Microwave Sponge Pudding

We all love cake, no?  We all need a weekly fix at the very least, right?  Yet sometimes getting out the old Magimix and baking up a storm in the kitchen isn't always feasible.  You're stretched for time but you need some of that cakey goodness which is oh so tempting and totally hits the spot every time. 

Lately, being one of those people who is always time poor, yet in need of calories in the form of a spongey treat, I was over the moon when this recipe dropped on to the bottom of one of my cake themed status updates on FB.  Sent to me via a lovely Facebook friend, who happens to have three of her own childerbeasts to tame as well as a mutual addiction to cake, this was a quick and easy way to satisfy my obsession with the sweet stuff.

Literally mix it together, bung it in the microwave and vah la!  While it's on the turn table whip yourself up a cuppa.  Sit, relax and enjoy!

Ingredients

Serves: 4

• 50g (2 oz) butter
• 50g (2 oz) caster sugar
• 50g (2 oz) self raising flour
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons of jam or syrup

Preparation Method

Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 3 mins

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.

Mix in the egg and milk gradually, so as not to curdle the butter.

Sift in the flour, and fold in gently.

Put 2 tablespoons of golden syrup, treacle or jam in bottom of microwave-safe bowl. Pour in batter.

Cover, and cook for 3 1/2 minutes on full powder, or until the pudding appears set when gently jiggled, and the top is sticky. Serve hot.

Bobby's Luscious Lamb Shanks

I'm afraid I have to confess to being a tad tardi with my blogs of late (ok, maybe not tardi, ridiculously rubbish for the last three months!)  However, I promise I have a perfectly viable excuse.  A scrummy newborn girl who has been monopolising my time somewhat.  Anyway, after a couple of months getting my life back together I'm back in the kitchen (back on the blog) and kicking this week off with the recipe I last attempted before I became a mother of two (how, how, how?...)

Bobby's Luscious Lamb Shanks came to me courtesy of my fellow Twitter buddy @revillaroberto (man of good taste, style and fellow foodie).

I was blown away by the delightful simplicity of this recipe.  Easy to do yet mouthwateringly delicious it was worth every minute of the two hour wait (or in my case, three hours because I accidentally turned the hob off...I know, I know!  Can I claim "baby brain" for that faux pas?!)  Served with well seasoned, buttery mashed potatoes this was rich, melt in the mouth, meaty goodness.  Careful when you put the garlic in, it's so easy to burn it!  A great way to easy entertaining and happy eaters!  So, hobs at the ready people for a one pot dish you're bound to enjoy.

Bobby's Luscious Lamb Shanks

 

You need either a big Le Creuset type casserole or very large preferably heavy type pan with a lid

Ingredients:

4x lamb shanks

4x teaspoons of chopped garlic

Salt and Black Pepper to season

Olive oil

Small bottle of red wine (something full-bodied like a Rioja)

Water

One large onion

Two tins of chopped tomatoes

Get your pan on the hob and turn up the heat. Add a good glug of olive oil and when hot add the shanks. season with salt and pepper then brown them on both sides.

 

Whilst your shanks are browning dice up the onion

 

Once browned remove the shanks onto a plate

 

Add the garlic and brown for 10-15 seconds, don't let it burn

 

Then add the red wine (all of it!), wait 15 seconds and then stir, scraping off any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

After a minute or so add the two tins of chopped tomatoes and the onion, put the shanks back in, and then top up with water to cover. Reduce heat medium to low, put the lid on and leave to simmer for an hour.

 

Turn the shanks over, replace lid and leave for another hour.

 

Remove shanks very carefully as by now the meat will be falling off the bone. Turn the heat up and boil the sauce for 5-10 minutes or until it has reduced a little and is thicker.

 

Then place the shanks carefully back in, heat through for 3-4 minutes and you are ready to serve.

 

Place a shank on each plate, pour over some of the sauce. Add some mashed potato on the side, alternatively some crusty bread will do to mop up the lovely sauce. 

Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli

Pasta apparently is hard work!  Who knew?  Well, probably every seasoned chef and Masterchef contestant this side of the ozone layer but I was stupidly confident that I could pull it off relatively easily and without the aid of a pasta machine.  Call me optimistic.  Call me insane.  Either way never, ever again!

