Orange and Cranberry Cupcakes

• 120g plain flour
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 oranges (zested and juiced into 2 portions)
• 40g unsalted butter
• 120ml made up of milk and one of the orange juice portions
• 1 egg
• 1/2 390g cranberry sauce
• 50g sweetened dried cranberries chopped

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

Put in a bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest and the butter and mix until it forms a slightly dry breadcrumb like mixture.

Add the milk and orange juice combination and beat again until just combined.  Next add the cranberry sauce and the dried cranberries.

Add the egg and beat again for a few minutes until the mixture is smooth.  Divide the mixture out between 12 cupcake cases and cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown and the cupcake springs back when touched.  Leave to cool.

• 250g icing sugar
• 80g unsalted butter (soft)
• 25ml milk and the other orange juice portion combined

Put the icing sugar, butter and milk mixture in a bowl and mix together.  The trick with frosting is the longer you beat it, the lighter and fluffier it gets, so try and beat for at least 5 minutes and then spread on top of cupcakes or pipe on to cakes.

To decorate I used candy cane sprinkles and some more chopped cranberries

Pebernoedder (Pepper Nuts) cupcakes

• 120g plain flour
• 140g caster sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 3/4 tsp cardamom
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 good pinch white pepper
• 1/4 grated nutmeg
• 40g unsalted butter (soft)
• 120ml milk
• 1 egg

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

Put in a bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder, all the spices and the butter and mix until it forms a slightly dry breadcrumb like mixture.

Add the milk and beat again until just combined.

Add the egg and beat again for a few minutes until the mixture is smooth.  Divide the mixture out between 12 cupcake cases and cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown and the cupcake springs back when touched.  Leave to cool.

• 250g icing sugar
• 80g unsalted butter (soft)
• 25ml milk
• couple of drops of vanilla extract
• 6 pebernoedder (pepper nuts) optional to decorate

Put the icing sugar, butter, milk and vanilla in a bowl and mix together.  The trick with frosting is the longer you beat it, the lighter and fluffier it gets, so try and beat for at least 5 minutes and then spread on top of cupcakes or pipe on to cakes.

To decorate I used crushed pebernoedder biscuits I'd made and edible gold stars but any sprinkles will do or a light dusting of cinnamon.

Pebernoedder (Pepper Nuts)

• 125g unsalted butter (soft)
• 125g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 - 1tsp ginger (depending on how spicy you like it)
• 3/4 tsp cardamom
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 good pinch of white pepper
• 1/4 nutmeg grated
• 275g plain flour

Makes around 90 biscuits.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.

Mix the sugar and the butter together until combined.  Add the egg and mix again.

Then measure out the spices with the flour and baking soda and add to the mix and form a soft dough mixture.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces and lightly roll on a surface to make a long sausage shape about 1-2cm thick.  Then cut the length into pieces about 1-2cm in size, roll each piece between your palms into a small ball and then squash slightly and place on a greased baking tray.  Do this for all the mixture.

Cook for 10-12 minutes and then leave to cool for around 20 minutes to become crisp before eating.

Spicy chicken and chorizo pasta sauce

• 3 chicken breast fillets chopped
• 225g whole chorizo (remove paper skin, cut in half and chop into chunks)
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 peppers (any colour you happen to have in, cut into chunks)
• small pinch chilli flakes or powder (to taste)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 jar dolmio or other pasta sauce
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 200ml red wine
• handful chopped basil

Use a large flatbottomed pan for this one, a big frying pan or a chefs pan is good.

Heat the olive oil on a medium heat and add the onions and garlic and saute slowly until soft and golden brown.

Put in the chicken and cook until all white.  Add the chorizo and fry until it starts to lose a little liquid.  Add the peppers and continue to saute.

Next sprinkle in the paprika and chilli, then add the tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes and red wine.  Simmer for an hour, then just prior to serving add in the chopped basil.

Steak and wholegrain mustard pasta sauce

• 2 sirloin or rump steaks cut into thin strips less than 5mm thick 
• 1 onion chopped
• 250g mushrooms, each cap cut in half then sliced
• (fresh peas)
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 2 large dessert spoons wholegrain mustard
• 1 tsp english mustard
• 150ml low fat creme fraiche
• 140ml double cream
• 2 tbsp brandy
• salt and pepper to taste

Use a large flatbottomed pan for this one, a big frying pan or a chefs pan is good.

Heat the olive oil on a medium heat and add the onions and garlic and saute slowly until soft and golden brown.

Then add the steak and cook until just still pink in the middle.  Add the sliced mushrooms and fresh peas if using (I didn't use when the picture was taken, but think they would make a nice addition).

Saute until mushrooms are lightly cooked.

Add the brandy and then add the two types of mustard and stir in well.

Then mix in the creme fraiche and the double cream.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Prawn and asparagus pasta sauce

• 1 bag (300g) small prawns (raw if possible but if not, cooked is fine), defrosted
• 1 bag (250g) raw king prawns chopped in half, defrosted
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1 packet asparagus tips
• 1/2 300ml tub low fat creme fraiche
• 1/2 300g tub chive philadelphia light
• 150ml white wine
• 75ml double cream
• 2 tsbp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• handful of basil leaves chopped

Use a large flatbottomed pan for this one, a big frying pan or a chefs pan is good.

Heat the olive oil on a medium heat and add the onions and garlic and saute slowly until soft and golden brown.

Next add the raw king prawns to the pan and fry until pink.

Then add the smaller prawns and the asparagus and stir fry in the pan until cooked.

Add the creme fraiche and the philadelphia and cook until they turn to liquid.  Add the white wine and simmer gently on a low heat for 5-10 minutes whilst you cook your pasta.

