The Student Chef -

The Student Chef has got a new blog...

2014-08-21T14:00:00.000+01:00

Come on over to http://rosesandrolltops.blogspot.com/

R <3 xx

Mary Berry Iced Chocolate Traybake - Merry Christmas

2011-12-20T15:37:00.000+00:00

Sorry it's been so long... hectic with a law degree... but I'm still cooking and baking! In the meantime here is a recipe for Mary Berry's Iced Chocolate Traybake - an easy and quick recipe that feeds a large crowd. I added edible glitter onto mine for Christmas time.

Silver glitter

Gold Glitter

Merry Christmas.

Recipe: (from the Mary Berry Ultimate Cake Book)

Ingredients

4tbsp cocoa

4 tbsp hot water

225g butter

225g caster sugar

275g self raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

4 eggs

4 tbsp milk

- Blend the cocoa and water and allow to cool slightly. Add the other ingredients and mix. Turn into a lined tin and level the surface. Bake at 180c for 25-35 minutes (until the cake has risen and is springy to the touch)

For the icing:

3 tbsp apricot jam

150g Plain Chocolate

6tbsp water

350g icing sugar

1 tsp sunflower oil

- Warm the apricot jam slightly and brush over the cake.

- Melt chocolate in a pan with the water until smooth. Allow to cool slightly and add the sifted icing sugar and oil, stir until smooth. Spread evenly on top of the cake with a palette knife.

Also a few festive photos from around the house -

Goodbye for now (and Mary Berry's Devilled chicken with courgette couscous)...

2011-09-07T10:17:00.000+01:00

God it's been so long since I've last posted! I can't even remember my fonts and the layout! Again, hugeeee apologies for not keeping up with this blog. I've finished my exams, been on a trip around South-East Asia and am now preparing to move to London and start at the LSE on my law course. I'm still cooking and baking as much as I can and once I have a routine sorted out, will hopefully be the Student Chef again and reviewing London restaurants.

But for now, I leave you with this heavenly recipe, Mary Berry's devilled chicken - a sweet, sticky sauce that I serve with courgette couscous and vegetables or salad.

Please keep checking back as I do want to keep blogging in the future!

Ingredients - (this is the original recipe although I like mine saucey to coat the couscous too so I triple or quadruple this recipe).
Chicken breasts with the bone in (one per person)
1 heaped tablespoon apricot jam
1tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp crushed chilli flakes
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp soy sauce

For the couscous - Roughly 100g dried couscous per person
2 courgettes, grated
2 red onions, grated
Garlic flavoured olive oil
Black pepper

Serve with vegetables - I used runner beans and corn on the cob straight from my Mum's vegetable patch but you can use whatever you want or a green salad.

1. Make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl and then cover the chicken breasts in a oven proof dish, leave to marinade in the fridge.
2. Cook in the oven at about 150c with foil over the dish for about an hour and then take the foil off for the last 30 mins.
3. Make the couscous by toasting the courgette and onion in a pan and then mix into the couscous (that's been cooked with boiling water as per instructions on the pack) and then stir in with some garlic oil.
4. Cook the vegetables and serve all together when the chicken has cooked, tender and is basically falling off the bone.
- I use the couscous as a base, the chicken and sauce on top and then have the vegetables on the side. It's seriously delicious, my parents want it again and again!

Easter Cakes, Royal Wedding Cupcakes and Bluebells...

2011-05-07T09:43:00.000+01:00

Again, I apologise for the lack of posts but revision is proving to be a great stress at the moment, so bear with me! Over the last month or so, it's been Easter (cue the chocolate nest cakes made from shredded wheat, golden syrup and melted chocolate filled with a little chocolate butter-cream and topped with mini eggs), we've had some unseasonably good weather which meant a visit to the Bluebell Woods and baking some summery cupcakes (made to the Hummingbird Bakery's vanilla recipe, topped with their chocolate buttercream and then decorated with fresh strawberries and raspberries, some with sugar paper flowers) and of course the Royal Wedding (again Hummingbird vanilla cake with chocolate frosting and then decorated with red, white and blue sprinkles on a wedding themed cake stand). I promise I'll be back, posting regularly as soon as these damn exams are out of the way! :D

Apologies, I'm on study leave...

2011-04-19T09:20:00.001+01:00

Hello my lovely readers! So sorry I haven't posted for over a month now! But I've been extremely busy studying for my final A-level exams which take place in June. So I've still got a couple of months to go and then I'll be back in cooking every single day! In the mean time I'll try and blog a few posts and some photos.
Here are some photos of some foodie bits in the past month which I will write about in due course, my Birthday at the Ivy, Easter treats and the start of summer BBQs. And I've also got some new cookbooks - Ottolenghi, The Hummingbird Bakery's new Cake Days and these will feature too :) Have a nice Easter.

Moroccan meatballs with couscous

2011-03-08T14:09:00.001+00:00

I went to Marrakesh in May last year and loved it - the food, the riad's, lanterns and souk's. I've since tried to recreate some of the incredible food we had there. I've also noticed that Moroccan cuisine seems to be more popular in the UK now. We ate a lot of couscous and spiced grilled meat and harissa (a spicy flavoured chilli paste). One recipe I found was for Moroccan meatballs served with a herby couscous - I cooked it with my boyfriend for my parents on Saturday night.

