Eccles Cakes - When It's Wet and Miserable - Bake I Say

The weather was crap yesterday and I felt like something sweet for afternoon tea.Something quick and easy

So I got out one of my very old recipe books and Eccles Cakes caught my eye. Good oh, I have all the ingredients. So I whipped up a batch. 

 The recipe, I found was rather slack I felt, a bit lacking in ingredients and method, funny how they just expected everyone to know what to do. Aunt Daisy was like that as well. I guess all cooks did know what to do in the olden days

So I Googled it

I found the recipe from About.com British Food and have just copied it exactly, I think I may have made my discs just a little small but...they were great. Lovely taste. I ate 2 with my cup of tea. Even ate a couple more when we returned home from Quiz Night. I have some of the fruit mixture leftover. Storing in the fridge and will make some more later. A success I feel

Ingredients:

1lb 2oz/ 500g puff pastry

1oz/ 25g butter, melted

Pinch freshly ground nutmeg

2 oz/55g candied peel

4 oz/ 110g sugar

8 oz/ 225g currants

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 425∞/220∞C/Gas 7

 In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and butter and cook over a medium heat until melted.

 Off the heat, add currants, candied peel and nutmeg.

 On a lightly-floured surface, roll the pastry thinly and cut into rounds of about º inch/0.5cm thickness and 4 inch/10cm diameter.

Place a small spoonful of filling onto center of each pastry circle.

Dampen the edges of the pastry with a little cold water and draw the edges together over the fruit and pinch to seal.

Turn the patty over, then press gently with a rolling pin to flatten the cakes.

Snip a V in the top with scissors.

Place on a greased baking tray. I like to use baking paper

Brush with eggwash and sprinkle with a little extra sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until lightly browned round the edges.

Place on a wire rack and allow to cool.

Try not to eat them all at once!

Best Carrot Soup - My New Version

I moved away from my normal Carrot Soup, today.
Saturday Lunch
Of course I was clearing out the fridge as I do, you know Waste Not Want Not

I had 3 sticks celery

4 large carrots

1 red chili

2 small onions

2 cloves garlic

1 courgette

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon Chicken stock powder

About 6 leaves of mint

1/2 orange juiced

70 gms butter

Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

The Coconut Oil, Mint and Chili were ingredients, I don't normally add to my Carrot soup 

but Wow... which extra addition made it special, I'm not sure but it was just divine

I think the addition of that extra chili and the mint at the last moment, really enhanced the flavours

By the way it wasn't hot, just flavourful

Will make this again

Gluten free of course…plus using the Extra Virgin Coconut Oil was an added extra, not only tasty but also very good for you

It will pass the Health Food Police

Just don't mention the butter!!!

I’ve started blitzing the vege for my soups and meat sauces recently, particularly good if you want to slip added vege, to hide from kids.

Method

So I melted the butter in a pot

In the food processor I added

2 cloves of garlic chopped

Onions chopped

Celery chopped

Courgette chopped

Whiz them up and add to pan

Season with S & P

Sauté till just soft

Meanwhile chop carrots and half of the chili

Add to food processor and whiz up

Add to pot

Season with chicken stock powder

Add orange juice

Stir and sauté for a few minutes

Cover with hot water and bring to a simmer

Simmer for about 15 minutes

Just before serving

Add Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

Chop the mint leaves and the rest of the chili

Pour soup into blender

Add mint and chili

Blitz to smooth

Taste and adjust seasoning if needed

If it too thick just add a little extra hot water

I served with Cheese scones

Hot from the oven

Time to go shopping and fill the fridge again

Yum

Beat Mumsy Meals - Comfort Food - So So Simple

Ive been rushing around, 'Taking on Jamie' and decided that it was time for The World's Most simple meal.
Steak for me, Fish for the Beloved.
Potatoes and peas mashed together, and a little extra vege on the side. cause I had it, cooked beetroot tossed in oil and Tarragon leaves, that's a great pairing. Actually I adore this kind of meal. So Tasty and Normal

Of course I cooked too much Potato and Pea Mixture so time for a superb leftover dish.

I bought some spinach for the kids dinner the other night. It was on special.
2 bunches, for cheap as chips
Actually I'm not really rapt in spinach. Baby spinach yes, it's not so earthy
So I've thought about how to use up the spinach I didn't use for the kids
Now Creamed Spinach is another thing. Flavoured with garlic and nutmeg that is and excellent use of this earthy vege.
Even better, I decided to join forces with the left over spuds and peas and make a quiche

It was very successful
I used 2 sheets of puff pastry, that made enough to make 4 little pies as well
Waste no Want not.

