Oh No I've Run Out Of...

Duck in Red Wine & Blueberry Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:29:00 +0000

I've had a bit more time to experiment in the kitchen recently, and last night's creation went down a treat. Pretty simple to throw together, it also involves wine, which gives you a good excuse to have a few glasses with dinner.

INGREDIENTS

Duck breasts
Blueberries
Red wine
Molasses
Shallots
Olive oil
Butter
Star anise
Thyme
Beef stock

DIRECTIONS

Heat a bit of olive oil in a frying pan, and add the duck skin-side down
Fry for a few minutes, then turn the duck and add thyme, butter and star anise
When the butter has melted, move the duck into the oven at 180
While it's cooking, fry some shallots in olive oil
Once they're soft, add the blueberries and stir
Add molasses, then wine, then beef stock. Stir some more
Once the duck is done, remove it from the oven and pour the blueberry mixture over it
Serve with sweet potato wedges (I added thyme as well as chili) and the remainder of the bottle of wine

Me Vs. Domino's: The Pizza Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 06:36:00 +0000

Sometimes when I'm working late it's difficult to find somewhere to order pizza online that's quick to be delivered and also tastes good. Luckily for me, there's a Domino's opposite my house, so I tend not to have to worry too much when the pizza craving comes a-calling.

Last week, however, I received an unusual message. It offered me the chance to challenge myself: create pizzas based on some of Domino's most popular recipes, and see how it turned out. I decided I was up for this, especially considering that my best friend was coming to stay for the weekend and she'd definitely be up for helping Husband and I eat pizza for three days.

So on Saturday we went across the road to the pizza place and picked up four pizzas:

Veg-A-Roma
Tandoori Hot
Spanish Sizzler
Bacon Double Cheeseburger

We got ourselves a movie and some chocolate puddings (don't look at me like that, we were having a decadent weekend) and sat down to enjoy. They were good, too.

On Monday, once we'd finished eating and partying and chattering at each other, I made four pizzas following the ingredients listed on Domino's website, and we compared the results. It must be said at this point that my specialty is pie. Pie, and savoury things that don't require too many complicated instructions. The expression "easy as pie" exists for a good reason. I can make pie. I can't make pizza. I mean, I can. But this wasn't my most successful run. I'm also not really style-oriented, as anyone who has ever met me will testify.

Domino's Pizzas

Veg-A-Roma

Ingredients: sundried tomatoes, garlic sauce, onions, mushrooms, green peppers, herbs. I didn't eat any of this one, but my (vegetarian) best friend tells me it was good.

Tandoori Hot

Ingredients: tandoori chicken, onions, mushrooms, green peppers, jalapeño peppers. This is my personal favourite and the one I usually have; Husband and I shared this one. It was good as always.

Spanish Sizzler

Ingredients: roast chicken, green peppers, chorizo, roquito peppers. We decided to try this one as a contrast with the tandoori hot, which remains the favourite.

Bacon Double Cheeseburger

Ingredients: bacon, ground beef, onions, tomatoes, mozzarella. I have to admit, this is probably one of the most satisfying pizzas I have ever eaten. Definitely cheesy. Lots of substance. Lots of carbs. It was pretty damn good.

Scar's Pizzas

Veg-A-Roma

Well, my pizzas didn't really look like pizzas, mainly because I only had plain flour in my cupboards and am accustomed to making shortcrust pastry, so they essentially turned out like flatbreads instead of pizza bases. Also, my kitchen really isn't up to hardcore pizza-making:

even after I'd laid out all the ingredients in order, in my typically obsessive kind of way:

This is how the Veg-A-Roma turned out:

I promise my camera is terrible and it looked a bit more appetising in real life. Well, not really. But it tasted good. The accidentally shortcrust pastry was in fact surprisingly nice, and a welcome break from all the doughy, stodgy bases we'd been eating all weekend. I think for the veggie pizza, Domino's definitely wins on style, but mine felt healthier. You could probably get away with selling it in health food shops as "Veg-A-Flatbread" instead.

Tandoori Hot

This one was made more difficult by the fact that I didn't know exactly what they meant by 'Tandoori chicken' in the ingredients list, so I fried some chicken with some curry powder and a bit of hot chili powder, and that seemed to do the trick. It tasted OK but wasn't anything special, and the Tandoori Hot is the pizza I order the most often from Domino's, so they definitely win hands-down on this one.

