Sunday 30 January 2011

Baked Rice Pudding

I baked this rice pudding yesterday for my in-laws. It went down really well, as did the spaghetti bolognese that i posted yesterday!!
By using golden caster sugar melted with the butter, it creates a delicate caramel flavour to the pudding.
The rice is fluffy and the sauce is rich and creamy.

As with all baked rice puddings you get a beautiful skin on the top.

A tip for you if you don't like the skin.
When the pudding is cooked take out the oven and cover for 10 minutes, the skin will go soft and creamy and it tastes like caramel..YUMMY!!!!


Pre heat oven 140c, 275f, or gas mark 1

Prep time 5 minutes
Cooking time 2 hours

Serves 6

4oz Butter
6oz Golden caster sugar
10oz Pudding rice
1500ml Full fat milk
2 tsp Vanilla extract
300ml Double cream
½ tsp Grated nutmeg
Pinch salt


Melt the butter and sugar in a oven and hob proof casserole dish, add the rice and cook till it puffs up, add the milk, vanilla extract, cream, nutmeg, and salt, bring to the boil, and stir well.
Transfer to the oven and cook uncovered for 2 hours.

Saturday 29 January 2011

Especially For Ashley Spaghetti Bolognese...

This Recipe is dedicated  to my good friend Ashley.

When i lived in America, and i offered to cook a meal, this was one of the meals she would always ask for.

So just for you my dear Ashley a delicious Spaghetti Bolognese!!




Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 2 ½ hours

Serves 6

1 tbsp Olive oil
1 kg Mince Beef
1 Large onion chopped
3 Large carrots diced
5 Portabello mushrooms sliced
2 Garlic gloves finely chopped
½ tsp Celery salt
1 tbsp Dried oregano
1 tsp Worcester sauce
1 tsp Balsamic vinegar
2 Tins plum tomatoes
1 tbsp Tomato puree
1 tsp Sugar
150ml Red wine
500ml Beef stock
Salt & pepper to season
10 Leaves of fresh basil sliced

1 packet of Spaghetti
Parmesan Cheese to garnish

In a large casserole dish/dutch oven heat the olive oil and brown the mince beef in batches, remove from dish.
Add the onions to the dish and saute till softened, then add the carrots and mushrooms, saute for 5 minutes.
Return the beef to the dish and stir in the celery salt, oregano, Worcester sauce, balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, tomato puree and sugar, cooking for a minute between each ingredient.

Bring to the boil and add the red wine, cook out for 2 minutes, then add the beef stock, turn down the heat to low, season to taste and simmer for 2½ hours.

Cook the spaghetti as per the packets instructions.

Garnish with Parmesan cheese and the sliced basil.

Friday 28 January 2011

Somerset Chicken

This recipe has been stolen from The Hairy Bikers Food Tour of Britain, I've just tweaked it slightly for my families taste.

It's not a dish i will do often, not because it wasn't good, because it was really delicious, but because it's not good for the waste line and arteries.

The rich creamy sauce, the moist chicken and the tang of the mustard, goes really well with a baked spud, but you don't need to put any butter on the spud as the sauce soaks in to the fluffy potato.

I will admit i did forget to put the cheese on top and grill it till it was golden and bubbly, but to be honest it really didn't need it, it was deliciously rich and creamy enough without it!!

I roasted some vine ripened tomatoes to go with it, the sweet but acidic tang from the tomatoes cut through the rich creaminess!!!




Pre heat oven to 200c, 400f or gas mark 6

Serves 2

1 Baking potato per person.

Prick potato all over and put straight onto rack in the oven and bake for about an hour.

2 Chicken breasts
1 tbsp Olive oil
25g Butter
1 Onion sliced
2 tbsp Flour
2 tsp Whole grain mustard
1 Bramley apple cut into batons
8oz Chestnut mushrooms sliced
500ml Chicken stock
150ml Cider
6 leaves of sage finely chopped
100ml Double cream
100g Grated cheddar - optional - I refrained from the cheese.
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large saute pan melt the butter and olive oil, add the chicken to the pan and brown on all sides, remove from pan and put on a roasting tin and roast in the oven for 15 minutes.

Add the onions to the pan and soften but do not colour, then add the mushrooms and brown.

Stir in the mustard and flour and cook out for 2 minutes.

Add the stock and bring to the boil then add the cider and cook off the alcohol for 2 minutes, turn the heat down low and stir in the sage and cream.

Season to taste and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the chicken back to the pan.

If you are going to use the cheese, put the grill on full and sprinkle the cheese over the chicken and grill till the cheese is golden and bubbly.