So Ingredients
1 large cup mashed vege
1 bunch spinach
3 cloves garlic peeled
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grind of nutmeg
2 tablespoon of cream

6 eggs
1 cup cream 
S & P
50 gms grated cheese

2 sheets puff pastry joined together to fit the quiche tin
Use trimmings to make 4 little pies
Line the greased quiche tin and little pie tins with rolled out pastry
Set aside in fridge to rest

Method
In a large pot of boiling water
Add garlic cloves and spinach
Bring back to boil and blanch for about 2 minutes
Drain
Stick under cold water to keep the colour and cool down

In your hands squeeze out as much water as possible
Place in food processor
Season with Salt pepper and nutmeg
Whiz
Add cream

In another bowl
Add eggs, cream and cheese
Season with S & P
Beat together
Add to food processor
Whiz

Pour into prepared shells
Have your oven pre-heated to 220 C
Bake in hot oven for about 10 minutes
Turn temperature down to 180C
Cook for about another 15-20 minutes

The bottom should be crisp and the filling set

It was excellent, it would easily feed 4 people, with a salad

The little pies took about 15 minutes, this would depend on you oven

Now here's a little tip
I also saved the water from the potatoes and peas
Nice little vege stock
How thrifty is that?
So I was making a Japanese Curry for the kids for Dinner, to have with the spinach
There were some meat trimmings
I popped then into the vege stock in a pot
Added trimmings from the carrots, celery and onions, that I was using for the
curry
Simmer away for about 15 minutes, longer if you have time

Drain and you have a tasty little stock to add to any casserole/curry that you are making

Comfort Food - Cheap and Very Cheerful - Vegetable Bake

I am making some food for a friends friend, who is stuck in hospital, for quite some time.
Everytime I make a dish, I make enough to freeze some. This is a good idea anyway.
Being able to bring some food out of the freezer,  virtually instant food.
You can sit and have a glass of wine while it bubbles away in the oven.
As I am Taking on Jamie, I thought I would time this. Took a little longer than 15 minutes. You could eat it immediately but I think it needs to be baked.
But you could make it earlier in the day and then just stick it in the oven for about 25 minutes or until it is golden and bubbly. All ready for the oven or freezer

This is a Vego Dish, you could make it Gluten Free, if you use cornflour instead of wheat flour.
Lovely cheesey sauce smothering broccoli, topped with mashed potatoes

I followed Jamies advice and got my pans hot and ready to multi task

This will feed 4 people

3 large potatoes
75 mls hot milk
30 gms cold butter

2 heads broccoli

100 gms butter
1 onion chopped
1 carrot grated
1/2 cup flour
 Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
About 800 mls Whole milk 
1 Bayleaf

100 gms grated tasty cheese

Get ready
Put milk and Bayleaf into microwave and heat for about 2-3 minutes

Put a pot of salted water to boil for broccoli
Have another pot of salted cold water for the potatoes
Melt butter over medium heat in another pot for sauce

Break broccoli into florets
Throw into boiling water and blanch for about 3 minutes

Drain and run under cold water to keep the lovely green colour

Peel potatoes and cut into smallish cubes about 1/2 inch for faster cooking
Throw into cold water and bring rapidly to the boil
cook till tender about 10 minutes

Meanwhile chop onion and grate carrot and add to melted butter
Season with S & P
Cook down about 5 minutes till tender
Add flour, stir well
Cook another 4 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste
Add hot milk all at once and stir to ensure there are no lumps

 Cook for about another 4 minutes adding more milk if it is too thick, don't want it gluggy

Add broccoli  to sauce and transfer to serving dish

Now, your potatoes will be cooked
Drain well and mash
I used a potato ricer, does such a good job,
Takes a little longer but it's worth it
I bought mine for about $9, many years ago from The Warehouse. Its been a great asset
You don't have to spend a fortune

Add hot milk to potatoes
Stir, beat in cold butter
Check seasoning and adjust if necessary

Spread the potatoes over the Saucy Vege

All ready to go
Cooked in  27 minutes
That's not too hard

Quite a lot of carnage though. No one talks about the washing up.
I've got a good dishwasher which did all of this for me