Cheesy Gammon and Potato Bake

I've got history. With graters that is...

This picture happened recently. Its like a crime scene, you can still see traces of the cheese I was attempting to grate. Oh the horror! Me and my Jamie grater had 6 magical years together. I already owned two rather shiny microplanes (and still do but their handles annoy me) but my beloved coarse grater survived 4 house moves and grated a hell of a lot of cheese. And carrots.Probably more. Then one fateful night OH THE HORROR IT SNAPPED!! I almost cried. What shall I do? Do I replace? I was scared in case the horror happened again....

So I went shopping... I tried to look for the JO one *just in case I changed my mind* but couldn't find on the high street...it was late..I was tired...weary...still saddened ...and in a moment of madness I purchased the below lime flecked one for a whole pound. I like a bargain but its not the one for me. The bottom cover thingy seems entirely useless other than to fall off and its unsurprisingly not sharp enough. It doesn't have a good prognosis.

But then a rainbow appeared on the horizon of my tears... and it was a welcome hello to my OXO Good Grips 'Complete Grate and Slice set' and we have fully bonded. Those who follow me on Instagram will testify to that! The set consists of four removable grating and slicing slides - and I used it almost daily ever since receiving it! It has pride of place at the front of the cupboard rather than being abandoned towards the back in the mandolin graveyard.....

As I've had 'issues' with my PC and the odd health one to throw a spanner in the works, I have not been very good writing down any recipes but this one is fairly close. My oven temperature is still wrong and I still share a kitchen so blogging is tricky! I have posted pictures of a similar dish a few years back here  with inspiration from Hampshire Cook but this is the updated one with an actual recipe! 

Sorry if the pictures fuzzy - my PC is still trying to break all my images!

The fine slicing blade in the Good Grips set is awesome - as well as graters, this is my 3rd mandolin set too and its perfectly thin and sharp, oh and easy to use! Which is the main thing! I have slightly wonky joints and ease of use is high up on my agenda!! I used both the fine mandolin and coarse grater for this recipe and it took moments to prepare for a big bowl of comfort food! The gripper tool is strong and hold the veggies well when slicing, to protect your fingers!

Serves 4 (ish) Easy

Ingredients:

480g thinly sliced white potato

150g cooked gammon, shredded

80g lancashire cheese, grated

500g milk

25g butter

25g plain floir

1 tsp English mustard powder

1 tsp vegetable stock powder

S&P to taste

Pre-heat oven to approx 190o

Cover the potatoes in cold water, add the stock powder and bring to the boil for 5 minutes, then drain well

In the saucepan melt the butter, add the flour and mustard powder, stir in the milk gently until thickened and simmer for 5 minutes

Add half the cheese to the sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste

Layer up the potatoes with the gammon and a sprinkle of cheese in between. Cover with the sauce and sprinkle over the last of the cheese

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until golden and all lovingly brown on top.

Many thanks to both OXO Good Grips and to Holly at the Lenny Agency for her patience!

Disclaimer: I received the Complete Grate and Slice set for review only and all opinions and pictures remain the property of Anne's Kitchen

Vegan Baking Adventures with Marmalade and Sweet Potatoes...

Recently I was set a little challenge.. well a last minute game changing challenge even to make some cakes for my friends Animal charity stall – and the twist in that they needed to be Vegan! Now dairy free is easy, I make plenty with with oil or butter substitutes without breaking a sweat but eggless? The glue that binds the ingredients lovingly and makes them rise? That’s a whole new story to be written! I have once made some vegan muffins but I repeat the once part, they just didn’t do it for me. By some miracle, a little googling, an hour slowly losing the will to live in the shop trying to find the egg replacer stuff with no help from customer services - apparently it was in stock but the aisle was upstairs but upstairs is clothing etc so in other words no idea whatsoever, and eventually finding it myself in the racking above the special diets section, on tippytoes trying to grab the box I somehow pulled it off – it was not easy but I am quite proud that both cakes were most edible and didn’t lack in any areas flavour wise at all!

The first cake was made fairly on track with the base recipe for a sweet potato spice cake, though we made an alternative topping using some scary dairy less cream cheese (note do not sniff it!), icing sugar, marmalade and a little vanilla, oh and something new to me in being vegetable shortening, and a little vegan margarine. I have a unique selection of ingredients right now to use! The icing was a little runnier than I would of liked slicing it up but it did stay on mostly so that’s the main part! Overall the spicing of the cake was so tasty – fragrant clove, cinnamon and ginger worked in a glorious harmony together. Even the weird smelling frosting was rather tasty, resembling the slightly sour creamy like topping you get on carrot cake. The sprinkling of crystallized ginger and crunchy toasted hazlenuts finished it off perfectly.

