Delicious Dozen bite 11 – Cheap and cheerful meals

Hey y’all (I have just come back from the USA so I’m loving y’all right now!), how’s it going? So this month has been all about being frugal and finding some tasty but cheap meals. I started the month by doing one of the best free things ever...I joined my local library! Libraries are just great aren’t they, it really is amazing that you can still borrow books for free!! My local library is quite small but thankfully it does have a great selection of cook books and I found this one which caught my because of its not so snappy title...

I worked out the approximate costs for each recipe - I usually do our food shopping online at Sainsbury’s so I’m sure you could actually make these recipes even cheaper if you shopped around.

Being brought up in Yorkshire I am in LOVE with Yorkshire pudding and so I started the month trying out a classic recipe which is delicious and surprisingly cost effective.

Toad in the hole - £3.66 to serve 4

Ingredients

8 Sausages

100g Plain flour

2 eggs

½ mug of milk (approx)

1 small onion chopped (optional – I left this out)

Method

1.  Arrange the sausages in a large ovenproof dish with some extra oil (The sausages make their own fat but you need some more to cook the Yorkshire pudding in, 3-4 tablespoons should do it). Prick the sausages with a sharp knife and put them in a hot oven (200-220 degrees centigrade). If you are using the onion, chop it finely and scatter around the sausages after about 10-15 mins when the oil is hot and the sausages are starting to brown.
2.  Sift the flour in a largish bowl (give yourself plenty of elbow room) and make a well in the centre.
3.  Break the eggs into the well one at a time, add about half the milk and start whisking, gradually adding more milk until youve got a fairly thick, smooth puring batter. You can leave the batter in the fridge, but have it ready to pour into the very hot oil the minute you bring the sausages out of the oven.
4. When the sausages are brown and very nearly done quickly pour the batter in and return to the top half of the oven immediately (you really do need to do this super fast, the batter was cooking and setting as soon as I poured it in). After about 20 minutes you should have lovely dark brown sausages and perfect golden brown, well risen Yorkshire pudding.

I served this with green beans, mash and of course lashings of gravy!! It was delicious and I was sooooo impressed with how much the puddings rise, it was HUGE!

Macaroni cheese - £4.75 to serve 4

As the clocks have gone back and its now practically dark at lunchtime all I am longing for is comfort food. There is nothing better than the creamy, cheesyfest of mac and cheese!

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8834/bestever-macaroni-cheese

I didn’t have a baguette so I just made a couple of pieces of toast and blitz them in the food processor. I was a bit weary of the breadcrumbs to be honest but they definitely added to it, it was a nice bit of crunch on top of the lovely squidgy macaroni. To be fair this isn’t the cheapest meal when you think it doesn’t have any protein or veg in it but it is soooooo tasty!

Mince and sweet potato pie - £5.72 the recipe says it serves 4 but I think it’s more like 5 or 6 because it is super filling

http://www.netmums.com/family-food/family-recipes/a-z-of-family-recipes/mince-and-sweet-potato-pie

I picked up some lamb mince in the reduced section so I got it for £2.69 which brought down the costs quite a bit, I think it would be an extra £1.30-£2.00 for full price beef or lamb mince. I would maybe try this with Quorn mince because it is so much cheaper than meat but still gets you some protein.

I have to say we thought it looked a bit weird/mixed up when it came out of the oven it was actually really tasty. I’m not the biggest fan of baked beans but as part of the mix they tasted really nice.

Cheesy Baked Tortilla - £4.45 serves 4

My other half Dave is definitely a meat man so persuading him to eat a  veggie meal was a challenge. I thought this looked like a fun recipe but might not be filling enough so I added some Quorn to it (I persuaded Dave to try Quorn by reminding that Mo Farah is on the advert so it must be good! He is basically going to become Mo now that he has had one Tortilla!!) which really helped bulked it up. I must admit though that I probably used about twice the amount of cheese suggested...I REALLY like cheese! So that probably makes it a bit more expensive.

http://www.netmums.com/family-food/family-recipes/a-z-of-family-recipes/cheesy-baked-tortillas

That's the Tortillas rolled up and the filling.....ummmm yum!