Spanish Sizzler

Whenever I've ordered this from Domino's, it's always felt like the Tandoori Hot's slightly less attractive sister. It's good and everything, but I think the lack of tandoori on the chicken really makes a difference. Mine was pretty much the same as that; it tasted OK, but the chorizo didn't make up for the lack of jalapeños and tandoori chicken. Also, I wasn't sure what roquito peppers were and forgot to Google them before I went to the supermarket, so I missed out an ingredient. *slap on wrist* Domino's win again.

Bacon Double Cheeseburger

This one looked so unappetising that I almost couldn't bring myself to eat it, but as you can see from the picture, Husband dug in before I'd had a chance to take a picture of it. It was actually surprisingly good, but again, nowhere near as good as the Domino's one, mainly because it's such a... what's the word... well, pizza-ish pizza from there. Double cheese, bacon, beef, onion, and a thick stodgy base just taste good together; when you put it on flatbread it doesn't really work so well. It was still edible, but Domino's win yet again.

So, all in all, we can conclude that I probably shouldn't ever work for Domino's, and that they make a better pizza than me. The only one I think I had a slight advantage on was the veggie one, because it was nice to have a healthy-ish option. But if you want good pizza, go to Domino's. I'm better at pie.

Cheese and Herbs

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:05:00 +0000

picture from here

You know sometimes you just have a craving for a couple of things and you don't really care how they're put together? I had that today with cheese and herbs. I knew I wanted both of them in a variety of combinations, but I wasn't sure exactly how to combine them. So in the end I made a bit of a mish-mash dinner, but it worked. I think.

Firstly, I made herby wedges. Sweet potato chopped up, drenched in olive oil with a mixture of thyme, parsley, garlic and black pepper. Shoved in the oven for forty minutes.

Next up: red bell peppers. Chopped in half, stuffed with bread that had been dipped in the same mixture as the wedges. I put them in the oven for ten minutes with the wedges. Once removed, I spread cream cheese with onion & chives over the top and added a sprig of parsley.

I teamed it all with a goats' cheese salad. And it was good.

Steak & Ale Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Mon, 16 May 2011 08:14:00 +0000

This is what I spent most of the afternoon on yesterday. It took a long time to make, but it was worth it, and it'll make your house smell wonderful.

INGREDIENTS:

~ Braising steak

~ 2 beef stock cubes

~ 300ml dark ale

~ Plain flour

~ A very little bit of sugar

~ Bay leaves

~ Parsley

~ Thyme

~ Salt

~ Pepper

~ Oil

~ Onions

~ Carrots

~ Butter

DIRECTIONS:

Pour some oil into a casserole dish. Cut the steak into chunks, put the chunks in the dish, put the dish in the oven at 180.
Heat some oil in a pan. Chop the onions and carrots, add them to the pan with some parsley and thyme. Cook for about 10 minutes, until soft.
Dissolve the stock cubes in a cupful of water.
Add the stock, sugar, flour, ale and meat to the onion pan. Stir.
Add the bay leaf, some more parsley and thyme, salt and pepper. Stir some more.
Cover and bring to a simmer.
While you're waiting for it to simmer, make the shortcrust pastry. Once you've made it, cover it with kitchen foil and put it in the fridge.
Once the stuff in the pan is simmering, put it in the oven with the lid on. Leave it there for two hours. During this time, the smell will be wonderful.
After two long hours, remove the wonderful-smelling mixture from the oven and place in the fridge for an hour to cool.
Remove everything from the fridge, put the pastry into a pie dish, add the pie mixture, put another layer of pastry on top, and cook in the oven for forty minutes.
I served it with Chinese broccoli.

Food and Wine Matcher

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:38:00 +0000

This is the new widget that will be appearing in my sidebar from now on. It's a bit magical and was introduced to me by Natalie MacLean on Twitter.

There are three sizes of widget; I'll be putting a smaller one in the sidebar, but for now, here's a demo:

All you need to do is pick a category, for example 'Cheese'. Then pick a type, for example 'brie'. The widget will generate a list of wines that go with that food. You can also do it the other way round, choosing a wine first and generating food suggestions.

I think it's inspired. You can pick one up here

Chicken, Bacon & Mushroom Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:31:00 +0000

I love puff pastry. Unfortunately I find it really hard to make, but luckily you can cheat...