The plan:

The Finished cake:

Second up was a really gorgeously moist chocolate orange and marmalade cake, topped with a gooey chocolate frosting I made with a little of the marmalade, some icing sugar, a squeeze of orange juice, the zest and a dash of cocoa powder. The marmalade was sent to me by Robertson's in a special edition Paddington Bear jar - I love marmalade and the jar vanished fast!

The sponge itself was adapted from a Nigella storecupboard chocolate cake recipe, which I jazzed up with my favourite Polish dark cocoa powder, half a fresh orange juiced and a scary new item to me known as egg replacer, mentioned at the top of this post! Somehow the magic worked and produced a gooey, almost brownie like chocolate orange heaven! I honestly feel like converting to camp no egg now it was so good! I will make it again, measuring this time what I did and post the recipe in full for you to enjoy!

So any tips out there for first time Vegan bakers? Its definitely something I will explore further and hopefully share my journey with you!

The End of Chocolate Week..

Chocolate Week started several weeks back for me - well to be honest its all year around with me as I am a bit of a chocaholic and despite all my best intentions its bought on a regular basis - I am a dark fan usually but if it involves nuts (or bits of crunchie!) then sign me up to pretty much any chocolate! 

This current run started with a wonderful evening at a glitzy event with Ferrero Rocher - they have an amazing range of different Ferrero treats this year for Christmas, from tree decorations to towers of treats and I have been busy tasting for you and in a few weeks time I have an amazing competition to win some so please do come back soon for a chance to win some!

On Monday this week I had a few brown bananas that needed urgent CPR and I spotted on a Filipino based cookery blog this awesome Banana Bundt cake which I glazed with a bitter Polish cocoa glaze and of course sprinkles - my Christmas ones! I will post the recipe very soon as it was so delicious it would unfair to keep it to myself!

Moving on to Wednesday I tweaked another banana based sort of oaty cookie recipe - this still needs a little work, including not using cheap baking paper to line the tin but they are vanishing fairly fast from the tupperware container so there is hope yet!

..and because, well we obviously didn't have enough chocolate during the week we braved London on a Saturday to visit The Chocolate Show, held at Olympia West to get a little more cocoa-fied (yes I know its a made up word but I rather like it...) On arrival it was heaving and packed full of some amazing chocolates from all over the world, plus cookery demonstrations and activities for all ages!

On the theatre stage we caught the end of chocolatier Paul A Young's demo, then managed to find a seat and we watched one of the first Great British Bake Off contestants make some rather lush looking chocolate and salted caramel tarts and managed to fight over share the last cookie they handed out at the end! 

Now where to begin! Naturally after plenty of tastings I bought several bars of various chocolates - including a tongue teasing Roasted Sesame Dark chocolate bar from Lindt (and a rather lovely Caramel with sea salt and a bar of dark mint too!) My dearest is not normally a dark chocolate fan but he surprisingly enjoyed these - maybe I will have to start hiding my dark chocolate treats!

Next up was some German bitesize chocolates what I called bundt shaped but the chap on the stall looked in slight disdain and said they were based on Kugelhopfs (sp?! ) but are known as Goufrais - these were unusual in being served slightly chilled - they almost melt on your tongue with surprisingly dark yet creamy! I had to buy a big bag to keep us well stocked!

Now writing captions is hard when you have not taken many notes and your head is full of cocoa but this is a round-up of the highlights that we 'tested' out! The things I do for you my dear readers!

Clockwise: Mini jars of popping candy- would make great wedding favours! Brownies - we tried the white chocolate and pistachio one - could do with being a tiny bit sweeter but overall still lovely, a sign that made me giggle a little, last up a range of rather lovely bars - I particularly liked the 70% cocoa one- was still quite creamy and not bitter:

Clockwise: Beautiful chocolate teacups! And then its nice to know good old Smarties are translated as well, er Smarties! Then some Vietnamese bars -the packaging in particular I loved but they tasted pretty good too! Then a glimpse of a box of mixed brownies -they were all various delicious flavours including salted caramel - think I need to do some more baking!

I really cannot squeeze too many more pictures into this post but here a few more to tempt you with that I really can't leave out! They include some amazing outfits made of chocolate, pumpkins for Halloween and some divine Patisserie wines I picked up for Christmas!

