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+Easy recipes..
BASIC SCONE MIX
Very useful dough becuase it is simple to make, and as well as scones it can be used as a quick pizza base, pies, or even biscuits for kids. There is no sugar in the mixture so it is great for spreading with sugary thigs like jam or chocolate spread, or savory like cheese and ham.
Sift 8 OZ of Self Raising flour with a pinch of salt.
Mix in 2OZ of butter with your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Pour in quarter of a pint of milk
Mix with a knife until it all comes together.
Remove from bowl and kneed quickly until smooth.
Roll out.
Use a pastry cutter for making scones
Cook for 10 minutes or so at gas mark 8.
Quick Apricot open pie.
I had the best part of a punnet of apricots that were getting ripe, so I made this up...
Wash and cut the apricots in half and remove the stones and bad bits, put in pan.
Add a dash or water , add a dash of lemon juice, add sugar to taste. (2 or 3 tablespoons).
Bring to the boil and simmer and 15 minutes.
Remove 4 half apricots,
Mash or blend the rest of the apriciots.
I thickened mine at this point with half a tablespoon of arrowroot, then just bring back to the boil - take it off the heat at the first bubble.
Meanwhile make the scone mixture above, roll it out to the size of a metal baking tray with sides.
Cook for 10 minutes or so (Gas mark 8) until the edges go brown.
Pour the apricot mixture into the pie.
Place the 4 half apricots on top for show.
Cook for 5 or 10 more minutes or so.
Cool, then serve with a sprinkle of icing sugar and double cream.
Adam's Carrot Cake
This is the best cake ever.
Download this Carrot Cake recipe so you can print it off
Ingredients: • 225g/8oz self raising flour • Pinch of salt • 1 tsp ground cinnamon • 1 tsp ground nutmeg • 225g/8oz light muscovado sugar • 225g/8oz carrots (peeled and finely grated) • 100g/3.5oz dried, ready to eat dates (roughly chopped) • 3 eggs (lightly beaten) • 175ml/6fl oz sunflower oil. Icing: • 115g/4oz cream cheese • 60g/2oz butter (soft) • 1 tsp vanilla essence (or 2 tsp vanilla extract) • 200g/7 oz icing sugar 1. Preheat oven to 180c/350f/Gas Mark 4. Lightly grease a 20-cm/8-in square cake tin (or a 7 or 8-in round tin) 2. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the spices, sugar, carrots, and dates and mix well until combined. 3. Stir together the beaten eggs and oil, then pour into the mixing bowl and beat until combined. 4. Pour into tin, bake for 1 hour. Test with a knife, if it does not come out clean cook for 10 more minutes then test again. 5. Leave for 10 minutes then turn the cake out onto a wire rack and leave to cool. 6. Icing: beat the cream-cheese, butter, and vanilla essence together until smooth and creamy. Beat in the sugar and spread over the cake. (tip, if it is too runny then put icing in fridge for 30 minutes before spreading on cake). Variation 1: Substitute sultanas for the dates (or use a mixture of them both) Variation 2: Substitute finely grated courgettes for the carrot and add 1 tbsp pine kernels or chopped walnuts.
Adam's Bitter Marmalade - This is better than any marmalade you can buy.
Buy one of those marmalade kits , 2kg of white sugar, and 3 organic non waxed lemons.
(The kit I use is Hartley's Ma Made Thin Cut Seville Oranges 850g)
Wash the lemons.
Boil the lemons for 20 minutes or so (until they are soft but not breaking open).
Cut the lemons in half
Scoop out the insides (I used an orange squuzer), remove all the pips and add the juice/flesh to the pan.
Slice the skins thinly and add to the pan.
Ad the tin and the sugar to the pan.
Bring to the boil
Simmer for 15 minutes.
Pour into well washed warm jam jars (preferably with lids that pop down).
Important - You must make sure you use organic fruit.
Sweet and Sour Sunday pork-roast leftovers.
This is a great meal to make from left-overs from a sunday roast.
fry some onion, sliced garlic and ginger, in a pan with a little olive oil. Add large cubes of pork and red pepper. brown.
in another pan mix up roast leftovers (roast potatos, parsnips, swede, peas, gravy), chuck in any other leftovers such as a small amount tuna-pasta with sweetcorn from the kids dinner.Add ketchup, tomato puree, some fresh tomatoes, orange juice, pinapple juice, some pieces of pinapple.
Add three tablespoons of cider vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar, and a pinch of salt.
Simmer for 10 minutes or so until the sauce thickens.
mix together with meat and onions.
Add very thinly sliced cauliflower, simmer for 2 minutes.
serve with noodles. Absolutley delicious.
Cut and Come Again Cake.
A healthier cake , that you can eat loads of.
Some of the cake recipes I have followed use so much fat that you think, “yuk I have just eaten half a tub of marge”.
So I decided to make a cake that is not so bad for you. I still want it to be cake rather than bread.
Also to cut down on sugar I decided to add some fruit. I never really like big heavy fruit cakes, however a few sultanas are good.
