luscious lemon drizzle cake

This is one of my favourite cakes and it's easy peasy!

Ingredients:
100g melted butter
175g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
175g caster sugar
2 Large eggs
6 tbsp milk
finely grated lemon rind of one large lemon

for the drizzle:
juice of 1 large lemon (about 3 tbsp)
100g caster sugar

Method:

Stick your oven on 180 degrees, Use shallow oblong tin (18 x 28 cm) or a normal round cake tin and grease it well.
Put all of the ingredients for the cake in a bowl and mix, until it drops easily off the spoon.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Meanwhile make the drizzle ... just beat the sugar and lemon juice together.

Pour the mixture over the cake whilst its still hot.

et voila ... enjoy!

I don't mess around with this cake - the taste speaks for itself! If you wanted to you could add a few drops of yellow food colouring to make it yellower. Occasionally i cover it with tiny sugar balls just to make it look a little more exciting if i'm giving it as a gift.

easy easy french bread pizza

made with fridge and store cupboard essentials!

I was wondering what to have for lunch today! I didn’t have anything exciting in the cupboards just the everyday stuff … so I decided French bread pizza would be nice!

This is what I used …

A Part bake baguette
Cheddar cheese
Onion
Green Pepper
Ham
Oregano
Garlic
Dried grated parmesan
Canned tomatoes

Obviously you can use whatever you have in you cupboard and make your favourite pizza.

Part bake your baguettes – mine needed 10 mins so I gave them about 7, then
using as much or as little as you want … build up your pizza topping, starting with the tomato and ending with the cheese.

Then I baked mine for about another 10 mins … and ate them! ☺

Jambalaya !!!

Oh man i have to say this is one of my favourites ... honestly i could have eaten the whole saucepan! it's delicious. My mum used to make this for me ... but i know she bought the sauce! I havent had it since as you dont seem to be able to buy the sauce anymore! So i found myself a recipe online and adapted it and this is my version!

I made my jambalaya with big king prawns, chorizo  and cubed pancetta. An odd mix but you can pretty much add anything! Mum used to do it with chicken, which would go great with any of the meat above ... I think a mix keeps it a bit more authentic but i could be wrong!

So where does this dish come from? there is some confusion - to me its a creole dish! Originating in the spanish dish paella. There are however african influences and the name in itself is apparently a mixture of french "a la" (with) "Jambon" ham and "ya" which apparently is an african word for rice. They say there are similarities between Jollof rice and Jambalaya which after having cooked both recently i agree with - the recipes are similar and the method.

So heres the recipe ... have a go - it's incredible ! It makes enough for about 6 good size portions.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
225g chorizo
200g pancetta cubes
1 tablespoon butter (you may or may not need this – you decide)
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, cored and diced
1 red bell pepper, cored and diced
1 cup seeded and diced tomato/ tinned tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced OR ½ teaspoon cayenne (I used a chilli and a half and the cayenne pepper)
2 teaspoons diced fresh oregano
1 teaspoon diced fresh thyme
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups chicken stock
3 cups long-grain rice, rinsed
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 to 8 dashes hot sauce, optional
2 tsp dried parsley
3 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
225g prawns, deveined (20 to 24 count)

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the chorizo and saute for 5mins or so, until browned. Remove the chorizo to a bowl, and set aside.

2. Add the pancetta to the same pot and cook for 5 mins, until lightly browned. Remove to the bowl with the chorizo, and set aside.

3. Add the butter, onion and peppers to the same pot and saute for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onion is translucent.

4. Add the tomato, garlic, jalapeno or cayenne, oregano, thyme, and tomato paste and cook until all the vegetables and herbs are blended well.

5. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Stir in the rice, and add the sausage, ham, bay leaves, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Return to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

6. Add parsley, lemon juice and the prawns, and stir well. Cover the pot, remove it from the heat and allow the jambalaya steam, for 15 minutes, before serving.


all there is left to say is ENJOY !!! I know you will !!

cinnamon and sugar donut muffins

cinnamon and sugar coating

150g sugar
1 large egg
180g all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
60ml vegetable oil
180ml milk
1 tsp vanilla

3 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180˚. Lightly coat a muffin tin with non-stick spray, or use paper liners.  In a large bowl, beat together the sugar and egg until light in colour. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Pour dry mixture into the egg mixture and stir to combine. Add vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla, stirring until just combined.