There really was something for everyone at the show - as an avid dark chocolate fan it highly appealed but my milky loving boyfriend also enjoyed the show too! It was great to discover chocolate that little bit more and I am full of chocolate dreams now!

Disclaimer: I received tickets for entry into the Chocolate Show but all opinions are my own and all products were purchased by myself. Pictures remain the property of Anne's Kitchen

Mini Christmas foodie Gift Guide

Oh my I have no idea where this month is going  - I can't quite believe either that the big day is in only 15 days! We still are finalising shopping lists and meal plans and time is rapidly vanishing! For us we have extended 'Christmas days' - with separated parents we always have two, and this is both lovely...but also gets expensive..and a little over indulgent - think January I will seriously have to be detoxing! 

This Christmas Day we are joining close friends for the day, which will be lovely, even more so that we are not crammed in our little flat with a dining table for two and they have a dishwasher! Win! And then we are spending Boxing day with my Brother, which will be great too as other family join us too then we hope! 

So over the past few weeks I have been tasting things and being sent an array of nice things to review - and here are a few delicious ideas!

Filippo Berio, Extra Virgin Olive Oil - This is pretty limited edition 1 Litre tin featuring 'The Lady of Viareggio' and looks great in the kitchen! Delicious olive oil too for making up salads and to dress finished dishes. Available widely.

Bellucci Chocolates from Turin - These chocolates are simply gorgeous! They came beautifully wrapped in purple tissue paper and sealed with little stickers. They would make a recipient feel very special, I know I was very happy to receive mine! The selection consists of delectable Gianduja Pralines, nougat, hazelnut... all wonderful tastes! With each chocolate individually wrapped they are extra special to open and together gleam like jewels, just edible ones! Definitely a selection box for grown up's with good taste!

Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry - When I first thought of Sherry, I must admit it was something I associated with a dusty bottle at the back of my late Nanny's cabinet but I know its becoming gradually popular again and I was pleased to be given the chance to try some - and I was pleasantly surprised. I don't like sweet wine when choosing normally, which I think has put me off in the past trying sherry but over the last couple of years I grew to like Port, with cheese etc and finally it seems Sherry is in favour! This Sherry is mellow, with smooth caramel notes and makes for a nice evening tipple! Unfortunately I have lost my mini wine glass (bah humbug!) so I have used my bridesmaid martini glass for the shot! Maybe surprise a friend or relative this Christmas - I did spot its on offer in a few of the supermarkets right now!

Disclaimer: I was provided with the products for review and this is not a sponsored posting, all opinions remain the property of Anne's Kitchen

A glass of wine with my Gammon, Pea and Cos Lettuce Risotto

To my regular readers, apologies if this recipe sounds a little familiar ....for I am re-posting this recipe from my Arrancini thread, as I missed out an essential part - the wine!

Recently Sainsbury's sent me a little selection of their single serve wines, which I find great if you just fancy a glass of wine with dinner...or whenever without feeling compelled to drink the rest... something that age and shift patterns do not mix with! Its also a great way to discover new wines or indeed revisit old favourites!

I am more a red wine drinker if anything, as I find a lot of white wines to acidic to drink or so sweet my teeth go brr at but I was very pleased to find one of the bottles was their Macon Villages. I had not bought it in a long time but it reminded me that its one of the few whites I really like - dry, crisp maybe a hint of lemon and the tartness of Chardonnay without being a footballers wife! (I know its trashy but I still miss that show!) As I also had work the next morning, my large glass  was more than enough to enjoy with the meal! 

Whilst the wine was a bit of a treat with dinner, it was a fairly frugal recipe as you have come to expect with me - the lettuce was withering in the salad draw making its escape plan (Salad and Winter are not best buddies!) and the small amount of gammon was left from a large joint we had a few weeks back everything else was in the store cupboard.

Risotto recipe:

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 finely chopped onion

50ml vermouth

225g arborio rice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup frozen peas

2 slices cooked gammon finely chopped

2 heaped tbsp grana padano (or parmesan) grated

2 cos lettuce leaves, shredded

1 knorr herb stock pot into 1.5 pints boiling water

1) Melt the butter and oil, gently cook the onion and garlic without colouring, stir in the vermouth and allow to evaporate. 

2) Stir in the rice and allow it to fully coat in the liquid, add a small amount of the stock to coat and allow to cook, once the liquid has evaporated, repeat the process gently stirring through until its almost cooked through. 