So it started out quite well.  I made my dough.  It looked good.  It rested.  Then the rolling commenced.  Two hours I slogged.  I probably burned more calories than Madonna on a vibration training plate.  I toiled to get my pasta paper thin but it wasn't relenting to my rolling pin powers.  Despite this I soldiered on thinking "it's thin enough now, surely?"  I cut my ravioli circles, I egg washed and I proudly spooned in my spinach and ricotta filling (which, as it happens, tasted really good and was wasted in the horrid excuse of pasta I parcelled it in).

Frankly, what I turned out was so abominable I was far too embarrassed to take a photograph.  Maybe I should have done it for posterity; a lesson to future generations of the perils of pasta, but at the time I had the disappointed tones of John Torode ringing in my ears.  Visions of him shaking his head and saying "What happened here, Harriette?  Your parrsta is like a doorstop", while Gregg screws up his face sympathetically "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.  I'm sorry I can't eat that.  It's like putting a hockey puck in your mouth.  Yucky!"  I'd be standing there both physically and mentally broken and choking back the tears while wailing "All I wanted to do was impress you.  This means so much to me etc. etc."...

Meanwhile, back in the real world, my "pasta nemesis", as it will henceforth be known, is now something of a challenge I need to beat.  Investment in a pasta machine would be a good start.  I imagine there are many such machines washed up in charity shops patiently lying there waiting for a girl like me to come and rescue one of them.  Watch this space for a future attempt and whether I can manage to annihilate the demons of dough.

The outcome of all this culinary chaos?  The pasta went in the bin and a batch of chilli came out of the freezer.  It was a sad (and wasted) evening in the Conroy household! 

If you wish to try this recipe, details, as ever, are below.  I strongly recommend you use a pasta machine and do not attempt to be a rolling pin slave!  Beware the apparently simplistic nature.  This recipe is not for the faint hearted.

Spinach & Ricotta Filling (the easy part!)

225g/8oz Fresh Spinach leaves, washed
100g/4 oz Ricotta Cheese
25g/1oz Freshly Grated Parmesan cheese
1 Egg
A pinch of Nutmeg
Salt and pepper

1. Place the spinach in a large saucepan pan with only the water which is left clinging to the leaves. Cover, place over a medium heat and cook for a few minutes, shaking the pan vigorously from time to time, until the spinach has wilted.

2. Drain well, squeezing as much water out of the leaves as possible then transfer to a chopping board and chop.

3. Place the chopped spinach in a mixing bowl together with the and cheeses, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix well. Allow to cool before using.


For the ravioli

Eggs
Oil
Water
Flour (All Purpose)
Prepared ravioli stuffing
Mixing bowls
1. Place 3 cups of flour in a mixing bowl. Add 4 eggs and 1 tsp. of salt to the flour. Mix it all together. This can be done by hand or by an electric mixer with a dough hook. Add the oil a little at a time and keep mixing until you have a ball of dough. Turn the ball of dough onto a floured surface. Cover with a mixing bowl and allow the dough to rest for about 20 minutes.

2. Rolling Ravioli Dough

Divide the dough in half and set aside half for a few minutes. Roll out the first half on the floured surface with a rolling pin. The dough will be sticky so sprinkle with a little flour as you go when it sticks to the rolling pin. Roll the dough until it is paper thin.

3. Cut Ravioli Pasta

Cut circles or squares from the dough with a ravioli cutter. Lay the circles or squares aside. Continue until all the dough is used. Throw cutting scraps into the second half of dough while working on the first half. Knead the scraps and second half of the pasta dough together and repeat the rolling and cutting process with it.

4. Adding Filling

Stir one egg yolk in a small bowl. Take approximately 1 tsp. of filling and place it on top of one cut ravioli in the center so that there is still and edge of dough surrounding the filling. Brush this dough edge with the egg yolk. Place another cut ravioli on top of the piece with filling. Crimp the edges together all the way around the ravioli sealing the filling inside. The egg yolk acts as a glue to help hold them together. Continue process until all raviolis are made. Cook by the desired method.

Partridge with onion sauce, glazed baby carrots & basmati rice by Alex Mackay (BBC Food)

As January has inadvertently turned into "the month of the vegetable" I thought I would finish off with a meat I've never tried cooking before.  My initial plan was to cook guinea fowl but for whatever reason it eluded me in every shop I tried so I ended up with partridge in my basket instead.

What I did do however was adapt a guinea fowl recipe to work for partridge.  I will be making guinea fowl at some point so watch this space but if you happen to be luckier than me this recipe will work with both meats just as well.