INGREDIENTS

Olive oil
Chicken
Streaky bacon
Onion
Mushrooms
Thyme
Plain flour
Chicken stock
Milk
Puff pastry
1 egg

DIRECTIONS

- Heat the oil in a pan.

- Fry the chicken for a few minutes, until golden brown.

- Remove from pan and fry the bacon.

- Add onion, mushrooms & thyme. Fry until the onions are brown.

- Tip flour into the pan and stir, taking it off the heat.

- Add stock. Stir some more.

- Add milk. Add chicken. More stirring.

- Bring to the boil, then simmer for half an hour.

- Set aside to cool.

- Roll out the pastry, grease the pie dish and create the pie base.

- Pour in the mixture, add the rest of the pastry to the top.

- Glaze with an egg, bake until golden.

Picture credit

Really Yummy Breakfast Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 18:55:00 +0000

These will make you groan with pleasure, and then with that feeling that you're going to burst. They're small, but really filling. Incredibly satisfying on a rainy weekend. And they taste amazing, even if the one on the left in the picture looks a little bit like it's puking egg.

INGREDIENTS:

Crusty rolls. The crusty bit is very important.
Bacon
Eggs
Cheddar
Nutmeg, salt, pepper
Flour
Milk
Butter
Parsley

DIRECTIONS:

Fry the bacon.
Grate the cheese.
While both of those things are happening (oh yes, this recipe involves multi-tasking. It is not for the faint-hearted), melt some butter in a pan.
Add flour and milk to the butter and whisk until it forms a thick sauce.
Add in the grated cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix some more.
Butter the rolls. Place a piece of bacon in each roll, spread the butter-flour-milk thing over the top.
Chop another couple of slices of cheese. Add to the rolls.
Stick the rolls under the grill.
While they're grilling, fry one egg per roll.
Remove rolls from grill, add eggs.
Sprinkle with parsley. Serve.

Feel satisfied, then sick, then sleepy. Enjoy.

It's Cupcake Wednesday!

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:31:00 +0000

Found here

Apple Crisp

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:46:00 +0000

Perfect chewy winter warmer.

INGREDIENTS:

Flour
Oats
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Ginger
Butter
Apples

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375
Mix all the dry stuff in a bowl
Cut butter into the mixture to make a topping
Slice the apples and place them into a pie tin
Spread topping over the apples
Bake for half an hour

Picture credit

Comfort Pasta

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:54:00 +0000

You can only possibly enjoy this if you're ill or in desperate need of a hug. It tastes a bit weird, but it warms you up and makes you feel better. Or that's what it does for me, anyway. At the moment I'm trying to convince my body not to go down with glandular fever/throat infection/tonsillitis/flu, so I thought I'd give it some comfort pasta to help it along the way.

INGREDIENTS:

Spaghetti
Cheese
Mayonnaise
Tomato purée

DIRECTIONS:

Boil the pasta in a pan with some salt.
Grate the cheese.
Drain the pasta, add the cheese, mayo and purée.

Yeah, it's simple, but that's why it's comfort pasta; easy to make, tastes a bit weird, makes you feel better.

Picture credit

Tofu Creole

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:06:00 +0000

A simple and warming vegetarian dish.

INGREDIENTS:

1 onion
Olive oil
Garlic
Tofu
Celery
Mushrooms
Green pepper
Thyme
Celery salt
Black pepper
Tomato sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Sauté the onion in the olive oil.
Add the garlic, sauté for a few more minutes.
Add the tofu.
When the tofu starts to sizzle, add the rest of the vegetables and sauté until they're soft.
Add all the seasoning, cook for a few more minutes.
Throw in the tomato sauce. Stir.
Cook until vegetables are tender; serve with rice.

Picture credit

Cupcake Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:10:00 +0000

It's been a long time since I did one of these! Have some cupcakes:

Found here

Lamb Pasta

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:43:00 +0000

Pasta is one of those fantastic dishes that just makes life easier. Simple, quick comfort food. My own top pasta dishes tend to be chicken or vegetable-based, but in the video below Aaron Craze talks to us about how to throw together a lamb pasta dish.

He also talks us through a number of other beef and lamb recipes, so you won't be at a loss for things to cook after Christmas, if you can fit anything else in after the turkey...

