All That I'm Eating

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

Double Sausage, Cheese and Egg Muffin

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sausage cheese and egg muffin
What’s your guilty pleasure? I have to confess I very much enjoy a particular sausage, cheese and egg muffin from a well known fast food restaurant. I know, shameful. However I am admitting it now as part of trying to cleanse my system. I liked the idea behind the aforementioned muffin; a sausage and egg sandwich really. In order to still enjoy this behemoth breakfast (without the guilt) I needed to try and make my own version. Not only was I going to attempt to fill my guilty pleasure gap I was going to improve on the original.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • 4 cumberland burgers
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 thick slices of mild cheddar cheese
  • 2 muffins

Method

I was lucky to be able to get these cumberland burgers from the farmers’ market and without them it wouldn’t have been the same. I reckon you could make cumberland burgers if you can’t get them by squeezing the sausage meat out of some nice sausages and making burger shapes.

Start by frying the burgers until brown on the outside and cooked through. Meanwhile get another pan on the heat to fry the egg in. I fried my egg inside an upside down pastry cutter so it was the same size as the muffin. Maybe a bit unnecessary but I didn’t want odd shaped egg white hanging out of my muffin; it would have ruined the effect! When the egg is almost ready and the yolk still gooey get the muffins toasting. read more

Happy 3rd Blog Birthday

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Chicken and Chorizo Tartlets baked and ready to eat

Happy third blog birthday to me. And a big thank you to you for sticking with it! What a three years it has been and how things have changed. I have learnt a lot and had some great experiences thanks to this blog. And so to celebrate I have the (what I have dubbed) All That I’m Eating Top Ten Eats. Here’s my most popular posts since day one.

1. Chicken and Chorizo Tartlets

I loved these little tarts as they were so easy to make and it meant I could use my little tart tins too. A great way to use up leftover chicken. Recipe here. =&0=& This is one of my all time favourite recipes and I make it frequently. As you can tell the photos for this aren’t great as it was taken in the days where I was still using my phone. Recipe here. 3. Zillionaire’s Shortbread  I didn’t make this very long ago and it has gone down a storm. Not hard to see why! This is probably the tastiest, heaviest (in weight!) and most indulgent thing I have baked. Recipe here. 4. Victoria Sponge with Balsamic Strawberry Jam Adding a little balsamic vinegar to some strawberry jam was a marvellous idea if I do say so myself. A classic sponge with a bit of a twist. Recipe here. 5. Purple Cabbage Soup Purple cabbage is always a bit of a tricky vegetable to have around but this soup keeps the colour and texture vibrant. Recipe here. 6. The Real Italian Pizza Company at Bath A pretty average meal so I’m surprised that this is at number 6! Review here. =&3=&

Banoffee and Chocolate Chelsea Buns

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Banoffee and chocolate Chelsea buns
Have you ever had one of those days where a banana keeps looking at you? You keep seeing it out of the corner of your eye knowing it’s getting riper by the second but you just don’t feel like eating it. Everyone likes their bananas differently; some like them green and leaving that funny feeling in your mouth and others like them bruised and brown. I am on the green team; as soon as there’s a speck of brown on the banana skin I can’t stand it. But what do you do with that slightly brown banana that keeps winking at you? I hate to waste food and so I devised these Banoffee and Chocolate Chelsea buns, or as I like to call them: Chanoffee Buns. You will need: 500g strong white bread flour 50g caster sugar 1 x 7g sachet fast action yeast 200ml milk, warmed 50g unsalted butter, very soft and in cubes 1 egg 1 can dulce de leche (you won’t need the whole can) 1 ripe banana 50g dark chocolate chips

I have wanted to try making an enriched dough for a while so this was a perfect excuse. Mix together the flour, caster sugar and yeast in a bowl or mixer. Make a well in the centre and add the warm milk, egg and butter. Turn the mixer on or start to mix with your hands. Once mixed, knead the dough until it is nice and stretchy. Cover and leave in a warm place for 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size.

