Polenta for Breakfast!

Porridge is not the only warm breakfast to have on a cold winters morning, Polenta is also delicious and is very quick to make.  It's an incredibly comforting dish, that really can be eaten at any time of the day but its warming and filling nature does make it perfect for breakfast!

Polenta is great with lots of different toppings, here I added raisins, cinnamon, flax seeds, chia seeds and a chopped pear. 

If you soak the ingredients overnight, the cooking time will be reduced (lessening the morning rush) and the raisins will be plump and juicy!

'Boost Me Up' Smoothie

Throughout the duration of my A level exam period, I made this smoothie everyday to keep  me energised when dealing with stress and fatigue. I still make it often and especially when I'm feeling ill or in need of a 'boost'.

It really works and is delicious, full of fibre, vitamins, minerals, iron and omega 3.

I usually use whatever is in season and what we have in the house. Right now kale and chard are having their moment, so are appearing in mostly everything that I cook!

Depending on how your feeling you can decide to leave the peel on or off the oranges and lemons, as leaving it all on makes for a rather bitter drink. I usually leave the peel on most of the other fruit if possible as most of the goodness is in the peel.

I also add chia seeds and flax seeds to the mix to enhance the drinks goodness!

Today's ingredients!

Thumb size piece of Ginger

Half a Lemon

1 Orange

5 Kale leaves

5 Chard leaves

1 small Apple

1 Kiwi

2 tbs of Flax seeds

2 tbs of Chia seeds

1 cup of water (more or less depending on what consistency you prefer)

 This makes enough for four glasses, although can be left in the fridge if you have some left over.

'No Worry Curry'

As cheesy as the title sounds this really is a 'No Worry Curry'! Simply heat up your soup/stew and add a couple of tbs of homemade curry powder and a little soy sauce, and hey you have a delicious and easy curry! Serve with rice or naan and a fresh salad. (You can also add some precooked vegetables to the curry to 'bulk it out'.)

Although it may sound strange to use up left over soup or stew, making curry in a Japanese home is not too dissimilar. Usually you would make a soup/stew of vegetables and meat and then add a curry 'stock cube' to the mix. Therefore cooking this way is totally delicious and you won't become part of the population who chucks away left overs!

Roast Ham and Lentil Soup with Stilton and Date Soda Bread

Today we experienced the best of the welsh weather; rain, mist, wind and snow! To counter the cold I made this warming soup, after finding some roast ham (left over from Christmas) in the freezer and surveying the straggle of half used swede, carrots and the last few tiny potatoes (that are always left until the end because no one can be bothered to peel them!) I also added a handful of lentils as I like the creamy texture that the lentils bring which seems to envelop the ham and vegetables and bring the whole soup together. As the wood burner was burning away I cooked it on that and I left the soup to do its thing, while adding more ingredients throughout the different stages of cooking. I also made a super-quick soda bread to go with it to make the meal even more wholesome than it already was!

This soup is border lining into the area of a stew but for me it still classifies as a soup (I'm not sure why, maybe because I started out in the 'soup' mind-set... and for my dad who has been suffering from toothache recently, I removed the ham and blitzed up the rest, and then re-added the ham which resulted in a thick, silky soup which was equally as delicious!

Ingredients

Half a Swede 

2 small Onions

2 Carrots 

6 small Potatoes

handful of Lentils

400 grams of Roast Ham & fat (to fry with)

handful of Peas

5 sprigs of kale 

3 sprigs of chard

handful of land cress

Method

The soup was really easy to make:

1. Chop up all the vegetables and fry them (with fat from the ham) until darkly coloured (for extra flavour), then add the red lentils and top it up with hot water and salt & pepper.

2. When the veg is nearly tender add the chopped ham and garden peas to the pot.

3. At this point make the soda bread (details here). I think dates go so well with the flavour of soda bread and the Stilton complements the sweetness brilliantly.

4. Just before the soup is ready to serve, add the kale and sprinkle a little water cress to add a fresh peppery taste to the dish.

Bulgur Wheat Salad

This is my go to 'Lunch Salad'. It's quick and easy to make and full of flavour. This is a very versatile salad and I usually use what I can find in my fridge and pantry. Here I used Bulgur Wheat but any other type of grain works! I've used rice, quinoa and pearl barley in the past and they were all delicious.

