Kali Cooks

Mozzarella, tomato and pesto tart

2011-11-19T11:00:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

350g ready roll puff pastry

1 punnet of cherry plum tomatoes

1 ball of mozzarella

2/3 tbs pesto

Balsamic to drizzle

Sea salt and black pepper

Super easy and quick, preheat the oven the 200, roll the pastry out then leaving a 2 cm gap around the edge cover the base with the pesto.

Chop the tomatoes up and then sprinkle on top of the pesto, then drizzle some balsamic over the top of them.

Then cube the mozzarella and sprinkle that on top.

Grind some salt and pepper over to taste.

Oven cook for about twenty minutes :)

I had mine with a really simple green salad, but if you were hungrier or had guests a potato salad would be a nice addition.

Vanilla cupcakes

2011-11-07T12:46:00.001-08:00

125g self-raising flour
125g caster sugar
125g soft unsalted butter
2 eggs
Half a teaspoon real vanilla extract
Approximately 2 tablespoons milk

METHOD

Serves: Makes 12

Preheat the oven to 200C and line the tin with the muffin cases.
It couldn't be simpler to make cup cakes: just put all the ingredients except for the milk in the processor and then blitz till smooth.
Pulse while adding milk, to make for a soft, dropping consistency, down the funnel. Or using a bowl and wooden spoon, cream the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs one at a time with a little of the flour.
Then add the vanilla extract and fold in the rest of the flour, adding the milk to get the dropping consistency as before.
I know it looks as if you'll never make this scant mixture fit 12 bun cases, but you will. I promise you this mixture is exactly right to make the 12 cup cakes, so just spoon and scrape the stuff in, trying to fill each case equally, judging by eye only of course.
Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cup cakes are cooked and golden on top. As soon as bearable, take the cup cakes in their cases out of the tin and let cool, right way up, on a wire rack

Spinach and feta filo pie and mixed tomato salad

2011-11-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

I'm adding spinach to everything at the moment in a desperate attempt to up my iron, this is one of my favourites :)

the pie

1 pack of ready made filo

1 large bag of spinach

1 pack of feta

a large handful of pecan nuts, crushed

the juice of half a lemon

the salad

mixed leaves

a selection of tomatoes, I had red and yellow cherries and baby plums

dressing

dijon mustard

balsamic

red wine vinegar

honey

olive oil

salt and pepper

Pan fry the spinach, then mix in a bowl with crumbled feta and the pecans and the lemon juice.

Criss cross the filo over a tart tray, place the filling in the middle and then fold the filo over the top, then brush the top of the pastry with olive oil.

Oven cook for twenty minutes at 200.

Salad, just chop all the tomatoes, mix the dressing to your taste.

Warming Winter Stew

2008-11-30T13:20:00.000-08:00

This is a bit of a chuck everything in recipe so no real skill involved. Still tastes yummy though :D

Ingredients

3 carrots sliced
1 courgette sliced
1 white onion diced
100g quorn mince
1 stock cube
1 tbs beef gravy granules (I use bisto as its vegetarian, but it makes the quorn taste a bit meatier)
8 dumplings (feel free to make from scratch, I went for packet mix cos this is a lazy dinner!)

Preheat the oven to 180c
Dissolve the stock cube and gravy granules in 500g of boiling water.
Chuck all of the ingredients (veg, dumplings and stock) into a casserole dish with a lid and cook in the oven for 45 minutes.
I recommend serving with mash potato.

Can you get any easier? Perfect for warming up now the weathers turned icy.

~Fairy Cakes~

2008-11-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

Is there any food cuter and more kitch than the fairy cake? They are one of the first things I ever learned to bake and years later still hold the same charm.
The real fun is in the decoration though. I cant do anything that fancy (if you want to see some professional like cakes look at Nanci's on the intrepid fatty, wow!) but a little butter icing goes a long way :)

125g unsalted butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 large eggs
125g self-raising flour
half teaspoon vanilla extract
12-bun cake tin lined with 12 cake cases

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl using an electric whisk or food processor.
Spoon into 12 cake cases.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.