Attempt 1
Here’s my first attempt and it worked really well. It was a bit too sweet, and went quite dark on the outside before the middle was cooked, but it was good.
3 oz Marge
6 oz Sugar
3 oz raisins
15 oz Flour
2 eggs
enough milk to make it beatable.
Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4.Cream the marge and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs add a pinch of flour. Mix in the raisins. Sieve in all the flour, mix and add milk until it looks good. Put in a large (greased and floured) cake tin, and bake for an hour.
Attempt 2
Less sugar, bit less marge. I put less flour in by accident but I will see how it turns out.
2 oz Marge
3 oz Sugar
3 oz raisins
12 oz Flour
2 eggs
enough milk to make it beatable.
Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4.Cream the marge and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs add a pinch of flour. Mix in the raisins. Sieve in all the flour, mix and add milk until it looks good. Put in the largest (greased and floured) cake tin, and bake for an hour.
Sponge Sandwich - I was looking for a fat free cake and found this, I have not tried it yet
Basic Recipe.
Serves 8.
2 eggs, size 3.
75g (3 oz) caster sugar.
75g (3 oz) self-raising flour.
(1) Heat oven to 180C, 350F, gas mark4. Grease an 18cm (7 inch) cake tin.
(2) Break eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly, add sugar and whisk well until thick, creamy and almost white in color.
(3) Lightly fold in the flour. Place mixture into prepared tin and bake for about 30 minutes.
(4) When cool, slice and spread with jam and cream or other filling.
If the cake is very fresh, warm the jam to help spread.
Upside down cake.
tin of fruit (pineapple or manderine or anything)
cake tin - greased and floured
Microwave 1 oz of butter in a cup until melted, add 1 oz of brown sugar, mix well. Dollop into cake-tin. Add drained fruit.
In a mixing bowel cream 2oz of butter with 2oz marge with 4 oz of wite suhar. When pale and fluffy blend in the eggs a bit at a time (add a pinch of flour if it starts to curdle).
Sieve the flour into the bowl, fold it in. Spread on top of fruit. Bake for 55 minutes, Gas mark 4. Middle of the oven.
Leave for 10 minutes then turn out, Serve with custard.
Peppermint Creams
2 ounces margarine
2 tablespoons milk
3 capfuls of natural peppermint extract
1 lb icing sugar
1. heat the milk and marge until it's liquid.
2. Do not boil.
3. Cool a little and add the icing sugar and peppermint extract
4. Mix to form a soft ball.
5. Knead thoroughly.
6. Dust a surface with icing sugar and roll it out .
7. Use a pasry-cutter to cut out circles.
8. Place on a sheet of grease-proof paper to dry overnight and store in an airtight container.
Quick Sweet Potato Stew
Tasty and ready in 30 minutes. Use one saucepan with a lid.
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 small onions (cut into rings)
1 sweet potato (1cm thick slices)
3 potatos (1cm slices)
8 cherry tomatoes
Tin of kidney beans (drained, and rinsed well).
Tomato juice (a glass full)
500ml of water
Oxo cube.
Something to thicken it with - I added 2 tablespoons of bran, and 1 tablesponn of quinoa (keen-wah)
Small amount of spices (I used coriander and ginger, not too much though)
Heat the oil in the pan and add the onion. Slice the sweet potato and potatoes and put on top of onions. Add the tomatoes and kidney beans. Pour in tomato juice and water, sprinkle oxo cube over top. Add spices, bran, and quinoa. Cover and bring to the boil, cook for 30 minutes or so until the potato is soft.
Tomato Juice
The cheapest way to buy tomatoes seems to be as Tomato Juice in a 1lt juice-style carton. It will last for a week in the fridge and makes a great base for stews, soups, and pasta sauces.
Here's a recipe I found on the internet.....
Spectacular Tomato Soup
This soup worked so well, it was the best tomato soup I have ever had. My comments are in bold....
This is the cheats' way of making really spectacular tomato soup from a litre carton of tomato juice. The recipe serves three or four.
Ingredients
* 10ml olive oil or 12g butter
* 1 cooking onion, diced
* 1 clove garlic, chopped
* 16 or so ripe cherry tomatoes, cut in half (I used 6)
* 1 red pepper, chopped (I used just the end of a red pepper leftover from the day before.)
* 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (I used Cider Vinegar but any vinegar would do)
* Freshly-ground black pepper ( I used the powdered pepper , kids don't like finding bits of black-pepper)
* 1 litre tomato juice ( I kept a little bit to add to a stew the next day).
* 1 tablespoon chopped parsley (optional) (I used some dried parsley)
* 1 level teaspoon sugar (Add a heaped spoon if the tomato is very acidic)
* 2 teaspoons sea salt (*I never added any salt)
* 1 tablespoon of double or single cream(I used 3 or 4 tablespoons of milk)
* Juice of half a lemon (optional) (*I never added any lemon)
* you may find that the carton of juice already contains salt and / or lemon juice, if it does then miss these from the recipe.