Ingredients - serves 4/5
1 kg lean minced lamb
1 red onion, grated or finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cm chunk ginger, grated or use a couple of tsp ground ginger
pinch dried chilli flakes
4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Olive oil flavoured with garlic
2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes (and swill half again in water)
200ml chicken stock
coriander, chopped

To serve -
400g couscous
500ml chicken stock/water
coriander
harissa paste
Pitta breads (I like the round little ones from Waitrose)

1. Put the lamb, onion, garlic and half the spices in a bowl and season well. Use your hands to mulch it all up and form small meatballs (we made 40)
2. Heat garlic oil in a large pan and add the meatballs in batches, frying until browned all over. Then scoop them out. Add the rest of the spices to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the tomatoes, stock and season. Simmer for 10 minutes then add the meatballs and cook for another 20 minutes.
3. Make the couscous by adding the stock, a couple of teaspoons of harissa paste before forking through. Leave to absorb the liquid.
4. Meanwhile, grill the pitta breads by sprinkling with water then placing under a hot grill for a couple of minutes.
5. Add coriander to the meatballs and fork some through the couscous. Serve by pouring some meatballs and sauce over the couscous and mopping it up with the pittas.
- My Dad likes it with a kick so added more harissa paste.

Mexican Fajitas

2011-03-06T15:33:00.000+00:00

I love the whole tex-mex fajita thing. Last night I made these fajitas with my boyfriend - sizzling chicken, peppers and onion cooked in a griddle pan and then rolled up in a soft tortilla with salsa, guacamole, lettuce and grated cheese. We cheat, just the tiniest bit, by using Discovery seasoning paste but they're really yummy.

Ingredients -

Chicken breasts, cut into strips

Red yellow and orange peppers, cut into strips

Red and white onion, cut into strips

Discovery Fajita Seasoning Paste

Tortilla wraps

Salsa

Guacamole

Sour Cream (optional)

Grated cheese

Lettuce

1. Fry the chicken, peppers and onions until really well cooked and the onions are almost caramelised. Then add the fajita seasoning paste and stir in.

2. Microwave the tortilla wraps to warm and soften.

3. To assemble, add some salsa to a wrap and top with the chicken and vegetable mix and then add some lettuce, grated cheese and guacamole. Fold up and eat!

Fig relish, Parma ham, rocket and cheese baguette...

2011-03-05T19:55:00.000+00:00

I don't usually bother making gourmet lunches, normally just getting some soup or a peanut butter sandwich. But today was different as I saw an idea for this baguette -
Salty ham with sweet figs and peppery rocket combine to make a great sandwich. I went to my local deli to buy the fig relish and some good ham (prosciutto or parma). I then bought some fresh baguettes, a few slices of good Cheddar (although brie or goats cheese would also work) and a bag of rocket. Assemble by spreading a thin layer of the relish before layering the ham, cheese and rocket with a grinding of black pepper.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-03-05T16:11:00.000+00:00

These cookies are really good, soft yet chewy with just enough chocolate and a hint of vanilla. They're even better warm served with ice cream.

Ingredients-
250g plain flour
Half tsp bicarbonate of soda
Half tsp salt
170g unsalted butter, melted
200g soft brown sugar
100g caster sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
325g chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 170c and grease a couple of baking trays or line with baking paper.

2. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until well blended then add the vanilla and eggs until combined. Sift the flour and bicarbonate until just blended, then add the chocolate chips.
3. Drop cookie dough onto the baking trays with each cookie about a tablespoon. Don't flatten, leave a big gap between them.
4. Bake for about 14 minutes or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets then transfer to wire racks.

Cake Pops!

2011-02-26T17:48:00.002+00:00

Cake Pops/Cake Balls/Cake Popsicles - After seeing these on the internet (Bakerella, of course, is the original cake pop queen) and in magazines, I have decided to give them a go! If you haven't seen them, then cake pops are basically balls of crushed up cake mixed with frosting, dipped into chocolate on sticks and decorated with various glittery colourful decorations. I'm making them this weekend as a trial run as for my birthday (in a couple of weeks time), instead of my usual cupcakes, I'm going to make cake pops and decorate them with flowers and have them standing out of a flower pot!
You can make cake pops out of fresh cake but they tend to work better with day-old cake that's a bit drier - a good way of using up leftover cake. I'm being lazy and using Betty Crocker devils food mix and Betty Crocker Chocolate cake frosting but you could make a homemade cake and frosting. If you don't have lollipop sticks to stand them up, then you can just make them as 'cake balls' that look like truffles.

Ingredients -
Chocolate cake (made from a mix like Betty Crocker or handmade)
Chocolate frosting (you can either make a buttercream or use Betty Crocker's chocolate frosting)
Chocolate Scotbloc to melt
Lollipop sticks
Decorations/Sprinkles

1. Make the cake according to the packet's instructions. With B.C mix, you just add 3 eggs, oil and water and mix it. Bake in the oven. Leave to cool completely.

2. In a bowl, fork the cake into crumble it into tiny pieces. Then stir in part of the frosting (a little at a time until it turns into a paste, you don't want them to be too sticky) and mulch up with your hands. When all combined, shape into about 2inch balls and place on a tray.

3. Chill the balls for at least 30minutes in a fridge.

4. Then melt the chocolate/scotbloc in a microwavable bowl on a low heat. When all melted, dip a lollipop stick into the chocolate and then push into one of the balls, this will act as a glue. Leave to set.

5. When the stick is secured in the ball, dip a ball in the chocolate and cover with a spoon. When covered, gently spin or tap until the excess drops off (don't do it too hard or the ball will split or fall off). Then decorate with sprinkles or flowers while the chocolate is still wet. Stand up to dry (some chocolate may drip off a little bit). Leave to set, ideally in a fridge or a freezer if you can fit them in. - see tip below.

6. Then either give them as a gift wrapped in cellophane and a ribbon. Or serve at a party! I'm going to have mine coming out of a flower pot, standing in an oasis block to look like flowers.

- Note that as these are a trial run, I haven't got a proper picture of them all standing up. I'll post one from my party in a couple of weeks time!