I separated my mixture before baking and added a teaspoon of coco powder for chocolate fairy cakes.
For the icing I mixed 50g of butter with 100g of icing sugar and a teaspoon of warm water.
I added half a teaspoon of vanilla extract for the vanilla fairy cakes. For the chocolate cakes I did the same again except I added a tablespoon of nutella instead of vanilla. For the bug cakes I did the same for a third time and added a teaspoon of green food colouring. I then decorated with icing bee's and ladybirds.

Mushroom and Ricotta Pie

2008-11-13T01:27:00.000-08:00

Winter is here and to celebrate I'm bringing out the hearty food! I love pies, the possibility's are endless, yet manufacturers seem to think no meat must mean cheese and onion filling and nothing but?
I went for mushroom and ricotta this time. The mushrooms have quite a subtle taste, nothing like the earthy pocini's. This pie is creamy and rich but not overpoweringly so, I quite easily went for a second slice (as did my mum and cousin Martha who were over for dinner) :)

500g shortcrust pastry
200g ricotta
3 large free range eggs
1 punnet of button mushrooms sliced
1 small red onion diced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
cracked black pepper
a handful of mature cheddar

1.Roll out the pastry and line a medium sized cake tin (or whatever sort of dish you like to bake pies in). Then cook in a preheated oven at 200c for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile fry the onions over a medium heat for five minutes, then add the garlic and mushrooms and fry for a further two minutes until all is soft.
3. In a bowl mix the eggs, ricotta, mushroom mixture and the season generously with black pepper.
4. Pour mixture into the pastry and sprinkle the cheddar over the top.
5. Cook in the oven (still at 200c) for 45 minutes.

Kooky Courgette and Chocolate cake!

2008-11-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

Another wonderful Nigella recipe here. It is a rather mad one though and my version was over the top decadent. The courgettes themselves are not odd, I found they worked very well (as carrot does in carrot cake). It was more the combination of raisins, cream cheese icing, a nutella middle (its supposed to be lemon curd but I was all out so I improvised :S) and flaked almonds on top. As you can imagine there was A LOT going on in the taste department.
Still we should all have room for a bit of decadence in our lives and it tasted fab. I will put Nigella's recipe down but if you'd like to go with mine just replace the lemon curd with nutella, miss out the lime from the icing and sprinkle with flaked almonds.

large handful sultanas
2 medium-large courgettes grated
2 large eggs
125ml vegetable oil
150g caster sugar
225g self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarb
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 sandwich tins, greased & lined

filling - good quality lemon curd with some lime juice to taste

icing:
200g tub organic cream cheese
100g icing sugar, sieved
juice of 1 lime

Preheat oven to 180 C
Grate courgettes.
Combine eggs, oil and sugar in bowl.
Sieve in flour, bicarb and baking powder and beat until well combined.
Stir in courgette and sultanas.
Pour into tins and bake for 30 minutes until slightly browned and firm to touch.
Once cool, sandwich with lemon curd in middle.
cream cheese icing on top - firm in fridge if preferred.

serves 8 people

Sweet potato with Marshmallows

2008-11-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

I dont know why but the moment I saw a picture of this in Feast I had to try it. I'm not a huge fan of marshmallows but I eat lots of sweet potato and thought it was time I branched out from making them into wedges.
The result was good, the mash was divine. The marshmallow topping I'm still undecided on, you certainly have to have a sweet tooth. I would be happy to have it without the topping but any mellow fans out there would no doubt love it.

Sorry, the recipe is a bit of an essay!