The Great Turkey Escape

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 19:31:00 +0000

I am not generally someone who likes computer games, but this is one of those things that becomes really, really addictive. The local pizza delivery people at Domino's are running a competition in which you can win a stack of pizza - all you have to do is save some turkeys. Well, not real ones.

How do you do it? Log on to www.thegreatturkeyescape.com, choose your turkey and catapult him into the air. Click on him to help him to fly, and collect slices of pizza along the way. The aim of the game is to get him to a pizza delivery guy, who will drive him to safety (or perhaps off to the cooking pot...)

You can also connect with Facebook to show your friends how many turkeys you've saved so far, and if you're good enough you might even make it onto the Great Turkey Escape scoreboard!

Go on, give it a go. It's just as addictive as Angry Birds, and you might win some pizza too...

The Natural Confectionery Company

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:00:00 +0000

The Natural Confectionery Company do what they say on the tin. Well, on the bag. They make sweets out of natural ingredients, in the shape of animals. They've been running a poll to see which one is the overall favourite, and so far the pineapple is coming out on top, despite being the only non-animal-shaped one. Or perhaps people just don't want to bite the heads off of the cutest ones.

Whatever the case, they've just made a video to promote their sweets; two of the animals are playing a game of I Spy, but one of them keeps getting it wrong...

Fruit Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 01:45:00 +0000

I've never been a huge fan of fruit cake, but it tends to be pretty popular, so it's probably a useful addition to your kitchen repertoire.

INGREDIENTS:

Flour
Brown sugar
Salt
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Mixed dried fruit
Raisins
Walnuts
Vegetable oil
Milk
2 eggs

DIRECTIONS:

Mix the flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, dried fruit, raisins and walnuts.
In a separate container, beat the eggs, milk and vegetable oil.
Shove all ingredients in the same bowl, blend until flour disappears.
Pour into a baking tray, sprinkle brown sugar over the top.
Bake for around an hour and a half.

Picture credit

Bread Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 15:01:00 +0000

I have never managed to make this the way my friend's grandmother used to when we were teenagers, but here's a recipe that will give you something nice to have for pudding all the same.

INGREDIENTS:

Breadcrumbs
3 eggs
Milk
Almond extract
Sugar
Chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Butter a baking dish and place breadcrumbs inside.
Mix eggs, milk, almond extract and sugar.
Pour the mixture over the crumbs, sprinkle with chocolate chips.
Let it stand for about half an hour.
Pour an inch of water into a large shallow pan, and place the baking tray into it.
Bake at 350 for about half an hour.

Picture credit

Fajitaladas

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 13:23:00 +0000

I am quite a fan of Old El Paso. In general, I prefer to make everything from scratch rather than buying kits, because stuff in kits is often rubbish, but theirs is usually pretty damn good. In the spirit of this, I bought an enchilada kit the other day, before realising that my oven is broken and so deciding to turn them into fajitas instead. It sort of worked quite well, actually.

INGREDIENTS:

Enchilada kit
Chicken
Cheddar

DIRECTIONS:

Fry the chicken in some oil until it's cooked
Add the enchilada mix
Scoosh it around until everything's covered
Grate the cheddar
Stick the wraps under the grill for a few seconds, just until they're a little bit crispy
Put the wraps on a plate, shove the mix in the middle, sprinkle the cheese over the top, wrap them up and there you go: fajitaladas

Picture credit

Pizza and Proposals

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:37:00 +0000

As everyone in the world knows, Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married. It's been all over the newspapers, all over Twitter, all over the internet... you can't get away from the news. Personally, I'm happy for them and I hope they have a wonderful life together, and apparently Domino's pizza shares my feelings.

In celebration of the royal engagement, Domino's are offering any couples named William and Kate some free garlic pizza bread worth £3.25. Of course, this might just create an influx of people claiming to be called Kate and William, so some form of photographic ID is required, and both halves of the couple have to turn up to pick up the pizza.

Unfortunately I'm not a Kate and my husband's not a William, but I'd be interested to know how many people take up the offer before it closes at the end of the day today.

The Best Job In The World

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:25:00 +0000

Yeah, I know it's supposed to have been the Great Barrier Reef thing from ages ago. But seriously. Chocolate tasting, full-time? Could you get any better than that?