Just before you drain the pasta add the double cream and basil to the sauce and mix well, allowing to continue simmering right until serving, season to taste with salt and pepper.

Chow-throw-it-in-the-pan-der with fresh rosemary bread

Right peeps,
Here's a cupboard bottom recipe that I've made and it ROCKS.
With the 'I've got a cold' season looming, this is a perfect concoction to fight away the bug.

Admittedly, I'm the WORST person on the planet when it comes to cooking... as far as remembering and writing down what I put in my creations.
The actual results are 9/10 amazing, if I do say so myself... I can just never make the same thing twice the same.

So, here goes... (Inevitably, I will have forgotten something but hey! It will turn out awesome anyway)

Chowder:
3-4 Handfuls of red lentils
2-3 Handfuls of aborio rice
1 Large can of sweetcorn
1 Sweet potato
2 Large onions
1 Can of kidney beans
2 Lemongrass stalks
5 Cloves of garlic
3 Medium size chillis
1/2 Handful of taragon
2 Vegetable stock cubes
2 Chicken stock cubes
1 Pack of un/smoked bacon
4 Large potatoes
Tabasco
Paprika
Cumin
Oregano
Large chunk of root ginger

Bread:
1/2 handful rosemary
40ml virgin olive oil
pre-packaged bread mix or make-yourself

Chowder:
1) Chop the potatoes into chunks, put aside 1/2 - 1 of the potatoes
2) Fill a large pan 3/4 full of cold water and put in the lentils and leave for 1/2 hour.
3) Switch gas on, a low heat for now will be fine.
4) Add the larger amount of potatoes to the pan
5) Chop the garlic, chillis and ginger then add all the ingredients to the pan.
6) Boil the 1/2 - 1 potato until soft and drain, leave in the pan.

Bread:
If you want to make the bread from scratch, start now. However, if you want a quick-fix, just use one of the pre-packaged bread mixes.
For this I used a prepack and a bread maker.

7) Put the bread mix into the bread maker
8) Add water appx 300ml or follow instructions on packet
9) Add 40ml olive oil and rosemary to the bread mix
10) Use DOUGH setting and leave until finished cycle appx 1hr 15
11) Put oven on Gas Mark Bread (appx GM8)
12) When finished, separate the dough into 6 breadroll size lumps and put on floured baking tray and put in oven for 15 mins.

Chowder:
13) By the time the bread has finished the dough cycle the chowder will nearly be ready.
14) At this point, chop up the bacon into smallish chunks and add to the pan
15) Remove lemongrass stalks from the chowder.

OPTIONAL
16) If it's too thin, spoon out some of the stock from the big pan into the smaller pan of potatoes and blend/mash.
17) Add thick potato sauce to the big pan and stir to thicken.

Serving Suggestions:
Serve.
Add a sprinkling of grated cheese or mozzarella slices.
HOT, crusty, fresh baked bread.

Spicy spicy bruschetta!!

The first of tonights food delights, this much hotter than expected italian style starter.

1 red onion
3 tomatoes
2 red chillies
a large handful of fresh basil
2 cloves of garlic
sherry vinegar
a large ciabatta or baguette

Dice the onion, tomato (removing the seeds first) chilli, garlic and roughly chop the basil. Mix this all together in a bowl and put a few shakes of the vinegar over the top, mixing it all into a salsa.

Chop your ciabatta into eatable chunks and put onto a baking sheet, pour a little olive oil on top of the ciabatta and then pile the salsa high!

Put this in the oven at gas mark pizza for about ten mins, making sure that the bread doesn't catch on the tray. Serve with good company and bottomless glasses of G and T

Caremalised red onion and goats cheese tarts

I know that everyone has their own recipe for this but I have a big thing for goats cheese, so here we go!

Puff pastry (pre-rolled if you're as lazy as me)
A large red onion
A block of goats cheese (as big as you want)
sugar
salt/pepper

Pre heat your oven to gas mark tart and then cut some circles of pastry from the puff pastry that looks bigger than they'd need to be. Butter a muffin tray and then put your puff pastry in the holes and fork them before placing in the oven to blind bake for about fifteen mins.
Chop your onion into a half and then thin slices. Place into a sauce pan with a knob of butter and cook slowly with a couple of tea spoons of sugar until the onions soften and make their own caramel.
After the tart cases have blind baked take them out of the oven and fill the bottoms with the red onion and top with as much goats cheese as you can possibly fit in. Put them back in the oven at gas mark golden brown and cook till they look amazing. Enjoy with a nice salad, good company and if your host is kind enough, some chocolate orange coffee. Noms!

Pete's veggie burgers

Odd for me to do something without meat in, but here we go.

1 large courgette
2 medium potato
flour
1 tea spoon peanut butter
2 small chillis
1 clove of garlic
salt/pepper etc

Grate the courgette and the potato and then use some kitchen towel to soak off the excess water.
Chop the chilli and the garlic into small pieces and fry in a little oil.. Add the courgette, potato and chilli and garlic into a bowl and then the tea spoon of peanut butter. Squish this all together in the bowl mixing well. the next bit is more art than science. Add some flour, a desert spoon at a time till it makes a gloopy mess in your bowl thick enough to hold a spoon. Heat your frying pan with a little oil and then make small pattys in the frying pan and cook on each side till golden.
I put mine in the oven for ten mins just to make sure they were cooked through, topped with cheese and scoffed like a burger. Enjoy!!

Pomegranate Martinis

• 1.5 shots vodka
• 1 shot triple sec/cointreau
• 2 shots pomegranate juice/cordial (made up with water)
• 1 pomegranate

Fill the glass with ice or place in freezer.