Method
1. On a low heat, cook the onion in the oil or butter in a saucepan for about 5 minutes until soft but not browned. Add the garlic, tomatoes and red pepper and continue to cook on a low heat for a further 5 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and black pepper and cook for 2 minutes to drive off the acid from the vinegar.
2. Add the tomato juice, parsley (if used), sugar and salt to the pan. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 25 minutes until the red pepper pieces are soft. Allow to cool.
3. Whizz the mixture in a blender. Return to a clean pan. (I just used a hand-blender in the pan, to save hassle) Stir in cream and reheat without boiling.
4. Season to taste. Finish with lemon juice and/or coarsely-ground black pepper.
Blender Chocolate Raisin Biscuits.
I made the Blender-Coconut cake (see below), and fancied some chewy biscuits, so instead of cleaning the blender I added the following...
3 oz Strong bread flour (normal plain flour would do , I never had any).
Margarine (1 tablespoon)
Golden Syrup (1 tablespoon)
handful of raisins
brown sugar
molasses sugar
Drinking chocolate (1 tablespoon)
blend up for 10 or 20 seconds. the consistency should be like fudge. Grease a baking tray, take lump of micture and roll in your hand and flatten and press onto baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes on the top shelf, gas mark 4 (above your coconut cake).
Blender-cakes.
My blender does not have a cake mixer, it only has the double-bladed chopper. So I thought I would try it and see if it could make a reasonable cake, because I am too lazy to do all the mixing. Here is what I found..
Blender-Coconut Cake
Half the fat of the chocolate cake below. This worked really well.
4 Oz vegetable oil
4 oz castor sugar
4 oz dessicated coconut
8 Oz s.r. flour
2 eggs
squirt of lemon juice (optional)
milk (3 tablespoons)
Put it all in the blender , blend for 2 minutes. ( or until the blender starts smelling hot!).
Cook on the middle shelf at gas mark 4 for about 1 hour, until a knife comes out clean.
Blender-Chocolate cake.
This has quite a high fat content, but it works well. The cake was not as light as a properly mixed cake, however it was nice in it's own way - more like a cup-cake, and very consistent. Next time I think I would double the flour (and add a bit of milk).
4 Oz butter
4 oz castor sugar
4 Oz s.r. flour
2 eggs
Large spoon of drinking chocolate.
Blend the fat and sugar for 1 minutes, blend in eggs and then flour and then chocolate. Cook on the middle shelf at gas mark 4 for 50 minutes until a knife comes out clean.
Cover with chocolate icing, leave for a day if possible.
Marble Cake.
I am not very good at making cakes but this worked really well..
4 Oz butter
4 oz castor sugar
4 Oz s.r. flour
2 eggs
vanilla essence
cocoa
cream fat and sugar until light and fluffy, and then some. This is probably the important bit for getting your cake fluffy.
Add the eggs slowley, blending a bit of the flour in when it starts to look curdled.
Fold in the sifted flour.
Split the mixture in two, add vanilla to one and cocoa to other, dollop and splodge them into a greased & floured cake-tin. Cook on the middle shelf on gas mark 4 for 50 minutes until a knife comes out clean.
How to Make Croutons
Croutons can be made from virtually any bread. Older bread works better.
Steps:
1. Heat the oven to a low temperature, say around gas mark 3.
2. Puree the garlic and oil in a blender or food processor, or mince the garlic as finely as possible and stir it into the oil. If seasoning the croutons with herbs or other seasonings, add them to the oil now.
3. Place the bread cubes in a mixing bowl and toss by hand with some of the garlic oil and a few generous pinches of salt and pepper.
4. Toss the bread cubes well with one hand and continue adding garlic oil so each cube is coated evenly and lightly. Be careful not to oversaturate the cubes with oil.
5. Arrange the bread cubes on a baking sheet in a single layer and place in the oven.
6. Cook for about 10 minutes, then toss with a spatula and return to the oven. Repeat after another 10 minutes, tasting a cube this time. The croutons should be partly crispy and beginning to turn golden.
7. Continue to cook and toss periodically until the croutons are golden and crispy throughout. Taste them as they cook to make sure.
Tips:
Although most any bread will work, sourdough, Italian and French white loaves are best. You can leave the crusts on or off.
This process works by slowly toasting the croutons. Low heat is important to dry the cubes out completely as they toast so they become completely crispy. If the croutons turn golden before they become completely crispy, lower the oven temperature.
The garlic in this recipe can be omitted or increased, depending on your personal preference. You can also use dry garlic powder. Other seasoning variations include any dried herb or dry Parmesan cheese.
Chocolate Crispie Cakes
Ingredients
2 oz Margarine
2 tbsp Golden Syrup
2 tsp Cocoa/drinking chocolate
Rice crispies/corn flakes
Method:
1. Put everything EXCEPT THE CEREAL into a saucepan.
2. Heat it on a medium heat on the stove top, while you keep stirring it.
3. When the mixture is all melted together, take the pan off the heat and stir in the cereal, keep adding a little more until the mixture won't cover any more cereal.