Bulgur Wheat has a mild flavour (similar to rice) and as well as being high in protein and fiber it also has a low calorie count. Having already been precooked before you buy it, it doesn't take long to cook at home.To accompany the Bulgur Wheat I added a grated carrot, finely sliced celery, cucumber and a spring onion. To add a little more flavour I added a few chopped capers and a teaspoon of homemade Tapenade. To finish the salad I squeezed a little lemon juice and a drizzle of Rapeseed oil. 

I also added a few chunks of beetroot and a crumble of Stilton!

Blind Dates (The Chewy Kind)

I cannot overemphasise how brilliant of an ingredient Dates are to use in (processed) sugar free cookery. They are sweet, chewy and sticky in texture and have a wonderful caramel like flavour, making them perfect to use in sweet treats. Although dates do contain a high amount of natural sugar; it does not compare to the negative effects of processed sugar on the body. So to be able to come up with a recipe which is healthy, totally delicious and can be indulged in without feeling too guilty is a triumph!

Yesterday evening I had a chocolate craving, so in the Nigella-Esq way (Que the low lighting and silk dressing gown!), I creeped my way to the kitchen and put a handful of dates, almonds, a few Brazil nuts with a couple of tea spoons of cocoa powder into a blender and blitzed, resulting in a sticky, chocolate, chewy, nutty, brownie like mixture. So leaving the mess behind in the kitchen I took the blitzed up yumminess to the sofa and happily eat out of the bowl, satisfying my sweet tooth!

  

With the remainder of the mixture I rolled it out and sprinkled with desiccated coconut and cocoa powder and left it in the fridge to harden overnight. I also have made them with Pumpkin, Sunflower seeds and peanut butter and they are equally as delicious and slightly cheaper to make.

Ingredients

Nuts e.g. Almonds/Brazil/Pecan/Peanuts...

Dates

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Method

Blitz everything up in a food processor until the consistency of the mixture is achieved and put in a baking tray and leave in the fridge to harden, or if you can't wait that long... go ahead and eat it ASAP!

Dauphinoise Potatoes

I've had enough of roast potato's (I don't think this feeling's going to last for long!) as I feel like I've over indulged on them recently, so when faced with a roast chicken I decided to pair it with Dauphinoise Potatoes and a Slow Cooked Red Cabbage dish. Yum.  

Dauphinoise Potatoes (my adaption on the original) is simple to make; just layer your potato's and add a little onion, garlic,butter, herbs, olive oil and seasoning until you have filled up the dish, then add the cream and milk and top with cheese. Bake in the oven and your left with a golden crusted creamy potato heaven!!

Pullet Eggs...

A couple of weeks ago I managed to catch an episode of 'Friday Night Feast' presented by Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty. They did a feature on Pullet eggs, which are the first few eggs that a hen lays when starting her egg cycle; resulting in a slightly smaller than average egg. The programme visited a free range egg farm in Sussex which like other farmers has to either throw away or sell the "mini eggs" for a very small amount. Jimmy Doherty stated that: "every day in the UK more than 1.5 million small eggs are thrown on the scrapheap or sold for peanuts to be turned into liquid egg,” I (naively) had no idea that this was happening in the UK and also I suppose the whole world. With so much food poverty in our country and more food banks than ever being used, it is as Jimmy states 'unthinkable'. Although in a society that throws away more than 'fifteen million tonnes' each year, maybe this is not much a surprise? Anyway fast forward to the next morning where I woke up and fancied an egg for breakfast (laid by our lovely young ladies who have just started laying this week, pause for a celebratory clap!). I realised when taking an egg out of the box that these fine eggs where 'pullet eggs', which if we were commercially producing, would be thrown away. But instead I poached my pullet egg, and it was DELICIOUS! A Pullet egg has a firmer white and yolk so should be considered as a "premium" product. As you can see in my picture of the poached egg, there is no excuse for these to be chucked away.

Thanks to influential individuals such as Jaime Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, we are able to highlight wastage like this, and prevent it from happening.