3) Meanwhile place the peas in a jug with some of the remaining stock and cook for 3-4 minutes, stir it all into the risotto with the gammon pieces and lettuce, it should of absorbed most of the liquid now and be slightly loose in consistency. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese leaving a little for garnish.

Serve either on its own or with garlic bread if you like to break the rules...

The tang of Macon Villages wine worked really well with the creaminess of the risotto, they didn't compete and made a very tasty pairing! Unfortuntely winter is here with its dark nights and I resorted to going out onto the landing in an attempt to get a picture. The things us bloggers do...

Many thanks to Kate at Sainsbury's for my wine!

Arrancini con Pomodoro e salsa di Zucchine

Last week I finally got round to making risotto again, its been a while. In a past life, I used to cook a lot of Italian food but following a relationship breakdown I think I found myself shying away from anything vaguely resembling Italy but I realise now the error of my ways - you can never run away from anything so tasty! I decided also to make it sound posh by translating it fully, as Arrancini with tomato and courgette sauce sounded a little lame in comparison to a more elegant sounding 'Arrancini con pomodoro e salsa di zucchine'!

So risotto was back on the menu, and it was quite a frugal one - using up some slices of leftover gammon from the freezer, frozen peas and a sad last few leaves of Cos lettuce that were loitering in the salad draw planning their escape route! Yes lettuce, you did read it right! I have made a similar one before (little gem also does well here), and with the lettuce just wilted in at the end makes a nice interesting crunch to the creamy rice and smokey salty gammon.

For the sauce, I had picked up a tube of chilli tomato puree for a bargain 25p on offer in Sainsburys that morning, just substitute with regular tomato puree if you don't have any in. The original risotto was made using grana padano which I reguarly buy from the supermarket but the following day I had a delivery, via mums house of some new cheeses from 'Divo' and used their 'Coarsely grated heart of Parmigiano Reggiano', I was a little wary of it having previous experience with dried up ready grated parmesan but this was very good, rich creamy and a perfect pairing for the dish.

Despite the risotto being very tasty I slapped away B's fork from eating the rest as it looked like there was enough left to finally attempt something I had craved for a long time - Arancini - which their name according to wiki originated from the Italian word for oranges, due to their shape... I vaguely remember having these a long time ago possibly at a food show or restaurant and so it finally my time to have a go! Yippee!

I guess you could make the Arrancini with any leftover risotto you like, this was my base recipe, which served us two the previous night and left enough to make 9 Arrancini. The risotto needs to be fully cooled before making the Arrancini.

Risotto recipe:

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 finely chopped onion

50ml vermouth

225g arborio rice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup frozen peas

2 slices cooked gammon finely chopped

2 heaped tbsp grana padano or parmesan grated

2 cos lettuce leaves, shredded

1 knorr herb stock pot into 1.5 pints boiling water

1) Melt the butter and oil, gently cook the onion and garlic without colouring, stir in the vermouth and allow to evaporate. 

2) Stir in the rice and allow it to fully coat in the liquid, add a small amount of the stock to coat and allow to cook, once the liquid has evaporated, repeat the process gently stirring through until its almost cooked through. 

3) Meanwhile place the peas in a jug with some of the remaining stock and cook for 3-4 minutes, stir it all into the risotto with the gammon pieces and lettuce, it should of absorbed most of the liquid now and be slightly loose in consistency. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese leaving a little for garnish.

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Arrancini con pomodoro e salsa di zucchine Recipe

Ingredients:

250g cold, leftover risotto

50g breadcrumbs

2 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano

1 beaten egg

small bowl plain flour

s&p

Sauce:

1/2 courgette, cut lengthways and into thin slices

1/2 finely sliced onion

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp chilli tomato puree

390g chopped tomatoes (carton or tinned)

2 tsp dried Italian herbs

Fresh basil leaves, to garnish

2 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano, to garnish

Spray oil for coating/ lining tray

Line a baking tray with foil, and spray with oil

1) Place the breadcrumbs with the Parmigiano Reggiano in a small bowl, season with salt and pepper. Have ready the beaten egg in another bowl and the flour in another bowl. A curved tablespoon is handy here for shaping! Mine are mini russian dolls which work perfectly!

2) Using the spoon and your hands, shape the risotto into a ball, gently dip into the flour, then the egg and then into the breadcrumbs. 

 Place on the baking tray and repeat to form 9 balls. Chill in the fridge to firm up. 

