Happy Cooking

Lemon Drizzle Cake

2011-12-20T22:58:00.002+00:00

Scones

2011-11-05T12:27:00.002+00:00

Ingredients

(makes 14 scones)

500g plain flour

2 tbsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

100g unsalted butter

60g caster sugar

2 eggs

200ml fresh milk

Preparation:

Lightly beat the eggs and add enough milk to make 280ml liquid
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add salt and sugar and whisk the dry ingredients together. With finger tips rub the cold butter into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. To prevent butter starting to melt away due to hot weather or warm hands I prefer grating the butter into the flower and then giving it a quick rub.
Keep the mixing bowl with the flower-butter mixture in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
Remove the bowl from the fridge and add the egg and milk mixture and then stir untill just combined. The mixture will be sticky, moist and lumpy. Gather the mixture and place it on a lightly floured surface and give it a few light kneading for about 10 seconds so that it comes together to form a dough but try not to overwork the dough.
Place dough in a plastic bag and keep in the fridge for another 30 mins. Throughout the whole process we aim for butter not to melt into the dough. We want the butter to melt whilst cooking.
On a lightly flowered surface, dust your hands and the dough with flour and pat out into 1 inch thickness. Avoid using too much flour. Cut out the dough with the lightly floured 2.5 inch biscuit cutter. In order for the scones to rise evenly, press the cutter directly down and lift it straight up without twisting.
Place scones on baking sheet (lined with parchment paper). For soft-sided biscuits, place them close together on the baking sheet so that the sides are touching. For crisp-sided ones, place them 1 inch apart, these will not rise as high as biscuits that are baked close together. Brush the tops with some milk.
Bake at preheated oven at deg C for about 13 - 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre of the biscuit comes out clean. The texture of the interior should be light and soft. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Serve warm.

Chilli Con Carne

2011-10-31T23:26:00.001+00:00

Ingredients

500 g lean minced beef
1 tbsp oil
1 large onion
1 red pepper
2 garlic cloves
1tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 cube beef stock
1 tsp sugar or 2 cubes of chocolate
2 tbsp tomato purée
Soy sauce
400g can red kidney beans
boiled long grain rice to serve
sour cream

Preparation

Prepare your vegetables. Chop your onion into small dice, about 5mm square. The easiest way to do this is to cut the onion in half from root to tip, peel it and slice each half into thick matchsticks lengthways, not quite cutting all the way to the root end so they are still held together. Slice across the matchsticks into neat dice. Cut your pepper in half lengthways, remove stalk and wash the seeds away, then chop.
Start cooking. Put your pan on the hob over a medium heat. Add the oil and leave it for 1-2 minutes until hot (a little longer for an electric hob). Add the onions and cook, stirring fairly frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft, squidgy and slightly translucent.Tip in the garlic, red pepper, chilli, paprika and cumin. Give it a good stir, then leave it to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Brown the mince. Turn the heat up a bit, add the meat to the pan and break it up with your spoon or spatula. The mix should sizzle a bit when you add the mince. Keep stirring and prodding for at least 5 minutes, until all the mince is in uniform, mince-sized lumps and there are no more pink bits. Make sure you keep the heat hot enough for the meat to fry and become brown, rather than just stew.
Making the sauce. Crumble your stock cube into 300ml/1⁄2 pint of hot water. Pour this into the pan with the mince mixture. Open the can of chopped tomatoes and add these as well. Tip in the marjoram and the sugar, if using (see tip left), and add a good shake of salt and pepper. Squirt in about 2 tbsp of tomato purée and stir the sauce well.
Simmer it gently. Bring the whole thing to the boil, give it a good stir and put a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat until it is gently bubbling and leave it for 20 minutes. You should check on the pan occasionally to stir it and make sure the sauce doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan or isn't drying out. If it is, add a couple of tablespoons of water and make sure that the heat really is low enough. After simmering gently, the saucy mince mixture should look thick, moist and juicy.
Bring on the beans. Drain and rinse the beans in a sieve and stir them into the chilli pot. Bring to the boil again, and gently bubble without the lid for another 10 minutes, adding a little more water if it looks too dry. Add a bit of soy sauce. Taste a bit of the chilli and season. It will probably take a lot more seasoning than you think. Now replace the lid, turn off the heat and leave your chilli to stand for 10 minutes before serving, and relax. Leaving your chilli to stand is really important as it allows the flavours to mingle and the meat.