In a boston shaker, put in ice, vodka, triple sec and pomegranate juice, and using a mexican elbow squeeze half the pomegranate to add juice and then shake until the outside of the shaker is becoming condensed.

Strain into the chilled glass and add some of the pomegranate seeds.

Plum and ginger crumble

• 16-20 plums, halved, stoned and chopped
• 160g sugar
• 1 tblsp lemon juice
• half jar ginger preserve

Crumble top

• 175g plain flour
• 50g caster sugar
• 50g muscovado sugar
• 100g butter chilled and cut into cubes
• 50g porridge oats
• 50g ginger biscuits crushed
• 1 knob grated ginger

Put the plums, sugar, lemon juice and ginger preserve in a pan and simmer gently until the plums start to soften and liquid forms.  Leave on simmer for around 15 mins.  

Put the flour, sugars and butter in a bowl or mixer, if using your hands rub the butter through your fingers until the mixture forms a breadcrumb style mix (not a dough), then finally add the oats, grated ginger and ginger biscuits.

Put the plum filling in a greased dish and cover with the crumble mix and then cook in an over for 35-40mins at 170 degrees until golden brown on top.  Serve with cream or custard.

Chicken in a mushroom and tarragon cream sauce

Very nice recipe for a dinner party, easy to do and keep an eye on :)  Can remove all the mushroom parts if wanted and just do tarragon cream sauce.

• 6 large chicken breasts
• 500ml good white wine
• 500ml good chicken stock (Knorr gel stock or fresh stock if possible)
• 2 tblsp fresh tarragon (or dried if no fresh)
• 500ml double cream
• 4 baby leeks, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 250g mushrooms chopped
• 1 tin Campbells condensed mushroom soup
• 2 tsp mustard powder
• salt and pepper

Place the raw chicken breasts in a large saute pan (I bought my brilliant one from a Indian cash and carry near my house) or casserole dish which can go on the hob.  Pour over the chicken the stock and the wine and add the tarragon.  Bring the liquid to the boil, then simmer and cook the chicken for 30-40 mins until well poached.  Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate.

Add the double cream to the stock and wine and leave on quite a high simmer to begin to reduce.

In the mean time saute the leeks and mushrooms with the garlic in a frying pan, just to cook them lightly and them add them to the cream sauce.  Mix in the tin of condensed soup and the mustard powder and simmer for 15-20 mins until the sauce is reduced by at least a third.

Add the chicken breasts back into the sauce and gently simmer for 15-20 mins to warm through before serving.  I serve with green veg and duchess potatoes.

Parkin cupcakes with treacle toffee frosting

• 120g plain flour
• 70g demarara sugar (darker the better)
• 70g caster sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 -1 1/2 tsp ginger powder (I like mine spicy)
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp treacle
• 40g unsalted butter
• 120ml whole milk
• 1 egg

Preheat oven 170 degrees C

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, ginger, salt and butter in a bowl or mixer and beat until all combined.

Pour in half the milk and beat until mixed in.

Mix the rest of the milk with the treacle and the egg and beat until combined then pour into the mix and continue beating until just mixed and mix is smooth.

Fill the cupcake cases about 2/3 full and bake for 20 mins until golden.  Leave to cool

• 300g icing sugar
• 80g unsalted butter
• 2 tsp treacle
• splash of milk

Beat the icing sugar and butter together on a medium slow speed until it is well mixed.  Add the milk and treacle slowly and then once all incorporated turn the mixer up to high speed and whip for up to 5 mins until light and fluffy.

Decorate the top of the cupcakes by either piping or speading the frosting onto the top.

Parkin

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups demerara sugar
• 2 cups oatmeal or porridge oats
• 1/2lb (225g) margarine
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2-4 tsp ginger according to taste (I like it spicy)
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 tsp black treacle

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.

Melt the margarine, treacle, sugar and milk in a dish in the microwave for 2 minutes.

Sieve the flour, ginger, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda.

Stir in the oatmeal, and the margarine mix which was heated up and mix well together.

Bake in a grease lined square tin for 45 mins.  

Best served with a good slice of mature cheddar on top, yes honest, just try it ;)

Steak & Kidney pie

• 750g steak cut into small chunks (I buy whatever is on offer or reduced at ASDA, today was rump and casserole)
• 1 pack lambs kidney, cut into pieces and nasty white bits thrown out
• 8 good sized mushrooms cut into chunks
• 2 large onions, chunked ;)
• 200ml guiness
• 2 Knorr beef stock pot
• 300ml hot water
• 2 oxo cubes, gravy granules
• Few splashes of worcester sauce
• Sheet of puff pastry cut into triangles or circles, brushed with milk
• pinch dried thyme, salt and pepper

Heat oven to 160-170 degrees C.

Put the raw steak, kidney, mushrooms and onions in a casserole dish (that has a lid) and mix together, add 200ml guinness (or about half the pot) and the mix the beef stock and hot water and add to pot as well.

Season with worcester sauce, thyme and salt and pepper.

Put in oven for as long as possible, I try and do it for about 2.5-3hrs.  Half way through I take out and add the two oxo cubes and stir, then 15mins before serving take out of oven and put puff pastry in (turn oven up to 200), put casserole on hob and boil to thicken the gravy and use gravy granules if still not thick enough.

Serve with rustic chips and green veg.

Garden week of 30th August

Tomatoes are all grown but are struggling to ripen in the weather, but the ones which have ripened have been lovely.

Had a multitude of cucumbers, not very impressed with the gherkin variety, they grew very large and were prickly, but the cucino smooth ones were lovely.

Still waiting to see any fruit from the Tomatillo or Aubergine but the Cape Gooseberries are showing signs but very small.

Had some great sucess with the onions grown from sets. Ended up with over 50 of them, they were put out to dry in the garage and then bagged up ready for use.

