Cheesy leek spaghetti

12 minutes from fridge to plate? I'll have some of that thanks!

1 portion spaghetti
2/3 leek, finely sliced
3 slices honey roast ham
1.5 tablespoons low fat creme fraiche
0.5 teaspoon while grain mustard
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

1. Put the pasta on to cook, setting the timer for 12 minutes.
2. Chop the leek and put it in a frying pan with the oil on a low heat
3. Chop the ham into similar sized pieces to the leeks
4. When there's about 4 minutes left add the ham, creme fraiche, mustard, salt & pepper, and about 4 tablespoons of pasta water
5. Add the cheese an stir till melted in
6. Drain the pasta and add the sauce. Voila!

Butterfly wreath

I finally got around to making the butterfly wreath I got inspiration for on Pinterest (as you can see above).

Originally I wanted to do it with a French newspaper - something that looked good but wasn't 'readable' to most people. I ended up using craft paper after it turns out there are no foreign newspapers available in Lincoln or Newark.

To make it I used the following:

Craft paper
Ribbon
Old wire coat hanger
Silicone glue
Craft knife
Cutting mat
Butterfly stencils I found on the Internet
Jewellery wire
Rat-nose / fine pliers

I used the templates to cut out butterflies from the craft paper - fancy shapes for the plain paper, fancy paper for the plain shapes!

Then I twisted the jewellery wire into antenna, and glued these to the bodies. I wound ribbon around the coat hanger, which my husband shaped into a circle for me (it hurt my hands too much to do it). Then I stuck the butterflies onto the ribbon in a nice arrangement an waited overnight for them to dry. Done!

Cod and spiced lentils

This is one of my favourite meals - I hadn't made in ages and had forgotten how simple it is to make. 30 minutes to a plate of heaven!

The recipe is from the BBC Food website. I've amended it slightly to account for not having time to always pick up fresh ingredients on the day I'm cooking!

Ingredients for two servings are:
2 frozen line caught cod fillets
1 onion, chopped finely
1 can green lentils
2 tbsp mango chutney
2 tsp curry powder
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 handfuls of spinach
Squeeze of squirty lime juice

1. Pop the fish fillets in an oven heated to around 180 degrees; pop some olive oil on before they go in.

2. Fry the onion in a pan until they're soft. Add in the curry powder and tomato and continue to fry for a minute or so.

3. Add the lentils, then refill the can half way with water and add that to the pan. Add the mango chutney. Simmer and stir occasionally.

4. After 25 minutes add the spinach to the lentils, but do not stir - make sure you add a lid to the pan so that the leaves steam and wilt in the remaining 5 minutes of cooking time.

5. Plate up by spooning the lentil and spinach mixture to a plate, then top with the fish. Spritz over the lime juice.

Done!

Pea Pie

I recently made a great and easy pie, which serves well on a work night as it takes little time to prepare and pays off grandly.

This makes enough for 4 if served with steamed mixed vegetables.

5 all purpose potatoes, peeled and diced
1 leek, chopped fairly finely
2 chicken breasts, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 cup of frozen peas
1 tbsp olive oil
50g butter
3 tbsp plain flour
Milk
Cheese to taste

1. Put the potatoes on to boil - you're going to make mash from them
2. Fry the chicken, and when cooked through add the leeks and continue to fry
3. Meanwhile in another pan, melt the butter, add the flour and stir to a paste
4. Add milk slowly, bit by bit until you've made a white sauce of a smooth consistency
5. Melt in the cheese
6. Add the peas to the chicken and leek mixture, stir and take off the heat
7. Add the mixture to a casserole or pie dish, pour over the cheese sauce
8. Drain and mash the potatoes, then sprinkle them over the top of the chicken mixture
9. Bake in a moderate oven for 20-30 minutes until golden and bubbling
10. Serve!

Sorry there's no photo; I'll add one next time I make it!

Victorious Sponge

Every Victoria sponge I've tried to make since I left home has failed. I followed the instructions to the letter and it always came out as a hard, crusty, un-risen disaster. Once I made 4 sponges just so they'd get to the right height for a normal sponge.

This weekend I made my first successful and GORGEOUS Victoria sponge! The secret? A recipe off YouTube, lob it all in a bowl together and don't really think about it!

200g self raising flour
200g castor sugar
200g butter (mine was slightly salted)
4 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp strawberry jam
1 tbsp icing sugar

1. Mix the ingredients except the icing sugar and jam in a large bowl
2. Divide between 2 lined cake tins, which are about as wide as my hand span
3. Bake at 160°C for 25-30 minutes or until risen and golden
4. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from the tins
5. Cool to room temperature on a wire rack
6. Sandwich together with strawberry jam then dust the icing sugar through a sieve over the top

Ta daaaah!

Ray's Allotment Cassoulet

Ok, I'll admit I'm not sure what a "cassoulet" is, but it sounded right for the "thing" that's happening in the slow cooker right now!