Random things left in the fridge/cupboard - £ sort of free

So I think sometimes the cheapest way to make dinner is to actually eat what’s left in the fridge/cupboard!! I don’t know about you but we are sooooo bad for wasting food! I think I probably throw fresh fruit/ veg or meat out every week so I decided to just use up some leftovers. 

Now to be fair it was a bit of a random meal, quesadilla (made with left over chicken, fried with a packet of salsa and some slightly dodgy looking peppers, topped with some forgotten about cheese), pretzels and apple. It was random but still tasty and it makes the point that the best way to save money on food is to actually eat everything you buy! Shocking I know!! 

I am now determined to clean out our freezer and use up all the random tins in the cupboard...this probably means we will be eating frozen Yorkshire puddings with sweet corn, chopped tomatoes and black pudding... not a traditional combo but you never know, it could work!!

So, onwards into the last couple of months of the Delicious Dozen challenge. We are just back from a trip to the USA to see my Mum and Dad in South Carolina A.K.A The South. November is dedicated to Deep Southern foods... fried chicken here we come!

Happy cooking and eating y’all.

Linds xx

P.S I also made a Free Cakes for Kids Cake with my friend Rebecca, hopefully Cole liked his Spiderman cake!!

Delicious Dozen bite 10 – The Launch of Auburn Cakes

Hi guys, so I’m afraid to say I have slightly abandoned the Delicious Dozen challenge in September but it’s all for a good cause... CAKE (what better reason is there than that?)! 

I have reverted back to baking because...drum roll please... I have launched my own cake business!

I am very excited to introduce Auburn Cakes.

After finishing my contract with Glasgow 2014 I have not been very good at taking it easy, I really am rubbish at doing nothing! So in one of my long days of funemployment I decided to contact a local cafe which I knew sold cakes from home bakers. I met up with Linda from Cafe La Ronda, showed her this blog and she kindly asked me to become one of her bakers. So now I supply this lovely cafe in Linlithgow with my tasty treats and people actually pay for them!!! Eeeeekkkkk it is so exciting!!!!

Naughty chocolate fudge cake and lemon drizzle loaf

As round cakes seem to be the best sellers I have been making reliable favourites like Vicky sponge, lemon drizzle cake and chocolate cakes to delight the population of the town. Baking for other people and getting paid for it has changed my baking experience somewhat. I have had to think a lot more about the price and quality of ingredients. My lovely friend Karlie took me along to Costco on a fact finding mission. She patiently waited while I got my calculator out in every aisle  to decide if it was worth buying sugar and butter in bulk (just FYI, it is worth it to buy sugar but not butter!).

I know it is still early days but I don’t think I will be making my millions from Auburn Cakes - but it has been fun learning about setting up my own business.  Between registering with the Environmental Health department, to insurance (I know, who thought you could buy cake insurance?), to income and expenses spread sheets (thanks to my father-in-law Phil for sharing his wisdom on this topic) and food hygiene courses I have learnt loads! I have my eye on a logo design and some new bits of equipment but at this rate I will never actually make any money!! I don’t mind really, it's fun and keeps me busy so I’m happy with that!

 

Snazzy new flour tins... they had my name on them so I HAD to buy them

Being back on the baking bandwagon has also given me the time to get back into making cakes for Free Cakes for Kids. This month I did a Frozen cake for 3 year old Ella and a handbag/shoe cake for 16 year old Zohra. 

I was very lucky to have some brilliant baking companions for the Frozen cake, Lizzie, Chloe and Sam came along and I think we made a fantastic baking team. They were great at rolling and cutting out the fondant and Sam and Lizzie made a fab looking Olaf. Olaf really is such a cheery character isn’t he?

Fab baking team! Thanks for all your help guys x

Hello Olaf!

Handbags and shoes

I hope you will forgive me for straying away from the challenge but this has been an exciting first month of my very first business venture.  For those of you who don’t know I have also started training to become a massage therapist so hopefully when I qualify next year I can expand to Auburn Cakes and Pains... a pain-relieving massage followed by a good brew and a tasty cake, what do you think??? Haha...

