I like to think I’m fairly well behaved. The majority of what I eat I make myself and is somewhat healthy and well balanced. I find a place for the indulgent dishes (macaroni cheese, dauphinoise and the like) amongst the day to day soups, salads, vegetables and wholegrains. I’m by no means a saint and I think a little indulgence never hurt anyone. When I plan to make something that’s maybe a little bit ‘naughty’ I make sure I go all out. These Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake Brownies are no exception; prepare to enjoy.
Mexican Black Beans
I tried something similar to these Mexican black beans at a restaurant a few weeks ago. They were so tasty and I loved the frugality of them that I really wanted to try and make them at home. Attempt one tasted fine but the texture was all wrong, attempt two was an improvement but the spicing wasn’t quite right. By the third attempt I’d got it; tasty, slightly spicy, cheap and easy to make. Does it get much better?
Ingredients
You will need (for 2):
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed £0.65
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed £0.10
- 1 small chilli, halved £0.15
- 150ml chicken stock (you could use vegetable stock to make these vegetarian or vegan) £0.30
- ½ tsp ground cumin £0.05
- ½ tsp smoked paprika £0.05
- oil for cooking £0.10
- salt and pepper £0.05
- fresh coriander, chopped £0.30
- Rice to serve £0.30
Total for two: £2.05
Method
Heat a little oil in a saucepan on a medium heat and add the garlic. Fry for a minute or so and don’t let the garlic catch. Add the chilli and spices and keep everything moving.
Pea and Bacon Soup for a #thriftyorganic challenge
In case it has escaped your attention, September is the month where people make a fuss about organic; aptly named Organic September. I have to admit that the majority of food that I buy is already organic so for me I wanted to try some new organic ingredients that I hadn’t tried before. I loaded up my weekly veg box with tomatillos, Homity pies and all sorts. I was challenged as part of Organic September to make an all organic three course meal, for four people, which cost less than £30.
I have done a few dinner parties before but not a budget conscious one so I was looking forward to seeing what I could make without going over the allowance. Initially I thought a roast chicken would be quite a good idea but with the cold weather closing in I wanted to make something a bit more hearty and autumnal.
Orange and Poppy Seed Biscuits
Hello and welcome to my new website; I hope you enjoy it! To kick things off on my new site it was only right that I baked something; I had to have something to keep me motivated during the changeover! These orange and poppy seed biscuits are a recipe from Cathryn Dresser (former Great British Bake Off contestant) author of Let’s Bake and she has teamed up with Pyrex to create a series of baking recipes for National Baking Week from 13th to 19th October. See below for details of the giveaway to win lots of Pyrex baking goodies in time for October 13th.
Millionaire’s Tart
Ingredients
You will need (for a 20cm tart):
For the pastry –
- 220g plain flour
- 120g butter (I used salted)
- Cold water
- 1 can dulce de leche
For the chocolate topping –
- 200g high cocoa chocolate
- 150ml double cream
- 25g salted butter
- Sea salt, I really like Cornish Sea Salt for this as I think it has a lovely clean flavour
I was so impressed with how my pastry case turned out I felt I needed to provide evidence that I had made it myself!
Method
Make the pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour until you have a breadcrumb texture then bring the mixture together into a dough using a little cold water.
Knead the dough lightly on a floured surface then roll out and line a 20cm tart tin.
Cut or roll off the excess and prick the base with a fork.
Wild Hazelnut Brittle
I have been noticing more and more things in the hedgerows. Perhaps it’s due to the purchasing of a foraging handbook which has become the mainstay of my bedside table or maybe my observational skills have drastically improved. Whichever the reason it has meant even more slowing down and stopping on a walk; not irritating if you are me but rather tiresome if you are walking with me. Apparently.
Elderberry and Einkorn Scones
I’ve been waiting for the elderberries to come out this year as I have a hawk’s eye when it comes to finding the elderflowers so I knew where to start to find what I was looking for. I picked these elderberries on a drizzly day and perhaps a week or so sooner than I should have done as there were a fair few green berries I had to pick out.
The birds had already had their share of the berries so the first few stops were a bit thin on the ground. By the time I had found enough we were pretty damp but the rain can easily be ignored when your foraging companion ever so kindly offers to put you on their shoulders so that you can reach the very best berries; much more fun than scrabbling around in the depths of a thicket.
Cardamom infused Porridge with Raspberries
Ingredients
You will need (for 2 bowls):
- 1 cup of milk
- 1/2 cup of oats
- 1 cardamom pod
- 1 tbsp sugar
- Handful raspberries
Method
Crack open the cardamom and add to the milk in a saucepan. Heat the milk and cardamom very gently for about 20 minutes. Remove the milk from the heat when done.
Put the oats into another saucepan and then sieve the milk into the oats. Cook the oats, stirring often, on a medium heat to the texture that you like; some like it so rubbery you could bounce it and others prefer it very thin. I go for somewhere in between the two.
When the porridge is ready remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar. Stir half of the raspberries into the porridge and then put the remaining berries on top. I enjoyed this with a nice cup of tea.
Blackberry and Perry Jelly
The potential that a blackberry brings to the kitchen is endless; add a few to some gravy for a wonderful sweetness or, inevitably, use them alone or with other fruits for a marvellous array of puddings. Autumn also brings with it apples and pears and, preferring to eat my pears nice and ripe, I turned to perry to pair with my berries.
In order to use some locally made perry I had to get my Poirot on and try to find a supply. As luck would have it my butcher lives next door to a man who happens to make some using local pears. I returned to the old (and I think better) bartering system I managed to procure a bottle of fine perry in exchange for some rabbit ragu. Marvellous.
Pear and Damson Lattice Pie
You will need:
Large handful damsons, stones removed 3 unripe pears Sugar 250g plain flour 125g cold butter A few spoons of cold water 1 beaten eggPut the damsons into a pan with a spoonful of sugar and a little water and heat them gently so they start to soften. While they are cooking, peel and dice the pears and then add them to the damsons. You want to keep them on a heat where the fruit makes gentle pfft pfft noises as it cooks, lid on, for about 20 minutes. You might need to add a little more water if the fruit starts to catch. After 20 minutes give the fruit a little squidge with a masher to puree it a little, keep a few lumps though. Taste it and add more sugar if you think it needs it. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, you don’t want much moisture left in the pan.