All That I'm Eating

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

Swedish Style Burgers

By 13 Comments

Swedish Style Burgers
You would have thought that a burger lends itself well to good photo-ability. For some reason when it comes to taking a picture of a burger it never looks quite how I imagine it will. No matter what I try the burgers always shrink leaving even the smallest buns looking far too big. There is either too much or not enough salad so although I make them sort of regularly I rarely blog about them or take a picture. However, when the below recipe came through for Swedish burgers with Västerbottensost cheese I couldn’t resist. 

Recipe from Västerbottensost cheese as part of their ‘Swedish summer to remember’.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • 350g minced venison (or beef)
  • 1 rasher fried bacon, chopped
  • 1 tsp crushed juniper berries
  • Salt and pepper
  • Västerbottensost cheese, grated
  • Buns of your choice and salad and condiments to serve

Method

Put the venison mince into a bowl and add the chopped bacon, juniper berries and salt and pepper.

Give everything a really good mix then form into four burger shapes (I made quite small ones).

Heat a pan to high and add a little oil to the pan. Fry the burgers until lovely and brown on the outside and cooked through. For the last few minutes of cooking add the grated Västerbottensost and allow to melt. read more

Caramelised Fennel and Salami Pizza

By 14 Comments

caramelised fennel and salami pizza
Does it get much better than homemade pizza? If you can get the base crispy enough that is. I have been working on my dough and tomato sauce recipe for some time and I think I have finally cracked it. I make the dough fresh then divide it up and freeze in individual bags so I can have pizza whenever. The tomato sauce is made from obscenely ripe tomatoes for richness and sweetness. Caramelised fennel and salami pizza is the best pizza topping I have tried so far!

Ingredients

You will need:

For the dough (makes enough for four pizza bases):

  • 400g strong white flour
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 sachet fast action yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 250ml warm water

For the tomato sauce (makes enough for one pizza):

  • 4 large, very ripe tomatoes, seeds removed and diced
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 small garlic cloves, crushed
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Toppings (per pizza):

  • 1 ball mozzarella, sliced
  • 1 fennel bulb, sliced
  • 1/2 tbsp sugar
  • Salami

Method

Make the dough by mixing together the flour, salt, yeast and sugar. Pour in the olive oil then add the warm water.
Knead for 10 minutes then leave for an hour or so until doubled in size. Divide into four, you can freeze what you don’t use.

Next make the tomato sauce. Add the onion with a little olive oil to a frying pan over a low to medium heat and leave to soften for around 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes more then stir in the diced tomatoes. Put a lid on the pan and leave to cook for about 10 minutes then remove the lid, turn the heat up and continue cooking until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste then blend the sauce.

Add the fennel with a good glug of olive oil to a small lidded pan and leave over a low heat for at least 30 minutes or until well softened. Stir occasionally. Remove the lid from the pan and stir in the sugar. Continue to stir until evenly coated and caramelised.

Preheat an oven to 240C. Roll the pizza dough out on a floured surface so that it fits a large baking tray. Lightly flour the baking tray and put the dough on top. read more

Greek Salad, Hummus and Pitta Bread

By 9 Comments

Greek Salad, Hummus and Pitta Bread
I don’t know about you but I find it difficult to know what to cook when it’s hot. I don’t want to be hanging around the oven or hob making unnecessary heat but I also don’t want to eat cold food all the time. The worst thing about it is having to do the washing up (no dishwasher in my house!) when all you really want to do is sit outside. I think this meal of Greek salad, hummus and pitta bread is a great compromise; there isn’t too much clearing up afterwards and the toasted pitta bread means that it’s not an entirely cold meal.

Ingredients

You will need (for four):

  • Pitta breads  £0.50

For the hummus:

  • 1 can chickpeas  £0.65
  • 1 garlic clove  £0.03
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil  £0.10
  • 1 tsp peanut butter  £0.10
  • Salt and pepper  £0.10

For the Greek salad:

  • 1/2 cucumber, sliced  £0.30
  • 3-4 tomatoes, sliced  £0.50
  • 1 small onion, sliced  £0.10
  • 1 small lettuce, chopped  £0.40
  • 1 pack mixed olives and feta  £2.20
  • 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil  £0.10
  • 1 tsp dried oregano  £0.05

    Total £5.13

Method

Start by adding all the ingredients for the hummus to a food processor and blending until smooth. If the hummus is a little thick you can add a little extra oil or a small amount of hot water.

Mix all the ingredients for the salad together, except the olives, then top with the olive and feta mix.

Heat up the pitta breads according to packet instructions.