3) Heat the oil in a large pan until moderately hot and fry the onion then garlic until lightly coloured, stir in the courgette slices and fry until lightly browned. Pre-heat the oven to about 180o

3) Stir through the tomato puree, and add the red wine vinegar and cook off the liquid, stir in the tomatoes, herbs and bring to a bubbling heat, cover and gently simmer. Stir now and then - you want a fairly thick sauce.

Put the arrancini in the oven, sprayed with oil and bake for 30 minutes, giving a gentle prod halfway to make sure they are not sticking to the tray.

4) Once everthing is nicely cooked through, spoon the sauce onto a plate, and place a desired amount of arrancini on top. Garnish with the basil leaves and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Considering they were my first attempt I was super happy with these - the Arrancini were crisp and surprisingly light and the sauce was rich tasty and was a very good match.

Many thanks to Divo for my cheese. This is not a sponsored posting

Whilst I have never visited Italy - its definitely up high on the list of destinations I would love to visit and I am entering my 'Arrancini con pomodoro e salsa di zucchine' into a #TuscanyNowCookOff competition with Tuscany Now, an Italian and Tuscany Villa Rental Specialist to win a trip there, which would be so amazing to finally go there! You can find more details in this link.

Jumbo Chickpea Burgers #TryTotal

It appears this year germ season started early, its claimed me, the boyfriend, mum and countless friends and colleagues. It certainly is thorough! Today thankfully at last is duvet day, the futon is down in the lounge and I am making my way through everything on the sky+ box! Great British Bake off next woohoo! Tissues are on standby and endless cups of tea!

There seems to be a lot of food pictures on my pc I have taken prior to lergy striking but the lighting here is awful and I've been loathe to blog anything... There is also the slight issue of not remembering what went into dishes, I feel I short change you all when recipes are a bit sketchy..however I know that does work in its own little way. I always hope to inspire people to cook and make them feel they can play around with recipes and discover things they like along their way..

So today I decided these pictures were the best of a bunch, and were quite fun to make so wanted to share with you. A few weeks backs Total, the yoghurt people sent me a box of goodies to make these Jumbo Italian Spiced Chickpea burgers and my lovely friend C helped to make and the eat them shortly after!

The first hurdle however was making the mixture....I don't own a food processor anymore but did have a blender thingy...so it got loaded as the below picture:

So far so good? Erm no. The bread got blitzed just fine but the rest refused to budge and the machine just made whirly noises..out came a a wooden spoon to try and push the mixture down. Nope. Fail. After many attempts, we put the mixture into a mixing bowl, converted the blender into a hand blender option and eventually we had burger mixture!

It was messy business but I managed to shape it into four burgers - these were certainly fitting the 'Jumbo' description!

So much so I could only fit two in the frying pan and had to cook in batches!

After being cooked, then carefully flipped over I.e. oh help me C its falling apart as the pan was too small cries, they turned out pretty good looking:

The burgers were definitely beasts to eat, and a little challenging as ours kept squshing out the sides, maybe the mixture was too soft from the hand blender perhaps but we did enjoy them, and the remaining two were eaten the next day. I would re-make them but shape them into perhaps six burgers next time!

With the burger recipe was also a relish but neither of us do raw onion so opted for the contents of the fridge including various chutneys and flavoured mayo's! Garlic mayo works well, as does sweet chili sauce! I also fried them in a little oil, as when trying the spray oil the pan got too hot and made unpleasant smoke smells!

Makes 4 burgers

4tbsp Total Greek Yoghurt
75g fresh breadcrumbs (approx 2 slices)
2x 400g drained chickpeas
25g fresh basil
2 tbsp sundried tomato paste
2 cloves crushed garlic
Pinch chilli flakes

Rolls to serve

If you have a food processor, blitz together the above, if not dig out your hand blender and see my notes above!

Shape into four patties, drizzle a little oil in a pan, heat moderately and fry the burgers for five minutes each side.

Serve with lots of salad

Many thanks to #TryTotal

New in my kitchen this week...well actually in the dining room!

Those who know me, know I like flowers. Pretty flowers. Though they do die off far to quickly and you end up left with a stinky vase and spending a good afternoon scrubbing it if like me you have neglected it for a few days... I will never be a domestic goddess and therapy has taught me that I am perfect just the way I am... the next best thing for me is anything flowery patterned...and my tablecloth from Dunelm Mill is simply quite perfect!

The pattern comes from a range called Homestead, and I had previously bought a seat cushion in the range for my office chair (ha office..more like desk / dressing table/ stationary storage etc in my bedroom, and I love it!) So when the nice pr lady for Dunelm Mill got in touch, I decided to extend to my small range and chose the 'Homestead' tablecloth, to go on my dining table. Though this is my old dining table...once again I have restless feet and am moving house again next week! I am starting to resent having so many cookery books...