# 3 kg sweet potatoes
# 6 tbsp vegetable oil
# 4 tbsp fresh lime juice
# 2 tsp ground cinnamon
# 75 g butter
# ½ tbsp salt
# 280 g marshmallows

# Preheat the oven to 220C, 425F, Gas 7.
# Prick or puncture the sweet potatoes with a fork and put them each on to a piece of foil large enough to wrap them in. These cook best in individual parcels, on average for this weight you will have 8-9 potatoes in one go, so be prepared to make a lot of them.
# Divide the oil between the foil sheets and then rub or turn the sweet potatoes in it and wrap into baggy but well sealed parcels. Put them onto a baking sheet or two and roast until the potatoes are soft and cooked through, approx 1-1½ hours. This way of cooking the potatoes, apart from being very easy means that you get maximum, un-watered down flavour.
# When the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, strip away the skin and fork or squeeze and pick the skin into a large bowl. Pour in any syrupy juices from each of the foil parcels. Add all the other ingredients except for the marshmallows, and mix together to make the mash.
# Spoon the sweet potato mash into an ovenproof dish (approx 34 x 20cm). Smooth the top of the mash and cover with the mini marshmallows.
# Bake in the hot oven for 10-15 minutes by which time the marshmallows will have coloured on top and melted together, like a rippled, bronzed duvet.

Fettuccine with King prawns and Avocado

2008-10-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

This dinner is lush, please whoever reads this, you have to try it! Prawns and avocado may sound a bit weird but its an amazing combination of flavours and easy easy easy to make. There is no excuse not to!
And you can easily use tagliatelle in place of the fettuccine as its easier to get hold of.

Serves 4

300g fettuccine
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove crushed
150 ml single cream
200g cooked and peeled king prawns
1 avocado, diced
Black pepper

1. Fry the onion and garlic in a large pan until soft. Then stir in the cream, prawns and avocado and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes until cooked through. Season with the black pepper.
2. Meanwhile cook the pasta.
3. When the pasta is cooked drain and place back in the pan. Then add the sauce and stir in till all the pasta is coated.

Serve and enjoy!

Banana and Apple Loaf

2008-10-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

One of the first recipes I put on my blog was a banana cake, and very good it was too. So I'm not suggesting this one is better, its just different. Its much heavier (as you'd imagine with a loaf) but still incredibly moist and moreish. It also feels quite guilt free as there's such a large fruit content.
I got the recipe from Tana Ramsay's cookbook. I pretty much followed it to the book apart from adding some raisins and doubling the spice.

Makes a small loaf

150g light muscovado sugar
85g unsalted butter softened
2 large free range eggs beaten
4 meduim sized ripe bananas mashed
1 apple grated
1 large handful of raisins
250g self raising flour
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin.
2. Cream together the sugar, butter and eggs.
3. Stir in the mashed banana and apple and raisins. Sieve in the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.
4. Once well mixed tip into the loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes.
5. Remove to a wire rack and cool in the tin for 20-30 minutes.
pinch of salt

Fusillini with Roasted Tomatos and Mixed Peppers

2008-10-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long title, this dish has no name that I know of so I went with the literal.
In my mind this is the perfect meal when you have a pasta craving (which I have often, it comes a close second to chocolate cravings) as there's no heavy sauce, just simple fresh tasting ingredients. In Nice many meals were served with some roasted cherry tomato's and I think it does make a nice change to eating them cold in salads or pureed in sauces.
Its also quite pretty with its mix of reds and yellows :)

Serves 4

250g fusillini
1 red pepper deseeded and diced
1 yellow pepper desseded and diced
4 tomato's each cut into eight wedges
1 onion diced
1 tbs oregano
olive oil
extra virgin olive oil
black pepper
parmesan for grating

1. Put the tomatos on an oven tray. Sprinkle over the oregano, some black pepper and olive oil and oven cook at 180c for 20 minutes.
2. Over a low-medium heat fry the peppers and onions for 15 minutes till soft and sweet.
3. Cook your fusillini (approx 5 minutes)
4. Drain the pasta and return to the pan. Mix in the pepper and onions and add a glug of good extra virgin olive oil.
5. Serve the pasta and top with some roasted tomatos. Sprinkle with parmesan.

Easy! You can use any pasta with this dish but fusillini works well. It also tastes good with sun dried tomatos for a tangier effect.

Squash and Cinnamon Risotto Cakes

2008-10-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

During my stay in York Joel, Isla and myself stumbled across a lovely little vegetarian cafe. It was tucked behind a bookshop and all of our food was delicious. Nothing overly fancy, just great tasting yet simple dishes. I wish there were more restaurants like this so I dont always end up in Pizza Express.
Anyway, enough of selling the place. I had risotto cakes and they were AMAZING! As soon as I got back to London I set about trying to emulate them and this is the result....