Other ways to enjoy chilli

Serve it on a bed of plain, boiled rice, with a spoonful of soured cream on top. Pile it on tortilla chips and sprinkle it with grated cheddar. Wrap it up in a tortilla with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and guacamole for a great burrito.

A Mexican twist

Rather than add the teaspoon of sugar, you can stir in a small piece of chocolate (about the size of your thumbnail) when you add the beans. Any plain dark chocolate will do. Be careful not to add too much - you don't want to be able to identify the flavour of the chocolate.

Per serving

387 kcalories, protein 36g, carbohydrate 25g, fat 17 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 6g, sugar 1g, salt 2.32 g

TescoRealFood Lemon Drizzle cake

2011-10-31T19:58:00.001+00:00

250g butter, softened
250g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
250g self raising flour, sifted
zest and juice 2 lemons
75g granulated sugar

Breadcrumbed :) Salmon Recipe

2011-05-23T16:58:00.000+01:00

Ingredients

4 teaspoons olive oil
4 pieces thickly cut, boneless salmon (each 6 oz)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp honey mustard or sweet-hot mustard
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2/3 cup bread cumbs
2 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley
1/2 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 400°F (convection or regular). Set the salmon on a foil-lined baking sheet skin side down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2 In a small bowl, combine the honey mustard and 1 teaspoon of the thyme. In another small bowl, mix the bread crumbs with the remaining 1 teaspoon of thyme, 4 teaspoons of olive oil, parsley, and paprika. Add salt and pepper (a light sprinkle).
3 Using a small spoon, spread the mustard mixture on the salmon; top with the bread crumb mixture.
4 Roast the salmon for 12-14 minutes (test at 10) or until it is almost completely firm to the touch and flakes when poked with a fork. Serve at once.
Serves 4.

Chicken Tikka Masala

2011-05-23T16:22:00.001+01:00

Ingredients

3 whole (to 4) Chicken Breasts
Kosher Salt
Ground Coriander
Cumin, To Taste
½ cups Plain Yogurt
6 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Large Onion
4 cloves Garlic
1 piece (approximately 2 Inches) Chunk Fresh Ginger
Garam Masala
1 can (28 Ounce) Diced Tomatoes
Sugar
1-½ cup Heavy Cream
2 cups Basmati Rice
_____
OPTIONAL:
Fresh Cilantro
Chili Peppers
Turmeric
Frozen Peas

Preparation Instructions

Start by seasoning the chicken breasts with some kosher salt. Next sprinkle them on both sides with some coriander and cumin. Then coat the chicken breasts completely with the plain yogurt. Set the chicken on a metal cooling rack over a foil-lined baking sheet and place it about 10-12 inches below a broiler for 5-7 minutes per side. Watch carefully so as not to totally char the chicken. It should have slightly blackened edges. Remove from oven.

Next dice one large onion. In a large skillet melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions and sauté until they are slightly browned. As the onions cook, mince your garlic. Next, cut off the outer skin and mince or grate a 1 by 2 inch chunk of fresh ginger. Add the garlic and ginger to the onions. Also throw in about 1 tablespoon of salt.

Next you are going to add about 3 tablespoons Garam Masala spice. And if you like it hot, this is also when you will add your hot chili peppers. Serranos work well. Now you are going to add your can of diced tomatoes. Continue cooking and stirring, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze it. Add about 1 tablespoon sugar. Let this mixture simmer on medium for about 5 minutes.

To a rice cooker add 2 cups Basmati rice, 4 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon Ground Turmeric and 4 cups water. Cover, turn on your rice cooker and walk away. If you do not have a rice cooker, cook your rice as usual but make sure that you use Basmati rice.

After the Tikka Masala sauce has had a chance to simmer for a little bit, add in the 1 ½ cups of heavy cream. Now, chop up your chicken breasts into chunks and stir them into the Tikka Masala sauce. A handful of chopped fresh cilantro is a nice addition if you like cilantro. You can also throw some frozen peas into the cooked rice, give them a stir, and allow the heat of the rice to cook the peas. It tastes great and gives another nice dash of color. Serve the rice with the Chicken Tikka Masala over top. Make sure to have some Nann bread handy, too.

Carbonara

2011-05-23T16:08:00.000+01:00

For this recipe, we’ll need:

1lb linguine pasta
4 eggs
1 pound bacon or pancetta
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese
8-12 cloves of garlic
1 large onion
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup white wine (or substitute another cup of stock)
1/2 stick of butter
1 handful of parsley
1-2 tablespoons black pepper

THIS SHOULD EASILY FEED 4 ADULT HUMANS.