- Some extra advice - It's really difficult to use normal chocolate to cover the cake balls as it doesn't set quick enough. My Mum came up with the idea of using Scotbloc which sets much quicker and gives a glossy finish. I think this is the UK equivalent of 'treebark chocolate' which is in all of their pop recipes. Happy Baking :)

- I wrapped a cake ball up and gave it to my friend for her birthday.

Best Ever Chocolate Brownies -

2011-02-20T08:53:00.000+00:00

Since Costco has stopped selling my favourite brownie mix (see previous post), I have been on the hunt for a new favourite. I tried the recipe from the Green and Black's cookbook which was really good but I'd heard so many good things (thanks to 'Lazylol' who commented on the G&B brownies) about a recipe from BBC Good Food which claimed to be the 'best ever'. So on this rainy depressing Saturday in February, I tried it out. Obviously it's been a few weeks since the Green and Black's brownies so it's hard to make a direct comparison but I think these may just have the edge.
These brownies are made slightly differently to the usual method. I usually just melt the chocolate/butter and then mix everything together with a wooden spoon. But these require a little more attention, whisking the eggs and sugar together with an electric mixer and then sifting the flour, folding the chocolate etc. But they are worth the wait. However, they should come with a warning, they're extremely rich. With other brownie mixes, I could, if left to my own devices, probably eat rather a lot before feeling a bit sick and sugar-rushey. But with these, I had a headache after just a small square! I think it's the large amount of dark chocolate with a lot of cocoa and then having chocolate chunks in the mix too. But they were definitely a hit with the rest of the family. They have a great crispy top with such a fudgey centre, yet they were firm enough to cut and serve (a fault with the old costco mix, you literally had to eat it with a spoon from the tin). I like my brownies to be almost under baked, but if you want yours a bit more cakey then leave them in the oven for a bit longer.

Also, before I post the recipe, a little tip on lining the tin. My boyfriend lined the tin today and he made a really cool net of baking paper with slits in the corners so it could easily lift out of the tin (see the photo for a better understanding). He did it by having the paper overlapping each side of the tin by about 2 inches, then fold all of the edges in evenly to make a square the size of the tin then unfold and cut every other slit.

The recipe - I've really condensed this recipe as the one on the BBC good food site is so ridiculously over complicated that it's confusing! I mean, it's a brownie mix for god's sake! So I've made it simple:

Ingredients -
185g unsalted butter
185g dark chocolate (I used half Sainsbury's cooking chocolate and half G&B 70%)
85g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
50g white chocolate, chopped into small chunks
50g milk chocolate, chopped into small chunks
3 large eggs
275g golden caster sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 160c (fan oven). Line a tin with baking paper.
2. Put the butter and dark chocolate into a microwavable bowl and melt on a low heat for a minute before stirring, then if not fully melted, continue. Leave to cool to room-temperature.
3. Meanwhile, chop the white and milk chocolate into chunks. Then break the eggs into a bowl and tip in the sugar. Using an electric mixer on the maximum speed, whisk until the eggs look thick and creamy and have nearly doubled in size.

4. Then pour the chocolate mix over the egg mix and gently fold with a spatula until the 2 mixtures combine. Try not to knock out too much of the air.
5. Then sift the cocoa and flour mixture into the chocolate/eggs and fold in gently until all incorporated. Don't over fold. Then stir in the chocolate chunks and pour into the tin. Place in the middle of the oven and cook for about 25-35 minutes. This will depend on your oven, I usually put a timer on for 18 minutes and then check it every couple of minutes after. I use a skewer to test if it is ready. You want it to still have a slight wobble and a tiny bit of chocolate still on the skewer as it will continue cooking for a few minutes after coming out of the oven. It should have a shiny, papery crust with the sides just beginning to come away from the tin.

6. Leave the brownie in the tin to cool and then lift the baking paper up to get the whole brownie out to serve. I cut it into 4 x 4 squares, but you could easily cut these in half again due to their richness. Keep in an airtight tin.

Pea, Prosciutto and Tomato Pasta...

2011-02-19T17:20:00.000+00:00

Gigli Pasta - cone shaped flowers

This is just a simple pasta dish that is really, really delicious. I'd been craving pasta for a while so made a really quick sauce last night and just added some peas, prosciutto ham, basil and onion. I really wanted to use orecchiette pasta (also known as little ears) which would have held the sauce well but unfortunately Sainsbury's didn't have any. So instead I got 'Gigli,', the next most unusual looking shape, which is rolled into the shape of a conical flower. I think it's the prettiest pasta I've seen and was really delicious. It's hard to use exact quantities, this is more of an idea for a quick pasta dish rather than a proper recipe so just use as much as you like.

Ingredients - (for 2)
2 portions of any type of pasta
Peas
Prosciutto ham
Small white onion, finely chopped
Handful of basil
Clove of garlic, finely chopped or crushed
Can of chopped tomatoes
Tin of tomato puree
Grated cheese, parmesan or cheddar.
Black pepper

1. Boil the kettle for the pasta. Get the sauce going by frying the onion and garlic in a little olive oil. Once softened, add the basil and tomato puree for a minute or 2. Then add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for a good 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook the peas in the microwave and tear the ham up. Cook the pasta according to it's instructions.
3. Add the peas and ham to the sauce and stir in. Add some black pepper.
4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and coat in the sauce. Divide into bowls and add some cheese, then serve.

Parma Ham Wrapped Cod with a Shallot and Sage Risotto

2011-02-13T16:52:00.000+00:00

For an early Valentine's dinner, my Boyfriend and I cooked dinner together. I had been thinking about cooking some fish wrapped in parma ham for a while and so it seemed like a good opportunity. The recipe is for cod (we were going to get monkfish but cod was better value in Waitrose) wrapped in parma ham and baked in the oven served with a simple shallot, sage, asparagus and pea risotto. I really like shallots in risotto, they're much more subtle and sweeter than regular onions, the sage goes well with them too. It was really delicious. I think next time though, I'd put a cocktail stick to hold the ham around the fish a bit better. For dessert we had meringue kisses (see previous post) with vanilla ice cream and raspberries.