4. Spoon into cake cases, and leave in a cool place to set.
Sweet Mushroom-Chili with Cous-Cous (Tasty, I made this one up myself)
Ingredients
mushrooms
onion
red-chillis (sliced)
honey (large tablespoon).
apple juice
tin of tomatoes
tin of kidney beans
Bit of ground black-peppar
half a pinch of salt.
I added some soya mince but you could skip this.
Fry mushrooms in saucepan, add thickly cut onions. Cook for 5 minutes. Add other ingredients and reduce for 1 hours.
Serve on a bed of Cous-Cous (or rice or pasta or tasty bread).
Cauliflower and Lentil Bake (This is amazing, very quick and tasty)
Ingredients
Wash and rinse the lentils well place in a good sized, preferably heavy bottomed pan, cover with cold water and add a good dash of shoyu (up to a dessert spoon full). Put on a medium heat until boiling, stirring occasionally to make sure they do not stick. Once boiling turn down the heat and cover. Leave to simmer until cooked.
Check from time to time to make sure they do not stick and burn, adding a little water if they dry out too much. Do not add too much water, try not to cook them into a complete mush! · Peel and thinly slice the onions and fry until soft in a little sunflower oil with a pinch of black pepper. Once soft keep to one side.
Remove any damaged leaves from the cauliflower and discard , thinly shred the healthy leaves. Cut the cauliflower into small florets and wash both leaves and florets.
Half fill a medium sized pan with water and bring to the boil. When boiling add the cauliflower and cook for five minutes. Drain and keep to one side.
To make the white sauce - in a bowl mix the flour with a little of the milk to a smooth paste. Heat the rest of the milk to just below boiling point. Pour half the milk into the bowl stirring continously, then pour it all back into the saucpan. Add the butter or margarine, mustard, and nutmeg to the sauce and bring back to the boil, stirring all the time.Once the sauce has come to the boil remove from the heat and season to taste.
Mix the bread crumbs and cheese in a suitable bowl and then add a little sunflower oil until the mixture is evenly oiled, make sure not to overdo the oil, it just needs to be moist.
Add the onions to the cooked lentils mix well and put the mixture in an even layer in the bottom of an ovenproof dish.
Place the cooked cauliflower in a layer on top of the lentils.
Pour the sauce over the cauliflower and sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the top.
Bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes at: gas mark 5, 190°C, 375°F.
Irish Leek, Potato and Cheese Pie
Wash leeks and cut into one-half-inch thick rounds. Peel and cut up potatoes to match size of leeks. Melt the 3 Tbsp. butter in a casserole; add vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a foil or a heavy lid and bake slowly until soft, approx. 1/2 hour.
Make a cheese sauce by melting the 2 Tbsp. butter and combining the flour to form a roux. Add the crushed garlic and the milk. Cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Add the cup and a half of cheese and stir until combined. Pour over vegetables, mixing well. Top with grated cheese and the chopped parsley. Heat in a 375 degree oven until heated through. Brown on top and serve.
Cottage Cheese Recipe (I have not tried this recipe)
Also known as pot cheese or farmer's cheese, this type of cheese derived its name from the cottages it was produced in. This cheese tastes great by itself or with fruit added to it right before it is served . INGREDIENTS . 1 Gallon Fresh Milk 4 oz. Mesophilic Starter Culture 1/4 tab Rennet .. Mix 1 gallon fresh milk with 4 oz. of mesophilic starter. . Mix 1/4 tab Rennet into two tablespoons of COOL water. Mix this into the milk thoroughly using a whisk and stirring for at least 5 minutes. . Cover and set aside to ripen for about 20 hours at room temp (70 F / 21 C). . The milk should be a firm curd within 20 hours, however the full 20 hours is needed to develop the correct flavor. .. After 20 hours cut the curd into 1/2 inch cubes. . Allow the curds to firm up for 15 minutes. .. Over the next 30 minutes slowly raise the temperature of the curds to 110 F (43.5 C). . Cook for an additional 45 minutes at 110 F (43.5 C). . Stir the curds often to prevent them from matting. . The curds should have greatly shrunken and sunk to the bottom of the pot. . Line a colander with a cheesecloth and drain the curds. . Allow the curds to drain for 5 minutes. . Lift the curd filled cheese cloth from the colander and repeatedly dunk into a bowl of ICE COLD water for at least three minutes. . Drain the curds and place in a bowl. . Season the curds with a teaspoon of salt, herbs, etc. Use more or less to taste. . Place the cheese into a sealable container into a refrigerator. A few tablespoons of cream may be added if desired.
Go here to make Mozzarella in 30 minutes !
Banoffee Pie
This is interesting because of the way they boil a can of condensed milk to make caramel.