Morning Pullet Omelet

Star Anise and Cinnamon Biscuits

I've been craving cinnamon this week (I reckon I'm having withdrawal symptoms from Christmas!) and I had an urge to make some biscuits but chose to make a slightly healthier version by using olive oil. So I went ahead and found this recipe and made them! However, the recipe called for aniseed's, and living out in the middle of nowhere means that when we run out of an ingredient, we really have run out! So I used Star Anise and Cinnamon instead.

Instead of brushing the biscuits with egg white and sugar, I baked them first for 10 minutes and then brushed them with honey, sprinkled with granulated sugar and cinnamon and cooked for a further 5 minutes, until really crisp! I found that the star anise worked really well with the flavour of the olive oil and baking them for that little bit longer gave the biscuits a satisfying crunch!

They are a rather different to 'traditional' biscuits, but I and my family rather loved these!

Squidgy Gooey Chocolate Cake

 I have to say that this really is one of the most delicious chocolate cakes I've ever eaten! It's so easy and can be cooked to your liking on the day. Here I cooked the cake for 35 min for a slightly gooey, but fudge like texture. But it can be taken out of the oven at 20 min and you get a delicious chocolate sauce like center. I have already had birthday requests for this cake, so I think it's a keeper!

Ingredients

90 grams of Butter

40 grams unsweetened cocoa powder

185 grams Muscovado sugar

36 grams of plain flour

36 grams of rice flour (can use plain flour instead making it 72 grams)

2 eggs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180c or Gas Mark 4.

2. Line a cake tin (I used a 12inch).

3. Melt the butter and mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

4. Pour the mixture into a cake tin and bake for 20-40 min depending on the texture you want.

5. Take out the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes and serve warm.

If you can possibly restrain yourself from eating it or have some left over, the cake is equally delicious when cooled!

Caramalised Onion Soda Bread and Apple and Date Soda Bread

I really loved the Soda Bread I made last week so I decided to make some more! This time I split the recipe and made two mixtures: A Caramelised Onion one for the days I feel savoury and a Apple and Date one for when I'm feeling sweet! I have to say that this bread is SO quick and easy to make and is utterly delicious, and both these flavours turned out to be winners!

Apple and Date mixture

The milk once the lemon juice is added

Onion mixture

The bread before it's baked

The Best Gluten Free Apple Crumble!

We had a great crop of Apples this year, resulting in us making an abundance of crumbles, pies, chutneys and cider! We then wrapped the rest in newspaper, and most of them are still in great condition. So today I decided to use some of the ones which were in not so good condition by making a good old fashioned crumble, but being on my Gluten Free diet (or reducing gluten diet I should probably say!) I wanted to make an equally delicious or even more delicious alternative. So I substituted plain flour for Ground Almonds and Rice Flour, and the result was a delicious crisp topping complementing our autumn apples! I used a mix of Bramley apples (cooking) and Cox apples (eating), in order to have the texture of the 'melted' apples as well as having small chunks.

Ingredients

For the base:

2 Cooking apples
1 Eating apple
1 tbs of honey

For the topping:

2 part of ground almonds
1 part of rice flour
butter
honey
brown sugar for the top

Method

I think most people know how to make a crumble, so I'm not going to go into much detail!

First I chopped the apples up and added the honey, I then cooked it in a pan for 5 min and then put in in my oven dish.
I then put the ground almonds and rice flour in a bowl, with enough honey to sweeten and then added enough butter to make the mixture resemble bread crumbs, and stuck that on top of the apple.
I then sprinkled a little brown sugar on the top and baked until golden!
I served it with a little Greek yogurt and a few frozen raspberries (from our summer crop!)

HomeMade Paneer (South Asian Cheese)

This is one of the most satisfying recipes to make! It is SO easy and takes very little time and results in your own homemade cheese! Usually when I look up recipes to make yogurt or cheese products, the recipe requires specialist equipment or specialist ingredients; which I never have in the house. However for this recipe you only need everyday ingredients! Yay!

Paneer is traditionally eaten in South Asia and can be used in curries, stir-fries or even grilled.  I suppose it can be used in a similar way to halloumi.