Ingredients - Serves 2
2 x white fish loins or 1 large one
Parma/prosciutto ham slices, about 2-3 per person and fish loin
3 small shallots, chopped
250g risotto rice (I like arborio)
Small knob of butter
2 small cloves garlic
Asparagus
Peas
Chicken stock (about 1 litre)
White wine (optional)
Sage leaves
Black Pepper
Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 200c. Prepare the fish by placing the slices of ham in a lightly oiled baking tray and add a bay leaf (see photo) then lay the fish on top. Roll up and secure with a cocktail stick.
2. Put in the oven and cook for about 20-25minutes until the fish is cooked through.
3. Start the risotto by frying the garlic, shallots and a couple of roughly torn sage leaves in the butter. Then when the shallots are softened, add the risotto rice and stir until translucent. Then add a glug of wine (if using) or a splash of stock and stir until well absorbed. Repeat a few times before adding some parmesan and black pepper. Keep stirring over a low heat and gradually adding more stock.
4. Microwave the asparagus and peas until cooked and set aside. Check the fish, if there is any juice in the baking tray, pour this into the risotto. Keep stirring the risotto.
5. Once the risotto is nearly cooked (you want it to be soft with a tiny bit of bite - al dente), add the asparagus and peas.
6. When the fish is cooked through, serve on top of the risotto with a tiny bit more parmesan and black pepper.

Below are some photo's from my Valentine's Day. Some are pictures of presents my boyfriend made for me (the orchids in a drawer and the LOVE picture). The other is of me at 'Cupid Green', appropriate for the occasion.

Valentine's Cupcakes and Meringue Kisses

2011-02-11T20:41:00.002+00:00

Many people think that Valentine's day is a product of commercialism, an excuse for restaurants to charge more and for shops to fill the gap between Christmas and Easter. But I love Valentine's day and while we should show our loved one's how special they are everyday, it's nice to make an occasion out of it. Plus there are so many pretty heart inspired products in the shops around this time of year. Food is an important aspect for Valentine's day, as the old saying goes 'The way to a man's heart is through his stomach'! With my boyfriend this year we are cooking in rather than going out to a restaurant. In addition, I've baked these cupcakes and some meringue 'kisses', 2 small piped meringues sandwiched together with chocolate.

Cupcakes -
For me, any special occasion wouldn't be complete without cupcakes! I've made these using the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook (see this link to my previous post) using chocolate sponge and vanilla frosting. I added a handful of chocolate chips to the sponge mixture so that they'll be extra chocolatey. I used cases with little hearts on and decorated them with a range of toppings. I used heart shaped jelly beans from M&S, some pink love heart sweets and a mixture of sprinkles.

Meringues -

Meringues are always popular with me as we always have so many eggs to use up (from our lovely chickens) so when I saw a recipe by Lorraine Pascale in the Sainsbury's magazine for chocolate meringue kisses, I thought it would be a great idea for Valentine's day. These meringues are the best I've made yet, the lemon juice and cream of tartar added when whisking really stabilises the mix, making them easier to pipe and their texture at the end is perfect. She uses chocolate buttercream to sandwich hers together but I just dipped them in melted chocolate and she also adds some toasted (175g) pecans to the meringue mix but again, I wanted to keep them simple. The cute meringues would be great for a light pudding at a dinner party or as part of an afternoon tea. To pipe the meringues, I find it easiest to use a sandwich bag and cut the end off and then put the piping nozzle in that. It's then easy to throw away the bag rather than waste hours washing your piping bag.

Ingredients -
5 large egg whites
a squeeze of lemon juice
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
275g caster sugar
Chocolate or a chocolate butter cream to sandwich them together.

1. Preheat the oven to fan 100c and line 3 baking trays with nonstick baking paper. Using a whisk, whisk the egg whites and lemon juice to stiff peaks.
2. Whisking all the time, add the cream of tartar and sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. Keep on whisking until you have a stiff, shiny meringue. Then spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe 50 x 3-4cm blobs on the baking trays.
3. Bake for an hour and then leave to cool on the trays. I leave them in the oven with the door ajar to reduce cracking.
4. Then once cooled and dry, carefully lift the meringues off of the baking paper and sandwich together then leave in the fridge for a while to set properly. If using buttercream, sandwich a couple of hours before (no earlier).

Happy Valentine's Day <3

I'll be posting what we cooked in the next couple of days.

Ikea's Daim Cake...

2011-02-07T15:52:00.000+00:00

As well as visiting Leon at the weekend, I went to Ikea. Being Swedish they sell lots of Swedish food - some of it is slightly dubious like smoked or pickled herrings but they also sell DAIM bars. Daim's are delicious and I think you can buy them in our normal supermarkets or newsagents but in Ikea they have them everywhere. They sell bags of miniature daims, chocolate bars filled with daims, they give them out free at the checkouts but the variation I particularly love is their Daim cake. They sell it by the slice in their cafe but you can buy a whole frozen cake in their food store at the end. It's made by 'Almondy' and is an almond tart with a biscuit base, custardy cream and chocolate covered crushed daims. I always thought that Daims tasted of burnt caramel, like a butterscotchy taste but all of their packaging says it's an almond flavour but it doesn't taste like almonds...?
Anyway, I'm going to try and come up with a recipe to make this daim cake but in the mean time, get yourself to Ikea and pick up a cake :). It's frozen but defrosts within 10 minutes and we served ours with ice cream. So if anybody has a recipe, it would be good to try and make it.