Here you can see it underneath a rather delicious Cappuchino cake my super mum baked for my birthday! (And yes they are Christmas crackers...we are a special family!)

So back to my lovely tablecloth- its really good quality. It consists of a thick cotton and polyester blend, which has been treated with 3m Scotchguard and claims that stains will simply wash out without any pre-treatment. Despite having my brother over last week for dinner, it remained fairly unblemished so I will find out at some point in the future how true this claim is! (I am sorry dear brother if you read this but I never got any of those wine stains out of the previous tablecloths!)

Many thanks to Dunelm mill and Jennifer from Diffusion PR for all your help.

What's in my Nutribox?

I am a self confessed snacker, and pretty much have always been. Working shifts can play havoc with my appetite, which I also use as some justification to the amount of chocolate and snacky things that end up in my basket, much to the chagrin of my dentist! Despite managing to eat quite full meals I still manage to snack my way through the day happily on whatever is quick and easy, varying from rice cakes to secret stashes of fudge!

However I am always on the lookout for more healthier snacks and recently I was contacted by The Nutribox about trying one of their boxes of healthy snacks - it didn't take me long to reply yes please! Its a very easy to use site - you simply choose your box size, and whether you want it at the beginning or middle of the month either as a one off or on subscription. Each box is packed full of a mixture of fruit and nut selections, snacky bars and even treats such as chocolate! 

My box had a mix of raw chocolate bars, snack bars and dried fruit and nut mixes - and all are delicious so far!

The first product I tried was an 'Choc Crisp Energy Bomb', during a recent night shift. Normally by about 5am I feel myself flagging and the blood sugar depleting, and so I tucked into it at about 5.15am and waited to see...by 7.30am I felt sorry for my patients because I was very perky and still full of beans! The only downside was realising I had eaten it a little too close to the end of my shift and then had to sleep...! Will time it better next time! I was surprised how much natural energy it gave me and how well it kept me alert, in comparison to my usual strong black coffee!

I've also had a few nibbles of the 'Ombar' dark chocolate, with hints of cranberry and mandarin. Its delicious, smooth but nicely bitter and despite my initial wariness following my revulsion at eating some raw cacao a few years back at a food festival, this was a very pleasant surprise! You only need a small piece to to feel that lovely chocolatey buzz, so my dentist might be more happier next time....!

One of my fruit mixes was pleasingly called 'Hot Cross Bun' and consists of sultanas, cranberries and hazlenuts, which is a delicious little snack mix.

Many thanks to The Nutribox for my box, its delicious and very useful!

Anne's Kitchens new Cafetiere

Coffee is one of life's essentials for me! Even though I do the occasional battle with acid reflux nothing gets between me and my caffeine, I am a firm believer in everything in moderation and providing I stick to small quantities  the stomach behaves just fine! 

Whilst I normally like the higher end instant coffee's, sometimes I just like to relax back and make a proper cup of ground coffee. Previously I had a rather old cafetiere which had seen better days and I had been eyeing up smaller versions to replace it with, when Bodum gave me opportunity to try one of their models. After perusing the website for some time debating what would suit me best, I fell in love with a pretty little red number with the rather cute name of Bean!

Since Bean's arrival, it has firmly earned its place and whilst being advertised as a 3 cup - that means small espresso cup sized, alternatively I get one large one mug out of it and buzz for a few hours! My cafetiere is perfectly sized for making coffee for one and we are both very happy together!

A really great feature is the heat sealing lid, as I am rather forgetful and it keeps my coffee piping hot until I remember its sitting waiting for me in the kitchen! It also doesn't drip either, resulting in less mess, always a good thing!

Perfect coffee with a lovely slice of homemade upside down pear cake:

Many thanks to Bodum!

Cherry, Cranberry and Chocolate oaty Cookies

Wow, just looking at the title would make my English langauge teacher proud with the use of three capital C's - a great example of 'the power of three'! And I am rather proud right now, as this past year I decided after many years to go back to college and resit my English Language and Maths GCSE's - and I am delighted to say I passed both! Got my first ever A for the English exam, and a very happy C for my maths! All those nights studying till the wee hours and tears of frustration have been worth it!

Whilst these cookies are not my most favourite biscuit in comparison to other oaty things I've ever baked but at same time were quite edible and vanished pretty quickly! I think the only thing I would change would be a touch more sugar...

