Nutty Lamb Koftas

Tonight was a help yourself kind of dinner...which I must say is my favourite. I did Nutty Lamb Koftas with Halloumi Flat breads, salad, mint yoghurt and toasted cashew and pine nuts. I put everything in the centre of the table and we all tuck in and enjoy! The lamb koftas are wonderful with the extra wowness from the pistachios. I am a huge nut fan so added the cashew and pine nuts to the wraps but that's personal taste :)

Nutty Lamb Koftas

Ingredients

500 g lamb mince
1 tsp thyme leaves (dried thyme is fine)
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes (add more if you like them with a kick)
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp mint (dried or fresh)
grated zest of 1 lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 large handful shelled pistachio nuts

You can cook this on a griddle like I did or a grill is fine.

Place the lamb in a food processor with the thyme, chilli, cumin, mint and lemon and salt and pepper and all the pistachios. Mix until all incorporated, pistachios are chopped and its all bound into a ball.
Divide the meat into 8 equal pieces and get yourself 4 skewers. With damp hands, push and shape the meat around and along each skewer.
Grill the kebabs until nicely golden on all sides.

Serve with a salad and flatbreads (I did halloumi flatbreads and halloumi and olive flatbreads). Mix some mont leaves into the yoghurt to drizzle in the wraps.
Also toast some cashew nuts and pine nuts to also sprinkle in when making up your wraps.

Time to enjoy :))

Mediterranean Filo Parcels

If you happen to have some filo pastry left over, why not whip up a quick and yummy lunch of Mediterranean Filo Parcels

Mediterranean Filo Parcels

4 long sheets of filo pastry
Olive oil
6 Pancetta strips
Goats cheese grated
Basil leaves
4 Cherry tomatoes halved
Olives - black or green, sliced or if small add whole.

Pre heat the oven to 170/160c fan
Cut the pancetta into 3cm strips and gently fry until just cooked, this will only take a minute or so.
Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Lay two sheets of the filo pastry out on the baking sheet and lightly brush some olive oil over the tops.
Lay half of the pancetta strips in the middle of the filo pastry. Add half of the grated cheese, tear up some the basil leaves and place on the cheese, add half the tomatoes and olives.
Fold over one side of the filo pastry to cover the filling, repeat with the other side and bring in the sides. Lightly brush with olive oil and continue with the other parcel.
Place in a pre heated oven and cook until golden on top, about 10- 15 minutes.

A quick little pudding of Apple and Pecan Strudel

Tonight was a busy cooking night, i made shephards pie with a sweet potato mash and decided last minute to make an apple and pecan strudel as i had some apples left over. I didnt give myself much time...all of 10 minutes to make it, but with a quick patch up job with the filo pastry it came out well haha and tasted divine. It really is a simple and quite quick recipe...a nice little accompaniment to dinner :)

Apple and Pecan Strudel

4 small sweet eating apples (or 2 large-I used red delicious)
80 g butter
4 sheets filo pastry
150 g pecan nuts, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
100g Muscovado sugar
30g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180c/160c
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat or in the microwave.
Carefully cut the filo pasty into 30 x 50cm sheets with a knife. Mix the pecans, cinnamon and muscovado sugar together.
Peel and slice the apples thinly and set them aside while you make up the strudel.
Lay the first sheet of filo pasty on a clean tea towel on your work surface and brush with melted butter. Sprinkle over a third of the pecan mixture. Lay another sheet of filo pastry on top, brush with butter and sprinkle again with a third of the pecan mixture. Repeat with the third sheet and then add the fourth sheet of filo pastry.
Sprinkle the apples with the caster sugar and mix well. Spread them out along one long edge of the top sheet of filo pastry. Starting at the edge with the apple mixture on, gently lift the edge of the tea towel and use it to help you roll the pastry up lengthways like a Swiss roll – the apples will end up at the centre. Once it's all rolled up, press your strudel together gently.
Place it on a baking try and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or double cream

It is perfect the next day, heated up in the oven.

Adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe

Perfect weekend family fun...making pizza

I love to cook and bake with my son and I think it's also very important for them to learn to not just make sweet treats but also savoury ones as well! He normally helps me with my bread making and sometimes we do our own pizza, from the dough, right through to putting our own toppings on! I put out a selection of toppings and sauces and we create our own pizzas, to our own tastes...although most of the time my son likes to eat the veg before it makes it to the pizza, like today when he ate all the olives, peppers and mushrooms, so I had to get some more for the pizzas haha! It makes a perfect family Saturday, making pizza :)

Pizza dough

250g Strong White Bread flour
5g fast action yeast (you can of course use 7g sachet)
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Olive oil
150ml lukewarm Water

(This makes 3 medium sized pizzas but you can double this if you wanted)

Put the flour in a bowl and add the yeast on one side and the salt on another. Pour in the oil and then add the water, and mix until you have a soft but not too sticky dough.
Knead on a floured surface for about 8-10 minutes
Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film for about 2 hours or until doubled in size
Turn out onto a work surface and knock back lightly. Divide into 3 balls and roll the balls into a pizza shape. Roll to about 5mm (this all depends if you like your pizzas thick and doughy or thin and crispy)
(If you want to wait to make your pizzas, then roll out and place between oiled baking paper and leave in the fridge to stop the dough from proving and rising anymore-then you can put your toppings on when your ready)
Now your ready to add your toppings

Tomato sauce
1 Onion- chopped finely
1 garlic clove- sliced finely
1/2 tsp oregano
1 x tin Plum tomatoes
1 tsp tomato purée
Salt and pepper to taste

Fry the chopped onion in a good glug of olive oil. Cook until golden brown and soft.
Add the oregano and garlic and fry for 1 minute. Add the tin of plum tomatoes and stir, breaking up the tomatoes as you go. Add the tomato purée and stir in. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook for about 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced slightly and thickened.

Once you have made the dough and the sauce, it is time to make up your pizzas. I also like to use pesto on my pizza so please refer to my pesto recipe on my fb page.

Suggestions for toppings (These are just some of our favourites)
Tomato sauce
Mozzarella
Peppers
Olives
Mushrooms
Pancetta-thin sliced
Salami
Taleggio
Pesto
Cherry tomatoes
Chorizo
Chicken
Basil leaves
Goats cheese
Pine nuts
Walnuts

My little baking secret...The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm going to let you into a little secret...my famous Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are just so tasty and I get asked all the time to whip up a batch with all different fillings! They started off as a vegan cookie as my son wasn't able to have egg or dairy when he was a toddler so I made these and once he outgrew the allergy then I adapted it to include egg and dairy but ill include the adaptions for you.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 cup Butter or dairy free margarine

1/2 cup Soft muscavado sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Egg or 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup Chocolate Chips or dairy free chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, combine the butter or shortening, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, then add the egg or applesauce. In a separate medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture and combine until creamy. Stir in chocolate chips and drop with a cookie scooper onto prepared baking sheet.
Bake for about 12 minutes (depending on the size) or until lightly brown. Cool slightly on baking sheet and serve!

There's lots of variations which I will add on but if like me why not add some orange zest to the dough...yummy :)

Caramel and Chocolate Layer Cake, Heavenly in every way

It was my grans 85th birthday today so of course I had to make her a super duper cake...and because I'm really rubbish at buying presents! I definitely wanted to make something memorable so I opted for a Caramel and Chocolate layer cake and i wasnt wrong about it being memorable...it was heavenly! It really was absolutely wonderful and went down a storm with the family, with everyone taking home huge chunks with them in doggy bags hahaha :)

Chocolate and caramel layer cake

Vanilla and Chocolate Sponges
225g very soft butter , plus extra for greasing
225g golden caster sugar
175g self-raising flour
85g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
150ml pot natural yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 tbsp cocoa powder

Caramel and Caramel/Chocolate Sponges
225g very soft butter , plus extra for greasing
225g light muscovado sugar
175g self-raising flour
85g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
150ml pot natural yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cocoa

Caramel sauce
300g Granulated sugar (300g)
50g/ 3.5 tablespoons Water
240g Butter cut into small pieces
200g Double cream , warmed
Place the sugar and water in a saucepan, and cook on low heat until it turns golden brown. Do not overmix, or your sugar will crystallize.
Add the butter little by little while gently stirring with a wooden spoon. (Be careful! The mixture is very hot; it sizzles and might splatter.)
Remove the saucepan from the heat, and add the warmed cream. Mix until well combined.
Pour into jars and let cool. The spread should keep for at least three months in the refrigerator.
Keep in the refrigerator so that your confiture has a beautiful, spreadable consistency.
*Please feel free to use shop bought caramel sauce if you would like