Ingredients
Crush the biscuits in a freezer bag with a rolling pin until they are reduced to crumbs. Gently heat some margarine in a saucepan until liquid (or just leave some out at room temperature to soften). Pour crumbs and liquid/soft margarine and mix in with the crumbs until they start to bind together. Transfer the biscuit crumbs to a round dish (a large Pyrex dish is good) and pat with a spoon so that they cover the base. Place in the fridge to set. Put the tin of condensed milk in a pan of boiling water (NB- don't open the tin first!) and allow to boil for 2 hours . You should put a lid on the pan to prevent all the water boiling off. When done, remove the tin and leave to cool a little (you could pour cold water on it to cool the outside). When cool enough to handle, open the tin carefully - the condensed milk will have caramelised and may well shoot out the opening. Pour/spoon the toffee from the tin onto the biscuit base of the Pyrex dish. Place back in the fridge to cool. Slice the bananas and arrange them on top of the toffee. Whip the cream until peaking, then fold on top and smooth out. Dust with chocolate powder for effect. Keep in the fridge until needed, covered with cling-film.
You may want to make the biscuit base with a lip (a bit like a flan or pavlova). Start the condensed milk boiling, then do the base. Have a rest for a while, then pour out the toffee and start on the cream and bananas. Serve cut into wedges in a bowl.
ROAST PORK
This recipe has a very good glaze for the pork. I used Granny's Homemade Apple Jelly instead of the lime marmalade, and ground-ginger, and it was fantastic.
908g (2lb) lean pork loin, shoulder or leg joint, rind removed
60ml (4 tablespoons) fresh orange juice
30ml (2 tablespoons) brown sugar
30ml (2 tablespoons) lime marmalade
1,25cm (1/2") root ginger, peeled and sliced
1 Place the joint on a rack in a roasting tin and open roast in a preheated oven for the calculated cooking time (see below).
2 Meanwhile, make the glaze. Mix the remaining ingredients in a pan, bring to the boil and heat vigorously for 5-8 minutes.
3 Glaze the pork 20 minutes before the end of cooking time, return to the oven and reglaze 10 minutes later.
Serve the pork sliced with a selection of roasted potatoes, carrots, parsnips and onions.
COOKING TIME
Medium 30 minutes per 450g (1lb) plus 30 minutes
Well done 35 minutes per 450g (1lb) plus 35 minutes
TEMPERATURE. Gas mark 4-5, 180c, 350f.
Sultana Streusel Buns
Ingredients
225g/8oz self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
75g/3oz butter
75g/3oz caster sugar
50g/2oz sultanas
1 egg
150ml/5fl oz milk
For the Streusel Topping:
25g/1oz self-raising flour
50g/2oz light muscovado sugar
25g/1oz butter, melted
To Finish:
icing sugar
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas5. Place about 18 paper cake cases in bun tins.
2. Measure the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and sultanas. Lightly mix the egg and milk and add all at once to the dry mixture. Beat well to give a smooth mixture. Spoon into the bun cases.
3. For the streusel topping, mix together the flour and sugar and add the melted butter. Use a fork to mix until crumbly. Sprinkle this mixture over the tops of the cakes.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes until well risen and firm to the touch. Lift the paper cake cases out of the bun tins and leave to cool on a wire rack. Dust with sifted icing sugar to serve.
First, turn on the oven to the highest setting, allowing enough time for it to warm up. Having taken the chicken out of the fridge, turn your attention to the spuds. If you want crispy potatoes with fluffy insides, you'll need to parboil them first. Peel them; then, if they're medium sized (about 6cm long), cut them in half lengthways. If you have larger potatoes, cut them into three lengths. You want to make sure that they have a large surface area so that they become properly crispy.
Next, simmer the cut potatoes in boiling salted water for five minutes ‑ no longer or they'll disintegrate later. Drain them in a colander; they need to be dry to aid crispness. Put them back in the pan off the heat. Season, add a wedge of butter and a splash of olive oil for flavour, and any herbs, if you're using them. Turn them over in the pan with a wooden spoon to rough up the edges and to make sure all sides are coated with fat.
All the chicken needs before it is put in the oven is a good seasoning inside and out, then smear all over with butter, including a dab inside. Sit it in the roasting tin, breast up, squeeze over the juice of the lemon, then stick the used fruit inside the cavity and tie the legs together. Not only does this mean that the bird will keep its shape when cooked, it also helps to keep it moist.
If you're not a fan of lemon, leave it out. Some people like to roast a chicken upside down, to let the juices flow into the breast meat, then turn it upright for the final browning. However, there's a danger that the skin will rip and the juices will pour out, giving you tasty potatoes but a stringy bird.
Right at the start, with the chicken. Place the potatoes around the chicken they can touch, but should not crowd each other ‑ then season again.
If you're roasting the chicken and potatoes separately, add a puddle of white wine and water to the chicken tin (about 100ml of each). It should be just enough to send up a steam ‑ you don't want the bird soaking in a hot bath. The idea is to keep the air around the bird moist, which gives really juicy breast meat.