Now, as is the case with all good things in our lives, we’ll begin with BACON.

First, slice up 1 pound of bacon into pieces about one inch wide. These will become bacon bits, which I believe to be the magical fairy dust of the food world.

Once they’re sliced, just toss your bacon pieces into a stainless steel pan. Non-stick will work fine too, but stainless will help us achieve more depth of flavor later on. So let’s get that bacon browning.

While the bacon’s cooking, set a pot of salted water (I use about 2 tbsp. salt for a gallon of water) on the stove for our pasta. Next, we need to chop our onion.

Keep an eye on that bacon, as it would be a terrible tragedy to burn it. Burned bacon is not tasty. The way it looks here is pretty much the amount of doneness we need.
Once the desired bacon bliss has been achieved, just scoop it out with a slotted spoon and set it onto a plate. And don’t dump the grease! or ”the renderings” if you like..Yeah, don’t dump out the renderings. We still need that stuff.

Okay, now that we’ve spooned out all of our bacon, we can throw the diced onions into the bacon grease.

Give the onions a quick stir and let them cook down over a medium-high heat for a couple of minutes.

In the meantime, we can slice up our garlic.

I like to slice the garlic in thin sheets for this recipe instead of mincing it. I don’t know why, I just do.

After the onions have cooked for a couple of minutes, throw in the garlic. Yes, all of it! Adding it after the onions have cooked a little will prevent the garlic from burning. Garlic burns up a little faster than the onions.

If your water is boiling by now, go ahead and add in your pasta. I’m using linguine. It should take about 9-10 minutes.

After the onion and garlic have cooked for another couple of minutes, they should be removed from the pan with our slotted spoon, leaving the grease…um…renderings behind.

Yum. Yum yum. Yum yum yum.

Okay: NOW’S THE TIME TO DISCARD THE BACON GREASE. Once we’ve gotten rid of that grease, we should be left with a pan that looks something like this—a little greasy, with all the nice brownness still stuck to the bottom of the pan. Place the pan back on high heat until it starts to smoke a little.

As soon as the pan begins to smoke, pour in your white wine (or chicken stock if you’re not into the whole wine scene.) If you’re cooking on a gas range, you may want to remove the pan from the flame when you pour in the wine, as it can sometimes ignite.

Using a whisk, fork, spatula, or wooden spoon, you’ll want to scrape the bottom of the pan vigorously until the little bits of flavor have released themselves into the liquid. Voila! You’ve just deglazed a pan!

Then I’ll return my bacon, onion, and garlic to the sauce I’ve just created.

Now we’ll stir it all together and let it simmer over medium heat.

Allowing the hot part of our sauce to simmer, we’re now going to crack those four eggs into a large bowl. The bowl needs to be large enough to hold all the pasta and other ingredients, and still leave room to stir together.

Add most of the Parmesan (leave out a little bit for a topper) and rough chop the parsley, adding it to the eggs as well. Leave out a little extra parsley for garnishing.

Mix it all up.

Now drain off the water from your steaming hot pasta.

And add the hot pasta to the egg/parmesan/parsley mixture. It’s important that the pasta be very hot, because this is what cause the eggs to thicken.

The final “layer” of the sauce goes on top of the pasta.

Right before we mix the pasta, we need to add…gulp…1/2 stick butter.

Now MIX! Tongs work great for this.

Get everything all worked together.

And be sure to add in lots of black pepper.

Combine everything…and that’s it! It’s time for us to serve it up.

Toss on a little bit more cheese and parsley and you’ve got a beautiful Italian classic.

Lasagna

2011-05-23T14:25:00.000+01:00

Ingredients

500g sweet Italian sausage
500g lean ground beef
3 minced onions
3 cloves garlic, crushed
900g passata (crushed tomato sauce)
200g tomato paste
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp white sugar
1.5 tsp dried basil leaves
0.5 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
12 sheets lasagna sheets
500 ounces ricotta cheese
2 egg
450g mozzarella cheese, sliced
200g grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Remove the sausage meat from the casing and cook it together with ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato sauce. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
To assemble 1st layer spread 1/3 meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 4 lasagna sheets over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices and sprinkle with a quater of parmezan cheese.
Repeat the same for the 2nd layer and the rest ingredients for the 3rd layer.
If you got any of the meat sauce left, let it cool and then freeze. Will be perfect with pasta, rice or baked potato
Cover with foil, make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Chez Bruce

2011-05-22T14:08:00.000+01:00

http://www.chezbruce.co.uk/

One of my favourite restaurants!