Pour a little extra virgin olive oil over the salad and sprinkle over the chopped oregano and a little salt and pepper. read more

Summer Vegetable Minestrone

By 16 Comments

summer vegetable minestrone
I’m not sure you can ever have too many vegetables in the house at once but at this time of year with the peas in the garden, the veg box and whatever looks tempting at the farmers’ market I can find it a little challenging to close the fridge door. You know it’s got a bit excessive when your carrot fronds are getting in the way of the door seal. If you find yourself fighting some spinach to reach the butter or battling beans to get to the mayonnaise there’s only one thing for it: make a minestrone.

Ingredients

You will need (for two big bowls or four smaller ones):

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 2 small carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 1 small courgette, diced
  • 1 large tomato, diced
  • 1 handful summer greens, shredded
  • 1 handful broad beans, podded
  • 1 handful fresh peas, podded
  • 1 litre hot vegetable stock
  • 90g small pasta
  • Salt and pepper

Method

Prepare the broad beans by adding the beans to a pan of lightly salted boiling water. Cook for 3-4 minutes before removing, running under cold water and then squeezing the beans out of their grey skins. Set aside.

Put a large pan on a low heat and add the olive oil, garlic, carrot, onion and courgette. Put a lid on and leave to soften for around 10 minutes.

Remove the lid and add the tomato, summer greens and peas then pour in the hot stock.

Bring to the boil then add the pasta and a little salt and pepper.  read more

Elderflower and Lemon Ice Lollies

By 13 Comments

Elderflower and Lemon Ice Lollies
We’ve been so lucky with the weather recently, fingers crossed it continues! Sat outside in the sun on a lovely day there’s nothing quite as refreshing as an ice lolly; especially one you can slurp enthusiastically at being ever so proud that you’ve made it yourself. My elderflower and lemon ice lollies are subtly flavoured and just the thing to enjoy on a summer day. I find that adding cordial to an ice lolly inevitably results in much stronger concentrations of cordial at the bottom and faint flavour at the top. The added lemon zest in these elderflower lollies means they have flavour throughout.

Ingredients

You will need (I made enough for six ice lollies):

  • Ice lolly mould
  • Elderflower cordial (homemade or shop bought)
  • Zest of 1 lemon

Method

Make up the elderflower cordial a little stronger than you would if you were drinking it.

Put the lemon zest into the bottom of each mould and top up with the diluted cordial.

You could add the fresh lemon juice to the elderflower mix before pouring it in if you want the lemon flavour a little stronger.

Freeze, wait and enjoy!

You might have to try and convince people that it’s not just water you’ve frozen but as soon as they try them they’ll be glad they did! Elderflower is such a distinctive flavour and the lemon and lemongrass that were in my homemade cordial work so well with the added lemon zest. Shop bought elderflower cordial will work just as well, whichever you use just make sure you mix it up a little stronger than you would for drinking it. Floral, easy, zesty and refreshing, like a little piece of frozen summer. read more

Smörgåsbord with Swedish Salad

By Leave a Comment

Smörgåsbord with Swedish Salad

Scandinavian food interests me; cured salmon, pickles and dark rye are the things that immediately spring to mind. By coincidence I was sent two different crispbreads to try; some from Finn Crisp and some from Plain Tasty so it seemed the perfect opportunity to try and make a Smörgåsbord with a Swedish salad; Swedish style anyway! Something very different for dinner in the ATIE household.

Ingredients

You will need (make as many as you need): 

  • Pickles
  • Cheese and cream cheese
  • Crispbreads


For the salad:

  • 1/2 cucumber, diced
  • 1 small fennel, sliced
  • 1 carrot, peeled into ribbons
  • Handful fresh dill and parsley, chopped
  • 3-4 spring onions, sliced
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper

Method

I took inspiration for the salad from the Jamie Does book. Put all the prepared salad vegetables into a bowl and mix it together. Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, mustard and salt and pepper together then dress the salad. read more

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

A Trip to Madrid

By 14 Comments

Last week I jetted off to Madrid in search of churros, tapas and sunshine. I managed to get three out of three so no complaints from me. Around a two hour flight from London it’s far enough to be ‘away’ but not too far stuck on a plane. Before I went I knew next to no Spanish other than what I had learnt from watching Fawlty Towers so you can imagine my delight when, on arrival at the hotel, the receptionist’s name was Manuel. We landed late afternoon, had a quick glass of vino tinto and then got some rest ready to explore the next day. read more

Pulled Pork Ribs with Carrot & Ginger Slaw

By 1 Comment

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

Contact Me

Your name
Your email
Enter your message
Enter below security code

Recent Tweets

  • Error: Invalid or expired token.