Makes 6 Cakes

200g risotto rice (I go with arborio)
600g vegetable stock (or 500g stock and 100g white wine)
1 medium sized butternut squash cut in half and de-seeded
1 onion diced
1 tbs cinnamon
50g butter
1 tbs olive oil
50g breadcrumbs

1. Cut the squash in half length ways and cook in the oven skin down for an hour at 200c.
2. Heat the butter and oil in a pan. Add the onion and cook on a medium heat until soft.
3. Add the rice, stir for around 2 minutes until coated in the butter and onion.
(If adding wine do so now and boil for 2 minutes)
4. Add the stock a little at a time. Allow it to be absorbed by the rice and then add more bit by bit until all the stock is absorbed.
5. Take the risotto off the heat. Scrape the flesh out of the squash and stir into the risotto mixture along with the cinnamon. Now cover and leave in the fridge for an hour to cool and set.
6. When the mixture is set you can make burger sized patties, I just use my hands to shape them. I then coat the patty/cake in some breadcrumbs and fry over a medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side. Serve immediately!

Yasai Cha Han

2008-10-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

This is a wagamama recipe and it is my favourite dish of theirs. I have to be strict on myself when I go there and make myself order other dishes or I would eat this every time!
Luckily Joel's mum bought him the Wagamama cook book so I can recreate it at home :D

They change the vegetable ingredients a bit seasionally so I do too. I always add mushrooms though, as they compliment the tofu rather nicely.

2/3 cup Thai fragrant rice
4 tbsp veg oil
14 quartered button mushrooms
3/4 inch cubes firm tofu
handful baby sweetcorn
handful of sugar snap peas
4 scallions, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch slices
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp light soy sauce
2 beaten eggs

serves 2; double for 4 people.

Cook rice in large pan of boiling water 2-3 mins or till tender, drain, refresh under cool running water and set aside.
Heat a wok or frypan over med heat for 1-2 mins until almost smoking and add vegetable oil. Add mushrooms and stirfry for 2 mins. Add tofu and stirfry for 3 more mins or till lightly coloured. Add sweetcorn, peas and scallions and stirfry over medium heat until ingredients are warmed through. Add rice, season with salt and soy sauce and stirfry for a further 2 mins.
Add eggs and stirfry vigorouslt until they are just cooked. divide stirfry mix between bowls.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

2008-10-01T03:35:00.000-07:00

Yep, ANOTHER muffin recipe, and ANOTHER Nigella recipe. Can you tell I recently bought a new silicone muffin tray and that I've caught the Nigella bug?
I have to say this was one of the easiest recipes I've ever made and one of the most delicious too! I did it with Isla sat on one hip watching as she was in a grumpy mood so if I can get them right with a whinging baby anyone can. The only change I made was adding some crumbled white chocolate as I love the look of oozing melting white amongst the rich brown.

INGREDIENTS
250g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Half-teaspoon bicarbonate soda
2 tablespoons best quality cocoa
175g caster sugar
150g chocolate chips (plus more for sprinkling later)
50g crumbled white chocolate
250ml milk
90ml vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 200C and fill a 12-bun muffin tray with paper cases.
Weigh out the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug.
Mix both together – it will be a runny batter - then spoon into waiting muffin cases.
Sprinkle more chocolate chips on top then cook for 20 minutes or until the muffins are risen and springy.
Makes 12

Chritmas Morning Muffins....