Have had a glut of courgettes and runner beans, the courgettes I have used in as many different recipes as possible which you can find on the site and the runner beans I pick and then put in water to make them crisp (thanks Mum!), then use the bean slicer and chop them up smaller, put in a zip lock bag and freeze to use whenever.

The carrots are starting to come through and we have had a good harvest of potatoes. I am now starting to plan for the winter months, putting sun tunnels over the back two beds to ensure I can produce over the wintertime. I still have kale producing, broccoli, sprouts and cabbage, had some great cauliflowers this year and got leeks, turnips, swede, parsnips and carrots to come - winter veg is mainly going to be cabbage, salad, beans, beetroot and turnip.

Ravioli fillings

This is an extension on the Spicy Squash Tortelloni I made last year. I bought a ravioli press from Lakeland Limited which helped immensely and then the second time I tried these I had bought the pasta machine attachment for my Kenwood chef which made making the pasta sheets a lot quicker and easier.

First you need to make pasta dough, the second time I made the ravioli, as I was making four different fillings, I added different flavours to the pasta dough to change the colour, add a tablespoon of pesto to make green, a tablespoon of sun dried tomato paste to make it red, tablespoon of olive tapenade to make it black. Once the dough is kneaded and ready leave it in the fridge whilst you make the fillings:

Spicy Squash and Ricotta - I used the spicy squash recipe from above but added 2 tsp cumin seeds to the mix as well and added some courgette to the squash I had peeled. Then I mashed it all up and added a tub of ricotta to it and put it in the fridge.

Goats chesse and sundried tomato - 2 logs of soft goats cheese, 10 pieces of sundried tomato - put into a food processor and mix together adding salt and pepper to taste, put in fridge to cool.

Boursin mushroom - chop one onion finely and one 500g portion of mushrooms (preferably chop in the food processor to get very fine) mix with a 200g French Roule to make a creamy garlic mushroom mix, put in fridge to cool.

Mozerella, courgette and onion - fry onions and courgettes in a pan (probably 3-4 courgettes and 1-2 medium onions) and then chop 2 balls mozerella finely and mix in as well, leave to cool.

Pulled Beef - the day before or in the morning put a joint of beef (a cheap one will do) into a slow cooker or a very low oven with a bottle of red wine, a couple of sticks of celery and an onion chopped into two and leave to stew for 6-8hrs. Once it is cooked remove from the juice but do not discard. Place the beef on a chopping board and pull apart into strings of meat, once it is all pulled apart add it to a pan with some of the cooking juice and reduce down. Add a jar of tomato pasta sauce and again reduce down. Leave to cool.

Take the pasta and roll into sheets, do not take it to the thinnest sheet level, but one just before to leave it a little thicker and more elastic. Each portion of pasta dough made as per the recipe above can be cut into 4 and will make 4 sheets which each make one portion of 12 ravioli so 48 pieces of each.

Once you have the sheet made, flour both sides and flour the press. Place the sheet over the press and gently push the white piece into the pasta to form the cups for the fillings. Add just under a teaspoon of whichever mix into the cups. Take an egg wash (egg mixed with milk) and paste the remaining pasta sheet with it so when you lay it over the top of the pasta with filling and roll over the top of the press it forms a good seal. Tip the pieces out of the press and cut further with a knife if needed. Place the pieces of ravioli on a floured plate and allow to dry for an hour.

To cook place in boiling water for around 6-8 minutes and serve with a flavoured butter.

Garden week of 4th July

Garden has gone crazy with all the sunshine and rain this past couple of weeks! I can barely believe the plants I have now are the same little seedlings that I photographed 1 month ago!

Currently maturing are turnips, fennel, kale, cauliflower,

broccoli, spinach, lettuce, broad beans, mange tout and cucumbers!

Have had to set seed beds up behind the greenhouse to try and grow more plants to fill in the gaps where I am harvesting from!

Fingers crossed there are no signs of the butterflies yet and the c

age seems to be keeping them out!

Beetroot, fennel, turnip and feta salad

• 1 packet feta cheese
• 3-4 small raw (unpickled) beetroot
• 1 fennel bulb
• 1 small turnip
• 1 bulb garlic
• assorted salad leaves
• cucumber and spring onion if desired

Peel the garlic bulbs and leave whole. Chop up beetroot into small wedges (about 8 from each root), and chop turnip up into same size wedges, cut fennel longway down centre and then peel each leaf off bit by bit until you get to the heart. Put all in a foil tray and drizzle with oil and balsamic vinegar. Put in an oven about 180C for 1hr until soft or cook on a hot BBQ.

Put assorted leaves into a bowl and pour hot roasted veg and all juices over. Sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese and serve.

Lime and ginger cheesecake with a bitter chocolate top

For biscuit base

• 1 packet ginger biscuits
• 1 packet hob nobs
• 4 tablespoons melted butter

For cheesecake

• 900g cream cheese (full fat versions)
• 340g caster sugar (1.5 cups)
• 37g cornflour (1/4 cup)
• 3 limes (zested and squeezed)
• 1 knob ginger grated
• 2 large eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 120ml double cream

For chocolate top

• 100g dark chocolate (70% or above)
• 1 knob of ginger, grated
• 25g unsalted butter
• 120ml double cream

Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Put a tray or pan of water in the bottom of the oven.

Get a 9inch springform cake tin and grease bottom and all round sides.

Crush biscuits with a rolling pin or in a food processor and add butter. Pour into cake tin and smooth out and press down by patting to make a solid base.