As I am still enjoying the delights of funemployment I thought it would be a good idea to dedicate October to meals on a budget.

Have a great month xx Kisses and cake xx Linds xx 

P.S I went to a place called Cuckoo's Bakery in Edinburgh last week and I had to tell you about this cupcake... it was chocolate salted caramel with Italian meringue on top... one word: OMG! Whoever thought of putting meringue on the top of a cupcake is a genius!

Delicious Dozen Bite 9 – Ciao Amico! It’s Italian month.

Hello all, how’s things? Hope you enjoyed the last of the summer sun!

So August has been dedicated to the delights of Italian cooking and this time I thought I would try something different, a series of taste tests. Italian food is such a normal part of our diet, we probably have pasta or pizza at least twice a week so I thought it might be fun to see how our versions of Italian food stack up against the real thing! I didn’t manage to cook many different things but it was a very informative fact finding mission!

Pesto pasta

We make pasta with pesto, chicken pieces, some crème fraiche and toasted pine nuts all the time, it is so easy and quick. I thought it was about time I tried to make my own pesto, which turned out to be delicious!

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2494/pesto-sauce

Cheesy, Basil goodness x

Real pesto pasta

I don’t think I put in quite enough basil (it wasn't very green) but it still tasted great, and so much better than pesto from a jar. The only thing I have a serious problem with is the price of pine nuts...what’s the deal guys?! I paid £4.25 for a 200g bag, it is ridiculous! Are pine nuts really rare and endangered?? I just can’t understand why they could possibly cost so much. By the time I put them in the pesto itself and added some more toasted ones to our pasta I used up half the bag. Given that you can buy a whole jar of pesto for £1 this means that making your own is not particularly cost effective. Anyway, now that I have finished my middle aged sounding rant I can tell you I will definitely make it again, but not every week.  

Carbonara  

This is another fave in our house and we use a very reliable recipe which I’m sure would horrify Italians!! It’s from the lovely makers of Philadelphia cheese....

https://www.philadelphia.co.uk/Recipes/Spaghetti%20Carbonara?r=9295

Philadelphia carbonara

So, time to try a traditional recipe - with homemade pasta no less! I followed the very simple instructions from legendary Italian Chef Antonio Carluccio. He like so many other people say you must NOT add cream, or onions, or peas or anything else silly like that. Carbonara should just be eggs, cheese and Guanciale (the cheek of the pork) or pancetta (Italian bacon).

http://www.antonio-carluccio.com/Spaghetti_alla_Carbonara

You can watch the man himself cooking up a storm here :- 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AAdKl1UYZs

I opted for this Channel 4 recipe to make my own pasta, I reduced the recipe down to 100g of flour and 1 egg which was just about enough for two of us. I mixed it up in the food processor and then it only took about 3 minutes to kneed which was amazingly fast. Our good friends Neil and Karlie lent me their pasta machine which made rolling it out super easy (although the machine is slightly annoying to clean) and I was so glad I had it because it would have taken some serious elbow grease to roll it by hand. 

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/simply-italian/articles/all/basic-egg-pasta-dough-recipe

Working the pasta machine!

Home made pasta and traditional carbonara sauce

Scores are in from Dave... it's an 8 out of 10 for the home made pasta/traditional carbonara and a 6 out of 10 for the Philadelphia.

Pizza

Who doesn’t love pizza!! This is our laziest mid-week meal, take the wrapper off and pop the chilled or frozen pizza in the oven = zero effort! Surprise surprise the homemade one was sooooo much better!

 http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/sep/08/how-to-cook-perfect-pizza

I used some strong bread flour mixed with 00 grade flour

Sainburys vs Haines Pizzas

Yummmmmmy

The first time I rolled the dough out I left it a bit thick so it took a while to cook and it was a bit chewier than I would like. My second batch was much better, thinner and crispier, probably because I made a couple of small Pizzas instead of trying to roll out one big one. I think it is probably worth investing in a pizza stone if you are going to make pizzas regularly. You heat it up in the oven before using it so that the pizza is cooked by direct heat from the stone as well as the all round heat in the oven. I think having a pizza stone can really help to absorb the moisture and crisp up the base so I think pop it on my Christmas list and see if Santa thinks my pizzas are worth it!!