Divide batter evenly into muffin tin, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes clean, about 15-18 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from tin. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. While the muffins are still warm, roll each one in the mixture, coating all sides with the cinnamon sugar. I got 9 muffins out of this recipe.

balsamic and brown sugar red cabbage

This is a really simple recipe ... I just throw as much cabbage as you want into a pan with a little oil .. then two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and a tablespoon of brown sugar ... leave it to cook on low for 30 - 40 mins ... about half way through add a bit of water and put it up a little higher if cabbage is still a bit hard. keep stiring and voila ... a great side for sausage and mash, or a roast.

home grown goodness !!

After a sunny day like we've had today and a conversation with my lovely brother who lives in the countryside i love, with chickens and a very productive veggie plot, I had to un-urbanise myself.

For one year I'm living in manchester city due to studying - through and through i'm a country girl and I'm counting down to move home to some form of countryside and hopefully a house with a garden.

Anyway so i'm doing what i can which is window sill growing ... peppers, chilli peppers, basil and i'm going to see what happens with a tomato plant. I'm finished in June so hopefully i'll have time to move before my toms need sticking outside ...watch this space!

leftovers for lunch

pork stuffing batches

pork and stuffing batches

This is definatly not a recipe ... It's just one of my favourite things to do, its easy and great when you've got a massive joint of pork and have a load of friends coming over.

I cooked mine joint slowly and in the end it took about 4 hours ... I cook it on high for half an hour and then slow with the oven down really low, about half an hour to an hour before we want to eat I carve it all up, and pour gravy into the pan to keep it succulant. Please make sure you cook your pork well and follow either the instructions on the pack carefully or I find this webite really helpful to work out how long i need to cook my pork for.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/pork 

I just put the meat on the table with the bread rolls, various types of stuffing (which i didnt make myself), apple sauce, and anything else you fancy eating with it. Oh and obvious a bowl full of crackling! And let my friends tuck in!

fudge and white choc cookies

So as you know i made cookies thursday night in preparation for our friends coming round on fri evening. Unfortunatly my husband took a liking to them, so they went down quickly! I had to make some more. This time i changed the berries for fudge!

Ingredients

    * 1 x 100g bar good quality white chocolate
    * 125g unsalted butter, very soft
    * 125g dark brown sugar
    * 1 large free range egg
    * 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
    * 150g plain flour
    * 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    * a good pinch of salt
    * 50g fudge pieces
    * 2 baking trays lined with non-stick
    * baking parchment

oven pre-heated to 170/180 degrees

1. Break up or chop the chocolate and fudge into pieces about the size of your little finger nail. Set aside until needed. Put the soft butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl and beat until thoroughly combined, scraping down the bowl once or twice. Stir in the chocolate pieces and the fudge.
2. Take a heaped teaspoon of the mixture and put it onto the prepared tray, using another teaspoon to push the mixture off the spoon and into a rough mound. Repeat with the rest of the mixture, spacing the mounds well apart to allow for spreading.
3. Bake in the heated oven for about 15 minutes until a light golden brown. Remove the trays from the oven, leave to cool for a minute then carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
4. Store in an airtight container and eat within 4 days or freeze for up to a month.

white choc and fudge and the leftover white choc and berry cookies

    

pink apple slaw

I went to a friends house for dinner the other night and she made an amazing homemade slaw, I decided to try and make my own and decided to add apple as i'd heard that was good in a slaw. I love red cabbage and will always use it instead of white or green cabbage if possible! hence the pinkness.

It took me about 10 mins to do ad then was ready to go and i made enough for about 4-6 people depending how big a portion your planning on doing as a side.

I used 1 apple and 2 onions but i think less onion and more apple would be better so i've adjusted the recipe for you guys.

Ingredients:
4 carrots
1 onion
100g red cabbage
2 apples

Blitz this in the food processor, i did mine into very small chunks but if you have more of a shredder setting that would leave you longer chunks.

Mix together in a bowl and all I added to this was 95g of mayo, 2 tsp Lemon juice and salt and pepper.

As you can see the colour is incredible ... the kids might even eat it!

white choc and berry cookies

These are a really quick gorgeous treat to rustle up for friends and family.