In a mixing bowl mix cream cheese and sugar together beat for about 3 minutes until smooth, add cornflour and mix again till smooth. Add lime zest, lime juice, grated ginger, eggs and egg whites slowly and keep beating throughout until smooth. Add the cream and beat just enough until smooth and fluffy, do not overbeat at this point. Pour batter into springform pan and bake for 60-70 mins until golden on top.

Remove from oven and leave to cool (it will sink, do not panic!!)

Once cooled, if you want a nice tidy top, use a very sharp knife and cut of the raised edge to make the top flat.

Then make up the chocolate top. Heat the cream and butter gently in a pan (do not boil) and add the chocolate and ginger. Stir until combined. Then spread across top of cheesecake for form a good thick top layer (the butter stops the chocolate from setting solid so can still be cut).

Banoffee cupcakes

Banana cupcake mix

• 190g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 115g unsalted butter
• 200g brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 4-5 mashed bananas
• 200ml buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (gas mark 6)

Sift the flour, soda, salt, baking powder into a bowl and mix well.

Blend the banana with the buttermilk and vanilla unti smooth.

Beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, then add the egg and the buttermilk mix and beat until smooth.

Then mix in the dry ingredients.

Spoon one large dessertspoon of mixture into muffin or cupcake cases, makes about 24 cakes.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes until they spring back when pressed. Leave to cool.

Caramac frosting

• 250g icing sugar
• 80g unsalted butter
• 25ml whole milk
• 4 Caramac bars

Melt the caramac bars gently in a microwave or over a pan of hot water on the hob.

Mix together the icing and butter until combined and then add the milk and the melted chocolate. Mix on slow until combined and then on high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Pipe or spread the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and then grate dark chocolate over the top.

Whoopie Pies

Whoopie pies are very much like cupcakes, similar mix but made like biscuits so have a much better cake to frosting ratio and give much more scope for playing with flavours.

I'll give the recipe for the chocolate pies first, then a variation for red velvet and then some frosting ideas :)

Chocolate whoopie pies

115g unsalted butter

200g brown sugar

1 egg

5ml vanilla extract

225ml buttermilk (sainbury's or waitrose or big tescos for this one)

60g cocoa powder

5g bicarbonate of soda

190g plain flour

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (gas mark 6) and cover 3 large baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together and then add the egg.

In a seperate jug add the vanilla essence to the buttermilk.

In another bowl (lots of washing up!) sift the flour, cocoa powder, soda and flour together. Then add half this mix to the creamed butter mix followed by half the buttermilk. Fold in the rest of the flour then the rest of the buttermilk, do not over mix.

Either spoon the batter onto the baking sheet to make disks about 4-5cm across (leave plenty of space between), or put the batter in a piping bag and pipe rounds about 4-5cm across. I can normally make about 42 rounds out of one set of batter. Bake in oven for 10-12 mins until it forms a hard crust on top.

Red Velvet whoopie pies

Use the same measurements as for the chocolate ones except for the following:

200ml buttermilk

2 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp red food colouring

Mix the food colouring with the buttermilk and vanilla in the steps above.

Frostings

I fill chocolate pies with chocolate frosting, and red velvet pies with strawberry or raspberry marshmallow frosting.

Vanilla

250g icing sugar

80g unsalted butter, soft

25ml whole milk

couple of drops of vanilla extract

Chocolate

300g icing sugar

100g unsalted butter, soft

40g cocoa powder

40ml whole milk

Cream cheese (great with red velvet)

300g icing sugar

50g unsalted butter

125g cream cheese

Marshmallow

250g icing sugar

80g unsalted butter

25ml whole milk

1 jar plain, raspberry or strawberry marshmallow fluff (can get at TK Maxx bizarrely enough or Selfridges)

Beat together the icing sugar and butter with cocoa powder if using on a slow speed in an electric mixer. Add milk slowly and cream cheese or marshmallow and mix until incorporated, then beat on high speed for 5 minutes until it is light and fluffy.

Pipe or spread frosting on one side of the whoopie pie and sandwich with another similar sized cake.

To top the pies for the chocolate ones I use nutella, and for the red velvet ones I make up strawberry icing, then decorate with various sugary treats :)

Garden week of 30th May

Greenhouse tidied out and all plants selected and potted up. Growing 2 each of the following tomatoes - Moneymaker, Roma, San Marzano, Costoluto Fiorentino, Gardeners Delight. 3 types of cucumber - cucino, gherkin and crystal apple. Cape Gooseberry, aubergines and tomatillos.

The squash and courgette bed is planted out fully now and they are all starting to take off properly.

Already had salad leaves, radishes and pak choi out of the garden and started building the cage for the brassicas to keep the devil butterflies away!

Beef Tagine

This was a Jamie Oliver recipe I used, I substituted the prunes for dried apricots, used rump steak (it was on offer at Asda!) and add the same amount of sweet potato as squash to bulk it out a bit.

Red Thai Chicken Curry

Adapted from a Ken Hom recipe

Serves 6

• 4 large chicken breasts chopped
• 2 tablespoons chinese stir fry oil, seasame oil or peanut oil
• 4 banana shallots finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons red Thai curry paste (Tesco's have a great one in the herb and spice aisle, or make own using 4 medium red chillies split in half and deseeded, 4 level teaspoons coriander seeds, 2 level teaspoons cumin seeds and dry roast in a frying pan until you can smell them then crush in pestle and mortar to powder, then put in food processor with 4 stems of lemo grass, 2 tablespoons grated ginger, 4 shallots, 6 cloves garlic, grated zest and juice 2 limes, 2 level dessertspoons hot paprika and blitz until coarse paste, freeze in 2 tablespoon portions)
• 1 tin light coconut milk
• 450ml chicken stock
• 100g fresh or tinned bamboo shoots
• selection of asparagus tips, green beans, baby sweetcorn
• 4 fresh red chillies, seeded, cut in half and sliced
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce or light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 4 fresh kaffir leaves or 2 tablespoons lime zest
• handful fresh basil leaves

Heat wok or large frying pan over a high heat, add the oil and then once hot fry off the shallots until soft, then add the curry paste and mix in for 30 seconds.