This is make‑or‑break time for the perfect roast, and the temperature is crucial. Turn down the preheated oven to 220˚C, and then slide the assembled tin onto the middle shelf. Roast for 20 minutes, then turn down the oven to 190˚C and roast for a further hour. Make sure that you spoon the juices over the bird about three times while it's roasting, and turn over the potatoes at the same time, even if you're roasting them separately.
After this time, lift the bird from the tin and onto a warm serving dish: slide a fish slice underneath the bird with one hand, and with the other stick the handle of a wooden spoon into its cavity. Tip it so that the cavity juices pour into the pan, then transfer the bird onto the serving dish. Cover with foil.
Back to the spuds: turn up the oven to high, din them over again and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until crisp and golden. Remove from oven and turn it off.
This is where things can turn nasty, as there's quite a lot to think about. The chicken has been out for a good 10 minutes. The potatoes need to be taken out so you can get at the tin, and any veg has to be ready so that you've got the water for gravy. And it all has to stay hot.
The solution: tip the potatoes into their serving dish and keep warm in the turned‑off oven. Tip up the roasting tin and spoon out the excess fat ‑ probably a few spoonfuls. We prefer a thin, unfloured gravy with chicken, made from the water you've cooked your accompanying vegetables in. Carrot water is especially good. Drain enough vegetable water to make the gravy into the tin, and tip away the rest, leaving the veg in the hot pan with the lid on.
Set the tin over a gentle heat on the hob and, while the contents bubble, scrape up all the bits and simmer for a few minutes. Taste and add more salt until it's how you like it. Don't strain it.
Perfect chicken, perfect potatoes and perfect gravy are all now ready to go.
Tip : Sainsbury's Drinking Chocolate is great value, just one heaped teaspoon is enough (other brands need 3 or 4 spoons).
Fried Bread
Use frozen bread and plenty of oil.
heat oil till it's really hot.
drop frozen bread in.
it cooks really quick, flip it over and brown other side.
Bubble and Squeak
I am still trying to cook good bubble and squeak , I'll let you know how this new recipe turns out.
1 pound cold potatoes
2 ounces lard
1 onion -- finely chopped
8 ounces cooked cabbage -- chopped
Salt
Black pepper
Finely chop the potatoes and crush slightly. In a frying pan melt half the fat and lightly fry the onion. Mix in the potato and greens and season well. Add more dripping or lard. Press the bubble into the hot fat and fry over a moderate heat until browned underneath. Turn the bubble over, add the last of the fat and fry until the other side is browned.
I think I made too much, the pan was overflowing so it never really browned. Next time - try having a smaller amount sitting in the middle of a large frying pan.
I have found that frying leftover cooked-cabbage from the fridge works much better if you heat the cabbage up first, I put a plate on the glass-bowel and blasted it in the microwave for a minute so that it was steaming.
Pork Chops with Caramelised Apple and Onion
Put brown sugar on the chops during cooking
Fry onions with unsalted butter, add brown sugar, add apples
Put chops in oven with Onion and Apples
Bake
served with minted new potatoes from my allotment. nice.
Honey and Mustard Salad Dressing
Here's a recipe I found on the net...
Fantastic for a green salad. The amounts are estimates - just make it by eye and taste.
2 tablespoons walnut oil (I never had this so I used Olive oil)
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (I never had this so I used Balsamic and
distilled malt vinegar)
1 heaped teaspoon seed mustard (I found this a bit strong)
1 teaspoon honey (could use more I reckon)
Put together in a little jar, shake, and toss with salad directly before serving.
Amy's Grilled Crisps
My daughter wanted a bag of crisps, I wanted her to eat something more substantial.
So here is what I made - a sort of kids-nachos made with whatever I could find
I took a victoria-sandwich cake tin
poured the bag of crisps in (I use non-salted salt'n'shake but any crisps would do).
I added the following toppings...
Then I grilled it till the cheese bubbles and the crisps started to go brown in places.
She ate it all - although I helped a bit because it was extremely tasty.
Chocolate Ice-Cream sauce.
Melt butter in pan.
Add icing sugar
Add cocoa powder.
Did I use milk ? Can't remember.Add some if it is too dry.
It was very good.
Omelette
Eggs
Cheese
Ham, bacon, whatever
Any leftovers or frozen veg like brocolli, peas, sweetcorn
Beat eggs, add the same amount of milk. Add other ingredients but save the cheese for near the end of cooking.
Heat oil in a large frying pan (Use a good dash or 2 of oil)
Add mixture and heat on the lowest setting for 20 minutes or so.
It can burn on the bottom so you may want to grill it for a while.
When it goes solid to the touch add cheese and grill
Dumplings
These are so easy. Here's the recipe from the pack of suet...
100g (4oz) Self Raising Flour
50g (2oz) suet (I used light Vegetable Suet)
Pinch of salt
Cold water (about 5 tablespoons)
I reckon these could be cooked just in water, and then used like boiled potatoes or even covered in custard or jam sauce.
I added them to soup - it worked really well. It seems like a lot of suet so I have just made some healthier ones by using a pile of flour and adding about a sprinkle of suet and a dash of oil. They did break up slightly at the edges, but it just thickened the soup - very nice.