Ingredients

  * 1 x 100g bar good quality white chocolate
    * 125g unsalted butter, very soft
    * 125g dark brown sugar
    * 1 large free range egg
    * 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
    * 150g plain flour
    * 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    * a good pinch of salt
    * 50g frozen berries
    * 2 baking trays lined with non-stick//or greased
    * baking parchment
    * oven preheated to 180 degrees

1. Break up or chop the chocolate into pieces about the size of your little finger nail. Set aside until needed. Put the soft butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a food mixer. Beat until thoroughly combined, scraping down the bowl once or twice. Stir in the chocolate pieces and the berries.
2. Take a heaped teaspoon of the mixture and put it onto the prepared tray, using another teaspoon to push the mixture off the spoon and into a rough mound. Repeat with the rest of the mixture, spacing the mounds well apart to allow for spreading.
3. Bake in the heated oven for about 15 minutes until a light golden brown. Remove the trays from the oven, leave to cool for a minute then carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
4. Store in an airtight container and eat within 4 days or freeze for up to a month.

Mexican Rice Amigoes !

This evening after an afternoon of outreach and with my husband popping straight back out to VIP (an evening to bless homeless people they run at our church) I had to think of a quick-ish tea, I got some frozen taquitos out of the freezer and decided to have a go at some Mexican rice to go with it. After scouting the internet for ideas I came up with this … I think we can still call it Mexican rice… It looks delicious and tastes even better … one of these days I’m gonna have a go at some refried beans to go with as well!

My Mexican Rice Recipe
(30 mins)

Ingredients

    * 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
    * 100g uncooked basmati rice
    * 1 teaspoon garlic salt
    * 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
    * 1/4 large white onion
    * ¼ of a red pepper
    * 1 + ½ tablespoons tomato puree
    * 300ml chicken broth
    * chopped chilli (I’ll leave you to decide how much)

Serve with

•    sour cream/ fat free greek yoghurt
•    lime wedges
  
Directions

   1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add rice. Cook, stirring constantly, until puffed and golden. While rice is cooking, sprinkle with salt and cumin.
   2. chop onion and red pepper into very small pieces
   3. Stir in onions and cook until tender adding peppers a few minutes later. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
    4. After about 10 mins add 100ml of water if needed to your rice. Do not stir – if needed fluff with a fork.

mexican rice mixed with sour cream, served with taquitos and lime wedges

Chocolate chip cookie dough truffles

if you love cookie dough these are for you !

Makes approx. 3-4 dozen.
Ingredients:

300g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
226g butter or margarine, room temperature
170g granulated sugar
150g packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
70ml milk or soy milk
100g mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 slabs of plain chocolate candy coating

Directions:

Beat butter and sugars and in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add soymilk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.

When dough is firm enough to handle (it may help to lightly flour your hands), form dough into 1" balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place sheets in freezer and let chill for 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate candy coating in a double boiler or in microwave according to package directions. Using forks or a dipping tool, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Tap fork on side of pan to remove any excess coating, and return to waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until set. Store, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 1 week (though good luck making them last that long).

Chicken Taquitos

This is a really easy, great for guests, easy to prepare ahead of time and just delicious.

Chicken Taquitos
makes 16

5 chicken breasts
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 onion
a packet of fajita seasoning
250g salsa
1 red chilli (optional)
a lime (a quater for the dish - 3/4 for serving with)
grated cheese
16 tortilla wraps

serve with: low fat greek yoghurt, extra salsa, extra cheese, lime wedges and green salad

-     Preheat oven to 220 degrees
-    Chop chicken into small bite size pieces and fry for 5 mins.
-    Dice onion, chilli and pepper, add to chicken

-    Add fajita seasoning and simmer for a furthur 5 mins
-    Mix in salsa and squeeze in lime juice
-    Heat up wraps in microwave for one min on a plate
-    Take a wrap and spoon about two large dessert spoons on to one side of the wrap

-    Sprinkle the chicken with cheese and wrap the tortilla as tightly as possible
-    Repeat with all tortillas
-    Place taquitos on a lightly oiled oven tray, seam side down, making sure you leave gaps in between each one

-    Bake for 10 – 15 mins but keep your eye on them as they brown quickly

This is a great dish that you can make ahead of time, you can package them individually wrapped in cling film and freeze them, then bake from frozen for more like 15-20 mins, but again keep your eye on them. 