Mozzarella and tomato salad

Now this is something I don’t usually make but it is one of my fave things to have in an Italian restaurant so thought I would give it a try. I used Nigella’s recipe which involves baking the tomatoes but most recipes just use raw and I don’t think it actually makes much difference. This salad was great with the pizza’s and would be a super easy thing to whip up for a dinner party.

http://www.styleathome.com/food-and-entertaining/recipes/recipe-nigella-lawson-s-tomatoes-mozzarella-and-basil/a/50698

The same but REALLY different.

In the spirit of taste testing though I did try out two kinds of mozzarella, Tesco Everyday Mozzarella (44p) versus Tesco Finest Buffalo Mozzarella (£2.00). Strictly speaking mozzarella should be made with buffalo milk but most of what you get in the supermarket is made with cows milk. I asked Dave to guess which was more expensive and which he preferred. He voted the Everyday as his fave and said it was more expensive so 50% right! The two cheeses were so different in taste and texture they really couldn’t be compared. The buffalo one was much more like goats cheese and the Everyday one was a little bit rubbery but much more what I thought mozzarella was like. I would be happy with either in my salad but I will probably be sticking with the cheaper one most of the time.

So drum roll please... will we be going with supermarket or home made Italian foods from now on... a bit of both I think. I would definitely make pasta again, it was so fast whereas the pizza did take a while to rest/prove. In the end everything was tasty so they are on the try again list. 

There are so many other delicious Italian goodies to make but the months really aren’t long enough to squeeze them in!! Maybe next year my challenge can be to get round to making all the things I missed out on this year!

Happy eating lovely blog friends! Arrivederci xx Linds xx

Delicious dozen bite 8 - ready meal reviews....well not quite!

Ok guys, so, here's the thing, it turns out that when you move out of home for a month to work away and then work 16 hours a day, even ready meals start to look like gourmet cooking! I was so determined to maximise my sleep time that even those few minutes waiting for a ready meal to cook was too long to wait. I’m sorry folks but I only actually cooked for myself twice during the whole Games so it wasn’t going to make for much of a review!

 I MUST tell you though that I did not starve, far from it, the food that the staff and volunteers had was amazing. Most days I ate breakfast and lunch in the Athletes Village which was fantastic, hot meals, lots of fresh fruit, and plenty of choice. I had dinner in one of the competition venues most nights, the selection there wasn’t quite as extensive, it was mainly salads and sandwiches (some of which had an astonishingly large number of calories in them, who knew you could fit 900 calories in a sandwich!! I think they must have secretly deep fried the lettuce or something) but they were still pretty good. But the best meals in town were in the Athletes main dining room, OMG their food was AMAZING!! The Athletes and team officials had 24 hour access to pretty much every food under the sun and I was lucky enough to eat in there a couple of times. The dining room and kitchens were built in a huge temporary structure and I have no idea how the caterers did it but they managed to make thousands and thousands of meals very day for nearly a month. Huge high fives to my Catering, Cleaning and Waste colleagues, they got it really right and I'm sure they helped our Athletes perform to the best of their ability!!

Main dining for the Athletes...it was HUGE!

Menu....they used lots of local produce which was great!

Healthy salad bar

Steaks, salmon, pasta, pizza, noodles choices, choices, choices......

OMG breakfast was AMAZING!!

Ice cream any time of the day and night... LOVE IT!!

Muffins, cookies, cereal....

Full Scottish!

Sorry that I didn’t manage to complete the Delicious Dozen challenge this month as planned but I promise to get back on track now that I am enjoying my period of funemployment!!

August is going to be dedicated to the wonderful world of Italian food!

Happy cooking and eating,

Xx Linds xx

Delicious dozen bite 7 - sizzling summer BBQ

Hello long lost friends, how are you? I can hardly remember what you look like!! I'm so sorry that this delicious bite is soooo late, you should have had it at the end of June but a little thing called the Commonwealth Games got in the way. Now that's it's all done and dusted I can tell you that I have been working for the Organising Committee of Glasgow 2014 for the last two and a half years but the last few months it really took over my life 24/7. More about the Games in the bite 8 but for now back to the long overdue BBQ month.