This was a really easy, quick and tasty recipe.  So easy that I got over confident and, like all cooks do at some point, I had a small disaster when I managed to burn the basmati rice by neglecting it and needed to start it again.

However, for the little amount of time it took (just under one hour) this was a very rewarding dish.  My husband declared from the other room "it smelt great" (so I knew I was onto a winner) and it was fabulous trying something which was a bit more exotic than our normal family dinner.  The onion sauce was my absolute favourite part of this ensemble and I would certainly make it again for chicken, turkey etc.

Here's the recipe.  Happy cooking!

Fried guinea fowl with glazed baby carrots and onion sauce (note I used partridge instead)
This recipe makes one portion so simply increase quantities accordingly.


Ingredients

For the guinea fowl
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 guinea fowl breast
salt and freshly ground black pepper
25g/1oz butter
½ onion, peeled, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled, chopped
200ml/7fl oz chicken stock

For the glazed baby carrots
6 baby carrots
100ml/3½fl oz water
pinch sugar
25g/1oz butter
55g/2oz fresh peas

To serve
knob of butter
100g/3½oz basmati rice, cooked according to packet instructions



Preparation method

1. For the guinea fowl, heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the guinea fowl breast for 5-6 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. (The guinea fowl is cooked through when the juices run clear when pierced in the thickest part with a skewer.) Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside to rest.  Note: As I used two whole partridges (one per portion) I oven baked them for 30 mins at 180 degrees c.  I rubbed butter into their skin and seasoned with salt and pepper before cooking.  As the partridge takes longer to cook than frying the guinea fowl you can start the following steps a bit later so they aren't ready too soon before the partridge is done (including time for the partridge to rest after cooking).

2. For the onion sauce.  Heat the butter in a frying pan until foaming. Add the onion and cook over a low heat for 5-6 minutes, or until softened but not coloured. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Pour in the stock and simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until the volume of the mixture has reduced.

3.Meanwhile, for the glazed baby carrots, simmer the carrots, water, sugar and butter in a saucepan for 4-5 minutes or until well combined. Add the peas and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until the carrots are tender.

4.To serve, stir the butter into the rice and spoon it onto a serving plate. Slice the guinea fowl breast and place it on top of the rice, spoon the onion sauce over the guinea fowl. Using a slotted spoon, place the glazed baby carrots alongside.

Vegetable Curry by Keith Floyd

Keith Floyd has to be one of my favourite television chefs of all time.  Quirky, eccentric and always brimming with red wine, he is one of my food heroes.  He cooks how I like to cook.  With alcohol always to hand whether the recipe requires it or not (he knew how to live!)  One of the best things about Keith was the way he went with the flow and made everything look enjoyable and easy.  I loved watching him and his honest and straight forward attitude.

In honour of Keith, I thought I'd choose one of his recipes for one of the most important nights of many a British person's week: "Curry Night".  We're still in January.  Still?!  The credit card bill has arrived, the only sweets left at the bottom of my Quality Street tin are the horrid ones I don't like (probably a good thing really!) and it's all rather gloomy and depressing.  What better to cheer oneself than a homemade Ruby?  Cheaper, better for you and actually amazingly easy to do.  Keith's recipe was originally for chicken but I fancied turning it vegetarian so I substituted the chicken for vegetables of my choice which included carrot, sweet potato, broccoli and mango.

Taking just over one hour to complete I found this recipe really simple.  Despite the fact it didn't include any quantities whatsoever!  Typical Keith Floyd cooking!  I was happy as it suits my style of "make it up as you go along" (I'm not often wholly true to a recipe) and it is a good way to learn what does and doesn't work and develop a palate.  For the benefit of this blog I will include my quantities as I was so pleased with the result I would definitely cook this one again in the same way.  I served with an onion and cumin seed pilau rice (really straightforward - recipe also below).

Here it is.  I hope you enjoy as much as I did. 

Keith Floyd's Chicken Curry (or in my case Vegetable Curry!) - Quantities make enough for 2 very hungry people or 4 people who eat a bit less!