Right so let's get to the recipe!

Ingredients- As usual I haven't specified amounts as it depends on how much Paneer you want to end up with!

Full fat milk

Lemon or a white Vinegar (I used Rice vinegar)

Some sort of strainer, e.g. a cheese strainer, clean tea cloth...

The milk starting to separate as I add the vinegar.

Serious Curd and Whey action happening here!

The slightly odd shape that I decided to form my Paneer into!

 Method

1. Heat up the amount of milk you would like to use until it softly boils.

2. While the milk is heating up, set up your strainer cloth on top of a colander

2. Then add your acid until the milk separates (you will know when to stop adding as the milk will turn into two separate forms, the curd and whey)

3. Pour your separated mixture onto the strainer and let the liquid seep through as the solids are left.

4.Squeeze any remaining liquid and form it into a shape you would like and put weights on top and put in the fridge for 30min.

5. Take off the strainer, and you will be left will the hardened cheese that you can now use in your cookery!

*If you would like a harder version of Panner whisk a tbs of flour into the milk before adding the acid.

Apple and Ginger Soda Bread (rice and buckwheat flour) (gf)

I was inspired to make this loaf after reading Jack Munroe's blog 'A girl called Jack'. I'm sure you have already checked her blog out, but in case you haven't she creates simple and delicious dishes cheaply. I would definitely recommend her blog! As I'm on my Gluten Free week I changed up her recipe by using rice flour, buckwheat flour and corn flour as a substitute for plain flour. I also used apples instead of rhubarb as we still have our own apples left over from the autumn, and rhubarb ain't season right now (although I can't wait to use it when it is!).

Ingredients

200 ml of milk
Juice of half a lemon
140g of brown rice flour
140g of buckwheat flour      
20g of corn flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda


Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180c or gas mark 4.
2. First your going to curdle your milk! So add the lemon juice to the milk and mix.
3. Add your flours to the bowl and make a well in the centre and add your milk.
4. Mix through until your mixture forms into a ball (don't over mix, however tempting!).
5.Put the ball onto a floured baking tin or tray and slice a cross over the dough (Jack said in her recipe that the cross is to let the fairies out, which I love!).
6. Put in the oven and cook for 40min or whenever you bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

A Red Cabbage and Pumpkin seed Salad (gf)

I made a Mexican inspired oven baked bean stew today and served it with polenta and this salad. I wanted something that was fresh and tangy but also had lots of texture to go with my earthly, chili tomato baked stew and silky polenta. So I made this exciting dish which complemented the meal but also held its own, unlike many sad salads that are dumped on the table as a second thought!

The fresh crispness of the vegetables, tanginess of the vinegar and lemon juice topped with the crunch of seeds complements the whole meal by adding that texture and freshness that the other dishes needed to shine!!

As usual I haven't been specific on the amount and ratio as your preferences may be different to mine!

RECIPE

Red cabbage
Yellow Pepper
Celery
Red onion
Gherkin
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
A little sprinkle of mustard seeds and Flax seeds

Dressing
Squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil

METHOD

1) Finally slice the pepper and celery and slice the red cabbage in thin slices but still thick enough to give a crunch and place in a bowl.
2) Then finally slice the amount of red onion you want and place it in a different bowl with a little red wine vinegar to remove the raw taste, and leave for a minute or so then squeeze a little of the vinegar out of the onion and add to the salad bowl.
3) Chop the amount of gherkin you want into small pieces and add to the bowl.
4) In a pan (any one will do!) toast all the seeds until slightly browned and turn off the heat.
5) 10 minutes before you serve the salad add the lemon juice and olive oil (amount to your taste) and toss the salad in it.
6) Just before you serve the salad sprinkle the toasted seeds on the top (doing this immediately before you serve, means that the seeds with be crunchy and not soft, giving that extra satisfying crunch!)

Soya Flour Scones (gf)

Paprika, Sundried Tomatoes, Carrot and Pumpkin seed Scones

Savoury Scone

Raisin and honey Scone

I woke up this morning to the smell of freshly baked scones and I  nearly cracked! This is my Gluten-free week, and my sister makes 12 golden beauties that I'm unable to eat... So I set to making my own gf 'scones' from soya flour.