Leon...

2011-02-06T15:47:00.000+00:00

I've really fallen for the Leon brand with their healthy cookbooks and quirky restaurants. Their 'healthy fast food' is a great concept and their restaurants are popping up all over the place. I first went to one on the Strand about a year ago and have only just got round to going again. The problem with all of these delicious restaurant chains (I'm also a huge fan of Yo Sushi, Wahaca, Wagamama, Pizza Express etc) is finding the time to visit them! We have to choose carefully when we go out (most are in London) as to which one to eat in. So anyway, last night my boyfriend, my parents and I went to Leon in Brent Cross. It's only been open for a couple of months and looks really lovely with twinkly lights and a chandelier. Unfortunately, we'd looked at the menu online and wanted the dinner 'grazing dishes' available after 6pm but Brent Cross doesn't serve these. So instead we ordered some flatbread and houmous to start (very good) then 5 lunch hot dishes between the 4 of us, they all come in a box with rice and dressed 'slaw which wasn't ideal as we then had to split the dishes and share out all the rice. I think the concept of the grazing dishes would be better, just ordering a good selection of the meat/veg dishes so you can try the all and getting the rice and salads separately. But anyway, the food was really delicious even if it was all mixed onto one plate. We had a Pork Jambalaya (probably my favourite) - mexican slow cooked tomatoey cajun spiced pork, Grilled chicken with garlic and aioli, chilli chicken - grilled chicken with chilli sauce on the side, sweet potato falafel and the Leon Gobi a coconut based cauliflower curry - all with so many yummy flavours. And it was a definite winner for me serving brown rice and giving free water (in retro jugs with slices of lemon).
You're probably wondering why, in a blog filled with sweet baking and puddings, that I haven't mentioned any pudding. And that's because like the grazing dishes, they didn't serve puddings with ice cream or anything. On the counter they have brownies or pecan pies but we wanted something proper after our mostly virtuous meal so came home for it instead.
So Leon is a great healthy place to go for breakfast (yes even their breakfasts are healthy and look delicious), lunch or dinner, just try to pick a branch that serves the grazing dishes and puddings in the evenings. Also, an added bonus is that if you sign up to their 'Leon love club', you get 40% off! So all of our food came to £26.

The boxed chicken aioli, rice and slaw.

Our plate with a bit of each lunchtime dish.

P.S I've only tried one thing out of the Leon cookbook so far (pancakes) but as I go through and try the rest out, I'll be blogging them :)

Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs with Couscous

2011-01-30T14:25:00.000+00:00

The idea for this came from a 'winter barbecue'; a summer al-fresco one seems so far away. So by making this in mid January, you can have all the flavours and ingredients you'd eat in abundance in the summer months while it's actually dark and cold outside. It's basically just some chicken and vegetables on skewers served with couscous, salad and pitta breads. The kebabs are made with a technique from Jamie Oliver, instead of cutting the chicken into pieces and then threading them onto skewers, you put 4 skewers through a chicken breast then cut down between them (see photo below, a picture tells 1000 words). These are so versatile, you can put any type of meat or vegetable and serve it with rice or

Ingredients -
1 to 1 1/2 chicken breasts per person
Vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, onions, cut into sizeable chunks that can be threaded
Couscous (I use Ainsley Harriot's dried roasted vegetable couscous that you just add boiling water)
Brown Pitta Breads
Salad

2 skewers per person

1. Load up the skewers with the meat and vegetables, see photo for the easy way to thread the chicken.
2. Then cook or grill in a griddle pan over a medium to high heat until the chicken is cooked through.
3. Prepare the couscous to your packet's instructions and serve with your favourite salad.
4. When the chicken is cooked, remove the skewers and toast the pittas in the griddle pan for a few minutes on each side.

Mexican Lasagne with Guacamole (From Nigella Kitchen)

2011-01-29T10:45:00.000+00:00

Note that this photo doesn't at all match up to the one in Nigella's cookbook.

Continuing with recipes from my new cookbooks, I cooked a Mexican Lasagne from Nigella's 'Kitchen' last night. It's such a great idea, layers of tortillas filled with tomatoes, peppers, onion, chilli, sweetcorn, beans and cheese. It would be great for a crowd as her version serves 8. We halved the recipe and just used 3 tortillas instead of her 8. We also added some spitroast chicken which was a good addition. But I'd say the recipe needs a little tweaking and here's what I'd do when I make it again:
Put some extra chilli in the sauce, it needed zinging up a little to be more 'mexican'.
Maybe add some cajun seasoning for more mexican flavour.
Not put the extra water in that she recommends, it made the sauce way too liquidy and it didn't bake up enough.
We served it with salad and my boyfriend had his with some guacamole which he said made it much better.

Ingredients - serves 8
For the sauce: 1 tablespoon garlic oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 red pepper, de seeded and chopped
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons coriander stalks, finely chopped
2 x 400g can chopped tomatoes, plus 400ml water swilled from empty cans (it definitely didn't need this, I'd advise you to leave it out and only add a little water if it's too thick)
1 squirt of tomato ketchup
For the filling:
2 x 400g can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 x 250g cans sweetcorn
250g mature Cheddar
Some spit roasted chicken (optional)
1 packet (8) soft tortillas

Salad and guacamole to serve.