This is also my first ever entry into the We Should Cocoa challenge run by Chocolate Teapot and Chocolate Log Blog that I have followed with both envy and forgetfulness for a very long time! This month the special ingredient was glorious Cherries, and is being hosted by the lovely Janice of Farmersgirl Kitchen

Whilst fresh cherries would have been delicious to play with, the weather outside was rather soggy and so I decided to use glacé cherries instead for my entry, and baked these from what I had in stock already! The original recipe was found amongst a huge pile of magazine clippings that got finally sorted the other day into the proper sections of my ever expanding ringbinder (s)!, so I am sure where it came from..

Makes about 15

Ingredients 

65g glace cherries, roughly chopped

65g craisins, roughly chopped

110g margarine

50g golden caster sugar

3 tbsp Runny honey

1 egg, beaten

½ tsp vanilla extract

75g oats

75g self raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder

Pre-heat your oven to 190, line 2-3 baking trays with parchment paper

Cream together the margarine and sugar, until smooth and light in colour, whisk in the honey, egg and vanilla. (This is why I love my hand mixer!) Fold in the oats, cocoa and flour. Use a dessert sized spoon to blob the mixture onto the trays, keeping a gap in between as they will expand!

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until still soft on top but golden - they will harden on cooling. Once cooked, leave to cool on the tray for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack

Even Dory was excited to see all the cookies!

Dolcelatte and Smoked Pancetta baked Mushrooms

This recipe dear readers is a little bit overdue, it was originally developed for Tesco's Real Food BBQ campaign. Unfortunately between then and now I've had a major shift in personal circumstances, not to mention moving house amongst the many things going on, and BBQ season has passed in a whiff of smoke it seems! However, these mushrooms were very tasty, and could equally be baked in your oven, without needing to brave standing out in the cold whilst these lovelies cook!

These stuffed mushrooms were rather good if I dare say so myself, however I am very tempted to try a slightly stronger blue cheese next time around, perhaps some picante gorganzola. However with a pack of that in the fridge and me knowing its sitting there waiting to be eaten, it never hangs around for very long!

Ingredients - serves 3 

1 tsp garlic butter

3 large flat portobello mushrooms

3 rashers smoked pancetta, halved across the middle

2 nuggets frozen spinach, thawed, super drained of liquid and finely chopped

2 tsp dried natural breadcrumbs

2 tsp grated grana padano (or parmesan)

1 tsp plain yoghurt

S&P

1 tbsp roasted red onion (see notes on my potato salad recipe)

15 x 1cm cubes dolcelatte (try not to eat them all whilst chopping!)

Method:

Take a large square of foil, and spray with oil.

Carefully cut out mushroom  stalks, and finely chop. 

Place the whole mushrooms cut side up on the oiled foil.

Gently saute the mushroom trimmings in the garlic butter for 4-5 minutes or until golden but not browned. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes. 

To the cooled mixture, add the chopped spinach, onions and yoghurt, a small pinch of salt and pepper and mix well. 

Pile into the mushrooms and smooth over. Dot with the dolcelatte, Criss cross the pancetta over, and sprinkle over the grana padano and breadcrumbs. 

Seal the parcel and bbq (or bake!) until the mushroom has cooked through.

Serve with the bbq essentials - corn on the cob and a good salad!

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Whilst Spinach and Ricotta cannelloni is amongst one of my favourite pasta dishes, and at one point practically the only dish I would order on a restaurant menu as a child; somehow I have only managed to cook this dish just once, many years back! Unfortunately it was whilst I had a balance problem due to an ear infection and so it took me several hours, in between the room ‘spinning’ and trying to stand long enough to assemble the dish! I'm not sure I even remember whether it turned out good or not, something most unusual for me as I seem to recall nearly every other meal I've had!

When this months copy of Jamie magazine arrived containing a recipe for Spinach and Ricotta cannelloni I decided it was high time that I tried again, after a not so fun Saturday afternoon spent doing battle with a trolley, though slightly allieved by a glass of very nice Shiraz when we got home, Spinach and Ricotta cannelloni finally got made again!

Overall the recipe is easy to follow, though it does suggest pre-heating the oven about an hour in advance, if you are following it word perfectly but I will definitely make this one again and know for next time! I really liked the lightness of this dish, there is a subtle hint of lemon zest which lifts the filling to a new level and I urge you not to omit it from the recipe!

It also reminded me to order some disposable piping bags for filling the shells, as my DIY greaseproof paper ones I use for icing fell apart and caused a temporary mayhem! I think we were wearing more spinach at one point than the cannelloni had in it!

