spinach and sweet potato curry ....

this curry is so delicious ... creamy and an absolutly beautiful taste.

It's really easy to make as well ... here's the recipe,

2 sweet potatoes (cubed)
200g spinach (roughly chopped)
400g coconut milk ( I use the low fat stuff)
1 onion
madras curry paste ( i use about 2 tbsps but its up to you)

the easy steps:
- fry the chopped onions
- add the paste and cook for two minutes
- pour in coconut milk and sweet potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes until soft
- stir through spinach until wilted

i served this with a low fat tikka masala and rice, poppadums and naan ... it was a bit of a feast. It was a lovely evening with good food and good friends ... i forgot to take a photo ... so my lovely friend Alex took one the next day with the left overs she took home !! :)

Mojito anyone ?

Mojito cheesecake ... for the brother in law who loves his mojitos.

Sorry i haven't blogged in a while ... it's been a combo of moving house and the old weight watchers ... I'm actually going to the class now so i have to be really good !!

Heres the recipe ... all i'd say on this one is you don't really need to be a fan of mojitos ... but you do need a sweet tooth!And you need time ... it takes a while ... but it' not difficult ... the work is simple and quick it's just a waiting game ... I'd suggest that you bake this the day before and let it cool overnight.

Ingredients:

900g cream cheese

1.5 cups of sugar
3 tbsp flour
4 large eggs
1/4 cup of lime juice (i used bottled)
2 oz rum
5 oz evaporated milk
1 or 2 teaspoons of dried mint leaves (chopped finely)
115g mascapone
75g fromage frais
(the mascapone and fromage frais make a topping which could be left out if you felt that was too much)
a lime for decoration (optional)
digestives + butter for base (i cant remember the quantitiies - look on line for a base recipe)
Method: 

Preheat oven to 250degrees
crush your biscuits, and mix with melted butter, then press into tin
Mix together the cream cheese, sugar and flour until very smooth
Add eggs one at a time
Add rum, lime juice and condensed milk mix together well and add mint, stirring until evenly spread
Pour into prepared pan (i use a spring loaded tin)
Bake on 250 for 15 minutes and then turn down to 130 for a full hour
(I actually baked mine in my mums gas oven and the temperature was gas 8 and then needed to turn it down to 1/4 but my mums cooker doesn't go that low so i put it on gas mark 1)
Leave to cool completly nd then refrigerate before serving ... it's a bit of a long process ... 
To make the topping all you do is mix the mascapone and the fromage frais until really well combined and spread over the cooled cheesecake. 

chocca mocha caramel cake

This was a great cake ... not weight watchers ... but truly delicious ... I don't think i need say anything else ;)

Cake Ingredients:

1+1/2 tsp fresh ground coffee/ 2 tsp instant coffee
2 tbsp cocoa
175g butter, softened
175g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp golden syrup
200g self raising flour
4 tbsp milk
100g chocolate caramel bars (broken into pieces)

Icing:
100g chocolate caramel bar
50g butter
2 tbsp milk
100g icing sugar

Instructions ...

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Line your cake tin
Mix the coffee, cocoa and 2 tablespoons of hot water into a smooth paste
Place all cake ingredients except the chocolate caramel bars into a large bowl (including coffee paste) and beat until smooth
Add the pieces of caramel bar and stir in
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes
Cool on a wire rack

For the icing:

Heat the caramel bar gently with the butter and milk until smooth (stir continuously)
Remove from the heat and stir in the icing sugar
Leave to cool then transfer to serving dish
Spread the icing over the cooled cake

And .... enjoy !! :)

roasted pepper and garlic fougasse and garlic and herb fougasse

Mmmm mmmm mmm ... I am loving this fougasse !! It's amazing and looks awesome to present to friends ... and whats more it looks like you've put a lot more effort into it than you have !! :) 

I got Tim to make the dough for me ... it's just the same dough recipe as before ... bread dough recipe

So here's what i did: roasted pepper and garlic fougasse

Ingredients:

1/2 ready prepared dough (see link above for recipe)
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red pepper
1 small spring onion
2 cloves of garlic
a few glugs of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of oregano

Do this prep whilst your dough is rising.

chop the peppers to centimeter square pieces .... and dice the spring onions,
peel the garlic cloves and cut into 6 pieces,
put this in an oven dish and slow roast on about 150 degrees for 40 mins stirring half way through.

When your dough is ready take about half the pepper mix and knead into the dough ... then roll it out onto a lightly oiled tray and puch the rest of the pepper mix in with your fingers.

roasted pepper and garlic fougasse

garlic and herb fougasse

garlic and herb fougasse:

all you need for this one is...

1/2 of the prepared dough (as above)
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of thyme
1 tsp marjoram
2 tsp worth of fresh basil leaves (ripped up with you hands)
1 tbs of grated cheese

It's very simple again ...

knead your herbs into the dough, and roll out onto a lightly oiled tray
chop your garlic cloves into small chunks and push them in across the dough
take very small ammounts of cheese and push them in as well

there you go it's ready for baking

beautiful berry muffins for tea ...