1. Preheat the oven to 200c. Then make the sauce by heating the oil in a pan, frying the onion, pepper and chilli. Add the salt and cook gently for 15minutes, once soft add the coriander. Then add the chopped tomatoes (and water, see note above). Spoon in the ketchup and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, make the filling by mixing the drained beans and sweetcorn in a bowl and most of the grated cheese. (we put the chicken here too)
3. Assemble the lasagne by spooning a third of the sauce in the bottom of an ovenproof dish (approx 26cm x 6cm deep) then layer 2 tortillas so they cover the sauce overlapping slightly.
4. Then add a third of the beans and cheese mixture, covering the tortillas and then add a quarter of the remaining sauce and 2 tortillas to cover.
5. Repeat with another 1/3 of the beans and cheese and some more sauce before layering another 2 tortillas.
6. Finally. add the last layer of beans and cheese and nearly all the sauce before covering with the last 2 tortillas. Then spread the last of the sauce with the remaining cheese before baking in the oven for 30minutes. Then let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing and eating with the salad and guacamole.

- Nigella also notes that this can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated until needed but with an extra 5 minutes cooking time. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months by wrapping the dish in a double layer of clingfilm and a layer of foil. Then defrost in the fridge overnight and cook as above.

Chocolate Rice Krispie Cakes

2011-01-27T13:55:00.000+00:00

I haven't made or seen rice krispie cakes for years; maybe because I haven't been a child for years. They're not the most elegant of cakes and certainly don't compared to macaroons or decorated cupcakes but I like them because they're just so simple. You don't even have to turn your oven on, just melt some chocolate, butter and syrup and stir in the puffed rice and BAM, you've got a tray of afternoon treats. And of course they're nostalgic, everybody's eaten these at kid's birthday parties.
These are also good for Easter, you can use cornflakes or shredded wheat instead of the krispie's and put a little chick or some coloured mini eggs on top.

I almost feel silly putting a recipe up (do these count as baking if they take 10 minutes and you don't cook them?!), but for the love of the humble krispie cake, here goes:
Ingredients -
50g butter
100g dark chocolate
2 1/2 tbsp golden syrup
120 g rice krispies or 80g cornflakes

1. Melt the butter, chocolate and syrup in a pan on a low heat.
2. Once melted, add the cereal and stir to coat evenly.
3. Spoon the mixture into paper cases and refrigerate until set.

- and if you're not a regular reader of my blog, please stay tuned and I'll promise to post a 'proper' recipe in the next couple of days! :)

Chilli con carne

2011-01-25T19:20:00.000+00:00

Chilli is a great Mexican family dinner and tastes great served with brown rice and grated cheese, although my brother loves his in taco shells. In this recipe, you can add a small (about the size of a thumb) piece of dark chocolate instead of the sugar which adds more depth. And I often freeze chilli and defrost about a day before cooking. Just put it in a freezer bag and it will last for a couple of months for a quick midweek dinner!

Ingredients -
1 tbsp oil
1 large onion, diced
1 red pepper (optional)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
500g lean minced beef
1 beef stock cube
400g can chopped tomatoes
1/2tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 or 2 cans of red kidney beans

Cheese, rice, taco shells and sour cream to serve.

1. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the onions until soft. Add the garlic, red pepper, chilli, paprika and cumin. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
2. Brown the mince on a high heat. Once fully browned, crumble a stock cube into the mix. Then add a can of chopped tomatoes and the marjoram and sugar, salt and pepper. Then squirt some tomato puree and stir.
3. Simmer gently, bring it to the boil and put a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat until bubbling and leave for around 20minutes. If it needs loosening up, add up to 1/2 pint of hot water. Then add the drained kidney beans and bubble in the sauce. Season again if it needs it.
4. Leave to cool and refrigerate if leaving it for the next day or leave on the hob if serving later that day. Reheat until boiling and serve with rice.

Double dessert part 2 - Swiss Meringues

2011-01-22T15:11:00.002+00:00

This is part 2 of the double desserts using the left over egg whites from the Crème Brûlées. These meringues are made from a recipe in Eric Lanlard's 'Home Bake' cookbook and look like the ones often seen piled up in the windows of patisseries. I don't think mine quite match up to that standard but they taste good, nonetheless! And people are always so impressed if you make meringues rather than buy them. I swirled the mixture with melted chocolate before to give a marbled look and also drizzled melted chocolate over the top. These would be delicious with some ice cream and fresh fruit like raspberries or strawberries. Or you could crush up to make an Eton-mess by mixing them with whipped cream and fresh fruit.

Also, if you haven't made meringues before then here are some tips:
- Make sure your bowl and whisk are scrupulously clean and free from any grease/traces of fat. I do this by scalding them in boiling water.
- Don't over or under whisk your egg whites. If they are under whisked and not 'peaky' enough, they haven't incorporated enough air so will sink. But if you over whisk, they will go flat too. So that's why folding in the last 1/2 of the sugar is good to avoid the over beating.
- Finish making the meringues quickly and put them in the oven almost straight away.
- When cooked and ready to lift off the baking sheets, use a flat palette knife to get right underneath and carefully prise up.

Ingredients -
4 egg whites
225g caster sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 100c and line 2 baking sheets.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric hand whisk, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Whisk half the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time into the mixture until stiff. Carefully fold in the rest of the sugar using a large metal spoon.
3. Carefully drop spoonfuls of the mixture spaced well apart, onto the paper. Bake in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours until dry and the meringues can be lifted easily from the paper. Leave to cool in the oven with the door ajar.

Extras:
Raspberry swirl meringues - Mix 2 teaspoons framboise, 2 -3 drops raspberry extract and a small knife point of food colouring paste. Mix well and then swirl through the finished meringue mixture just before baking.
Chocolate swirl - Melt 100g dark chocolate and swirl with a wooden spoon through the mixture just before baking and drizzle some on top.
Caramel - Use Golden caster sugar instead for a caramel taste.

Double dessert part 1 - Crème Brûlée

2011-01-22T14:51:00.002+00:00

This recipe only uses egg yolks so you'll be left with 4 (or 8 if you double the mixture like I did) egg whites. So I made some meringues with the left over whites. Make sure you keep them and look at my next post - double dessert part 2 for how to use them for another pudding - waste not, want not!