Serves 6 (though I upped the quantities by a third, as always good to have leftovers but we had none despite there being 5 of us!)

400g spinach
250g ricotta
1 egg, beaten
2tsp grated parmesan
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 onion, diced
2 garlic, crushed
Grated zest ½ lemon
½ bunch basil leaves
1 bay leaf
250g mozzarella, sliced
150g canneloni, approx 14 shells

Extra Virgin Olive Oil for drizzling (I forgot this bit)

Pre-heat oven to 160 fan/ 180/ gas 4 (though do this a bit later on, as above!)

Put the spinach and a drizzle of olive oil in a large saute pan, on a low heat. Add the nutmeg, a little s&p and cover, gently cook the spinach down (I.e dark green and all wilted) stirring occasionally, transfer to a bowl to cool down.

Use the same pan to heat a little more olive oil, sweat the onion until soft, then add the garlic, tomatoes, bay leaf, a few basil leaves, lemon zest and simmer gently for 20 minutes, until it has thickened, season to taste.

Squeeze the moisture out of the spinach, back into the bowl and chop up the spinach, return to the liquid in the bowl and stir in the egg, ricotta and parmesan. (I did omit some of the liquid as my spinach was quite wet when cooking)

Pipe or fill the canneloni with the mixture and place in a dish to hold them all snugly, in one layer. Spread over the tomato sauce (dont 't forget to pick out the bay leaf!), scatter the basil and add the mozzarella slices, drizzle with the EVOO and cook for 35-40 minutes or until golden and the pasta is cooked through.

Allow to stand for a couple of minutes, then top with remaining basil.  Serve with a nice green baby leaf salad.

Thai Spicy Red Bean and Baby corn Curry

The Thai New Year is coming up soon, 13th to 15th April and to help celebrate, Thai Taste sent me a pot of their Red curry paste. A few years back when I first started getting into cooking I completed a cookery course on Thai cookery at a local college, and whilst some of the Thai dishes were just not for me, I did find a few favourites, including this recipe, that I have made some minor tweaks to. This recipe also converted me into liking green beans!

I really love the slight creaminess, and gentle spiciness of this curry and hope you enjoy it too! Be careful with your pastes though, as I find brands do vary greatly in spice levels, it is always easier to add than to takeaway! Thai Tastes paste was quite mild, so you can use a teaspoon quite safely!

Some ingredients can be hard to track down depending where you live and so good quality, ready made curry pastes are very handy. Thai Tastes’ paste contains no nasties and made of all natural ingredients, just how you would make at home. D is not keen on spicy food either so having the paste on standby is ideal for when I want to whip up something just for me to feast upon!

Easy – 10 minutes
Serves 2-4 as a side dish

400g mix of green beans, trimmed and baby corn, halved (you can use just green beans if preferred)
1 tsp red curry paste (see above guidance)
1 garlic clove
100ml coconut milk
4 spring onions, thinly sliced and roughly split between whiter and green parts
2 tsp Nam pla (also known as Fish sauce)
1 tbsp ground roasted peanut, optional
1 stick lemongrass or 2 tsp dried, soaked in hot water
S&P to taste (Nam Pla is quite salty tasting, so best to taste before adding any salt)
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp mint and coriander leaves

Blitz together the curry paste, garlic, lemongrass, fish sauce and coconut to make a smooth paste

Blanch the vegetables, refresh in cold water and drain

Heat the oil in a wok, add the whiter spring onion parts and fry for 2 minutes, add the paste and reduce by half, add the vegetables and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve immediately, garnish with peanuts if using, remaining spring onions and a scattering of fresh mint and coriander leaves.

Alongside our curry, I roasted cod fillets, with a topping of finely grated ginger, garlic, lime juice and zest, red chilli, spring onions and a bit of s&p:

And some red pepper and aubergine tempura. Whilst they were nice, and all were eaten, the batter was not as light as I’d hoped. Not sure if it was the recipe or me though! I did manage to accidentally forget to put the first batch actually into the batter after flouring and only realised when I wondered why they looked so pale!

Can you spot my chilli flower in the picture? This has also been entered over this months Create and Carve event, this month being held over at Fuss Free Flavours, don't forget to check back there at the end of the month for the the round-up!

To end our mini Thai feast, I also made these Thai Coconut custards. Whilst the recipe was successful, I am not entirely sure I would make them again, can’t decide if I liked them or not! Neither could my Dad!

Thanks to Clementine at Storm Communications.