of summer berries and freeze them so I can knock up a pudding anytime I fancy, but I can barely resist them enough for them to make it to the saucepan. How can you go wrong with inky blackcurrants and vibrant gooseberries? Over the weekend I had occasion to make luscious puddings with both of these fruits. First a slightly sweet, sticky blackcurrant summer pudding and then a sharp, creamy gooseberry fool.  read more

Broad Bean, Bacon and New Potato Salad

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Broad Beans in the pod
I planted my own broad beans back in February full of anticipation and excitement for that day when I could finally snap the pods from the plant, lightly cook them and enjoy them just as they are. To say I was jealous of the broad beans at the farmers’ market is an understatement. I couldn’t possibly buy any and cheat on my home grown ones…could I?  Some of my broad beans are at the mangetout stage and I enjoy the occasional one immensely straight from the plant. They’ve a bit more growing to do before I can make my broad bean houmous. Until then the big, fat, shiny green beans from the farmers’ market will keep me going. To make the most of the seasonal ingredients available I cooked up this broad bean, bacon and new potato salad.

One of my favourite things is popping the broad beans out of their fluffy pods. I love the smell. I used around 20 pods if not a few more to get enough beans for this meal. The more the merrier I say.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • Around 20 broad bean pods
  • 4 rashers bacon
  • 10-12 new potatoes, peeled and quartered (or halved depending on the size)
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • Fresh herbs, small amounts of each (I used chives and mint), chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 small garlic clove, crushed

Method

Remove the broad beans from their pods and boil them in salted water for about 4 minutes. 

Keep the water and then boil the potatoes until soft. Drain and put to one side.

When the beans have cooled you can begin one of the most satisfying pursuits imaginable. Squeeze the beans out of their grey, papery cases. Some will come out easily with just a small pinch whereas some require the insertion of a fingernail to get things moving.  read more

Mini Bubble and Squeak

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Cabbage for bubble and squeak
As one of those people who would rather sit down and pick at fifteen different dishes instead of a complete meal a BBQ is perfect for me. I wish I had the energy to create authentic Tapas on a regular basis but until then I am finding all sorts of little things to throw into the standard BBQ line up.  Potatoes will always crop up in some form or other at a BBQ. Chips, baked, in salads, boiled and any other form you can find. I wanted something that hit the potato spot but that was also a little different; mini bubble and squeak. As usual, this dish is made from ingredients I get from my local farmers’ market. I call these mini bubble and squeak but call them potato cakes or what you will. They have potato, a hint of onion, a bit of earthy cabbage with a golden, crispy, salty outside and delicate white fluffy middle…what more could you want?

Ingredients

You will need (for 6-8 small potato cakes):
  • 500g potatoes
  • Small bunch spring onions
  • Handful spring cabbage
  • Small handful chives
  • Salt and pepper
  • Butter for frying

Method

Start by peeling and then boiling the potatoes until soft. Drain the potatoes and leave them to cool. While they cool, chop the spring onions, cabbage (as much or as little as you like) and chives. I like to put the chive flowers in too if not just for the colour. Mash the potato, mix in all the other ingredients and season. Take small handfuls of the mixture, form into balls and then squash to make them flatter. 

Heat some butter in a pan until foaming. If you want the outside golden and with the slight saltiness you must use butter, it’s just not the same with oil. I do add a little oil to stop the butter burning but not much. These little cakes like to soak the butter up so have some spare to dot around the pan. Place the cakes in the pan, you may have to do more than one batch, and wait until they are golden until you turn them over. Turn them too early and you might end up with a right mess. 

They are done when they are golden brown enough for you. Keep the heat low/medium as you don’t want any burning before browning. A treat for a BBQ but great with anything else too.   

All That I’m Eating  read more

Baked Asparagus with Bacon and Cheese

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As asparagus is only around for a short time, it’s a good thing it’s so versatile. This is another recipe combining classic ingredients in a really easy, quick way.   You will need a bunch of asparagus, 4 or 5 rashers of bacon and a good handful of strong cheese.  

Start by placing the asparagus stem down in a pan of boiling water for 4-5 minutes. By placing them stem down the thicker, woodier stems are boiled while the fragile tops steam. While the asparagus boils, cut the bacon into pieces and fry. read more

Classic Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce

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I had been waiting and waiting until the asparagus turned up at the Farmers’ Market and last weekend it finally did. I had heard whispers and rumours that this fine vegetable had pushed its purple head through the soil but didn’t want to get my hopes up until I saw it with my own eyes. read more

Easter Biscuits

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Biscuit mix

A good biscuit is an excellent thing. Golden brown, buttery and crisp makes a good biscuit for me. I discovered this recipe when rifling through recipes with my Nana. It seems fitting to make Easter biscuits at this time of year! They are so easy to make, wonderfully simple and have lovely subtle flavours.

Ingredients

To make your own Easter biscuits you will need:
  • 75g margarine
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 150g self raising flour
  • 1 egg split into yolk and white
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Pinch of cinnamon
  • 25g currants

Method

Cream the margarine and sugar together in a bowl until smooth and then mix in the egg yolk. Sift the flour and cinnamon into the margarine mix and stir in.

Add the currants and lemon zest and bring the biscuit mix together into a ball. You might need your hands for this bit! Dust a surface with flour and roll the biscuit mix out until about 1/2 a centimetre thick. Cut the biscuits out with a fluted biscuit cutter (Nana says they must not be plain edged!) and put each one onto a greased baking tray. read more

Chicken and Vegetable Pie

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Chicken and Vegetable Pie mix

This is a perfect recipe for the long Easter weekend break. It’s a celebration of Spring vegetables in the best wrapping of all…pastry. This chicken and vegetable pie is extremely versatile as you can change the vegetables depending on what is in season. It is also great for using up leftovers.

Ingredients

You will need (for one large pie to serve 4-6):

  • 1 whole chicken
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 leek, sliced
  • Knob of butter
  • 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • Handful kale, stalks removed and leaves sliced
  • 1 small glass white wine
  • 300ml double cream
  • 1/2 chicken stock cube
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Salt and pepper
  • Readymade shortcrust pastry
  • 1 egg, for brushing

First of all, roast the chicken at 180C for an hour and a half or until cooked through. If you like, you can stuff half a lemon and half an onion inside the chicken before you cook it to give it extra flavour.  When the chicken is done and cooled down a little remove all the meat and set aside. I had never de-boned a chicken before and I can tell you that once you’ve done it, you’ll never look back. From now on I will always buy a whole chicken and divide it up – it’s so much cheaper. The meat just fell off and I was left with a clean pile of bones and a huge pile of chicken. Chop up the vegetables as the chicken is cooling. 

Start by frying the onion and leek in some butter until softened in a large pan. Add the chicken and fry for a few more minutes. Add the glass of wine and cook until almost completely gone and then add the cream and the chicken stock cube. Add the carrots, kale and bay leaves and season. If it is looking a little dry add some water. Leave the mixture simmering for 10 minutes or until it is as thin or thick as you like it. read more

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