Raspberry chocolate brownie cheesecake

1 x Berry Crocker Brownie mix (need 1 egg, oil and water) 

2 x 200g Philadelphia

3 x eggs

150g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence 

1 x bag frozen raspberries 

Put oven on at 180 degrees and grease and line a 20cm quick release tim.

Make the BC brownie mix as per packet instructions.

Use 3/4 of the mix to cover the bottom of the tin as a base.  Put in oven and cook for 15 mins.  Put the other 1/4 to one side for the moment.

Mix Philadelphia, eggs and caster sugar in a mixer with the vanilla essence until all combined (it will be runny)

Once tin out of oven pour cheesecake mix over base - then drop teaspoons of brownie mix into the cheesecake mix - one all brownie mix in then take a large handful of frozen raspberries and sprinkle over top pushing into mix so they go between the brownie mix.

Cook in oven for 40-45 mins then take out and cool for 2hrs before serving.

Festive Breakfast Buns

I came up with these on Christmas Eve as I didn’t want to faff about on Christmas Day morning making bacon butties :) so they are a short cut but actually deliciounns!

• Simple bread mix (I used sun dried tomato and Parmesan) made according to instructions and risen once
• Pack of bacon (smoked, unsmoked, honey it’s your choice)
• Sliced mushrooms
• Grated cheese (I used some Brie as well)
• Butter

You can change up the ingredients for anything you fancy :) 

After first rise, roll the bread out into a rectangle approx 40x30 and spread liberally with butter.

Lay over the bacon and then top with mushrooms and cheese.

Starting with the long edge roll up tightly like a Swiss roll.

Oil a shallow rectangular tin.

Cut the Swiss roll into  pieces and lay each one out in the tin with a centimetre or so in between to allow for rising.

Cover with cling film and put in a warm place to rise for another hour.  Whilst rising preheat oven to 180 degrees.

The buns should expand and start to join together slightly.

Remove cling film and put in oven, if cooking to eat straight away, cook for around 20-25 mins until golden brown.  To cook for using later, cook for 10-15 mins so they are part baked then leave to cool.  You can then separate them and finish cooking the next day for 10 minutes.  Or lay out separately on a baking sheet and place uncovered in freezer for 24hrs and then place in a ziplock bag to be used when ready.  If cooking from frozen would give it 15-20 mins.

I’ve tried them with Brie instead of cheddar and it’s great :)

Avocado stuffed , bacon wrapped chicken breast.

Let’s be honest, I’m only a piece of sourdough away from peak hipster with this one, but it is delicious.

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast per person (nice full ones with the fillet attached)
Avocado
Chilli flakes
Lemon juice
Grated cheese
Bacon
Corn flour

Method:

Peel and roughly chop your avocado then mash together with grated cheese, a teaspoon of chilli flakes , salt, pepper and a dash of lemon juice.

Cut open your chicken Breast to make a pocket inside and fill with your cheesy avocado mix.

Wrap the chicken breast in bacon making sure you cover the slit you made to stuff the breast.

Next coast in corn flour, you can add seasoning to the corn flour if you want to add a nice extra layer of flavour.

Heat a frying pan with some oil and cook the breast on both sides till golden brown and crispy, the put in an oven at 180 Celsius for twenty minutes.

Serve with whatever you like!

Cous cous stuffed butternut squash

Sorry no pic at the moment, I haven't taken one yet!  Will put one up soon.

Ingredients 

1 butternut squash

1 packets Asda giant Mediterranean cous cous

1/2 packet feta cheese 

1 onion

6 small mushrooms

1 pepper 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Cut butternut squash in half, put one half aside (see other squash recipe!).  Scoop out the seeds to leave a clean hollow.  Gently with a sharp knife, cut lines lengthways in the squash flesh without piercing the skin, do the same across the squash to make cubes in the flesh again without piercing the skin.

Rub the flesh with olive oil.

Put squash into a roasting tin flesh side up and roast in oven for an hour or until flesh is squishy.

Whilst the squash is roasting, make up the cous cous as the packet describes and leave to cook.  Chop the onion into small pieces and saute in a pan, once soft add the chopped pepper and mushrooms and stir until cooked.  Add the couscous and a little stock or wine to make it not so dry.  Chop up the feta and add and scoop a little of the squash out of the flesh to make a boat shape and add the squash to the couscous mix.

Divide the couscous mix up between the two pieces of squash and then put back in the oven for 10 mins just to toast the cheese slightly.

Serve with a green salad.