2008-10-01T02:55:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, Christmas is nearly three months away. I have always been annoyed by this country's obsession with bringing Christmas forward earlier and earlier each year. BUT this year will be Isla's first and our first as a little family of three so I'm already excited. And one of the joys of Christmas is the traditions, and I'm not ashamed to say I will swiping Nigella's (yes, Nigella again!) tradition of making beautiful spiced aromatic muffins on the morning of the big day. But in true Bree Vandikamp style I have to test run them first! And I'm glad I did because they needed a bit of tweaking to be my idea of Christmasy (and dont we all have different ideas on what constitutes that?). In my case more cinnamon and a touch of ginger. Oh, and please excuse the terrible photo. Obviously these muffins would look best with a sprig of holly and a roaring fireplace in the background. It being the end of September when I made them festivities were light on the ground....
for the muffins: 200g plain flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 75g demerara sugar good grating fresh nutmeg 1 clementine or small orange approximately 50ml milk 60g unsalted butter, melted 1 large egg 150g dried cranberries 1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon a sprinkle of ginger 12-bun muffin tin with papers for the topping: 2 teaspoons demerara sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb and sugar, and grate over a generous amount of fresh nutmeg. Squeeze the orange or clementine juice into a measuring jug, then pour in milk on top till it comes up to the 150ml mark. Add the melted butter and the egg, and beat to combine. Pour the jug of liquid ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir till the ingredients are more or less combined, remembering that a lumpy batter makes light muffins. (Bearing this in mind, you could easily get the children to make up the mixture.) Last of all, lightly fold in the cranberries and fill the muffin cases or cups. The amount of cranberries specified here makes for heavily fruited muffins; if you want them sparser, use half the amount. Mix together the demerara sugar and ground cinnamon and sprinkle over the tops of the muffins. Stick them in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, by which time the air should be thick with the promise of good things and the good things themselves golden-brown and ready to be eaten – as they are, or broken open and spread heapingly, mouthful by mouthful, with unsalted butter and marmalade. Makes 12.

Brownies :D

2008-09-24T01:17:00.000-07:00

I've been having a little obsession with everything chocolate recently and as Nanci has lent me Nigella's "How to be a domestic goddess" and as it has a chocolate section I really had to indulge.
I went for brownies as I feel like you need an occasion to bake a cake but brownies can (in my opinion anyway) be eaten for no reason except you want something nice. And these are very nice indeed!

Ingredients

375 g soft unsalted butter
375 g best quality dark chocolate (I used half dark and half milk chocolate)
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
500g caster sugar
225 g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
300 g chopped walnuts (I used a mixed bag of walnuts, pecans, brazils and almonds)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Line your approximately 33 x 23 x 5 1/2cm brownie pan with foil or baking paper.
Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy based saucepan.
In a bowl beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla.
Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt.
When the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a bit before beating in the eggs and sugar mixture, and then the nuts and flour.
Beat to combine and then scrape out of the saucepan into the lined brownie pan.
Bake for about 25 minutes.
When it's ready, the top should be dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle still dark and dense and gooey.
Keep checking the brownies as they cook; remember that they will continue to cook as they cool.

This makes A LOT of brownies. Apparently up to 48. I only read this part after I'd started making them and as a result I have masses of chocolaty goodness that even I couldn't dream of finishing. I'm now thinking of reasons to see friends so I can come armed with baskets of brownies and (wait for it) earn brownie points! Sorry, that's terrible but I couldn't resist!

Pear and Almond Torte

2008-08-26T03:09:00.000-07:00

I love dessert with fruit in as it takes away most of the guilt factor for me.
Isla has been devouring pears each morning so we had loads in, and I've craved something almondy for a while now. And so this is the result....
Excuse the American measurments, I took the custard type filling recipe from an American site. As I have no idea what size cup they mean I guesstimated (I used a medium sized glass) and it came out fine. I was also very lazy (I had just cooked a mahoosive roast) and used a pre made sweet pastry case.

Serves 6

1 9inch sweet pastry case
4 ripe pears peeled and quartered
2 large free range eggs
2/3 cup of milk
1/2 cup of soft brown sugar
1 heaped tbs of ground almond
A handful of flaked almond
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 200 c.