Holy Cow

2011-05-22T13:52:00.001+01:00

Some of the best Indian food I've ever had. Yummy!

Menu
http://www.holycowonline.com/html/menu.html

     * Hammersmith

      Opening Hours:
      Mon - Thur 5:30pm To 11:00pm
      Fri - Sat 5:00pm To 11:00pm
      Sunday 5:00pm To 10:30pm

      354 King Street
      W6 0RX
      020 8748 8989

      info@holycowonline.com

      Delivery Areas:
      W6, W4, W2, W8, W11, W12, W10, W3, W14, W5, TW8

Cider chicken with creamy mushroom and anchovy sauce

2011-05-20T14:18:00.000+01:00

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots
3 chicken breasts
2 anchovy fillets
200ml cider
150g button mushrooms
4 tbsp double cream
2 tbsp flatleaf parsley

Method

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan and gently fry 2 shallots, sliced, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add 3 chicken breasts, sliced, and brown all over.
Add 2 anchovy fillets and fry for a few minutes. Pour in 200ml cider and cook for 10 minutes, until reduced.
Meanwhile, melt a knob of butter in a pan and gently fry 150g button mushrooms, halved, until tender. Stir 4 tbsp double cream, a squeeze of lemon juice and 2 tbsp chopped fresh flatleaf parsley into the pan with the chicken and season.
Add the mushrooms and serve with baked potatoes.

4 Servings

Nutritional info

Per serving: 296kcals, 18.4g fat (7.8g saturated), 26.8g protein, 2.5g carbs, 2.3g sugar, 0.4g salt

Tip

Omit the anchovies and add 1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika and swap the cider for chicken stock. Add a splash of brandy with the cream to make a delicious chicken stroganoff.

Beef Goulash

2011-05-20T14:03:00.000+01:00

Ingredients:

1.5kg (2lb) round or chuck steak
2 large onions
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
50g (2oz) butter
1 tablespoon paprika
1 cup water
1 bayleaf
1 beef stock cube
salt, pepper
1 cup dry red wine
250ml (10oz) carton sour cream

Steps:

Trim steaks to remove all fat, cut meat into 2cm cubes.
Toss in flour seasoned with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in large saucepan,
add butter.
Add meat and brown well on all sides.
Add paprika and chopped onions, brown lightly.
Add water, wine, undrained tomatoes and all remaining ingredients except sour cream.
Cover, simmer gently 1.5 to 2 hours or until meat is very tender.
Add sour cream and heat gently; do not allow to boil or mixture will curdle.

Serves 6.

Jacket Potato

2011-05-20T13:58:00.001+01:00

You will need:

6 Russet medium potatoes (free of Bruises, spots or sprouts), try getting same size potatoes so they take the same time to cook.
1/2 cup of Olive Oil
Salt to taste

Preparation:

preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
Scrub the potatoes very well (as you will be eating the skin which is full of vitamins and minerals) under cold water and pat them dry.
Poke the potatoes few time with a fork for the steam to escape during the baking and to avoit them exploading in the oven.
Coat the potatios with olive oil and sprinkle the salt to get soft and very tasty skin.
Arrange the potatoes on baking tray and cook in the middle of the oven for about an hour to an hour and half depending on the potato size.
They are done once the skins are puffed up and change their color to golden brown. You can also check by slightly squeezing them on both sides. If done, then they should easily give in to your squeeze
The best way to open them before serving is to take a fork and draw a dotted line around the potatoes. Then using your thumb and index finger, squeeze them at both sides so that they open apart.

Some nice potato toppings

Cut few slices of smoked bacon in small pieces. Let it cool and mix with grated chedar cheese and chopped chives and a bit of crushed garlic. Split your baked potato and put the topping on and grill untill the cheese is golden brown.
Baked beans.
Cooked mushroom, bacon and onion with sour cream and melted cheese on top.
Creamy Peas and Leeks. Melt a knob of butter in the pan and cook 2 medium sliced leeks for about 10 minutes, then add 200g frozen or fresh podded peas and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add 100g cream or natural yoghurt, 100 g grated Chedar cheese and a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, season with a bit of salt and pepper. Return to the heat to gently warm through.
Bolognaise sauce!!!
Tuna, onion and mayonaise is one of my favourites. Tomatos and rocket salad on a side is a perfect compliment.
Cider chicken with creamy mushroom and anchovy sauce.
Beef Goulash
To be continued...