These are a treat for my good friends who were spending the evening with tonight!
I am on weight watchers and i've walked past the box about 100 times and resisted .... but then i gave in ... after about an hour i gave up on feeling guilty and worked out the points to see quite how naughty i'd been ...

turns out not so bad ... only 4.5 ww points per muffin !! lol so i'll just have to eat less later !! and not enjoy another muffin!

heres the recipe so you can try these muffins ... they're really light and fluffy .. and fresh strawbs make them taste like summer !! these would be a great easy dessert for a bbq ... i think served with a big helping of coconut ice-cream (i mean vanilla would be fine but coconut is summery too!!)

Ingredients:
2.5 cups of SR Flour/ 375g
90g cold butter, chopped
1 cup caster sugar/ 220g
3/4 cup milk ( i use 1% milk)
1/2 cup low fat natural yog
1 egg beaten lightly
200g of berries - fresh or frozen ... i used half fresh strawberries and half frozen mixed berries

It's really easy to do ....

* preheat oven to 180 degrees, and grease your muffin tin
* sift flour into large bowl (if you dont have a sieve, use a whisk after you've put your flour in the bowl ... give it a quick whiz round ... this has the same effect - thanks to hugh at river cottage for that advise)
*rub in the butter
*stir in sugar, milk, yoghurt, and egg
*the mixture will look a bit lumpy (see pic above)
*add the berries and mix them in lightly
* spoon mixture into tray
*bake for about 20 mins
*cool on a wire tray

my messy kitchen !!

so there you have it ... another quick recipe to spin out for your family and friends

homemade chicken jalfrezi

This is great ! Low fat !! and super delicious !!
I think this is the nicest dinner i've had since being on weight watchers ... it felt naughty ... eating a huge plate of curry ... but it was only three points. yes thats right ... three points !!
You just have to add your rice//naan.

INGREDIENTS

    * 1 large onion , halved, sliced
    * 2-3 green chillies , sliced
    * 3 garlic cloves , crushed
    * 1 large chicken breast, cut into chunks
    * 5 tomatoes , roughly chopped // ½ can chopped tomatoes
    * a few handfuls of spinach
    * a small pot low fat natural yogurt (optional)
    * naan bread or steamed rice to serve

SPICE MIX

    * 2 tsp curry powder
    * ½ tsp ground cumin
    * 1 tsp chilli powder
    * 1 cinnamon stick
    * 5 cloves , ground


Put the onion and a good pinch of salt into a large pan, then fry for about 6-8 minutes until golden.

 Add the chillies and garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the spice mix and cook for another couple of minutes until fragrant.

 Add the chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes then add the tomatoes and a splash of water and stir well.

Cover the pan and cook for about 30 minutes until the chicken is tender and the sauce thickened (uncover the pan if you need to for the last 10 minutes).

Stir in the yogurt off the heat (if using) for a creamier sauce.

Serve with naans or steamed rice.

bread bread and more bread

If any of you have ever heard my husbands descripton of my bread baked in my breadmaker you'll know he uses the word 'brick' quite regularly.

So i decided to surprise him when he got home from a weekend away with a fresh baked hand made loaf ... which he loved !! :)

So heres what i did ...

Ingredients:
500g strong white bread flour (plus extra flour for dusting)
7g sachet of fast action yeast
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil

Method:
Mix flour and yeast together into a large bowl.
Add the salt and sugar.
Boil the kettle and measure out 100 ml of boiling water into a jug, make the water up to 300ml with cold water then add the oil.
Make a well in the middle of the flour, add the liquid and mix (i use my hands).

When its mixed into a sticky dough its time to knead so flour your surface and have fun.
Knead until the dough is smooth.
When  it's smooth put it back into the bowl and cover with a tea towel, i put mine on the windowsil to help the rising process, leave it for an hour.
Put dough back on floured surface and give it a small knead again.
Shape and then place on an oiled oven tray, cover and leave to rise for another 30 mins.

ready to bake

Bake at 220 degrees for about 30 - 35 minutes.

i also made this ...

a Cheddar, red onion and thyme tear and share bread

What you need is ...
Dough made as above (up until it's risen for 1 hour)
1 onion
40g cheddar cheese
2 tsp of thyme

What you have to do is ...

make the bread (as before) up to the first rising time of 1hour.
Then slice your onion really small and cut your self some cubes of cheddar.
Place your dough on a floured surface and knead in your onion and thyme.
Cut your dough in two and roll one half into a rectangular shape.
Place on an oiled tray and then slice a long line diagonally (as in picture), then cut 2/3 more slices either side to create a leaf shape.
Poke your cheese cubes into the bread at various intervals.

Bake at 220 degrees for 13-15 minutes.