Now to my surprise and delight we were actually able to BBQ three times in June which is amazing for Scotland. In fact we could probably have done it more if my work schedule had allowed because the weather was lovely and properly warm, like me outside without a cardigan! Seriously warm!

Although I must confess my blog reading chums, that if I am being 100% truthful I didn't actually cook anything on the BBQ....my lovely husband Dave did it all. I'm not sure why but outdoor cooking of any kind seems to be a manly pursuit. I'm not sure if it because it involves open flames (which is far more exciting/risky than our electric oven and induction hob) but Dave was all over it which I was more than happy to let him crack on!

Burgers

Over the years Dave and I have worked on our burger recipe and it's nearly always spot on but after some BBQ pinteresting I modified it slightly for open air cooking.

Ingredients

•          500g mince beef (I normally use lean mince but many people online recommended using meat with a higher fat content to keep it moist over the charcoals so I used 10% fat)
•          1 egg (any size)
•          Salt (generous pinch)
•          Pepper (generous pinch)
•          Some dried herbs (generous sprinkle of anything in the cupboard...oregano, Brazil, Rosemary etc)
•          Worcestershire sauce (liberal splash...more like a glug)

Mix it all together in a bow (I don't like this bit, it feels like cold slimy brains to me) and shape into four round patties....throw then on the barbie....Cook for 25ish mins or until they stick together but are not quite black!

Corn on the cob

I LOVE corn and it tastes soooo much better on the cob.  I wasn't convinced it would cook properly on the BBQ so I popped two corns in the microwave for about 3 minutes with a couple of tablespoons of water to get them started. Then they were probably on the grill for 10-15 minutes. Then we proceeded to slather the healthy veggie in lashings of butter which of course made it taste even more amazing.

Aubergine skewers

I had no idea what to do with this but was just in the mood for aubergine so I sliced it up in rounds, drizzled oil and salt over it and popped it on a skewer. I'm sure there are more interesting things to be done with aubergine so I promise to try harder next time.

Lamb and mint kebabs

Sometimes I think it's ok to take the easy road. I couldn't think what else to make so let Mr J Sainsburys do the thinking for me....I walked over to the meat section of the supermarket...picked up the kebabs, took them home, put them on the barbie and ta da they were done as per the instructions. They were nice but the mint was a bit overwhelming so not sure they would be my top pick again.

Grilled pineapple

Dave was convinced I would like this one because I have a real sweet tooth but I'm afraid warm, squishy pineapple with caramelised sugar not top did not float my boat. We just threw them on once the flames died down and they looked nice but they were not really for me.

Girl Guide favourite bananas with chocolate

My friend Nuala (of the bite 6 Eggie Bread story) and I shared another memory from being in the Guides which involved stuffing chocolate buttons into bananas and wrapping them up in tin foil and cooking them on an open fire. Unlike the Eggie Bread which was far superior all these years later I'm afraid the chocolate bananas were a letdown.  Again the warm squishy fruit just didn't do it for me. Huge sad face (Guides Honour).

Sarah Mac's Thai pork burgers

My colleague Sarah is responsible for this beauty of a recipe and it was a triumph.

Ingredients

•          Garlic - 3 or 4 cloves
•          Ginger -  2 inch piece grated
•          Spring onions – 8 chopped
•          Salted peanuts – 200g
•          Chilli – 2 chopped

Mash all of them up in a food processor then mix it with:

•          Mince – 500g
•          Soy sauce – generous glug
•          Coriander – plenty, chopped!
• 
  

Roll into 4 or 5 burgers, chill in the fridge and then cook!

We served them on flat breads with salad, sweet chilli dipping sauce and mango chutney but I could quite happily have had some noodles or rice with them, as strange as that sounds! The flavours were most definitely Thai which was such a lovely change from everything from the BBQ being covered in tomato ketchup.