Chocolate Buttercream
1 cup unsalted butter ( 1/2 pound), softened
3 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract
4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Instructions

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment.
For the Vanilla & chocolate sponges, mix all the ingredients, apart from the cocoa, together with an electric whisk. Scrape half the mix into a second bowl and mix in the cocoa. Scrape into the tins and bake for 20-25 mins until a skewer poked in comes out clean.
Repeat step 1 for the Caramel & caramel-choc sponges, again leaving cocoa out of the first mixing, then splitting the mix in half and mixing the cocoa into one batch. Cook as above.
When the sponges are cool, spread a third of the caramel over the Vanilla sponge and top with the Caramel sponge. Spread over another third of the caramel and top with the Caramel-choc sponge, then the final third of caramel and top with the Chocolate sponge (don't panic if you mix up the layers, the cake will still look great when you cut in).
For the buttercream- Cream butter for a few minutes. Sift icing sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl and mix until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter. Add vanilla extract and milk and beat. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Spread the chocolate buttercream over the whole cake to serve. It will keep in a cool place in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
(There may will be some buttercream left over so cover and place in the fridge for up to a week.)

Love Heart Pasta with Sausage, Pancetta and Peas

I hope everyone is enjoying their week :) The weather has gone pretty cold again so needed something warm and hearty for dinner so this dish is perfect, would also be great for some summer alfresco dining...it really is absolutely delicious :)

Love Hearts Pasta with Sausage, Pancetta and Peas
(amore cuori con salsiccia, pancetta e piselli)

1 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion (chopped)
4 Sausages (cut into chunks)
65g Pancetta
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 Tinned tomatoes
1/4 cup heavy cream
A good handful of Frozen Peas (cooked through either in microwave or on the hob)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Half a teaspoon of sugar
200g-250g shaped Pasta (we used love hearts but feel free to use any pasta you want)

Heat the butter and oil together in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion and stir until lightly golden and soft. Raise the heat to medium/high, add the sausage and pancetta, and cook, stirring and breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon, until the sausage has a golden brown color.
Add the wine and stir until almost all of it has evaporated. Add the tinned tomatoes and cream and season with salt and pepper and add the sugar. As soon as the sauce comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until it has a medium-thick consistency, about 10 minutes. Stir in the peas.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite (al dente)
Drain the pasta and place in the pan with the sauce and mix until the pasta and sauce are well combined.
Serve and sprinkle with Parmigiano if desired.

A half term treat

I promised to bring you some more easy kid friendly recipes and these two are just that...No Bake Cheesecake and No Churn Vanilla Ice Cream! Both the recipes are very simple and are perfect for little ones, no hot oven involved although waiting is essential...sorry I couldn't avoid that :(

No Bake Cheesecake

150g Digestive Biscuits
80g Butter (melted)

250g Mascarpone
150ml Double Cream
2tsl Vanilla Extract
100g Icing Sugar

Place the digestive biscuits in a food processor and blitz, add the melted butter and blitz again. Pour this into a 20cm springform cake tin and press down. (You can of course break the biscuits up in a bag and mix the butter and biscuit in a bowl). Put in the fridge while you make the cream mixture
Pour the double cream into a bowl and whisk until you get stiff peaks.
Mix the mascarpone and icing sugar together until fully incorporated and add the vanilla extract and mix in.
Add the whipped double cream to the mascarpone mix and fold in gently.
Pour the mixture onto the biscuit base and smooth over.
Place in the fridge for a few hours or if like me, place in the freezer for an hour to quicken the setting process hahahaha :))

Lovely served with:

No churn ice cream

1 can (14 ounces) Condensed milk
2 tsp Vanilla extract
2 cups (475ml) Double Cream

In a bowl, stir together condensed milk and vanilla extract. In another bowl, whisk the double cream until you get stiff peaks (easier using an electric whisk) With a rubber spatula, gently fold whipped cream into condensed milk mixture. Pour into a large tupperware tub and freeze until firm, usually about 6 hours and enjoy :)

Fun recipe for the half term holiday :)

It's half term for most next week and a great way to spend time together is with cooking and baking! It's so much fun for the kids, even if they don't do the preparation, the decorating is even more fun...granted my son just eats most of it before it even makes it to the cookie or cupcake but that's the fun part :) Rather than just a basic cookie or cupcake, why not try something a little different. A while ago we made some mini iced buns, the preparation is lengthy so better for older kids learning to cook but also a great starter to bread making, the kneading part is fun for all ages. The decorating is the best part so make sure you have lots of sprinkles and decorations to hand.