Spicy Ginger Cake.
I made this one up as I went along but it is very nice.
Self Raising Flour (say about 3 large cups full !)
Brown plain flour (say about 1 cup full)
Icing Sugar and Castor Sugar (Normal sugar would do but I had run out, I bet brown sugar would be good or even treacle).
1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
2 teaspoons of ground ginger
half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Sprinkle of salt
One Egg
Mix it all up
Enough milk to make it all damp
Add a good slug of vegetable oil to make it beatable.
beat for 30 seconds.
pour out onto a greased baking tray and spread out thin to cover the whole tray.
cook in a preheated oven at gas mark 3 for 30 minutes (should be nice and firm and going golden)
Let it cool for a few minutes then get a fish slice under the edges to free it up.
Cut it in half, then stick them together with a layer of icing (I used vanilla icing, which is icing sugar, water and 3 caps of natural-vanilla essence).
Sprinkle the top with a dusting of icing sugar.
Le Puy Lentils with Garlic and Cheese
Here's a different recipe that I found on a packet of "Le Puy" type lentils. (Tasty small black lentils that hold together well.)
It was very quick, easy, tasty, and never involved boiling the lentils which is how I normally cook them.
Fry 1 onion and 1 crushed garlic clove in 2 tbs olive oil until soft. Add 250g puy lentils (having rinsed in cold water), 1tbs fresh thyme ( I found some old dried stuff but a bit of basil, parsley, or mixed herbs would do), 400ml of hot water.
Simmer for 45 minutes or until lentils are cooked (I found it dried out right at the end so a bit of stirring is needed to stop it sticking to the bottom).
Meanwhile, make dressing :
1 crushed garlic clove, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbs balsamic vinegar,4 tbs olive oil
When lentils are cooked leave in the pan and pour dressing over them and add cubes of cheese (recipe calls for hallumi cheese but I used cheddar). Leave to cool for 10 minutes and the cheese will melt a bit.
Popcorn (quick and fun to make, tastes good, great TV food).
handful of popping corn
good splash of vegetable oil
heat oil in a medium sized saucepan (make sure you have a good-fitting lid for it).
as soon as the oil smokes, chuck the corn in the pan.
put the lid on , and continue heating on a medium heat, giving it the occasional shake.
do not be tempted to peek. after a few minutes it will start popping, continue to give it an occasional shake,
when the popping stops take off heat and pour into a container avoiding the last few unpopped corns (teeth breakers!).
Add a little sugar (or salt!) to taste, or try it plain (quite nice actually, I think I prefer it and it's better for children).
Coconut Ice
I want to make some coconut ice, like I remember it when I was a kid. here's a recipe that I have found, not tried it yet...
900g (2lb) Sugar
225g (8oz) Desiccated Coconut
300ml (½ pint) Milk
25g (1 oz) Unsalted Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
Red Colouring
Place the sugar, milk and butter
into a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar is fully dissolved.
Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, allow
it to reach a temperature of 120°C (248°F).
Remove from the heat, add the coconut and the vanilla essence, beat well with
a wooden spoon until the mixture is thick and creamy.
Pour half of the mixture into an oiled 20cm (8 inch) baking tray.
Quickly add a few drops of the colouring to the remaining mixture, stirring
well to ensure it is fully distributed.
Pour the pink mixture on top of the white mixture, spread evenly with a pallet
knife.
Leave in a cool place to set, cut into small bars or squares.
Store in an airtight container.
Pasta with Onion & Peas (my kid loved this)
pasta
onion
peas
half a cup of soup
oil for frying
I have been introduced to a new way of cooking. You put the pasta on first, and then you have until the pasta is cooked to make a sauce. This way you don't spend ages in the kitchen. Just don't chop your finger off in the rush.
Here is one I made with some leftover soup. Never throw food away just because there's only a bit left in the pan, I make a habit of checking the cooker before I go to bed to see if there's anything that needs to go into the fridge. A small amount of leftover can be the basis for a whole meal.
- put the pasta on
-chop an onion and fry quickly
-add frozen peas to browning onion
-add half a cup of soup when the peas are hot
When pasta is cooked drain and add sauce, mix together.
Pasta with Leek and Bacon cheesey sauce (my kid loved this).
2 or 3 leeks (sliced)
2 or 3 slices of bacon (chopped)
Milk (around half pint)
Flour (heaped tablespoon)
Cheese (grated)
Pasta
Olive oil and/or Butter
This is so quick to make that you may want to get the pasta on first (once you have grated, chopped, or sliced the various ingredients). Add pasta to unsalted boiling water and turn the heat right down.
In another pan heat oil and butter. Add bacon to one side of pan and leeks to other, leave on heat till bacon is cooked then mix together and cook a bit more. Add flour, mix up well, cook a bit. Add milk dash at a time every time it thickens. Add cheese. Add salt to taste although the cheese and bacon will probably be salty enough.