Crème Brûlée is also known as 'burnt cream', a rich vanilla flavoured custard base topped with a layer of crunchy, hard sugar top. It's something I've always loved as a pudding at restaurants but never thought about making at home before. But then I was looking through one of my Mum's French cookbooks and was inspired by a recipe for it. I love the sound as you tap the sugar crust with a spoon and then piercing through to the soft custard.
The original french recipe doesn't put the custard in the oven so it would be very runny, so I combined it with a recipe that did use a bain marie and it seemed to set it well.
- The recipe that I used said to use demerara sugar but this was a disaster, it didn't caramelise or go hard. So after about an hour, I scraped this off and put caster sugar on and used a hotter flame until it really bubbled and sure enough, you could tap the top :D a perfect Crème Brûlée!
- Also, if you have a real vanilla pod, I'd recommend it as the extract just wasn't strong enough.
Ingredients - (serves 4)
600ml single cream
4 large egg yolks
2 level teaspoons cornflour
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or the seeds of a vanilla pod.
2-3 tablespoons caster sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 150c. Place the cream in a small heavy-based pan and cook over a low heat until warm, don't let it boil though.
2. Have a pan of simmering water ready. In a large bowl place the egg yolks and add the cornflour and sugar and beat together with a wire whisk to break down any lumps. Gradually stir in the warm cream.
3. Then place the bowl over the simmering water and stirring continuously, cook until the mixture thickens slightly (it takes about 10 minutes)
4. Then remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla essence. Pour the mixture into 4 ramekin dishes, until about 3/4 full. Then put the ramekins in a large roasting tin and fill the roasting tin with water until the water comes half way up the outside of the ramekins (a bain-marie) and place in the oven and bake for about 30-40minutes until the custards are set but still have a good wobble.

5. Then remove the ramekins from the water (it can be tricky, I used oven gloves and quickly moved them onto a cooling rack) and cool. Then keep them in the fridge until you're ready to serve. I'm leaving mine overnight.
6. 1-2 hours before serving, sprinkle the surface of each custard with the caster sugar and either caramelise with a chef's blowtorch (make sure it has a really concentrated hot flame) or place under a very hot grill for a few minutes. Then refrigerate again for 1-2 hours and serve!

Velvet Salted Caramel Chocolate Torte

2011-01-18T10:52:00.000+00:00

This is such a heavenly pudding, it's a gooey chocolate fallen souffle with 'THE' flavour de l'annee, salted caramel. The recipe is from Green & Black's Ultimate Chocolate cookbook that I was given as a Christmas present. It was hard to choose a pudding to make at the weekend as everything in the book looked so good! But my Grandpa loves caramel and I'd never attempted it before so I chose this one. The contributor of the recipe said that 'there must be something in the alchemy of salt, deep caramel and darkest chocolate. Something highly addictive I'd warrant, a truly divine pudding' and I couldn't agree more. Before I tried salted caramel, I didn't really see what all the fuss was about yet it was appearing everywhere. I'm not really a fan of salt, always feeling really thirsty after I have it and knowing that it raises your blood pressure. But when I tasted salted caramel, I suddenly understood why everyone goes crazy for it. And of course, it's a miniscule amount of salt so you don't have to worry, yet it cuts through the sweet caramel and enhances its flavour.

You should make this pudding a few hours before you want to serve it as it needs time to cook and then cool and you serve it at room temperature, although I think it would be even better warm (but be careful that the caramel isn't scalding hot). As I said, it was my first attempt at making caramel and I was a bit worried when reading that you should keep a bowl of ice cold water nearby. But it was fine, just keep it in a deep pan at arm's length and stand back when adding the cream. Also keep watching it like a hawk so that it doesn't burn, it changes very quickly and if a tiny bit gets burnt, it will taint and bitter the whole batch so you'd have to start over again.

The pudding is perfect for a dinner party but I had some trouble when serving it, it looked great but it collapsed when serving into bowls. I served it with some Carte D'or vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients -
For the caramel:
175g golden caster sugar
3 tablespoons water
120ml double cram
1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
120g unsalted butter, cubed

For the torte:
250g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
160g unsalted butter, cubed
175g golden caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
120g ground almonds
5 medium egg yolks
6 large egg whites

Cream or good vanilla ice cream to serve (I don't think you can beat Carte D'or)

1. Make the salted caramel by pouring the sugar into a heavy based pan and add the water. Heat gently, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Then turn the heat up to medium high and allow the syrup to come to the boil undisturbed. Simmer briskly and watch like a hawk until the caramel turns a rich amber colour (mine took a little longer than I expected but don't let it burn or you'll have to start all over again) Swirl the pan to prevent hot spots but don't stir or the caramel will clump and crystallise. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully stir in the cream and salt (be careful and stand back) then stir in the butter cubes until a smooth caramel forms. Set aside to cool.

2. Then preheat the oven to 180c and line a 23cm springform cake tin with baking parchment.

3. Melt the chocolate, butter and sugar together - either with a heatproof bow over boiling water or do what I did and put it in the microwave on low, stirring and heating until all dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth then mix the vanilla and almonds, followed by the egg yolks, one by one.
4. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they form stiff peaks. Fold 1 large tablespoon into the chocolate mixture with a metal spoon or spatula and then fold in the rest, trying to retain as much air as possible. Scrape about 2/3 batter into the tin, then make a dip in the centre and spoon the caramel into the dip. Then top with the rest of the chocolate, smoothing to the edges.

5. Bake for about 30-40minutes until puffed and barely firm. Leave to cool completely in the tin, it will crumple in the centre. Slice and serve at room temperature with ice cream.
NB - When I cut into the cake, caramel came running out so make sure you have it over a big surface so you can scoop it all up!