Mini Iced Buns

500g strong white bread flour
10g fast action yeast
50g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
40g butter
140ml warmed milk
140ml tepid water (this can vary)

Icing sugar and water for icing
Hundreds and thousands, sprinkles

Add the flour, salt, sugar and yeast to a bowl (making sure not to put the salt and yeast together as the salt can kill the yeast)
Pour the milk into a pan and add the butter, heat gently until warmed through and butter has melted, it shouldn't be too hot (warm enough that you can put your fingers in comfortably...be very careful) if it is too hot, allow to cool.
Add the egg and the milk/butter mixture to the flour mixture and start to mix, incorporate the water until a dough forms (not too sticky) it may need more or less of the water.
Knead the dough on a floured work surface for 5-10 minutes. (This is great for kids, just push the dough away from you from the top and fold over, turn the dough round 45 degrees and repeat for the kneading duration)
Place in an oiled bowl and leave to rest in a warm place until doubled in size.
Turn out onto a flour worktop and knock back the dough by squashing with your hands. Divide into about 20 small balls or more depending on the size you want as they will get bigger and make them into a oval shape (of course you can leave them as balls if you prefer.
Place on a lined baking sheet, allowing some room next to each one. Cover with oiled cling film and allow to prove again (doubled in size) normally about 2 hours.
Pre heat oven to 200/180 degrees and place in the oven for about 8 minutes until golden in colour.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Once cooled, make the icing by mixing icing sugar and water together, feel free to add food colouring to make them pretty and make sure you have plenty of sprinkles and decorations at the ready and now decorate to your hearts content :))

Of course if time is short then make these up without the kids and have them just decorate them...the best part :))

If you don't feel comfortable making the dough from scratch feel free to use a white bread mix from the supermarket and just add the sugar, 1 egg and 250-300ml of water and prove until doubled in size, divide the dough and prove again and bake...and decorate :))

A valentines special

For valentines day i cooked a lovely meal for my hubby, son and our friends and for pudding I wanted to make something light and sweet and these ticked the boxes. So simple to make yet extremely moreish, you may be tempted to make more....I did hehehe :)

Italian Doughnut recipe

200g Ricotta
2 Eggs
80g Plain Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tbsp Caster Sugar
Zest of half an Orange
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Combine the ricotta and egg and mix thoroughly.
Add the flour, baking powder, sugar, zest and mix well.
Heat the oil in a deep pan, when it gets hot enough, spoon small amounts of the batter into the hot oil using a teaspoon. They will turn golden quite quickly and some will turn over by themself but keep and eye on them and turn them over if needed. Allow them to go golden on the other side and using a slotted spoon remove them and place on some kitchen paper.
Transfer to a plate and dust with icing sugar and serve and enjoy :)

(Recipe based on a nigella lawson recipe)

Simple Tortilla Wraps

I'm a big fan of simple and quick recipes and although I love making bread it is time consuming so if I need to whip up something for lunch then this is the perfect recipe. Tortilla Wraps, they really are so simple to make and take about half an hour...who would have thought! Everyone that has tried my tortilla wraps have all said they are better than shop bought ones...and with only 5 ingredients, all of which you have in your cupboards they are fantastic.

Tortilla Wraps

Ingredients


1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup Butter

1/2 cup Boiling water


Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl. Add butter and work into flour mixture using your hands until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Pour in the hot water. Work flour and water mixture together with a fork and transfer to a cutting board.
Knead the dough until a smooth, about 3 minutes.
Place the dough in a bowl, cover the bowl with cling film, and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
Divide dough into 6 equal parts.
Flour tour worktop lightly and roll out balls of dough with a rolling pin, quite thin.
Heat a dry frying pan over high heat. Place the flattened dough into the frying pan and cook until it begins to bubble, about 1 minute. Flip tortilla over and cook for an additional minute. They don't take long but try not to cook them for too long as they will go hard. Place on a plate and cover with cling film or a teatowel to keep them from drying out.Repeat with remaining dough.