Filet of leg of chicken (or substitute for vegetables - I used sweet potato, 1 large carrot, broccoli and half a mango)
Sweet potato - my potato was huge so I used half of it cut into small chunks
Coconut milk - 1 can (if you want to use light do but I never find the light stuff any good in a curry - too thin!)
Finely chopped onion - 1 large or 2 small
Garlic - 3 cloves
Yellow curry powder - 1 tablespoon
Ground turmeric - 1 teaspoon
Crushed dried chillies - a good sprinkling (dependent on your taste)
Fresh chillies - I used two green chillies, de-seeded and finely chopped
Very finely chopped lemongrass - 1 stalk
Chicken stock (or vegetable) - I used about half a pint
Sugar
Salt
Pepper


In a pot with hot oil, add the onions and let brown a little bit then add the garlic. Add the chicken in and let it take colour (instead of chicken I added the sweet potato and carrot at this point). Add the curry powder and turmeric to the pot and stir around, then add the chillies (both fresh and dried), lemon grass, a little bit of sugar (I used a pinch), salt and freshly ground pepper.

Moist with simple chicken stock and simmer gently for about 20 minutes.  (I made sure all the veg was covered).

Add the sweet potatoes (if making the chicken version!) and the the coconut milk. Let it thicken for about 10-15 minutes.

In the last 5 minutes I added the broccoli and mango and also a little bit of corn flour paste to thicken it up.

Onion and cumin seed pilau rice
1 onion, finely chopped
Tablespoon of cumin seeds
Pilau Rice
Stock/water (I used the remainder of the chicken stock and added additional water as required)

Soften up the onion in oil and add the cumin seeds.  Once onions are soft add rice. Mix together ensuring rice has a good coating of the oil.  Add the stock and a bit of water if required and simmer with lid on for about 15-20 minutes.

For rice I always use double the quantity of stock/water to rice (use a measuring jug) and allow to simmer down until the stock/water has nearly evaporated entirely. Do not under any circumstances stir or interfere with the rice while it is simmering as it will become starchy and horrid (remember this is not a risotto!)  To check it is cooked use a teaspoon to gently pull away the rice from the edge of the pan.  If the stock is more or less gone then it is most like ready (test a bit first).

Cod with crispy potatoes and mustard lentils by Gordon Ramsay

Like many other people in this world my fish recipes repertoire tends to stall somewhere around a creamy fish pie.  This is then tirelessly rotated with a prawn curry/pasta/salad dish (give me a prawn and I'm a happy girl).  For a self confessed carnivoire, fish is not the first thing I hone in on when scouring a menu so it leaves me somewhat clueless when I come to cook it for myself.

In the interests of continuing on my month of healthier eating (the Quality Street tin is still haunting me), I thought a fish recipe was essential.  I know there are so many different types of beautiful fish, so many recipes to choose from that the humble cod could easily get looked over.  However, it's a great place to start and I love the idea of getting back to basics (ish) with this lovely sounding recipe by Gordon Ramsay (kindly recommended to me by my Twitter buddy @DarrylCornelius - thanks Darryl!)  Hands up who doesn't want to know about something new and exciting to do with a fillet of cod?  Forget batter, mushy peas and chips.  The cod is putting on his glad rags and getting the GR treatment.  And wow does it scrub up nicely!

A few notes to make about this recipe and a couple of tips.  Read this recipe through at least two or three times before starting just so you can become accustomed to it.  I found it slightly confusing and wanted to make sure I was reading everything correctly and that I was making the best use of my time.  So while the potatoes were cooking, I also popped on the lentils and made up the vinaigrette.  Note that this recipe doesn't tell you how to make a vinaigrette so you could buy off the shelf but they are so easy to do it literally takes 30 seconds.  I used a basic recipe of 4 fl oz of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, pinch of caster sugar, salt and pepper.  Whisk this all together and voila!  Then take the two tablespoons of this vinaigrette and add the one teaspoon of Dijon mustard to it as instructed on the ingredients.  When I tasted it, I thought it was rather strong but once you mix it with the lentils at the end it becomes more subtle and is absolutely delicious!  So don't be frightened by the mustard! 

The other thing I did was turn the oven onto a low heat before I started.  You can warm up your plates while preparing your food as well as having it on stand by to keep your potatoes at the right temperature once they are ready.  It's also worth getting all the utensils out of the cupboard (like trays for the potatoes and the lentils) just to save you searching and faffing.  These are all small things which I thought would be helpful to suggest to somebody who isn't a seasoned recipe follower or would like some extra pointers.  In total, the recipe took me just over an hour to complete.

The final result was delicious!  For a lady who doesn't like capers (I know this is a shocking confession for a foodie), in the interests of staying true to the recipe I left them in and boy am I glad I did!  I am converted!  Even my husband ate them and he is known to pick them off his plate.  The flavours all worked extremely well together.  The potatoes were so yummy and the lentils absolutely divine.  I was really very pleased with the result.  An hour well spent!  Gordon Ramsay, you rock!