Add the coconut milk and give it a good stir, then add the stock.

Add all the vegetables including the bamboo shoots, chillies, fish sauce, sugar and lime leaves. Finally add the chopped chicken.

Simmer for 20 minutes. Stir to mix well and finish with the chopped basil leaves.

Rosemary and Caramelised Onion Foccacia Bread

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 500g semolina flour or plain flour
• 30g live yeast or 3 sachets (7g) dried yeast
• 30g honey or sugar
• sprinkle of sea salt
• 625ml tepid water
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red wine
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 4 large cloves garlic, chopped into chunky slices
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
• maldon sea salt flakes

Mix together the yeast, honey (or sugar) and the water.

If using a bread machine put all the flour in the machine with the salt then add the water mix and switch machine on for a dough setting.

If not using a bread machine follow the instructions here

Whilst the machine is doing it's work, or the bread is rising, heat the splash of oil in a frying pan and add the onion and saute on a medium heat. Once the onion is soft, add the vinegar, wine and sugar and simmer until the onion takes on all the juices and becomes caramalised. Leave to cool.

Once the bread dough has been through the first rise, place on a floured surface and knead it back. Roll it out to a rough shape about 1/2 to 1cm thick. Place on a baking tray and pour over a good amount of olive oil and massage into surface so all is covered. Then spread the caramalised onions over the top, and sprinkle over the chunks of garlic and the rosemary. Put your fingers into the bread to form small holes all over the surface, creating little wells where oil can pool. I sprinkle a small amount of sea salt flakes over the bread at this time.

Then cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise again.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Once bread has risen again, place in oven and bake for 20 mins until brown and crispy on the outside.

Sprinkle again with a little amount of sea salt flakes, then cut up into squares and serve warm.

Bloody Mary Sorbet

From the Lea and Perrins cookbook which has so many great recipes in it!!

• 1 carton tomato juice
• juice of two lemons
• 1 tablespoon Lea & Perrins (use less if you want it more tomatoey)
• Few drops tabasco sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• Lots of black pepper
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• 150ml vodka (or tequila for a Bloody Maria)
• 2 egg whites
• few sprigs of fresh mint

Put the tomato juice, lemon juice, L&P, tabasco, celery salt, black pepper, sugar and vodka in a food processor or blender and blitz until mixed and smooth.

Whisk up the egg white in another bowl until stiff and then fold the egg whites into the tomato mixture until combined (do not over fold).

Put the mixture into an ice cream maker for 30 minutes then transfer to a freezable container and freezer overnight.

OR put the mixture in a suitable plastic container and put in freezer, remove every hour or so and give the mix a good stir, do this three or four times to prevent the ice crystals forming.

Serve in martini glasses with sprigs of fresh mint.

Bresola salad

• 1 packet Bresola (or can use thin roast been if you're not keen on air dried meats)
• Rocket, watercress and spinach salad (or other peppery leaves)
• Blue Cheese (use according to your taste, Docelatte works, but so will Danish Blue or Stilton)
• 1 packet Baby new potatoes
• 250ml reduced fat creme fraiche
• 125ml reduced fat double cream (elmlea)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1-2 tablespoons horseradish sauce (according to your taste and how hot you want it)
• Bunch of chives, chopped into 1/2 cm pieces

In a bowl, mix together the creme fraiche, cream, lemon juice, horseradish and chives. Cover with clingfilm and put in fridge to allow flavours to develop.

Put the potatoes on to cook, strain, allow to cool and chop in halves.

Add the horseradish cream sauce a spoonful at a time into the potatoes until they are well coated.

To plate up put a layer of lettuce on the plate, top with the beef, a couple of slices per person. Then add a spoon on the potato salad and spinkle with blue cheese.

Twice baked potatoes

• 4 large potatoes or 4 sweet potatoes or a mix of both ;)
• 1 onion chotpped fine
• 8 mushrooms chopped fine
• 250g cheddar cheese or feta cheese (feta better with sweet potatoes)
• 2 slices bacon chopped fine
• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Bake potatoes as normal, for around an hour until jacket is crisp.

Whilst baking, fry the onion off in a pan until soft. Add bacon and mushrooms and fry until cooked.

Once potatoes are cooked, slice in half lengthways and scrape out potato into a bowl leaving skins in tact. Repeat for all halves and put skins to one side.

Add the onion, bacon, mushroom and 3/4 of cheese to the bowl and mix until combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the mixture up into 8 portions and spoon back into skins, pushing into skins to reform potato shape. Once skins filled, sprinkle the left over cheese on top. Place on a baking tray and cook in oven again for 10-15mins until top is golden brown and crispy.

Cauliflower Cheese

Inspired by an idea from my mum and my sister and expanded on ;)

• 1 head cauliflower
• 250ml tub reduced fat creme fraiche
• 125ml double cream (you can substitute with semi skimmed milk to make it healthier, but it tends to split when cooking and goes watery, alternatively use Elmlea low)
• 200g grated cheddar cheese
• 3tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 1tsp english mustard
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder (leave out if not overly keen on mustard)
• 1/4 nutmeg grated
• 1 clove garlic
• 1tsp onion granules (not salt)
• breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper to taste

Cut the cauliflower into individual florets and boil for five minutes, then place stalk down in an ovenproof dish in a single layer closely packed together.

Preheat oven to 180-200 degrees.