Aunty D's Jollof Rice

This is delicious ... the tastiest rice ever, Thanks to Aunty Dorris for teaching me how!
Enjoy this recipe, it takes a while so you have to have a bit of time to prepare, but it's easy enough and you can make a whole load and freeze it.

Ingredients:
6/12 Chicken legs depending how much you fancy
2 mugs of rice
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 large onion
1 red pepper
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp thyme
2 chicken oxo cubes
1 tsp mixed herbs
2 tbs tomato puree
a glug of olive oil

Method:
-    pre-heat oven to 200 degrees
-    start by boiling the chicken in water (the water level shoudn’t be too high over the chicken)
-    meanwhile put the rice in a pan and pour over boiling water (about a finger tip above rice) and part boil (about half the time of the packet instruction)

-    meanwhile cut up the pepper and the onion
-    tip canned tomatoes into a blender with pepper and most of the onion (keep just under a quarter aside for later)
-    blend until very smooth (leave to one side)

-    add curry powder, thyme, mixed herbs and chicken stock to boiling chicken
-    plus add about half of the saved onion (diced) to add more flavour
-    leave this to simmer for about 20 mins
-    rince rice and set to one side
-    using the empty rice pan heat up a little olive oil
-    add the extra onion into the hot oil, this is just to add flavour, take out as soon as it browns
-    add a spoonful of salt and the tomato puree to oil (stir it in)
-    add in blended mixture, pop lid on and leave it to simmer
-    check the chicken with a knife (until juices run clear)
-    when ready place on a tray and put in the oven
-    turn the heat down on the tomato sauce and pour the chicken stock into it, be careful taking the lid off this pan, the sauce is extremely hot and spits.
-    mix well and then take some of the sauce out of the pan and put aside in a bowl
-    Start adding your rice to the pan, stirring as you go, after its all in, if the rice mix seems a little dry you can add a bit of the extra sauce
-    leave to simmer on low with lid on
-    turn the chicken over in the over to brown the other side
-    after about 20/30 mins the rice should be done, it shouldn’t be overly moist
-    stir it and serve it

the fluffliest pancakes ...

It's shrove tuesday tomorrow and it seems that spring is arriving!

Here's a yummy pancake recipe that we enjoyed this evening!

Ingredients

    * 135g self-raising flour
    * 1 tsp baking powder
    * 130ml milk
    * a pinch of salt
    * 2 tbsp caster sugar
    * 1 large egg, beaten
    * 2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly), plus a little more for cooking
    * what ever you fancy to eat with you pancakes

Method

   1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl.
   2. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.
   3. Pour the milk mixture into the flour and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any   lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing.
(your batter will look somewhat like cake mixture – don’t worry)

   4. Now for the important bit – Let the batter stand for a few minutes.
   5. Grease a non-stick frying pan with a little butter and place over a medium heat.
   6. When the pan gets up to temperature add a spoonful of batter. It will seem very thick but this is   how it should be.
   7. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over (or toss it, if you’re feeling brave!) and cook until both sides are a nice golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm thick.
   8. Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven.

Serve to taste … I like dollops of golden syrup, berries and yoghurt ☺

Happy Pancake Day everyone!

mini oreo cheesecakes :)

Oh my word ... these are delicious ... not good if your on a diet ... but hey ho it's the weekend! I'm having friends over tonight but now my husbands tasted these i'm not sure they'll make it until tonight!

Ingredients:
20ish Oreo cookies
450g cream cheese
100g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs lightly beaten
245g sour cream
pinch of salt

preheat your oven to 140 degrees//gas mark 1
line your muffin tin with paper liners and put one whole oreo cookie in the bottom of each liner
With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth
then gradually beat in sugar and then vanilla essence
beat in eggs little by little
then beat in sour cream and salt
now for the rest of the oreos - crush them by hand into the bowl and lightly mix them by hand
fill each muffin case with the batter almost to the top
Pop them in the oven for about 22 mins (turning the tin half way through)
cool on a wire rack and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours

I hope you like them x