Here's what's in it:

3 medium beetroots from Ray's Allotment, peeled and cubed
About 8 runner beans from Ray's Allotment, cubed with the snaggy ends chopped off
A large tin of red kidney beans
A large onion, peeled and chopped into large pieces
A carrot, cubed, not peeled
A large tin of thick cut chopped tomatoes in their own juice
Water - I refilled the tin from the tomatoes
A chicken stock cube
A heaped teaspoon of fennel seeds

...and some Savoy cabbage is going in after about 2 hours

I fried off the onion and fennel seeds in olive oil in a pan to soften them up and release some flavour, before adding the whole lot to the slow cooker. I'm planning on adding some cabbage in a couple of hours - I think the whole thing will cook for about 4 hours so adding the cabbage after two seems reasonable.

I'm so excited - the beetroot was in the ground only an hour ago! Eek!

Ray is our lovely neighbour, who grows the most incredible veg on his allotment, which is in the next village from ours. He grows cucumbers, tomatoes, marrows, courgettes, lettuce, beetroot, runner beans, and I'm sure much more than that too! He's very generous in keeping me in veg for the small price of an occasional bottle of wine and parcel of lavender shortbread (although he always says not to give him anything).

Sort of restores your faith in people when you meet someone so willing to take care of you for nothing in return. Oh, and he also waters my pot plants when I'm too busy too!

Thank you, Ray!

It turned out really well! Tasty yum yum! Very pink though!

Blind toggles

I've just found this post sitting in my drafts since August 2012, so I thought I'd share it!

Some of the toggles on our Venetian blinds have been damaged over the years, a combination of trapping them in windows and a mischievous nibbling puppy, so I thought I'd replace them. Instead of going to a hardware store and getting boring plain wood ones to replace them with, I decided to go to a bead shop and get some big beads to personalise them, so this is the end result.

Diet Pasta

I tried a new recipe last night - pasta with a low fat sauce and soooo easy to make. I didn't take any pics of it but will add one next time I make it - I'm sure to do it again soon because it was so easy and tasty!

What you need:

Spaghetti (enough for one person - I used a stick with a hole in it that tells you how much you need - thanks Jamie Oliver!)
2 rashers of smoked back bacon
Half a head of broccoli
100ml reduced fat crème fraiche
1 dessert spoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

To make it:

1. Put the pasta on to boil in some salted water
2. Chop the broccoli into bite sized pieces - about 2cm square
3. Chop the bacon into strips - I cut it lengthways then slice off 1cm wide pieces
4. Fry the bacon in a pan with no oil, just till it looks cooked but not crispy
5. Add the broccoli and fry until it's absorbed all of the bacon fat and moisture out of the pan
6. Add some olive oil to the pan and keep on frying
7. When the pasta is cooked, turn off the heat from the bacon and broccoli, drain the pasta, but dribble about a tablespoon of the cooking water into the bacon and broccoli pan
8. Add the creme fraiche to the bacon and broccoli pan, and stir until it comes together with the water from the pasta
9. Add in the pasta, stir until completely mixed, season with a little salt and pepper
10. You're done!

It comes out really tasty, and doesn't taste "diet" - and comes to less than 600 calories for a really filling meal.

Bread - bingo wing buster & taste sensation!

I made bread! I followed a recipe from Mrs Beeton's "Baking and Cakes" book, and with a minor alteration made a fantastic loaf...

Use your loaf

Ingredients (for a 23 x 13 x 7.5cm loaf tin):

400g strong white flour (about the amount you can fit in a big cereal bowl)

1 tsp salt

12.5g lard

0.5 tablespoon dried yeast

0.25 tsp sugar

250ml luke warm water

flour for kneading

water for glazing (makes a crusty top)

sunflower seeds - I added these to the top

What I did:

1. Sifted the flour and salt into a large glass mixing bowl, then rubbed in the lard.
2. In a jug I measured the luke warm water, stirred in the sugar till it dissolved then sprinkled the dried yeast onto the water and left it in a warm room (utility room!) for 5 minutes until it frothed.
3. Then I mixed the yeast fluid into the flour by making a well in the middle, pouring the fluid in and bringing it together with my hands.
4. I dusted the worktop with flour, then turned the dough out and kneaded it for 8 minutes until it was smooth and really springy - fantastic work out for your arms, just remember to use both or you'll end up lop-sided! 
5. Then put the back into the bowl (it stuck a bit so put some flour up the sides of the bowl), covered it in clingfilm and left it in a warm room for 2 hours.
6. After 2 hours it had at least doubled in size, so I took it out of the bowl and kneaded it for about 5 mins more till it was springy and smooth again.
7. Then it was popped into the loaf tin - no greasing but the tin I've got is really good non-stick, wrapped it in cling film and put it back in the warm room for another 45 minutes.
8. Then I preheated the oven to 210 degrees (it's a fan oven), and while it heated up I brushed water on the top of the loaf and sprinkled a generous helping of sunflower seeds on top.
9. I put the loaf in the oven for 35 minutes - I did turn the temperature down a little to around 160 degrees after 30 minutes because it smelled like it was too warm.
10. Then it got turned out onto a board and left to cool for a while, before slicing and serving with some margarine to accompany a chicken and bacon salad dressed with honey and mustard. Yum!