In a bowl mix together the creme fraiche and the double cream. Add the wholegrain mustard, the english mustard, the mustard powder, the nutmeg, garlic and onion granules. Leave for at least 10 minutes for the mustard flavour to develop.

Next taste and then add salt and pepper to adjust to your own liking.

Then add the cheddar and parmesan cheese and mix together.

Pour the sauce over the cauliflower in the dish, covering the tops of the florets.

Sprinkle over breadcrumbs to form a thin layer and place in oven for 30-40 mins or until golden brown and crisp on top.

Great with roast dinners, especially lamb.

Garden week of 2nd May

Started planting the garden out in earnest this weekend and set the irrigation system up :)

Irrigation System

The amazing 10p system bought from B&Q clearance now snakes between all 5 beds and means I only have to switch a tap on and all the beds get watered. Today purchased a 280l water butt from the clearance shop to store the water coming off the conservatory and in addition to the 200l one I have off the pagoda. Also bought a water butt pump to sink into it so I can attach a hose and power the irrigation system from rain water. Cheap :)

Planting

All seeds for the season have now been sown and the beds are being planted up. This year I am growing the following:

Peas (early, greenshaft, mangetout, asparagus peas

Celeriac (brilliant)

Swede (marian)

Turnip (snowball)

Beetroot (bolthardy)

Carrots (Amsterdam, Autumn King, Harlequin)

Parsnip (white Gem)

Beans (Borlotti, runner, broad, dwarf french, ying yang)
Leeks (Mammoth, mussleburgh, Zenith)

Onions (white, red, spring)

Pak Choi & Choi Sum

Lettuce (many varieties)

Radish

Garlic

Kale (Scarlet, Dwarf, Starbor)

Fennel

Kohl Rabi

Spinach

Cauliflower

Cabbage (primo, golden acre, savoy)

Brussel Sprouts (Red Delicious, Dakmar)

Broccoli (sprouting, marathon)

Courgette (tristar, green bush, goldena)

Squash (pattypan, scallop, cornells)

Pumpkin (Jack)

Tomatoes (moneymaker, gardeners delight, garden pearl, marmande, san marzano, costulo, roma)

Tomatillo

Cucumber (Crystal apple, gherkin, cucino)
Aubergine (mixed, bonica)

Cape Gooseberry

Sweetcorn

Its a fair bit, but looking forward to it all starting :)

Piccalilli

This is one of Mr Olivers and was published in Delicious magazine

Makes 5 x 450g jars

• 1/2 large cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 1 head broccoli cut into small florets
• 2 fennel bulbs cut into small chunks
• 4 red and 2 green chillies with seeds still in finely sliced
• 200g fine green beans, chopped into small lengths
• 150g runner beans cut into small lengths
• 300g shallots, cut into eighths
• 1 red onion, roughly chopped
• 2 handfuls fine sea salt
• 2 tbsp mustard oil
• 2 heaped tbsp mustard seeds
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp tumeric
• 1 nutmeg, grated
• 2 tbsp English mustard powder
• 4 tbsp flour
• 500ml white wine vinegar
• 2 apples, grated
• 2 mangos, peeled, stoned and roughly chopped
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 3 garlic cloves crushed
• 2 tbsp dried oregano
• 4 bay leaves

Put all the vegetables in a bowl, add the saly and enough water to cover and leave in cool place for about 1hr.

Heat a saucepan big enough to hold all the vegetables (it needs to be big). Add the mustard oil to the pan, then fry the mustard seeds, cumin, tumeric and nutmeg for a moment. Lower the heat, add a splash of vinegar, stir well and make a thick paste. Gradually add the remaining vinegar and 100ml water, stirring all the time to make a smooth paste. Add the apples, magos, suagr, garlic, oregano and bay leaves. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Sterilise the jars by putting them open in an oven at 140 degrees for 10 minutes.

Drain the salt vegetables and add them to the pan, stirring well to coat with the spicy paste. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables have just softened and started to release some juice.

Spoon into the warm jars and put the lids on. Store in a cool dark place for 1 month before eating to mature the flavours.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

• 4 chicken breasts
• 8 pieces parma ham or proscuttio
• knob of butter
• clove of garlic
• 4 shallots, finely chopped
• 250g mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1tbsp thyme, finely chopped
• splash of white wine
• white wine
• stilton/boursin cheese if wanted

Melt the butter in a frying pan over a moderate heat, add the shallots and allow to sweat for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and mushrooms and cook for 8-10 minutes, adding a splash of wine.

Next job is to butterfly the chicken breasts. First rinse the breasts and pat dry with a paper towel to remove any slippery coating. Take a sharp knife and carefully cut horizontally through the breast but not all the way through, leave the end piece attached so you can open out into one large chicken breast.

Place the breast opened out in a tough plastic or ziplock bag. Bash gently with a rolling pin to thin the breast more and make it larger.

Cover the kitchen surface with a sqaure of clingfilm bigger than the chicken breast and lay it on it spread out. spread the mushroom out across the middle of the chicken breast from one edge to the other forming a stripe across the middle around 1.5 inches thick (don't spread the mushroom too thick, you need to roll). If you want cheese with it, put boursin or slices of stilton across the top of the mushroom (again not too thick as you need to roll). Then starting at the bottom edge roll the chicken breast up as tightly as possible into a sausage shape and wrap very tightly in cling film.

Repeat with all chicken breasts. Then put a pan of boiling water on the hob and bring to a rolling simmer and place all the chicken breasts in the pan and poach for 30 mins. Remove from pan and leave to cool.

Once cooled, get the pieces of parma ham and lay 2 pieces longways, side by side so you get a piece of ham wide enough to wrap round the chicken. Remove the chicken from the clingfilm. The poaching and tight wrapping should have sealed it together in a sausage shape. Wrap the chicken tightly with the parma ham and place in a roasting dish. Repeat for all other chicken breasts.