A sweet valentine swirl

As its almost valentines day, I must of course add a little something sweet :) my son had his friends coming over for a play date and tea so we decided to make some mini valentine cookies for them and of course they needed to be fun and different so we went for some sweet valentine swirls pops....must say they were a huge hit :) Very simple to make but so effective!
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons brandy, or milk (I prefer milk, surprisingly enough)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
Mix together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; mix until light and fluffy. With mixer running, add egg, brandy or milk, and vanilla; mix until well combined. With the mixer on low, slowly add reserved flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
Here is where we shake it up to make our swirl cookies.
Transfer half of dough to a work surface. in a bowl add 1/8 teaspoon of food coloring. Mix until just evenly distributed, try not to overmix.
Place your white dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll into a rectangle as best you can. Repeat with the colored dough. Place on a baking sheet and put it in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
Remove the dough from the fridge and peel the paper off of one side of the colored dough. Lightly flour your work surface and flip the dough over onto it, then peel off the paper from the other side.
Lightly brush the top of the colored dough with water.
Peel the paper off of one side of your white dough. Place it dough side down on top of the colored dough, trying to align the two rectangles of dough as well as possible. Then peel the paper from the other side.
Use a sharp knife to trim the edges of your rectangle so they are straight and even. Save the scraps and use to make other cookies such as marbled cookie shapes (rolling two colours together and cutting them out)
Start to gently roll the dough and Continue until it is all rolled up.
You might see some gaps if you look at the side of the dough. You don’t want those so gently roll the dough with two hands until the gaps disappear.
In a pan, empty your sprinkles or whatever cookie decoration you like. We used hundred and thousands.
Brush the dough with water, then gently roll in the toppings, pushing the toppings gently into the dough so they stick.
Wrap with cling film and Place in the fridge for one hour to firm up.
Preheat oven to 180/170 fan/350 degrees. Remove dough from the fridge and trim the ends of the dough flat.
Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Evenly slice the roll to about 1/4″ thickness.
Place on the baking tray, at this point you can insert some lollipop sticks to create lollipop cookies and Bake until lightly golden, about ten minutes; do not allow to brown.
Enjoy :)))

Caramel, Cream, Raspberry and Chocolate Crepe Cake

What a busy weekend I've had, so much cooking and baking. We've had friends over on both Saturday and Sunday and made feasts both days. I made a Spanish feast on Saturday which I promise to share the recipes but I will save those for another day. Sunday of course had to be a roast, it's cold outside and it was well overdue. For pudding I decided that as it was almost pancake day I would try something a little different so decided on a crepe cake, now just to figure out what to fill it with...much simpler than I thought...everything hahaha :) Caramel, Cream, Raspberry and Chocolate Crepe Cake....you can thank me later :) it truly is amazing...heavenly and out of this world! Okay the pancake making is time consuming but once that's done, your laughing, I promise you won't regret it.

Caramel, Cream, Raspberry and Chocolate Crepe cake

Pancakes -
240g plain flour
4 eggs
600ml semi-skimmed milk
2 tbsp sunflower oil or vegetable, plus extra for frying
pinch salt

Dulce de leche or any other caramel sauce (you can of course make this yourself but if time is short you can buy it already made)

Cream filling
200g mascarpone
300ml double cream
2tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Tub Raspberries

Bar of milk chocolate

Put the flour and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Crack the eggs into the middle, then pour in about 50ml milk and 2 tbsp oil. Start whisking from the centre, gradually drawing the flour into the eggs, milk and oil. Once all the flour is incorporated, beat until you have a smooth, thick paste. Add a little more milk if it is too stiff to beat.
Finishing the batter: Add a good splash of milk and whisk to loosen the thick batter. While still whisking, pour in a steady stream of the remaining milk. Continue pouring and whisking until you have a batter that is the consistency of slightly thick single cream. There's no need to let it stand, this is a myth. Make up your pancakes in a frying pan and put onto a plate and leave to cool.

Cream filling
Whisk the double cream until firm and holds it shape
In a separate bowl mix the mascarpone with the caster sugar until soft and smooth
Add the mascarpone mixture to the double cream and mix well then add the 1 tbsp vanilla extract and mix.