Remove the dough from the bowl and knock some of the air out. Divide the dough into two pieces and roll each piece out into a long rectangle. As you can see from the above picture an actual rectangle was hard for me to achieve but a bit of a jaunty angle here and there never harmed anyone. Spread a few spoons of the dulche de leche along the bottom two thirds of the long edge of the dough. Take half the banana and squeeze this onto the caramel towards the bottom edge of the dough. Top with half the chocolate chips.  read more

The Rising Sun at Stockcross

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Sometimes I find I go to a pub and my expectations are extremely low. I dread opening the menu to find a selection of dull and unimaginative offerings of which I don’t really want to eat any. I had this feeling when I went to The Rising Sun for the first time and what greeted me on reading the menu was such a pleasant surprise. 
I have to say I think my jaw visibly dropped. I was expecting fish and chips, sausage and mash and mushroom risotto. Having a menu like the below raised a different issue entirely; what to choose when everything sounds so good. It seemed to have all the in vogue stuff on it: Gloucester Old Spot, rabbit, barley broth, smoked bone marrow and pig’s cheeks. It felt like a more modern version of what you might have found cooking there 100 years ago. There was much deliberating. read more

Homemade Burgers with Kohlrabi Coleslaw

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burgers with kohlrabi coleslaw
There’s nothing quite like a good burger. I don’t like them to be so thick that you end up dribbling half of it down your face when you’re eating it but also they can’t be so skinny that you feel like you need three of them to fill you up. There’s something so satisfying about making your own burgers; getting all squelchy mixing it all together is something I very much enjoy. A coleslaw filled burger is one of my favourites; creamy, crunchy and punchy it also makes great use of kohlrabi. Kohlrabi is a bit of a funny vegetable to try and use. Lovely in a salad or stir fry it can get a bit tiresome always treating an ingredient in the same way. My recent acquisition of a kohlrabi in the veg box was not to be used in a stir fry but was to be made into coleslaw. It might be the best use of a kohlrabi I have found yet.

You will need (for two):
250g beef mince
1 medium onion
A splash of Worcestershire sauce
2 small carrots
1 small kohlrabi
Mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Burger accessories like cheese, lettuce, buns etc.

Start by making the burgers. Finely chop the onion and add about a third of it to a bowl with the mince, Worcestershire sauce and some salt and pepper. Squeeze all of this together with your hands until well mixed and then form into burger shapes. Fry the burgers in a little oil until cooked.

While the burgers are cooking put the rest of the onion into another bowl and peel and chop the carrots and kohlrabi to the same size as the onion. Stir all of the vegetables together in the bowl with a good dollop of mayonnaise and a little salt and pepper.
When the burgers are almost ready I like to add a thick slice of cheese while they’re still in the pan so it starts to melt. Assemble your burger how you see fit; I would always opt for plentiful gherkins. read more

Chocolate Shortbread with Rosemary and Hazelnuts

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chocolate rosemary and hazlenut shortbread
A while ago I was having some lunch in a restaurant. For pudding I had some soft, sugar covered dough sticks which were to be dipped in a well known hazelnut chocolate spread. At some point in the kitchen a rogue bit of rosemary had ended up on my dough stick. I imagine there must have been some sort of herb-off going on in the kitchen between the chefs and the remnants of the duel had not been cleared up. Unbeknown to me I submerged it in hazelnutty chocolate and ate it. One of the best accidental mastications I’ve ever made and a combination I have recreated in this shortbread. You will need (for 12 pieces): 170g plain flour 1 tbsp cocoa powder 50g caster sugar 150g butter, softened 35g dark chocolate, chopped 15g hazelnuts 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

Start by chopping the hazelnuts and frying them in a dry pan until lightly toasted. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Chop the chocolate and hazelnuts finely to ensure even distribution in the finished biscuit. Put all the remaining ingredients in a bowl and beat together until they start to form a ball. It will look like a bowl of hopeless crumbs but keep going; it will make a lump eventually. Get your hands in the mix to bring all the mix into one ball. Lightly knead the dough.