Micah Carhill is the head of taste at Green & Black's at the moment, and you'd be working alongside him to test his current recipes and create new ones. There's also the opportunity to travel to other places and taste chocolate there as well - after all, you can't just stick to chocolate from one country, right?

If you've already got a job you love, but like the idea of eating free chocolate, you can apply to be one of thirty people who'll be on the taste panel, getting involved with future projects and receiving a free cookbook signed by Micah.

Domino's launch a new pizza base

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:58:00 +0000

...and it sounds amazing. My favourite choice from Domino's pizza delivery used to be the Mexican Hot, before that was discontinued; now it's the Tandoori Chicken, though to be honest, there are so many good pizza choices that I'd probably count most of them as being among my favourites. Now they've released a new pizza base, so I know where I'm going for dinner tonight...

The Basil Burst Double Decadence Pizza sounds totally amazing. The pizza base is split into two halves, and in between the two is a layer of basil pesto, which combines perfectly with Domino's trademark vine-ripened tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese to create a fantastically moreish pizza. The new base is available with any of Domino's classic pizzas, or you can create your own if you're feeling exciting. You can also choose a similar base with cheese and herb sauce instead of basil pesto - or, of course, you could order both and compare. Just so you know.

Domino's is currently offering a free bottle of Coke with any Double Decadence pizza purchase, so you don't even need to worry about buying yourself a drink for the evening. Settle down on the sofa with your pizza and enjoy. Go on, you know you deserve it...

Picture credit

Cupcake Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 20:13:00 +0000

...is on a Friday this week, because I keep forgetting to do it. Here's this week's selection:

Found here

Chocolate Raisin Riches

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 20:02:00 +0000

These are incredibly rich, as the name suggests, so self-control is advised, because they can also be very moreish. A perfect treat for a weekend of decadence.

INGREDIENTS:

Water
Raisins
Bicarbonate of soda
Butter
Plain flour
Cocoa powder
Salt (a very tiny bit)
Sugar
2 eggs
Vanilla essence

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 170.
Heat the water and bring to the boil. Place the raisins and 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in a stainless steel bowl. Pour the boiling water over the bowl of raisins and leave to stand.
Coat a cake tin with butter & flour. Shake out the excess flour.
Combine flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda & salt in a sifter. Sift into a large bowl and set aside.
Combine sugar and remaining butter in a bowl. Beat at medium speed for two minutes, then at high speed for a minute more.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating as you add. Beat the whole thing for another two minutes. Go on, bash all your anger out!
Add vanilla essence. Beat a bit more.
Add sifted mixture. Beat a bit more.
Add raisin mixture. You guessed it... beat a bit more.
Pour mixture into the cake tin and spread it around. You don't need to beat it anymore.
Sprinkle any remaining sugar over the top. Bake for around 40 minutes.

Picture credit

Chicken Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 10:58:00 +0000

I do love a good curry. Unfortunately, whilst Husband is totally fantastic at curries, I am not so good. I can occasionally throw together a very hot veggie one, if I'm in the right frame of mind, but most of the time I just give up and ~~order a takeaway~~ cook something totally amazing instead.

However, for our wedding, some of our friends got us a rice cooker, and since then we've been experimenting with it. We've discovered that you can use it to pop open mussels, which are otherwise hard to crack, and that you can steam vegetables in it, and of course, that you can cook rice in it rather effectively too.

The video below is sponsored by Tilda's (whose rice our friends bought us along with the cooker - I recommend it!), and features celebrity chef Jo Pratt talking about how to make a fantastic chicken curry:

Mascot Grand National Hosted by Domino's

noreply@blogger.com (Scar) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 09:52:00 +0000

I must admit, I hadn't heard of the Mascot Grand National before today. A slightly bizarre but totally fun concept, it involves a load of mascots running the Grand National. Yes, really. It looks hilarious, and I can't imagine how hot it must be inside those costumes, but I admire anyone who can put themselves through this challenging event! The course is 220 yards long and involves jumps as well as the straight running; and this year, it was sponsored by Domino's pizza delivery service - I can imagine that the mascots might need some pizza once they've finished this course!

Here's a video of the event:

It was the 12th event this year, and the winner? Mr. Bumble, of Barnet football club. Do you know a local mascot? Maybe you could persuade them to run in the 2011 race? It certainly looks like a lot of fun!