1. Place the pears in the pastry case covering the bottom.
2. Mix the eggs, sugar, ground almond and vanilla extract.
3. Add the milk and mix again.
4. Pour the mixture over the pears.
5. Sprinkle the flaked almonds on top.
6. Bake at 200c for 20 minutes then turn the oven down to 150c and bake for a further 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Tagliatelle with Salmon and Broccoli

2008-08-21T02:24:00.000-07:00

I love this dish as it feels rather indulgent whilst also being fresh and healthy. You can use half fat creme fresh and it tastes just as yummy :)

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

250g fresh tagliatelle
2 salmon fillets
300g broccoli well trimmed so the heads are quite small
200ml creme fresh
1 small onion
1-2 cloves of garlic crushed
sea salt and black pepper
olive oil

1. Wrap the salmon in foil and oven cook at 200c for 20 minutes.
2. Dice the onion and gently fry for 10 minutes until soft.
3. Boil or steam the broccoli briefly until half cooked, drain.
4. When all is cooked combine the broccoli, salmon (which should break apart beautifully now) and onion in a large saucepan and pour on the creme fresh. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook for a further 5 minutes at a low heat.
5. Cook the fresh tagliatelle for approx 4 minutes, drain and pour on some olive oil to taste.
7. Now you can either mix the sauce with the pasta or serve the pasta and top with the sauce.

Enjoy!

Pancakes!!!

2008-07-22T02:50:00.000-07:00

What breakfast is more fun than pancakes!? Yes, compared to cereal or toast there a bit of a faff to make but that's where half of the excitement lies.
I'm going to show you two recipes. One makes a delicious fluffy American pancake and one is a dead simple two minute wonder for babies and toddlers.

American Pancakes

Serves 2-4

3 large eggs
115g/4oz plain flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
140ml/5fl oz milk
a pinch of salt

1. Separate the eggs, white in one bowl and the yolks in another.
2. Add the flour, baking powder and milk to the yolks and mix to a smooth batter.
3. Whisk the whites with the salt until they form stiff peaks.
4. Fold whites into the batter.
5. Pour a ladle of batter into a non stick frying pan over a medium heat. Fry for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle your chosen flavour on top then flip and fry for a further minute or two.

I think these taste great with any berries (it was blackberry's and raspberry's this morning) but Jamie Oliver recommends fresh corn if you fancy something savory.

Porridge Pancakes

2 tbs porridge oats
4 tbs milk

Mix the oats and milk in a microwave safe bowl (works best if the bowl has a flattish base). Add your desired ingredient. Pop in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Allow to cool and serve!

Again berries work great with these. I've also tried spinach, peas and raisins, all good! Its an easy way to make fruit and veg fun for fussy little ones.

Lentil Quiche

2008-07-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

Another recipe swiped from the Intrepid Fatty blog. I loved the idea of a pastryless quiche and I think lentils are often discarded as healthy hippy food and not used nearly enough. It was delicious hot but also went down very well served cold the next day.
I did change the method and ingredients a bit to suit what I had in.

1 chopped onion
1 tin of brown lentils drained and rinsed
175 g broccoli florets
180 g cherry tomatoes halved
4 eggs, beaten
200 ml milk
50g of grated chedder
1 tsp mixed herbs
salt and pepper
olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 190 c
2. Lightly fry the onion for ten minutes over a low heat until soft.
3. Steam/boil the broccoli until just cooked.
4. Mix together in a large bowl the beaten eggs, lentils, broccoli, tomatoes, milk and cheese. Stir in the herbs and season with salt and black pepper to taste.
5. Pour the mixture into a quiche/pie plate.
6. Bake for 45 minutes

Aubergine Parmigiana

2008-07-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

This is a gorgeous Italian dish Jamie Oliver style. I even got two aubergine haters going for seconds, yes, its that good :P
His recipe is a bit of an essay so I've cut out a lot of the waffle.

• 3 large firm aubergines
• olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 heaped teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 x 400g tins good-quality plum tomatoes
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a little wine vinegar
• a large handful of fresh basil
• 4 large handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 handfuls of dried breadcrumbs
• 1 x 150g ball of buffalo mozzarella

1. Fry the onion, garlic and dried oregano in a saucepan over a low heat for ten minutes.
2. Add the plum tomato's, put a lid on the pan and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile griddle or fry the sliced aubergines. You will no doubt have to do this in batches.
4. When the toamto sauce is reduced season and add a glug of wine vinegar and the basil.
5. Using an earthern wear type dish start to layer your dish. Put in a small layer of tomato sauce, then a thin scattering of Parmesan, followed by a single layer of aubergines. Repeat these layers until you’ve used all the ingredients up, finishing with a little sauce and another good sprinkling of Parmesan.
6. Top with breadcrumbs and mozzarella.
7. Bake at 190°C/375°F/gas 5 for half an hour.