Serve with the baked potato and some roasted tomatoes.


 

Wednesday 26 January 2011

I Can't Eat it Fast Enough Moussaka!!

Today i made dinner for one of the biggest critic anyone can cook for, a two year old!!

My son is a good eater and eats most foods, I have always given him a wide variety of different foods, to get his taste buds use to lots of different flavours.

Tonight i made a Moussaka, its not that i haven't made one before, but i haven't given it to my son before.

What a reaction i got, he clapped his hands and done the Makaton sign for more, if i didn't feed it to him quick enough he was grabbing it off the plate. He ate a whole plate of it and then went on to help me eat mine.

So i think to say it was good would be an understatement!!




Preperation time 20 minutes
Cooking time 2 hours

Meat Sauce Ingredients

2 tbsp Olive oil
1 Onion roughly chopped
2 Garlic cloves finely chopped
1 kg Minced lamb
1 Tin of tomatoes
1 to 2 tbsp Ground cinnamon - I like to really taste the cinnamon so i use 2 tbsp.
2 tsp Ground cumin
2 tbsp Dried oregano
150ml Red wine
500ml Chicken stock

Firstly make the meat sauce.

Brown the mince in batches, don't over crowd the the pan or it will stew.
Remove from pan.
Add onions to the pan and saute for about 5 minutes till softened, add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
Add the lamb back to the pan, then stir in the cinnamon, cumin and oregano.
Stir in the tomatoes, turn up the heat and add the red wine and stock, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hr till the sauce is moist but not runny.

While the sauce simmers prepare the potatoes and aubergines.

3 tbsp olive oil
1 Large aubergines
4 Medium potatoes

Slice the potatoes and aubergines about 1/4 inch thick, brush with olive oil and griddle till partly cooked.

Now make the Bechemel Sauce.

50g Butter
50g Plain flour
1 pint Milk
150g Grated cheddar
1/2 tsp Grated nutmeg
2 Beaten eggs
Salt & pepper to season.

In a large saucepan make a roux with the butter, flour and milk, by melting the butter with the flour and cook out for 2 minutes, then gradually stir in the milk over a medium heat, till it thickens.
Take off the heat and stir in the cheese and nutmeg.

Quickly stir in the eggs a bit at a time, so they don't scramble. Stir until smooth.

In a large ceramic dish start to layer the potato, aubergine and meat sauce.
Start with a thin layer of meat sauce, then a layer of potato, then another layer of meat sauce, then a layer of aubergine, then more meat sauce, then a final layer of potato, finally pour over the Bechemel sauce.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, check after 30 minutes and if it starting to brown too much cover for the remaining time.


Tuesday 25 January 2011

Fudgy Chocolate Coconut Brownies!!

 This one is for all you sweet toothed and chocolate lovers out there!! 


































These are so easy to make and taste sooooo chocolaty, they are dense and have a slight gooey, chewy, rich centre. 
It's hard to eat just one at a time!!

Mixture makes about 16 Brownies.

10 minutes prep time.
40 minutes cooking time.

100g / 4oz Cocoa Powder - I use Green and Black Organic, it is rich and chocolaty.
250g / 9oz Butter
500g / 1lb 2oz Golden Caster Sugar
4 Eggs beaten
100g / 4oz Dessicated Coconut
100g / 4oz Self Raising Flour

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C, 320°F, or gas mark 4.

Line a 21cm square tin with parchment paper.

In a large saucepan gently melt the butter and sugar with the cocoa powder, stirring all the time so the mixture doesn't catch.

Take the saucepan off the heat and let it cool slightly.

When slightly cooled, quickly stir in the beaten eggs a bit at a time until it's all combined and shiny.

Stir in the dessicated coconut and then the flour, don't over mix or the brownies will become tough.

Pour into the tin and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, check it after 30 minutes and cover if it's starting to brown too much around the edges. It is cooked when a cocktail stick comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin, then turn out and cut into squares.

Enjoy one with a nice cup of espresso, the coffee brings out the flavour of the chocolate and visa versa!!










Monday 24 January 2011

Poignant First Post...

So I'm sat here thinking of some poignant words for my first post, and to be honest nothing really springs to mind, as words are not my forte, unlike cooking and photography!!
So lets just get down to what this blog is for, my recipes, and photos of the end products.....

A few tempters on the menu this week are, Fudgy Chocolate Coconut Brownies, Cheese and Pesto Scones, and Baked Rice Pudding, i think they will do to be going on with, hope this has tickled your taste buds enough to come back and read the recipes and see the finished results....