Place the dough in the middle of the prepared baking sheet and then roll it out until it is about 20cm in diameter  Pinch, crimp or fork the edges of the dough to give it a nice edge. Prick the top with a fork and bake in a preheated oven at 160C for 40-45 minutes or until firm. Mark into wedges while still hot. read more

The Orange Tree at Leicester

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the orange tree leicester menu
Whenever I go to Leicester I always contemplate the choice of places I will have to dine; there’s such variety and diversity it’s very hard to choose where to go. If I fancy a cocktail then I will almost always head straight for one of The Orange Tree bars. When I was up there most recently I thought I’d best give the menu a perusal, it would be rude not to.

The Orange Tree on the High Street seems to be where Life on Mars meets Bargain Hunt; an interesting place for the eyes to fall on anything from an old telephone sign to local art on the walls. None of the tables or chairs match, in the best way, and the lighting is such that everyone looks slightly yellow and romantic at the same time. Next to our table was a sign advertising the names of the local suppliers and farms used in their food, something they are clearly proud of. Full support is given to Hugh’s Fish Fight for all the fish on their menu. There is always a different cocktail of the week, soup of the day, pie of the week and several specials to choose from coarsely scribed on the blackboard. read more

White Chocolate and Rose Truffles (with a surprise inside)

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White Chocolate and Rose Truffles
Last year for Valentine’s Day I posted a three course meal; Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Risotto, Boeuf Bourguignon and Dark Chocolate Tart. They were great together for a lovely meal in but this year I wanted to make something a little romantic and very indulgent. I know Valentine’s recipes will be two a penny at the moment but my truffles are a bit different. Not least because they’re not heart shaped and look rather plain and innocent. Until you bite into one that is.  What is that in the middle of the truffle I hear you ask? Well, as love is in the air, it’s a small pink nod to St. Valentine in the form of a pomegranate seed. A nice bit of fresh texture in an otherwise melty, mellow mouthful. It takes barely any effort to put the pomegranate seed inside each one and makes such a difference to the end flavour and texture it is definitely worth it.

You will need (for around 25 truffles):
300g white chocolate
150ml double cream
25g butter
Splash rose extract (preferably not rose water)
1 pomegranate
100g white chocolate – for dipping

Start by chopping the 300g of chocolate into small chunks. Heat the double cream and butter together until hot but not boiling. Pour this over the chocolate and mix well until the chocolate has melted and it’s all nicely combined. Add a drop of rose extract, mix well and then try it to see how floral it tastes. If you’re a bit overenthusiastic with your dripping technique the end result might taste reminiscent of soap. Not really what you’re going for. read more

Citrus Carpaccio with Champagne Sabayon

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Citrus Carpaccio with Champagne Sabayon
January is the month in which we all need a bit of sunshine. When the clouds fail to part sometimes you need to rely on a plateful of bright beams to keep you going. The dark mornings and evenings are easily punctuated by citrus fruits; particularly the blood orange. If anything is going to brighten a chilly evening it’s a platter of thinly sliced citrus fruits covered in a decadent Champagne sabayon with hints of mint and pomegranate.  

Ingredients

You will need (for two):
1 blood orange 1 pink grapefruit 1 white grapefruit Pomegranate seeds Mint leaves 3 egg yolks 3 tbsp caster sugar 150ml Champagne

Method

Start by peeling and slicing the citrus fruits as thinly as possible. Put to one side.

To make the sabayon put a bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water taking care that the bowl and water do not touch. Whisk together the eggs yolks and sugar in the bowl until combined and then whisk in the Champagne. Keep whisking for around 10 minutes until it is completely frothy and doubled in size. 

Serve the slices of fruit on a big plate, spoon over the sabayon and top with some pomegranate seeds and mint leaves.  read more

Blood Orange Bucks Fizz

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A new house and a new kitchen, a tricky transition I find. What will the oven be like; a brute or a wimp? It turns out the oven is a pretty good one although I am yet to bake a cake and discover its true character. We have managed to save enough space to have a pantry; something I’ve always wanted. There are a few boxes yet to be unpacked and a few more bits of furniture to be put in place but progress has been good. So, with all the unpacking, swearing, cleaning and tidying there had to be time for a beautiful breakfast. read more

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