So, I can officially say that it is possible to have successful BBQ’s in Scotland despite the unpredictable weather. I don't think we would go as far as planning a BBQ and risking inviting lots of people over, I think it will always have to be a spur of the moment decision to go for it when the sun decides to make an appearance.

Now on to the next bite of the challenge....July...well cooking is not on the agenda at all as I will be living in Glasgow and working 16 hours a day for about four weeks so I am dedicating this month to the review of the ready meal! I genuinely believe there are some great ones out there and sometimes needs must so I intend to test out the best ones and report back.

Happy summer eating!

Linds xx

P.S. I also did a wee bit of baking this month for my fabulous friend Karlie’s baby shower, Vicky sponge with fresh cream, jam and fresh berries and baby face earl great cup cakes xx

Note to self...don't try to ice a cake that is still warm....it goes a bit squishy!

Delicious Dozen bite 6 – Brunch

Hey Y’all, hows things? What have you been up to?

Well folks, May has been a bumper month of tasty brunch treats! As you know I have struggled a bit this year with switching from my baking to my cooking challenge. Cooking just hasn’t come as easily to me as I had hoped but this month has been a bit of a relief, I guess brunch is a sort of halfway house. I think the reason it is so wonderful is because it is the only meal where you are justified in eating sweet and savoury things on the same plate!

So, let’s dig in....

All-in-one-baked mushrooms

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7398/allinonebaked-mushrooms

Well this was surprisingly delicious and seriously easy. I actually had this as my lunch rather than brunch and I think you could get away with serving it for dinner. I served it with toast but it would be great with a slice of fresh bread like a tiger loaf....ummm that’s an idea for next time!

Full Scottish Breakfast

There isn’t really a strict recipe for this one but there are a few essential elements to a proper Scottish fry-up.

Firstly puddings... black, white or fruit they are the staple on any brunch plate. So I’m not going to list the ingredients of a black pudding, you can find out more here if you really want to but please don’t let that put you off. If you are a bit freaked out at the prospect of eating a ‘fried scab’ as some people affectionately call them you can always try a fruit pudding. It still has suet in it so it’s not veggie-friendly but it a tasty mix of spices and currents.

Secondly, Lorne sausage, also called flat sausage. It’s just a sausage which is round or square and flat but for some reason it just tastes different. It might be because there is so much fat in them but they really are great. They remind me so much of my childhood, we always used to have rolls and flat sausages at my Grandma and Papa’s house. They really do make so much more sense for putting into a roll don’t you think??

Thirdly, and finally, potato ‘tattie’ scones. FYI don’t listen to what it says on the packet, do not put them in the toaster or under the grill, you have to fry them. I know this meal is already a heart attack waiting to happen but they really don’t taste the same if you don’t fry them.

Basically the full Scottish is terrible for you, this and Irn Bru are most likely the reason so many people in Scotland have heart disease but once in a while I think it’s OK to indulge.

French Toast (a.k.a. Eggie Bread)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/french-toast-i/

So, was anyone else in Guides as a tweenager/ teenager? Did you ever go on camp? Well I did and one of the lasting memories for me (apart from constructing a toilet tent) was making eggie bread over an open fire! What is so surprising though is that eggie bread seems to be a common Girl Guiding food. My friend/colleague Nuala and I were astonished to learn recently that we shared this common memory despite the fact we were in Guide groups 200 miles apart. We also shared the fact that we both distinctly remember that we didn’t enjoy it very much! 

Well, it was about time to try making it again and see if I could make it any better. (By the way, I have called it French Toast because it sounds more grown up but it’s just the same thing.) So, my second experience with French Toast was far more successful. I served it with a sprinkle of icing sugar and lashings of maple syrup. I think next time I would add a couple of pieces of crispy bacon because...well...why not?!

Cranberry Raspberry Smoothie

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/73605/cranberry-and-raspberry-smoothie

So, as you can tell so far this month of cooking hasn’t been the healthiest so it was about time to work on my five a day! This smoothie was delicious, I don’t have a blender so I mixed it in a food processor so it was probably a bit thicker than it was meant to be. Nevertheless I think I definitely got at least two of my five a day in one glass.