Chewy Chocolate and Raisin Cookies

2008-07-13T01:35:00.000-07:00

So I went for the old classic, cookies. I love them chewy, like the giant ones my mum would get us as a treat when I was a kid. And I love chocolate and raisins together. That was my criteria, here is the result.....

Ingredients~

300g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
175g of unsalted butter melted
200g of soft brown sugar
150g golden granulated sugar
1 large egg
150g chocolate chips (works with milk or plain)
150g raisins
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Sift the flour and baking powder.
2. In a separate bowl stir together the melted butter, the two sugars, the beaten egg and the vanilla.
3. Stir the flour mixture into the sugar mixture and fold in the raisins and chocolate chips.
4. Cover the mixture with cling film and place in the fridge for half an hour.
5. preheat the oven to 190c, gas mark 5.
6. Mold the dough into little cookie shapes and place on the baking tray (works best if you use baking paper)
7. Cook for 10-12 minutes.

Dont freak out that the cookies look undercooked. As they cool the outsides will go crispy and the insides will remain lovely and chewy. Allow to cool then enjoy!

And if you are one of those odd individuals that dislikes cooked raisins (I know a few) then it will work just fine with 300g of chocolate chips instead. For a sweeter cookie you can use white granulated sugar instead of golden.

Best Creamy Mushroom Sauce.

2008-07-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

I adore mushrooms, Joel hates them. So when he is not around at dinnertime I tend to go for something swimming in toadstools, yum yum!
This is my favourite creamy mushroom sauce (and I've tried a few!). Its simple yet effective, though I do recommend that you splash out on some decent mushrooms.

Serves 2

200g of wild mixed mushrooms
200g of creme freche
1/2 a diced red onion
2 garlic cloves crushed
Black pepper
Fresh parmesan
A knob of butter
Olive oil
250g tagliatelle

1. Put the tagliatelle on to boil
2. Heat a large frying pan and melt in the butter and olive oil
3. Fry the mushrooms and onions over a low heat for five minutes
4. Add the garlic, fry for a further minute.
5. Add the creme freche and crushed black pepper, turn the heat right down.
6, Drain the tagliatelle and add a splash of olive oil.
7. Serve, top with the sauce and add generous amounts of fresh parmesan and black pepper.

To add a bit of colour to the dish I sometimes wilt some spinach leaves in at the very end.

Spinach and Pea Nuggets

2008-07-08T14:59:00.000-07:00

A very popular recipe for the baby's on a BLW website I frequent is vegetable nuggets. I've messed about with the original a bit and am quite pleased with the finished result :).
Definitely a recipe for the kids (but mummy and daddy will scoff a few when no ones looking...)

Makes about 20 nuggets.

400g frozen spinach
250g frozen peas
100g matzo meal (available in all jewish shops/sections)
100g cheddar, grated
1 tsp fresh basil chopped
1 1/2 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp baking powder
pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 190 deg C.
Cook the spinach and peas, then drain and blend.
Combine with the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Form the mixture into nugget shapes and place on a greased baking tray, about 3in apart.
Bake for 20-25 mins, turning halfway through the cooking time.
Serve warm.

You can use most vegetables including broccoli, carrot, cauliflower etc.
They can also be frozen after cooking and reheated.

Stuffed Butternut Squash

2008-07-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

This is such an easy and versatile recipe. I love my stuffed veg and there seems to be endless combinations of stuffing and stuffee to use.
I went for butternut squash last night as it is very baby friendly and I was making dinner for Isla and myself. She loved the soft sweet filling and I felt good that something so rich tasting could actually be pretty healthy.