Butternut Squash, lentil and goats cheese salad

Serves 4

Ingredients 

1 bag baby leaf salad

1 butternut squash

1 tin green put lentils

1 log soft goats cheese

Balsamic glaze (Asda do a good one)

Cracked black pepper

Chilli salt

Put oven on at 180 degrees.

Cut butternut squash in half, put one half aside (see other squash recipe!).  Scoop out the seeds to leave a clean hollow.  Gently with a sharp knife, cut lines lengthways in the squash flesh without piercing the skin, do the same across the squash to make cubes in the flesh again without piercing the skin.

Rub the flesh with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper and salt, I use chilli salt for a little spice.

Put squash into a roasting tin flesh side up and roast in oven for an hour or until flesh is squishy.

Take out of oven once done and allow to cool.

Once cooled, put bag of lettuce leaves in a bowl, add about 2/3 of tin of lentils over the top.  Scoop the flesh out of the butternut squash skin, it should come out in more manageable pieces, and lay on top of the lentils.  Use about half of the goats cheese log, either chop into cubes, or I just break into pieces with my fingers, spread around the salad.

Drizzle with balsamic glaze and serve.

Vegi lentil pie

This is a new one I invented for healthy eating this January, works out less than 400 calories per portion and they are good sized helpings!  Serves 4 and I served it with a mound of green vegetables :)

• 1 large onion, chopped fine
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed or grated
• 4 large mushrooms, chopped fine
• 100g aubergine, chopped fine
• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
• 175g green lentils (soaked overnight)
• 100g buckwheat (soaked overnight)
• Smoked paprika
• Dried chilli, couple of pinches
• 1 x 400g chopped tomatoes
• 125ml red wine (can be removed)
• 500ml boiling water
• 1 chicken or veg stock cube
• 1 large sweet potato slice in 2mm slices
• A few slices of goats cheese (if wanted)

I used a shallow round casserole with a lid, started with the oven at 150 degrees.

Sauted the onion and garlic in the casserole on the hob until soft, add the mushroom and aubergine and cook for 5 mins.

Add the chickpeas, lentils and buckwheat and mix well, keep the heat low so they don't stick to the pan.

Add the smoked paprika and chilli and mix well.

Add in the tomatoes, wine, water and stock.  Bring to the boil on the hob and simmer gently whilst you slice the sweet potato.

Carefully lay the potato on the top starting at the outside edge, overlapping the slices in concentric circles towards the middle.

Once the top covered in potatoes, put lid on and place in oven.

Cook for 45 minutes but keep checking the water, add more if it looks like it will boil dry.  After 45 minutes turn oven up to 200 degrees and remove lid, add goats cheese if required and cook for a further 20 minutes to crisp up top.

Serve with green veg.

Louisiana Pulled Pork Gumbo with Lancashire Biscuits

Serves 4, slow cooker preferable but not essential

Gumbo

• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1.75kg pork shoulder
• 3 large onions chopped
• 1 chorizo sausage (skin peeled and chopped into chunks)
• 1tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 x jar tomato and chilli sauce, 1 x tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 glass red wine
• 500ml chicken stock
• 1 tin of mixed beans, 1 tin of chickpeas
• 3 mixed yellow and red peppers chopped
• Cornflour for thickening if needed
• Salt, pepper and chilli to taste

Biscuits

• 2 cups self raising flour
• 1/2 cup suet
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1 cup greek yoghurt with honey (or natural yoghurt or buttermilk)

Heat oil in large pan and add onions, cook on low heat until soft.  Add chorizo and smoked paprika.

Take pork shoulder and trim the excess fat then place in pan to brown on all sides (if large piece then cut into 2-3 smaller pieces).

Add tomatoes (jar and tin), wine and stock and bring to boil. 

At this point if you have a slow cooker add it to the cooker and put on high and leave for 3hrs.  If no slow cooker available reduce heat to very low and stir occassionally again for 3hrs.

Remove the pork and allow to cool, once cool enough to handle shred with forks and return to slow cooker.  Add peppers and beans and cook for another hour, thicken if required prior to serving.

Whilst gumbo is on its final simmer, mix together the ingredients for the biscuits adding more flour if dough is too sticky.  Take a small handful of mix and roll into a bowl and flatten on a baking tray so they are no more than 4-5 cm.  The mix makes around 16.  Put in an oven to back on 180 degrees for 30 mins until raised and look like scones.

Serve gumbo in bowls with 2 scones per person to mop up the sauce.