Tuna Potato salad

2011-05-20T12:30:00.001+01:00

This is one of the simples but yet very delicious salad.

Ingredients:
Tin of Tuna steak
Half Onion, chopped
Clove of Garlic, crushed
300g Baby Potatoes, cut into peaces
Tablespoon of Mayonnaise
Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients together. Ready!
You can use pasta instead of potatoes if you prefer for perfect pasta salad :)

Make sure you have your tooth brush and paste with you if you are having this salad at work!

Tagine

2011-05-18T23:11:00.003+01:00

Ingredients:
500g lamb (or beef)
2 onions, grated
1 stock cube
1 tbsp honey
Half teaspoon salt.
Teaspoon pepper.

1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled (optional)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric (that will give the dish nice colour, you can use 1/8 teaspoon Moroccan yellow colorant)

mint, thyme, rosemary or whatwver spices you like.

1 cinnamon stick (optional)

2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
5 apricots
5 prunes

1/3 cup butter or vegetable oil

100 g (1 cup) almonds, blanched and peeled

Vegetables (optional)

1 carrot
1 red chilli
1/3 lemon juice
half tin chopped tomatos or 2-3 fresh tomatoes, chopped
75g green beans
100 g broccoli
can chickpeas

* Add a teaspoon ginger. I don't like it so I didn't use any. I normally use red chilli and lemon instead although agree it's not a proper substitute :P

Preparation:

Cook the Meat and Almonds. In a large pot or pressure cooker, mix the meat with the onions, garlic, spices, and butter. Brown the meat for a few minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Add 2 1/2 cups of stock, the cilantro, prunes, apricots and the almonds. (You can omit cooking the almonds and serve them as a garnish instead. See the note at the end of these directions.) Over high heat, bring the meat and liquids to a fast simmer.

Pressure cooker method. If using a pressure cooker, cover tightly and continue cooking over high heat until pressure is achieved. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook with pressure for 50 minutes. Release the pressure and check to see that the meat is tender enough to break apart with a fork. If it isn't, add water if necessary and cook with pressure for another 10 minutes.
When the meat is cooked, discard the cilantro and cinnamon stick. Add the sugar and ground cinnamon (if using) and reduce the sauce, uncovered, until it is thick. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Pot method. If using a pot, cover and simmer the meat over medium heat for two to two-and-half hours, until the meat is very tender and breaks apart easily with a fork. If necessary, add water during cooking to prevent the meat from scorching.
When the meat is cooked, discard the cilantro and cinnamon stick. Add the sugar and ground cinnamon (if using) and reduce the sauce, uncovered, until it is thick. Taste and adjust seasoning.

So here's the recipe for a tagine cooked in a pressure cooker or a pot. I personally not the greatest fan of pressure cookers as I don't really get the sensation of the different flavours of ingredients although would use it if I were to make a tagine dish without vegetables. I purchased this lovely tagine dish and I absolutely love it. I normally cook the meat in a pan, then put it all into a tagine dish. Poor over the stock and cook in the oven 1-1,5hr. Then add the vegetables and cook for another 30-45min

Lamb tagine with chickpeas recipe

2011-05-18T15:17:00.000+01:00

Ingredients:

300g Stewing Lamb

1 onion, sliced

2 tomatoes, roughly chopped

1tsp ground cinnamon

400g can chickpeas, drained

100g Tesco Ready to Eat dried Apricots

600ml vegetable or chicken stock

½ x 35 g pack curled parsley, chopped

Couscous, to serve

Fresh coriander, to serve (optional)

Preparation:
Cut the lamb into cubes. Fry with the onion in a pan until the onion softens and the meat begins to brown. Stir in the tomatoes and cinnamon and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until the tomatoes are softened.
Stir in the chickpeas, apricots and stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for at least 45 minutes and up to 2 hours until the meat is tender.
Check the seasoning and stir through the parsley. Serve with plain couscous, cooked according to packet instructions, and garnish with coriander.
Fresh coriander, to serve (optional).