To make the crepe cake
Place one of the pancakes onto a plate and spoon some of the cream mixture onto the pancake and smooth all over
Spoon a small amount of the dulce de leche and spread lightly over the cream
Take another pancake and lay that on top.
Spoon some of the cream onto the pancake and then add some of the raspberries
Keep repeating this until all the pancakes are used and top with the final pancake
Top off with more raspberries
Melt the chocolate and pour this over the cake
And now it's time to enjoy :)

Italian Sausage and Bean Casserole - Salsicce e Fagioli

How's everyone's week going? As it has been so cold today, a well needed warming meal was in order and there's no better than a casserole. Rather than spending hours cooking I always like to do an Italian sausage and bean casserole which is simple to prepare and doesn't take long to cook so it won't take long to warm yourself up :) and as requested by my husband I made a lovely little pudding which I will save for another day. But here's the recipe for the Italian sausage and bean casserole

Italian Sausage and Bean Casserole
Salsicce e Fagioli

4 tbsp olive oil
1 onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 garlic clove
65g pancetta, diced
500g pork sausages, cut into chunks about 3cm thick
2 tbsp plain flour
1 glass red wine
1tbsp tomato purée
400ml beef stock
400g tinned cannellini beans, drained
200g button mushrooms, quartered
5 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Heat the olive oil in a large casserole dish and fry the onions and carrots over a high heat for two minutes until golden and then add the garlic and fry for a further minute.
Add in the pancetta and the sausages and cook until the sausages are browned on all sides (about 5 minutes), stirring with a wooden spoon, dont worry too much if the sausages break up a bit as this adds to the flavour and texture.
Mix in the flour and cook for a further minute, stirring continuously.
Add in the wine and cook for about two minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate (this will thicken due to the flour)
Add in the beef stock, stir in the tomato purée, the cannellini beans and the mushrooms. Add the bay leaves, season with salt and pepper, and bring to the boil.
Put a lid on and cook in the oven for 30 minutes until the sausages are tender and the sauce has thickened.

This is great served with rice, or potatoes and green vegetables, and some lovely fresh bread to soak up the wonderful sauce

Sugar Crusted Orange Scones

I try to never miss an opportunity to do some baking and any excuse will do so today I had some friends over and with some leftover ricotta I decided to make my lovely sugar crusted orange scones...they are so simple to make and are very moreish, but try to refrain from eating them all before your guests arrive haha :)

Sugar crusted orange scones

175g ricotta
grated zest of 1 orange
100g caster sugar
200g self-raising flour
50g butter
1-2 tbsp milk , plus extra for brushing
demerara sugar for topping


Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6/fan oven 180C and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Tip the ricotta into a bowl and mix in the orange zest and half the sugar until combined.
Sift the flour and remaining sugar into another bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes and rub into the flour mixture so it looks like fine breadcrumbs.
Stir the ricotta mixture into the flour mixture, adding a tablespoon or two of milk if necessary to get a soft (but not sticky) dough. Tip the dough on to a floured work surface and knead very lightly a few times only - just until the dough loses its craggy look. If you overknead, the scones will be tough.
Roll the dough to about 3cm (they will rise) and cut out using a round cutter (or square )
Brush the top of the scones with milk, and then sprinkle with a little of the demerara sugar on each one Bake for 20 minutes until well risen and golden on top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.
Perfect served with a sweet mascarpone cream

Red Velvet Brownie Pie

I decided as it was almost valentines day, well soon anyway, that I would start to do some great valentines inspired recipes and post them for you all. My first had to be something devilish as we had guests, so I decided on a Red Velvet Brownie Pie.....well what more can you ask for...a brownie in a pastry case and beautiful red colour just perfect for valentines :)) it's a must try recipe!

Red Velvet Brownie Pie

Ingredients

For the Pie
½ cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ounce red food coloring
2/3 cup chocolate chips
1 sweet shortcrust pastry case

Preheat oven to 350°. Make shortcrust pastry and blind bake, leave to cool.
Combine cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and food coloring in a small bowl. Stir to form a paste.
Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer until fluffy. Mix in eggs, one at a time, then add remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add cocoa powder mixture and beat until completely incorporated. Mix in flour and salt. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into the pastry case.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (or only slightly coloured)
Now enjoy either with ice cream or a cream cheese whipped cream.

