Category Archives: Uncategorized

An unusual jacket potato

20 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by in Uncategorized, Vegetables

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An unusual jacket potato

An unusual jacket potato

I came across this on Pinterest and had never thought of doing a jacket potato this way. So I gave it a try and loved it. It’s a mix between a jacket potato and crispy oven sliced potatoes.

I used butter and garlic but you can just use olive oil if you prefer.

What you will need:

A large potato
1 garlic clove
2 tsp of butter
Salt and pepper

Heat your oven to 220C

Start from one end of the potato and create slices all along the potato – leaving 1 cm at the bottom. The thinner the slice the crispier the potato, My slices were about 3mm wide.

In a bowl mix thinly chopped garlic and butter together. Then cover the potato with the butter trying the get some garlic into the slices.

Place the potato into an oven proof dish and into the oven for 40 to 45 minutes.  Half way through the cooking if your potato looks like it’s getting a bit dry you can add a bit of butter.

I had my potato as a side with chicken and some green beans. It’s an easy and unusal side.

Enjoy
Mel

Chocolate madeleines

01 Saturday Oct 2016

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Chocolate madeleines

Chocolate madeleines

Prep time: 20mins
Cooking time: 15 mins at 240-220C

What you will need:
3 eggs
150g sugar
100g melted butter
50ml milk
Handful of chocolate chips
½ tsp of baking soda
Madeleine moulds

Melt the butter in the microwave, it should take about 30 seconds. In a bowl whisk the eggs and sugar until have a creamy colour and then add 40ml of milk. Mix the flour and baking soda together and add to the mixture. Then add the butter and the rest of the milk and whisk. Finally add the chocolate and mix evenly.

Butter the madeleine moulds and add the mixture, but not to the top as they will rise!
Put in the oven at 240°C for 5 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 200°C and leave for 8-10 minutes. Make sure you watch the oven closely as they can easily burn.

Remove from the moulds as soon as they come out of the oven.

Enjoy!

Tomato, mozzarrella and basil puff pastry tartelettes

21 Wednesday Nov 2012

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Tomato, mozzarrella and basil puff pastry tartelettes

These tomato, mozzarrella and basil puff pastry tartelettes are super easy to make and perfect for an apperitif or starter. You can make them as big or small as you want.

What you need:
Cherry tomatoes (you can use any tomatoes you want)
Mozzarrella
French mustard
A whisked egg yolk
Ready made puff pastry
Fresh basil
Salt and pepper

Heat your oven to 220C

I use ready made puff pastry but if you want to make your own, good luck.

Roll out your puff pastry and cut out squares, then cut out rectangles that will go around each side of your square, so two will be longer than the other two. These will make the sides of your tartelettes puff up really nicely.

Use a kitchen brush or a clean paint brush with a bit of yolk (kind of like paint) to stick each rectangle to the square.

Cover the bottom of the square with some mustard and the add sliced tomatoes and torn up pieces of mozzarella.

Puff pastry tartelette

You now want to brush the outside of the pastry with egg yolk, this will give your tartlettes a lovely golden colour when they are cooked.

Place on a baking tray and in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden.

When they are ready add salt, pepper and some chopped basil on the top et voila, an easy little starter.

Enjoy!
Mel

Leek and Bacon Quiche

24 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in Simple meals, Tarts, Uncategorized

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Apologies for the photo – it was taken with my phone…

I went round to my friend Claudia’s for a bit of cooking, and we made leek and bacon quiche, cheesy bits and a beautiful tarte tatin. I’m going to explain how to make a very easy and yummy  and the cheesy bit – you’ll have to wait a little for the tarte tatin.

For our quiche we used bacon and leek but you can really use anything you fancy so this is a good one if you have left-overs and want to make something a little fancy. We were left with a bit of pastry so we made my special cheesy bits – they are great for an apperitif.

What you will need for the quiche:

Short-crust pastry (ready-made or freshly made – see our tomato tart for this recipe)

4-5 eggs
300ml of single cream
2 handfuls of grated cheddar cheese
4 slices of bacon
1 leek
Pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 180C . Cover a tart tin with the pastry. Heat a pan and add a bit of butter or oil and add in diced bacon, once they start to brown add thinly sliced leeks until they are softened.

In a bowl whisk all your eggs and add the cream – you can also replace the cream with milk or go half milk half cream. Now add the cheddar, bacon and leek and a some ground pepper to taste. You don’t need to add any salt due to the cheese and bacon. Put the mixture into the tart tin and place in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

What you will need for you cheesy bits:

Short-crust pastry left-overs 
1-2 handfuls of grated cheddar cheese (the more the better)

Mix your pastry and cheese together and then roll it so it looks like a stick, you can do this in small bits. Then cut into small pieces. Put in a pre-heated oven at 180C and it should be ready in about 15mins!

It’s that easy! And the quiche will feed 4 people, serve with a green mixed salad and there you have it a yummy but simple meal.

Mel

Baba Ganoush – the courgette way

22 Sunday May 2011

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This is a simple dip that goes well with nachos or as a side dish with fish or meat.

What you will need:

3 courgettes
Cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Half a lemons juice
Food blender

Turn the oven on to 200c. Cut the courgettes into slices and put in an oven proof dish, sprinkle cumin seeds, the garlic cut in halves, salt and pepper. Add about three tablespoons of olive oil, make sure it coats all the ingredients. Put the dish in the oven for about 30mins, stir the courgettes every 10 mins.

Once cooked remove from the oven, put into a food blender and add the lemon juice. Blend all the ingredients for a few seconds.

You can also do this with aubergines.

Mel

Eat Greek in 5 minutes

12 Tuesday Apr 2011

Posted by in The Lunch Club, Uncategorized

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Most people who sit at a desk for their job acquire items in their drawer such as paper clips, pens or post it notes. I have those things too but always keep a whisk, olive oil and balsamic vinegar in my drawer. I like fresh salad dressing and I find it comes in handy. Today is a great example.
For lunch my co-worker brought in chicken she cooked at home and some pita pockets. I had brought some mixed greens, a handful of olives, a small tomato, 1/2 cucumber, about a quarter cup of feta cheese and a tablespoon of red onion.
We combined all of the ingredients (dicing up the cucumber and tomato), including the chicken. I whisked 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar with salt and pepper and slowly added 3/4 cup of olive oil. Then added a little honey. We tossed all of the ingredients in the dressing and stuffed it in the pita pockets.

It was flavorful and easy to make. We wrapped our pita pockets in napkins and sat outside to enjoy the sunshine.

-Joy