You can do all these steps way in advance and just leave the chicken like this ready for dinner. Put the chicken in the oven at 180 degrees 20 minutes before serving to crisp off the ham.

Serve with potatoes and vegetables and a white wine sauce if required.

Mango Margaritas

• 1 part tequila
• 1 part triple sec
• 2 parts mango juice
• 2 parts sour mix (1 cup lemon juice, 1 cup lime juice, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water)
• approx 5 chunks frozen mango
• 1 small handful ice

Put ice and mango in blender and switch on to start crushing. Start to add the other ingredients on the list, blending all the time.

Dip the top of a margarita glass in lime juice and then in salt. Pour the margarita into the glass and enjoy.

Pavlova

This one is all down to my mum :) she's the Pavlova expert and taught me this

WARNING long cooking time! 3hrs if possible and even better leave overnight.

The secret is to use 1 medium egg white to 2oz sugar (1oz caster and 1oz icing)

For a small Pavlova use 3 eggs, slightly larger 4 eggs, the one in the pic is a smaller one and was about 10" across, depends how thick you want your meringue.

• 3 eggs or 4 eggs
• 3oz (85g) or 4oz (110g)caster sugar
• 3oz (85g) or 4oz (110g) icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vinegar  (leave out if you want the meringue fluffy inside not chewy)
• 1 teaspoon cornflour  (leave out if you want the meringue fluffy inside not chewy)
• 1 284ml carton double cream
• 1 punnet strawberries (can use any fruit you choose, good ones are passion fruit, pomegranate, kiwi, raspberry, blackberries etc)

Seperate the whites from the egg yolks, the whites only are needed for this, you can use the yolks to make chocolate fondants ;)
Add the 3 or 4 egg whites to a bowl or stand mixer and add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice (means you can beat the eggs as much as you want), whisk on a high setting until they form soft peaks and are very white with minute bubbles. The best way to tell they are done (my mum always did this when she taught baking at my primary school) is tip the bowl upside down (preferably over someone's head) if they start to slide they are not done.
Once they are ready start to whisk in the caster sugar only, 1oz at a time, whisking for a long time after each addition to make sure the sugar is properly combines and dissolved. Once all the caster sugar is combined, stop whisking and use a metal spoon to fold in the icing sugar.
Then whilst folding add the teaspoon of vinegar (makes the meringue a little chewy) and the teaspoon of cornflour (for crisp breakable meringue don't add these).
Put the oven on at 100 degrees, the aim is to dry the meringue out, not cook it.
Place a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray, using about 2/3rds of the mixture spoon onto the baking sheet and flatten out to form a round shape about 8-10" in diameter (small) or 10-12" (large). The using the remaining mixture spoon round blobs next to each other so that they join up to form a circle all around the edge, giving you a high border. You can use a skewer into the centre of each one to pull a point out for decoration. If you're feeling creative heart shapes are pretty easy too!
Place the baking sheet in the oven for as long as you have got! 1hr minimum and preferably 3-4hrs. If the meringue seems to be going golden brown then prop the oven door open using a wooden spoon to cool the over more. After 3hrs turn the oven off and leave overnight if possible.

Next whip up the cream using a whisk until stiff and forms peaks. Chop up half of the strawberries and put into bowl with cream and mix. Put cream and strawberry mix into centre of meringue.

Chop leftover strawberries lengthways and arrange on top as decoration.

Serve and enjoy!

Chocolate fondants

This is a Gordon Ramsey recipe with some tweeking as always - the first bit is the basic chocolate fondant recipe, the second part is me messing around putting different flavoured centres into them :)

• 50g melted butter , for brushing
• cocoa powder , for dusting
• 200g good-quality dark chocolate , chopped into small pieces
• 200g butter , in small pieces
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs and 4 yolks
• 200g plain flour

Use Darioles or pudding moulds, melt the butter and brush over the inside of the moulds to cover. Place moulds in fridge and let butter set. Bring out and brush another layer of butter over the inside. Then put a teaspoon of cocoa powder inside each mould and cover top with cling film or kitchen roll and shake to cover all of inside with powder. Tip out excess and leave moulds on one side till later.

Place chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of water and leave to melt, remove from heat and stir until smooth, leave to cool for 10 mins.

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and yolks together with the sugar until thick and pale and the whisk leaves a trail. Sift the flour into the eggs, then beat together.

Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture in thirds, beating well between each addition, until all the chocolate is added and the mixture is completely combined to a loose cake batter.

Tip the fondant batter into a jug, then evenly divide between the moulds.

Either carry on like this for normal chocolate fondants or follow the instructions in italics to add flavoured centres.

I hvae recently tried a number of flavoured centres and all are amazing :) I have used peanut butter, raspberry liqueur truffles (the best) and After Eight mints. Basically the peanut butter and truffles ones are best done from chilled, take a large teaspoon of either and try and mould into a ball in your hand, quickly, then push it into the centre of the mixture in the mould. The After Eight mints chop into 4 smaller sqaures and stack on top of one another and push into the mixture.

The fondants can now be frozen for up to a month and cooked from frozen or chill for at least 20 mins or up to the night before. To bake from frozen, simply carry on as stated, adding 5 mins more to the cooking time.

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Place the fondants on a baking tray, then cook for 10-12 mins until the tops have formed a crust and they are starting to come away from the sides of their moulds. Remove from the oven, then leave to sit for 1 min before turning out.

Loosen the fondants by moving the tops very gently so they come away from the sides, easing them out of the moulds.

Serve with cream or ice-cream.