Soya flour was the only gf flour that I had in the house so I didn't have much choice in what I could choose. So I tried my best and followed my baking instincts!

Soya flour has a distinctive flavour, but being half Japanese I've grown up eating it in a number of different dishes, so I like it but I think it is one of those flavours that some people like and others don't.

I made a batch of savoury scones and a batch of sweet scones and I have to say that the sweet ones tasted a lot better! Soya flour has a element of sweetness and therefore lends itself better to sweet ingredients (honey and raisins) than savoury ingredients (paprika, dried tomatoes, carrot and pumpkin seeds).

These scones aren't exactly the same as a regular gluten free scone, but are moist on the inside and crisp on the outside and are more similar to a scone than any other bake I can think of!

The savoury scone mixture before adding milk

 METHOD
Raisin and Honey Soya Scones

I added 1 cup of soya flour and 1/4 cup of corn flour to a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and then added my ingredients. So for the sweet ones I added what I found I my cupboard. Today I used a couple of tbs of honey and a hand full of raisins. I then combined it with enough milk to make it into a soft dough and then put it on tray and patted it down into a rectangle and sliced into squares.
I then baked it for 20 min in a preheated oven of gas mark 5. Simple, but the result was rather delicious for a first try!

Lemon Polenta Cake (gf)

I tasted this cake a few months ago at a friends house and have wanted to make it ever since!

It is wonderfully easy to make and produces a great result! As you can see from the picture it is a wonderful golden yellow colour when baked and has a delicious texture due to the polenta. When mixing the thick batter I was worried that the end product would be very dense as I've never baked with polenta. But surprisingly the cake was very moist and light, I then topped it with a tangy lemon syrup, which was truly delicious! I based my recipe on Nigella's, but as usual I adapted it to my own taste and too the amount of eggs the hens had laid for us that day!

Here is the recipe!

INGREDIENTS

CAKE

a little butter and oil for greasing
100 grams soft unsalted butter
90   grams caster sugar                                                                                         
100 grams ground almonds                                                                                         
100 grams fine polenta                                                           
1 teaspoon of baking powder                                                                                       
2 large eggs
zest of 1 lemon (save juice for syrup)


SYRUP

juice of 1 lemon   
3 tbs of honey                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

METHOD - if you are new to baking then check out Nigella's detailed method

1) Preheat the oven to 180c or gas mark 4.
2) Grease parchment paper with a little oil and butter and place in tin (8.5inch/22cm).
3) In one bowl beat the butter and sugar until pale.
4) In another bowl mix all the dry ingredients and add the zest of the lemon.
5) Add half of the dry mixture to the butter/sugar mix and add 1 egg and mix.
6) Once mixed through add the other egg and the rest of the dry mixture and mix!
7) Add mixture into the tin and place in the oven for 30 min.
8) While the cake is baking make the syrup: heat honey and lemon in a pan until softly boiling and turn off heat.
9) Take the cake out once firm and when it springs back to the touch.
10) Gently pour the syrup on the cake evenly and leave for 10min (if you can wait that long!) to cool a little.
11) EAT!

Salad, Cheats Lentil Falafel and Hummus (gluten-free)

For an easy lunch I would usually grab a piece of bread and then make a quick salad. However as this is my gluten-free week I needed to make something equally as filling and satisfying to eat! After finding lentils in the cupboard I boiled them until soft, then fried with garlic, ginger and seasoning. Usually I would shape the lentils into patties but as this was a quick lunch I just fried it all together and it was equally as good (although not as visually appetising!).

While the lentils were boiling I prepared the salad. Recently I have been using a lemon dressing on everything as it gives a fresh and zingy taste that reminds me of summer in these cold misty January days.

I grated a rather large carrot onto a plate and added finely sliced celery and pickled red onion (soaked in red wine vinegar for a minute) and then added a squeeze of lemon and a little olive oil.

I assembled it all on a plate with hummus and beetroot.

This was my first lunch being gluten free, and I noticed that having bread on hand, is a huge convenience. I've also started craving crunchy things like crackers and toast. So I think I will make some gf bread tomorrow!