Halloumi flat breads...easy to make and so very tasty

I like to try and do some form of bread to accompany our meals. When time is short and I don't have the time to work with a yeast dough I always turn to this recipe for flat breads. It's so versatile and although I am giving you the halloumi version you can try any combination, such as olive and Harissa, Manchego cheese and roasted red pepper, or olive and feta, they really are so yummy :)

Halloumi Flat Bread

300g self raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
300g plain yoghurt
150-200g halloumi

Add the flour, salt and baking powder to a bowl and add the yoghurt and mix to form a dough. Add the crumbed halloumi cheese and knead into the dough
Cover your work surface with plenty of flour and divide your dough into 8 pieces and now you can roll them flat ready to dry fry
In a frying pan heat a small amount of oil and once heated up pour it out and place your first flat bread into the pan. Fry for a couple of minutes until golden and then turn over and fry for a further couple of minutes and remove to a plate. Continue with the rest of the flat breads and serve

(Adapted from Jo Wheatley recipe)

Maple Mustard Pulled Pork

Most weekends we have friends or family over so I spend a lot of time in my kitchen preparing a feast, this week was no exception. I had decided to do a recipe that I had tried out on my boys a few weeks previous which went down so well that when I mentioned I would do for our friends my husband almost started salivating. Maple mustard pulled pork, you will not believe your taste buds when you try it, it is definitely one to try and honestly it really is quite an easy laid back recipe, it's slow cooked to give you time to either rest or if like me, prepare more food including a pudding haha :)) well heres the recipe. I served mine with halloumi flat breads and salad...with Spanish stuffed aubergine and green veg...I'm still struggling to move now and we finished dinner three hours ago...oooops

Maple mustard pulled pork

40g sea salt
200g light muscovado sugar
2kg/4lb 8oz piece pork shoulder
100ml maple syrup
100g wholegrain mustard

Mix the sea salt and 100g of the sugar in a large food bag, add the pork and coat it well. (If you don't have a bag, rub over the pork in a dish and cover with cling film.) Leave in the fridge overnight.
The next day, remove the pork and wipe down the meat with kitchen paper. Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Mix the remaining sugar, the maple syrup, mustard and some ground pepper. Rub half the mixture over the pork and Roast for 6 hrs.
After the 6 hours remove the pork and spoon the remaining maple mixture over the pork and roast for 1 hr more.
Rest the meat for 30 mins on a plate loosely covered with foil. To serve, tear the pork into big fat chunks and serve

French bead stick

I like to make a lot of bread, all different types and one that I hadn't tried was French bread stick so I decided now was the time. I set a day to do some baking and with some sweet buns that i made, I also made the french bread which came out brilliantly and went lovely with dinner, well what was left of it after my son and husband helped themselves hahaha :)

Homemade fish and chips with Italian peas

Whenever we fancy fish and chips I much prefer to make it then buy it from the chippy! It is quick and simple to make and it really is so much nicer

Battered fish

I normally use haddock but any other white fish is fine

Batter
1 cup self raising flour
1 cup cold water
Salt and pepper to taste
A small sprinkling of paprika

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and whisk until fully incorporated

Cut the fish into any size pieces you fancy, I like small pieces which means more batter :)
Place your fish into the batter and mix lightly to coat all the pieces

Heat the vegetable oil in a pan or your deep fat fryer
When it becomes hot enough (put a small amount of batter into the oil and if it cooks within 10-15 seconds its hot enough) add your fish in small batches so as not to cool the oil down too much
Cook for about 4-5 minutes and turn and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. The batter should be golden colour.
Drain on some kitchen roll and continue with the rest of the fish

Oven chips

750g potatoes (about 3 medium large), peeled
Olive oil , for drizzling
Salt

Heat oven to its highest setting, 220/fan 200c/gas 9.
Cut the potatoes into 1cm-wide slices, then into 1cm-thick sticks. Blanch in a large pan of boiling water for 5 mins, then drain well.
Place the potatoes onto a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, make sure each chip is evenly coated, shake and then season. Bake for about 15 mins, shaking the potatoes at least twice, until golden brown and crisp.

Italian peas

1 cup Garden Peas
1 heaped tablepoon Mascarpone
Grated Parmesan

Cook your peas either in the microwave or on the hob but don't over cook, they need to have a slight crunch when bitten into. Drain and add to a pan with a small amount of olive oil
Gently fry and add 1 large heaped tablespoon of mascarpone, melt and mix in. Add the grated Parmesan (Depending on how cheesy you want them depends on how much Parmesan you add) and serve :)

If you like mushy peas, crush them with a potato masher once you've cooked them with the mascarpone and Parmesan