Rach with the smoothies!

Blueberry pancakes

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4915/american-blueberry-pancakes

Another attempt to have a semi-healthy brunch! These pancakes were just great, fluffy, light and packed full of juicy blueberries (I added twice as many as the recipe suggested). They tasted just like proper American pancakes, especially when I slathered them in lashings of maple syrup... not so healthy after all.

Huevos Rancheros

My best girl friend, housemate and wife from university, Elizabeth (E) shared her recipe for this amazing dish with me. E used to make these for us on special occasions at uni and everyone LOVED them. She used to bring a special Mexican sauce over from her home in the good old US of A which really gave this a special kick. Sadly I couldn’t find anything similar here but I gave it a go with what I could find and they still tasted delicious!! There are lots of variations of huevos rancheros (see here) but I like E’s the best

Rough recipe and instructions (E, please feel free to comment/correct me)

1 tin (or dried beans soaked) of black beans – heated up with some beef or pork stock and some spices like cumin

Rice – boiled and drained (some)

Fried egg (1 per person)

Bacon (2 rashers per person)

Fruity brown sauce (the closest thing I could find to E’s special sauce)

Sour cream (some)

Tortilla wraps to wrap it all together.

One word guys....A.MA.ZING!!!

Fluffy eggs

One of my new colleagues Kate shared her favourite egg recipe idea with me. I’m not exactly sure I followed her instructions correctly (I didn’t write them down..oops) but it was still tasty which is all that matters.  

Instructions

1 egg – separated – whisk the egg whites until they go frothy like when you are making meringues

English muffin/sour dough/any yummy bread toasted

Put the fluffy egg white on top of the toast, make a little well in the middle and put the yolk in it. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at about 200 degrees so the egg is cooked but the yolk is still runny.

All in all, brunch month has been a roaring success and I still have so many things I want to make...Eggs Benedict...kedgeree....waffles....

So, onwards to month 6 of the challenge and as June is officially the start of summer (just so you know there is torrential rain outside as I write this...) it’s time to fire up the charcoals for BBQ month.

Burgers and hot dogs here I come!

Xx Love Linds xx

P.S I also did a cheeky double bake for my friend/colleague Adele’s big birthday celebration! Thirty is the new twenty lovely lady!!

Delicious Dozen bite 5 – British Classics

Hello there lovely blog reading friends, how are you? I know, it has been ages hasn’t it! Well let me get my excuses in early...as some of you know my job involves me working on a large scale sporting event which is being held this summer. Needless to say it is getting VERY close now and things are getting a little bit busy. So busy in fact I am finding it hard to find the time to cook/bake never mind blog about it. Nevertheless I apologise for being so absent, especially after promising to write more not less!!!

Anyway, April was my month dedicated to British Classics so let’s launch into the few tasty dishes I managed to squeeze in to the month.

The great British picnic

I don’t know about you but I LOVE a picnic. Any excuse to whip out a tartan blanket and to gorge yourself on finger foods, (some of which you only really get at children’s parties nowadays) is an opportunity not to be missed. Dave and I spent a week in the beautiful Lake District this month and we took the opportunity to have several picnics while we were enjoying some stunning country walks. On the one day of the week when the weather wasn’t absolutely stunning we also took the chance to have a picnic indoors in our holiday cottage. I know it is traditional to eat outside but if the British weather isn’t playing ball I think it is just as much fun to make camp on the living room floor and enjoy a variety of tasty snacks.  Personally I love things like mini sausages, quiche, cheese, crisps, crusty bread and chutneys in my picnic hamper but it really is up to you, there isn’t a set recipe for making up a picnic feast.

Picnic with a view!

Post-walk sarnie

Bringing the picnic indoors is just as much fun as being outdoors!

We Brits love the humble picnic so much that we even have a National Picnic Week in June! Check out the website and get involved, just chuck a scotch egg, a squashed sandwich and a bottle of orange squash in a bag, head out doors and find your perfect snacking spot!