Drain pasta well and mix with a dash of olive oil.
Ice-cream (I'm still trying to perfect this one)
Double cream
single cream (or beaten egg-whites).
sugar
strawberries
Make strawberry coulis (a great sauce - simmer strawberries & sugar, add a squirt of lemon juice (which you can leave out for the ice-cream), then mash through a sieze to make smooth sauce).
Whip double cream. Fold in single cream and coulis.
During freezing mix it a couple of time
Traditional rice-pudding (This works really well. Cover if you don't like the skin),
Pint of milk
Large handful of Pudding Rice (about 2oz)
Sprinkle of sugar. (bit less than 1oz I think).
Nutmeg or Cinnamon (small sprinkle)
Knob of butter.
Put it all in an oven-proof dish. Keep covered if you don't like the skin (else uncover 30 - 45 minutes before cooking finished). Cook for 2 hours on a low heat (gas mark 2). Good to make when the oven is on for long time eg making baked spuds.
Cheating rice-pudding (useful when you have a curry and the kids refuse to eat anything).
Take a bit of normal cooked rice and add milk and sugar, blast in microwave.
Quick rice-pudding.
Milk (can be made with half-water , especially if you have full-fat milk)
Rice or Rice flakes or Ground-Rice.
Sugar
Instead of baking just add the ingredients to a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer until rice is cooked. For rice-flakes or Ground rice this only takes 5 minutes.
Baked Spuds.
Wash spuds, dry with tea towel, stab with knife.
To speed up cooking time zap in microwave (add at least one minute per spud).
Rub oil on spuds if you want crispier skins
Bake for 1 hour or so.
My favourite fillings are various combinations of:
Butter
Cheese
Cottage cheese
Baked beans
Sweetcorn
Tuna
Pickle
Mayo
These are great biscuits, simple but very crispy.
300g self raising flour, sifted
250g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
flavour (for lemon biscuits add zest of 1 lemon, for choc biscuits add a spoon of cocoa powder, could try coffee)
2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar (or I guess sugar and vanilla essence)
Basic easy recipes - cooking without scales ......
Quick & Easy TV Biscuits (can make during the adverts and then eat them during the next adverts).
Don't bother measuring , just chuck it all together and it literally takes 2 minutes. Different every time !
A big wallop of plain flour (Wholemeal if you have it)
Big splash of sugar (Brown if you have it)
Dash of vegetable oil (or butter or marge)
Splash of milk or water.
Add these optional ingredients if you have them to hand...
Milk powder
Pinch of salt
An egg
Pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda or Baking Soda ( a level teaspoon at the most - do not overdo this 'cos it can make it taste gross)
Mix it all together except the milk until it's like breadcrumbs, add splash of milk until it turns into one large dough-ball. Knead it for 10 seconds. Grease a tray, place small lumps of dough on the tray, Press down on each ball to flatten it, cook for 20 to 30 minutes at gas mark 3 to 5 on the top shelf of the oven, until golden brown or until you smell burning. Eat hot biscuits or leave to cool, put into a food-bag and freeze.
Make them more interesting by adding one of these...
Desiccated Coconut
Rolled Oats
Dried Fruit
Cocoa (Perhaps Coffee?)
Choc Chips or grated plain chocolate
Nuts
Blobs of Jam or marshmallows placed in each biscuit before putting in the oven.
Quick & Easy Buns.
Make like the biscuits above, but use Self Raising flour. When you have a dough-ball roll it in your hands so it is a large sausage shape then cut it into slices with a knife. Bake them.
Make them more interesting by adding one of these...
Mashed Banana
Pizza.
Put yeast in a jug with half a pint of warm water and a teaspoon of sugar. While that gets going (15 minutes or so) you can pour some plain flour (wholemeal if you have it) into a mixing bowl. Put a big knob of butter in the flour and mix until like breadcrumbs. Add yeast when it is foaming, mix into a dough-ball. Put onto floured clean surface and knead for 5 minutes - really lay into it. Put it in the bowl and cover with a damp teatowl and place somewhere warm for 45 minutes. (Now you can prepare the toppings). When the time is up and the dough has doubled in size bash it down, cut it into 2 or three pieces, place on a floured surface and roll them out flat with a rolling pin, put on greased trays and leave in warm place for 5 minutes. Smear with a mixture of tomatos (fresh, drained tinned, or puree) and tomato ketchup, add the toppings and sprinkle with cheese. Cook for half an hour on gas mark 5 until the cheese browns.
Toppings
Chop the onions and put them on the stove with a knob of butter for 10 minutes to soften.
Sliced peppers.
Sliced tomatos
Cheese (crumbled Lancashire or sliced Mozarella)
Other ideas - Tuna and spinach. Spice up any pizza with chilli peppers. Sliced hard-boiled eggs. Bacon.
FAILED RECIPES
Other recipes to come...
Flapjack
Chocolare Cake
Pickled Beetroot
Lentil Lasagne
Vegi Shepherds Pie
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Last Updated Wednesday, August 30, 2006 |
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