Blackberry and ginger jelly recipe

2011-05-18T14:23:00.000+01:00

Ingredients:

320g frozen Blackberries, reserving 4 for decoration

2tbsp fresh ginger, grated

75g dark brown sugar

1 sachet of powdered gelatine

Preparation:
Place the blackberries, ginger, sugar and 300ml (½ pt) water into a saucepan and simmer over a gentle heat for 15 minutes until the blackberries have broken down slightly. Push the mixture through a sieve into a jug, getting as much of the pulp through as possible.
Pour a little boiling water into a cup and add the gelatine. Stir well until the gelatine has dissolved.
Top up the liquid in the jug to 500ml (18fl oz) with boiling water and then stir in the gelatine mixture.
Pour into 4 serving glasses. Top with crème fraîche (optional) and reserved berries. Leave to cool and then refrigerate for 1-2 hours until set.

Pimms cup jelly recipe

2011-05-18T14:19:00.000+01:00

Soak the gelatine in 3tbsp cold water until softened. Then place the gelatine and water in a small pan and heat very gently just until it is dissolved - don't let it boil. Gently pour the Pimms and lemonade mix into the pan and stir until the gelatine has fully dissolved.
Divide the grapes between 4 glasses and pour the Pimms mix over. Leaving the skin still on, slice the satsuma into 8, then add a slice and a mint leaf to each glass. If necessary, scoop off any residue that rises to the surface when the bubbles subside.
Allow the glasses to set in the fridge for 2-3 hours before serving.
Note: This recipe contains alcohol.

Sparkling wine jellies recipe Tesco.com

2011-05-18T14:16:00.000+01:00

Ingredients:

20g pack Tesco ingredients leaf gelatine

750 ml sparkling wine, such as rose cava

75g caster sugar

150g mixed berries, fresh or frozen

Preparation:
Soak 7 sheets of gelatine in 6 tbsp cold water for 10 minutes. Measure 150ml (¼ pt) of the sparkling wine and put it into a pan with the caster sugar. Heat the liquid gently until the sugar dissolves. Squeeze out the gelatine and add to the pan, stir until dissolved then add the remaining sparkling wine.
Pour into 6 martini glasses and add and equal mixture of fruit to each glass. Chill for 4 hours or overnight to set.

Mulled wine jelly with vanilla ice cream recipe from Tesco.com

2011-05-18T14:13:00.000+01:00

Ingredients:

10 sheets gelatine

500ml (16fl oz) full-bodied red wine

300ml (10fl oz) orange juice

2tbsp honey

2 strips lemon peel

1 cinnamon stick

5 cloves

150ml (5fl oz) whipping cream

2tsp caster sugar

1 vanilla pod, to decorate

Preparation:
Soak the gelatine in 3-4 tablespoons cold water for 5 minutes.
Heat the wine, orange juice, honey, lemon peel and spices together in a pan, bring just to the boil to reduce the alcohol, then take off the heat. Remove the gelatine from the water and shake gently. Add to the pan and stir until melted. Strain and pour into 6 small wine glasses. Leave to set for about 4 hours.
To decorate, split the vanilla pod down its length and scrape out seeds. Use a few of the vanilla seeds to flavour the cream (add the rest to a jar of caster sugar to flavour it). Cut the vanilla pod into very thin sticks for decoration.
Lightly whip the cream with the caster sugar and vanilla seeds, then spoon on top of the set jelly. Serve chilled decorated with the vanilla pod sticks.

Each serving contains

Strawberry fizz recipe

2011-05-18T14:06:00.000+01:00

Ingredients:

750g (1½oz) ripe strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced

6 tbsp caster sugar

125ml (4fl oz) brandy (optional)

3 x 750ml bottles prosecco or cava, or 1·5 litre (2½pt) soda water plus 750ml (1¼pt) white grape juice (for a non-alcoholic version)

mint and extra strawberry slices to decorate

Preparation:
Put the strawberries in a large bowl and sprinkle over the sugar, then carefully turn the berries so they are completely coated. Leave for 3 hours so the fruit macerates and gives off some juice.
Add the brandy, if using, and leave for a few minutes before putting the mixture in a very large jug. Carefully top up with the prosecco or cava, making sure it doesn't fizz over the top. Decorate with mint and fresh strawberry slices.
For the non-alcoholic version, add the soda water and grape juice to the strawberries in the same way.

Each serving contains

Couscous salad

2011-05-18T14:01:00.000+01:00

There's some nice recipes in tesco website. I found this lovely one in there.