Breakfast this morning was a few more slices, with coffee and a good read!

I'm trying another loaf today - Honey and Sunflower Seed - I've replaced the sugar with a generous teaspoon of honey (mixed with the warm water as before) and I measured by eye rather than weight. It's sitting in the utility room proving at the moment... we'll see how it turns out later!

Making bread from scratch without a bread machine sounds like it takes ages... but activity-wise it takes next to no time; prep takes 5 minutes and that's only to let the yeast activate, kneading takes in total about 12 minutes, so really under 20 minutes effort is required. With the rest of the time you can go off and do something or nothing, whatever you fancy! And the pay off / effort:result ratio is off the scale! Well worth a go and it means no extra kitchen contraptions to find a home for!

Butternut and Chick Pea Salad

I tried this, or something similar, at work and have recreated it at home today, with a twist. Here's what it is and how to do it:

1 Butternut Squash
1 240g (drained) can Chick Peas
1 120g (drained) can Black Eyed Beans
1 Orange
Half a block of hard feta cheese
Salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Cut the butternut squash into bite sized pieces, toss in the olive oil and salt and pepper, and roast in the oven for 30 mins at 180 degrees (fan oven).
2. Tip the roasted squash, and both cans of peas / beans into a big bowl
3. Cut the orange in half and squeeze every last drop of lovely juice out, and add to the squash and bean mixture
4. Toss everything together well
5. Get yourself a couple of big bowls to eat from (this serves 2 hungry people at lunchtime)
6. Chop the feta cheese into centimetre square pieces and sprinkle over the salad

And that's really all there is to it. Yummy and pretty healthy, and it looks like sunshine.

PB&J Bars

This recipe for Peanut Butter and Jelly bars is courtesy of The Boy Who Bakes, Edd Kimber. I tried it, and it works - a treat! The photos are of my attempt at his fab recipe!

450g Plain Flour

300g Unsalted Butter

150g Caster Sugar

1/4 tsp salt

150g smooth peanut butter

250g jam (choice up to you) (I used strawberry because it was on offer!)

1. Press a piece of foil into the base and up the sides of a 9×13 baking pan. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.

2. Place the flour, butter, sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse until the ingredients form a dough. (I used my Braun Multiquick Handblender with the big jug attachment, and it worked well).

3. Tip the dough out onto the worksurface and lightly knead until it becomes uniform. Remove a third of the dough and wrap it in clingfilm and refrigerate until needed. Press the remaining dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 mins or until lightly golden around the edges. leave to cool for 20 mins.

4. Spread the peanut butter evenly on the cooled base then repeat with the jam. Remove the third of dough from the fridge and crumble into pieces and scatter evenly over the jam. Bake for a further 25-30 mins or until the crumbled dough starts to colour a little bit. Cool completely before cutting into 12 large squares.

Here's Edd's website if you want to try more of his lovely recipes. 

Margarita Cookies

My friend and colleague, Matt, showed me a recipe book a few months ago - it had lots of different types of cookies and biscuits to try, and one that stuck in my mind was Margarita Cookies, so I thought I'd give them ago. I didn't have the recipe book to hand today when I was making them, so I sort of made it up as I went, following the principle of lime biscuits with tequila icing.

So here's what I did...

For the biscuits:
225g butter
110g caster sugar
275g plain flour
Zest of 1 lime

For the icing*:
115g icing sugar
2 tablespoons of tequila
Splash of lime juice

1. Cream the butter so it's light and smooth
2. Cream together the caster sugar and smooth butter
3. Mix in the lime zest
4. Work in the flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until a dough is formed

The first batch of these I did had quite a dry dough - the second was more moist even though I used the same quantities. It's worked out nicely with both consistencies - so long as it's not sloppy and you can mould it with your hands you should be ok!

5. Roll these into small balls, about the size of a walnut, and place on a baking tray, lined with baking paper.
6. Squash the balls down with your fingers to make rough circles about 8mm thick. They don't need to be smooth - in fact the bumpier they are the easier they are to ice. You should end up with 25 biscuits.
7. Bake at 170 degrees celcius (fan assisted oven) for 13 minutes, then transfer onto a wire rack for cooling.
8. Mix in the first tablespoon of tequila to the icing sugar, to make a paste. Then mix in the next tablespoon which should loosen the mixture even more.
9. Add a splash of lime juice if you think the mixture needs loosening further - but remember it's got to stick to the biscuits and dry, so you don't want it too sloppy.
10. Dip a spoon into the icing, and drizzle it over the biscuits. To do mine I put all the biscuits close together and shook the icing over a bit like a cobweb.
11. Allow to dry for an hour (but they're ok to try before they're dry!).

*this much icing was enough to cover a batch and a half of cookies