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash (scrubbed clean)
2 leeks, sliced thinly
100g of peas
1 garlic clove, crushed
50g butter
150g feta cheese
1 tsp fresh basil, chopped roughly
1 tsp pepper
1 tbs olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 190/gas mark 5
2. Cut the squash in half, remove the seeds and place skin down on a baking tray. Fill tha cavity with butter and brush the garlic, olive oil and pepper on the sqash. Place in oven.
3. While the squash is baking gently fry the leeks for 5 minutes adding the peas for the last minute. Transfere to a large mixing bowl.
4. When the squash has been in for about an hour remove from the oven and scoop out the soft middle taking care not to break the skin.
5. Mix the squash in with the leek and peas. Crumble in the feta and add the fresh basil. Fill the empty squash halves with the mixture.
6. Return to the oven for a further 15 minutes then serve.

Nanci's Scrummy Banana Cake

2008-07-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

I baked a banana cake recipe that I stole off of the intrepid fatty blog (its on my blog roll).
It was deeeeelicious so thanks for that Nanci!
A cake is not a true cake in my eyes until its slathered with icing so I made up a batch. I used 150g of cream cheese, 50g of butter and 75g of icing sugar. I mixed them together with a wooden spoon until blended and runny and then put the mixture in the fridge for half an hour to part set.
I then spooned it onto my cooled banana cake and then topped with walnuts.

It was moist, the banana taste really shone through and it went down super well with a cup of earl grey!

Here's Nanci's recipe.....

Springform tin 22cm or different but change cooking times, less for cupcakes/smaller tins more for loaf tins etc. I just keep checking it when baking

280g Banana very ripe mashed About 2-3
330g Sugar
125g Butter soft
100ml Buttermilk
225g Self raising Flour
1/2 tsp Bi Carbonate of soda
2 Large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven 160 for fan 170 if you dont have one.

Mix the butter, sugar, banana, eggs, vanilla for 2 mins
Add the Buttermilk mix until combined
Sift Flour, Bi carb, mix, scrape into greased and/or lined tin
put in the oven for 60 mins

Kali xxx

Wholegrain Spaghetti with Aubergine, Chili and Ricotta

2008-06-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

I make this for dinner at least once a fortnight. Its really chunky and substantial and you can mess around with the ingredients quite a bit.
I thought it would be a good introduction to spaghetti for Isla and the large chunks of vegetables were perfect for baby hands to grab. I added only half the amount of chili as stated below in case it was too hot for her but I prefer mine with a bit more bite.

Serves 4

400g of Wholegrain Spaghetti
1 Aubergine
1 Courgette
1 Red Onion
1 465g Can of Chopped Tomatoes
1 tbs of Tomato Puree
1-2 tsp of chili powder
1 tsp of mixed herbs
A handful of fresh basil (optional)
200g Ricotta

1. Cube the aubergine and microwave for 3 minutes. This saves you having to salt them first.
2. Slice the courgette and dice the red onion. Lightly fry to two together for five minutes.
3. Transfer the aubergine, cougette and onion to a large saucepan. Add the chopped tomatos, chili, mixed herbs, basil, and the tomato puree. Give a good stir.
4. Now leave on a low heat with the pan lid on for 30-40 minutes.
5. Boil the spaghetti and add a dash of olive oil when drained.
6. Serve and top with fresh ricotta.

Enjoy!

Savory Flapjacks

2008-06-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

This was my first attempt at making a proper dinner that both Isla and I could enjoy together (as opposed to her getting bits of what I am eating). And it went down well with both of us so a success I'd say :)
I got the original recipe from the BLW forum but tweaked it a bit to suite what ingredients I happened to have in.

200 g/7oz porridge oats
1 large carrot, grated
1 large courgette, grated
200 g/7oz grated cheese
2 small onions finely chopped
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp mixed dry herbs
1/2 tsp pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas 5.
2.Grease a baking tray (Swiss roll tin size).
3. Fry the onions gently for 5 minutes.
4.Mix all the ingredients in the large bowl and press into the tray. Bake 30-40 minutes, until set and lightly browned.
5. Cut into small flapjack sized squares.

Enjoy!