Ingredients:

250g couscous

1 vegetable stock cube

250ml boiling water

280g jar of roasted red pepper antipasti

150g Tesco Greek feta cubes with extra virgin olive oil and herbs, drained

200g tub of Crespo green olives with chilli and parsley

juice of half a lemon

pinch of dried crushed chillies

chopped flat leaf parsley, to garnish

Preparation:
Tip the couscous into a large heatproof bowl. Crumble the stock cube into 300ml boiling water and stir to dissolve.
Pour the stock over the couscous then cover the bowl with cling film. Leave for 10 minutes for the couscous to absorb the stock.
Drain the pepper antipasti and reserve 3 tablespoons of the oil. Break the couscous up with a fork to separate the grains, then stir in the peppers along with the 3 tablespoons of reserved oil, the feta cubes, lemon juice, olives and a pinch of crushed chillies.
Season with pepper, then taste and add salt if needed. Scatter some chopped parsley over the salad and serve.

Yorkshire Pudding

2011-05-18T13:48:00.000+01:00

Preheat the oven to gas 7, 220ºC, fan 200ºC. Pour 2 teaspoons of rapeseed or sunflower oil into each hole of 2 x 6-hole muffin tins (or a 12-hole tin). Put in the oven for 15 mins.

While the tins are heating up, crack 2 eggs into a large bowl. Measure 225ml (7½fl oz)semi-skimmed milk into a jug. Beat the eggs well with a balloon whisk.

Mix ¼ teaspoon salt with 115g (3¾oz) plain flour then add to the bowl 2 spoonfuls at a time, adding 2 tablespoons of the milk with the final batch of flour. Whisk until smooth and thick.

Slowly start to pour the rest of the jug of milk into the mixture, just a little at a time at first, beating well as you go, to make a smooth batter. Transfer the batter to a jug.

When the fat in the tins (or tin) is very hot, carefully remove from the oven and pour in the batter to half-fill each hole. The fat should sizzle as you pour the batter in.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the Yorkshire puds are well risen and golden (don't open the oven door mid-cooking). Serve them as quickly as you can, while they are still tall and puffy.

Carrot Cake

2011-04-27T09:00:00.002+01:00

Very tasty Carrot cake, only my frosting was too runny. I might put less lemon in it next time or maybe just use it as a sauce :)

Here's how it looks on website where I found this delicious recipe:

And very soon I will upload my cake which did not look as great as i expected it to..

Ingredients

Cake

300 ml flour
2 level teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon ground nutmeg
250 ml brown sugar
150 ml sunflower oil
3 carrot shreds
175 ml walnut pieces

Frosting

Half lime
250 ml mascarpone
90 ml butter
175 ml powdered sugar
juice of half lemon

Directions

Cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter two cake pans. Blend the flour and baking powder together into a large bowl, then mix in the spices.
Using an electric mixer, mix the muscovado sugar, sunflower oil, and eggs until smooth. Fold in the grated carrots and walnut pieces, then add the dry ingredients until evenly combined.
Spoon the mixture into buttered pans and bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

Frosting
Juice the lime and lemon, then mix the mascarpone, butter, sugar, and the juices. Sandwich the cake layers together with 1/3 of the frosting. Spread frosting over the top of the cake and smooth it down the sides to cover completely.

Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

2011-04-20T16:33:00.000+01:00

Ingredients

675g / 1 ½ lb beef fillet
1 large onion, thinly sliced
350g button mushrooms, sliced
65g 2 ½ oz butter
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
300 ml / 1 ¼ cups soured cream
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons lemon juice
salt and pepper
small bunch parsley, washed and chopped fine.

Preparation

Cut the fillet across the grain into thin slices about 1cm / ½ inch wide or less.
In a large frying pan, melt the butter and cook the onion with the paprika over a low heat until soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook gently for about three minutes more. Using a slotted spoon remove the onions and mushrooms to a plate.
Use the same pan to heat 1 ½ tablespoons of sunflower oil until hot. Quickly fry half the beef fillet strips, turning and adding salt and pepper as you cook for about one minute. Remove to another plate and fry the rest of the strips in the remaining oil. Transfer this batch of meat to the plate.
Return the onions and mushrooms to the pan and pour in the cream. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for one minute until it thickens slightly. Return the beef fillet strips to the pan and heat gently for one more minute, without letting the mixture boil.
Stir in the lemon juice and chopped parsley, then serve immediately.
bunch parsley, washed and chopped fine.