P.S.  There were no Belle Fontaine potatoes in my supermarket so I opted for some good quality boiling potatoes (Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Vivaldi potatoes) and hoped for the best.  The result was still great!

Cod with Crispy potatoes and mustard lentils [Gordon Ramsey – A Chef for All Seasons]


Serves 4

Ingredients
400g even-sized Belle Fontaine potatoes
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 fillets of cod, about 125g each, with skin
100g puy lentils
1 carrot 1
½ small onion
1 small stick celery
15g butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of capers, rinsed and patted dry
2 tablespoons of vinaigrette mixed with 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh chives
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


1. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for about 12 minutes until just tender. Drain and cool until you can handle them – they are best peeled hot. Cut into neat dice and toss with one tablespoon of the oil. Spread out on a tray, season and let the potatoes absorb the oil as they cool.

2. Season the skin side of the cod with salt, rubbing it in nicely. Leave for 30 mins. This helps to dry out the skin

3. Place the lentils in a saucepan with the carrot, onion and celery. Simmer for 15 mins or until just cooked. Do not overcook or the lentils will break down. Drain immediately and discard the vegetables. Spread the lentils on a tray to cool. This stops them cooking further

4. When ready to cook, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil with the butter in a frying pan, and gently sauté the shallot for about 5 minutes. Scoop out the shallot and reserve. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan, raise the heat and tip in the diced potato. Cook until golden brown, turning as necessary. Remove, mix with the shallot and capers, and keep warm.

5. Wipe out the pan, and heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in it. When hot, add the fish, skin side down. Cook until the skin crisps up nicely. Cook for 90% of total time on the skin side, then flip over to just brown the other side lightly. Cooking time depends on thickness of the fillet, but is about 5 minutes in all. Check if the fish is cooked by pressing with the back of a fork. It should be lightly springy.

6. Reheat the lentils briefly in a saucepan, season and stir in the vinaigrette and chives. Sit a cod fillet on each warmed plate, and spoon over the lentils and then the potatoes. Serve hot.

Winter Vegetable Soup via www.epicurious.com

So it's January.  A new year.  I've spent the last month and a half eating every single pre-packed festive sandwich I could get my hands on as well as gorging on pies, pasties, pickles and cake sliding down the long gastronomic gulley of gluttony and landing firmly in a large tin of Quality Street.  It's time I got my act together, right?  So to kick off 2012 I thought I would make something healthy which includes more than just a nod to one of my five a day (fruit cake, apparently, doesn't count).  I've made soup before.  Of course I have but I need to ease myself back into the kitchen (having spent the majority of December dining out in other's). 

I've never tried making a vegetable soup (seriously!) so I thought I'd give this one a go from one of my favourite recipe sources, Epicurious. 

The ingredients were all easy to get hold of and the recipe was extremely simple and quick.  Any beginner could give this a shot and end up with a rewarding result.  I made a few of my own personal preference adaptations to the original.  Instead of olive oil, I used butter.  I'm talking Gary Rhodes quantities of butter too i.e. a heck of a lot!  Don't judge me.  I know I am meant to be going on a health drive but I prefer it in my soups and I'm not Gillian McKeith for crying out loud!  Additionally I thought dill was a bit of a strange herb for a soup?  Give it a shot if you like but I prefer thyme and parsley with veggies so in they went instead.  I also used total chicken stock rather than chicken stock and water.  Of course, if you are vegetarian you can substitute this with vegetable stock/water instead.

I managed to over do it a tad on the thyme so ruined my own soup a bit (probably pay back for not using the dill!)  However, it was extremely satisfying and was even better when left overnight and reheated for lunch the next day.  Serve with crusty bread (no I didn't make my own - I'm not Delia for crying out loud!) and voila!  A healthy, hearty meal.  Enjoy!

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 celery rib, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 pound sweet potato, peeled and cubed (1/2 inch)
• 1/2 pound Yukon Gold or boiling potatoes, peeled and cubed (1/2 inch)
• 2 cups reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Cook onion with bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon salt in oil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add carrot and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute, then add sweet potato, Yukon Golds, broth, water, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Purée 1 cup soup in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids) and return to pot. Bring to a simmer, then stir in peas and dill and cook until peas are heated through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.