The Caramel started leaking out!

Jamie's Sea Bass & Crispy Pancetta, Sweet Potato Mash and Asian Greens...

2011-01-15T10:33:00.000+00:00

This is another recipe from Jamie's 30minute meals cookbook that I cooked with my boyfriend last night. I think it's a really great way to do the sweet potatoes with coriander and mango chutney. It's kind of an Asian mix with some Italian Pancetta. Unfortunately Sainsbury's had run out of Seabass so we had to do the recipe with Haddock, which was nice but Seabass would have definitely been better. I also didn't have any asparagus for the greens so used spinach with the broccoli instead. And because we didn't make the lemon and ginger drink or berry ice cream like Jamie does in the 30minute recipe, ours was ready a lot sooner. I cut down the amount of lemon, salt and olive oil that Jamie ALWAYS insists on. I think these top chefs seem to have lost their taste buds and can only eat anything coated in lemon, salt and oil -raising your blood pressure and adding unnecessary calories.
Ingredients - (based on the recipe for 4 people)
For the Mash:
700g sweet potatoes,
2 limes,
A small bunch of fresh coriander,
2 tablespoons mango chutney,
Soy Sauce.
For the Greens:
1 fresh red chilli
1 clove of garlic
Soy Sauce
1 lime
Sesame Oil
100g Asparagus or some spinach
1 head of broccoli
For the Seabass:
8 thin slices of pancetta
4 x 150g fillets of sea bass, skin on, scaled and pin-boned
1 lemon (if you feel it's necessary)
1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)

1. Wash the sweet potatoes, trim off any gnarly bits then stab them a few times with a knife. Put in a large microwave safe bowl, halve one of the limes and add to the bowl then cover with a double layer of clingfilm and microwave on full power for 12 minutes, or until cooked through.
2. Deseed and finely chop the chilli adding half to a large serving bowl and set the rest aside. Crush the unpeeled clove of garlic into the bowl and add 2 tbsp of soy sauce. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lime and add a splash of sesame oil. Mix. Trim the asparagus stalks, if using, quarter the broccoli.
3. Put the pancetta into a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Turn when crispy. When golden, remove to a plate and leave the fat in the pan. Add the fish to the pan, skin side down. Shake the pan and press the fish flat for a couple of seconds. Then put the fennel seeds in if using with some pepper.
4. Finely chop coriander on a large wooden chopping board, setting a few leaves aside for the garnish. Add the mango chutney, a good splash of soy and the reserved chopped chilli. Chop the mix everything together on the board.
5. Fill a large saucepan with boiling water and add the broccoli and asparagus, completely submerging them. Put the lid on and turn the heat up high.
6. Check the fish, once the skin is golden and crispy, turn the heat down to low but have confidence to let the skin become good and crispy before reducing the heat.
7. Get the sweet potatoes out of the micrwoave and check they are cooked through, then use tongs to squeeze the juice from the lime. Then carefully tip the sweet potatoes on top of the mango chutney mixture and use a knife or masher to chop and mash everything together (inc skins). Season to taste.
8. Take the pan of fish off the heat and flip the fillets over so they gently finish cooking on the flesh side. Return the pancetta to warm through and serve the fish and pancetta on top of the board of mash and take to the table.
9. Drain the broccoli and asparagus in a colander then tip into the serving bowl with the dressing, quickly toss and take to the table.

Lasagne

2011-01-13T19:31:00.001+00:00

Lasagne is such a great dish to make for a crowd. It's one of those things that tastes better as it matures so it's good (and handy) to make a couple of days in advance. I make it using my Dad's famous Bolognese sauce, taught to him by my Grandma when he left home. But I must admit that for the white sauce... I shamefully used Dolmio.... (only because I was pushed for time and we had some in the cupboard)... If you want to be better and more virtuous than I was, Delia has a good basic recipe for a white sauce. I always use green pasta sheets in lasagne, I think it adds another dimension along with the mushrooms. I serve it with a balsamic dressed green salad. If you drain all the fat off the mince (see recipe), it makes for a healthy dinner.

Ingredients - (makes 1 big lasagne to feed about 6 depending on the size of your dish, you'll probably have some sauce left which you could freeze or serve with some pasta the next day)

2 x 600g lean mince
1 pack closed cup mushrooms, chopped
1 large white onion, diced
3 tins tomato purée
3 tins chopped tomatoes
Good glug of red white
Salt, pepper to season
Garlic flavoured olive oil
2 garlic cloves
Sprinkling of italian mixed herbs
A few gratings of parmesan cheese
Quantity of white sauce (see Delia's recipe or if you're lazy like me, a jar of dolmio)
Lasagne dried pasta sheets - green is good

1. Fry off the onion in some garlic oil and then brown the mince. Once browned, drain away as much liquid/fat as you can down the sink. Then add the garlic and mushrooms.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and wine and stir to coat all of the mince.

3. Add some herbs, lots of black pepper and a little salt then grate some parmesan cheese into the sauce.

4. Leave to simmer while stirring occasionally and leave it cooking for about 15-20mins on a low heat to thicken slightly.

5. Once all cooked and cooled (if the sauce is still warm, it will make the pasta curl) you can start to assemble the lasagne. Get a large ovenproof dish and spoon a good layer of sauce to cover the bottom, spreading out evenly. Then cover with a layer of the pasta sheets, cover with a layer of the white sauce, then put more meat sauce before topping again with pasta and the white sauce to finish. Grate some parmesan cheese over the top to crisp it up while it cooks.

6. You can now cover it with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for a couple of days. When cooking the lasagne, let it come up to temperate out of the fridge a couple of hours before and then cook for about 50 minutes in a preheated oven at 180c. It's best when the top has browned and the sauce is just bubbling up at the edges. Serve with a salad.