A traditional Sunday roast

There is nothing better than a roast on a Sunday afternoon/evening to ease you into your Monday morning blues. This Easter Sunday we invited some friends round to paint and roll eggs and then to feast on roast chicken with all the trimmings. Our roast was made up of the following:

Roast Chicken – http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/chicken-and-other-poultry/how-to-roast-chicken.html

I always roughly follow Delia Smith's recipe for roast chicken, you really can’t go wrong by following a Delia recipe for any sort of classic dish. I’m not a huge fan of stuffing so I leave that out and just pop a few cut lemons and a garlic bulb inside the bird instead.

Roast potatoes – last Christmas I picked up my father-in-law Phil’s tried and testing roastie recipe and it has worked a treat ever since. The instructions roughly go as follows... Phil feel free to chip in if I’ve misrepresented your recipe!! Chop up as many potatoes as possible, pop them in a pan of cold water and bring to the boil, simmer for 4-5 minutes, drain the water and shake the potatoes in the pan to roughen the edges. Pop them into a roasting tin/dish and cover in lashings of sunflower oil, coating every side of the potatoes using a pastry brush. Cook for as long as possible at whatever temperature the oven is already on at for the roast (at least 45 minutes). Half way through the roasting baste the potatoes with the pastry brush again.

Green beans – just boiled with a knob of butter.

Orange and honey carrots – just boiled the carrots with some water, orange juice and a couple of table spoons of honey.

Vegetarian pie – http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4540/crispy-greekstyle-pie-

My vegetarian friend Rebecca was joining us for Easter lunch so I thought I would try to make something homely, roastie and veggie friendly so a pie was the order of the day. Now the one I ended up going for was actually a little bit Greek but it went down a treat with Rebecca and all of our other meat eating guests as well. Lots of the comments on the recipe suggested adding more cheese and less sun dried tomatoes so I modified the recipe slightly. I also added some pesto and pine nuts for an extra bit of flavour/texture. It was easy to make and very impressive looking on the table, and before you ask no I didn’t make my own filo pastry, seriously who has the time for that!!

 

Yuuummmmm

Veggie pie

The leftovers.....

Toad in the hole - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5822/toad-in-the-hole-in-4-easy-steps

I really don’t know why but I am a little bit obsessed with Cumberland sausages, I think it’s just so much more fun to have a sausage in a fun, curly shape rather than your normal run of the mill links. Lucky for me there was a good old fashioned butcher down the road from our holiday cottage where we could buy authentic Cumberland sausages. And being brought up in Yorkshire I am also obsessed with Yorkshire puddings so what better way to combine two of the best regional delights but in a toad in the hole. It took a bit longer to cook because the sausage was so thick so the Yorkshire was a wee bit burnt, but covered in lashings of gravy it was delicious.

 

Swirly sausage...such fun!

Welsh rarebit - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1500641/welsh-rarebit

I’ve only been to Wales once, and I am really keen to go back, especially after making one of their finest exports Welsh rarebit (aka posh cheese on toast). During my first year of University I have a strong memory of my good friend Pete making this all the time and I wish I had tried it then because it is delish. Pete, maybe you can share your secret recipe with us??

Sticky toffee pudding - http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/easy-sticky-toffee-pudding-180

My month of British Classics wouldn’t be complete without a hearty, stick to your ribs pudding. Last weekend my amazing, blog inspiring friend Lydia (of http://todaysthedayi.com/ fame!) was over from NYC for our friend Rebecca’s wedding.  I thought it was only fair that I put her and her delightful boyfriend Ryan to work making something seeing as though she inspired me to start this blog! The two of them were very good pupils and whipped up a delicious, sticky, sweet pudding.

 

Lydia and Ryan's triumph!

There are many many other British Classics I could and should have made and will make when I have a bit more free time. I am really keen to keep cooking and blogging during my busy time at work but loyal readers I will just have to ask you to ‘bear with’ (in my best Miranda Heart voice).

May is dedicated to the absolute, hands down best meal of the day, Brunch! I promise to try my best to write again soon.

Have a tasty month, xx Linds xx

P.S I also baked a football inspired Free Cakes for Kids cake for Joseph this month, I hope he had a lovely 15^th birthday.