Cherry torte with a crumble topping

So I have 2 lovely cherry trees in my garden, one is for eating!! nomm nomm and one for cooking (if you accidentally eat a cooking one you realise why, just a bit bitter!)

This year is a bumper crop, in one picking I gathered (see am a hunter gatherer type) a colander full of cooking cherries.

 What to cook, don't fancy a cherry pie nor a cake! hmmm lets try a torte

Cherry torte with a crumble topping

Ingredients:

• 140g self-raising flour
• ½ tsp mixed spice
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 4 tbsp milk
• 85g butter, melted
• 350g juicy, ripe cherries

Topping:

• 25g plain flour
• ¼ tsp mixed spice
• 25g golden caster sugar
• 25g butter, at room temperature, diced

Method:

Preheat oven (I have an electric fan) 160 (conventional 180C/gas 4), grease and line your tin, go with what ever tin you have, cook longer if deeper, less if wider.

 I had to hull my cherries.

Bung (yup a very technical term) self raising flour, caster sugar, egg, mixed spice, (cooled) melted butter into the mixer and whisk, adding the milk spoon by spoon, if mixture is non-batter like add extra milk.

 Spread batter into the lined cake tin.

 Then layer cherries on top.

 In a food mixer, blitz the topping ingredients into a breadcrumb like mixture (or do it by hand if you don't have a blender)

 Then spread the "crumb" on top of the batter/cherry base.

Cook in the oven (middle is best) for 25-35 mins (depending on thickness of cake/oven type) until that darn skewer come clean.

Serve warm with ice cream or cooled with cream xxx

Puff, puff, puff and more puff (pastry and all things sausage)

Sausage rolls

Now why?, when they can be bought in the shop (pretty much all shops at that)

a) these taste better

b) not difficult to do

c) really!

Soooo ingredients (be prepared to write this mammoth list down!)

• Packet of puff pastry (pre rolled, lighter fat one available if desired)
• 6 sausages (I go for premium, minimum of 75% meat content, check those ingredients peeps)
• 1 egg beaten (thrashed, whisked what ever one prefers)

Method:

Strip the skin off the sausages

  

Roll pastry out of the packet and split horizontally in half, lay 3 on each half in a line up to the front, leaving enough to roll. Egg the back and roll back wards.

Cut into desired size.

Spray a tray with cooking spray (saves the faff of greaseproof/baking paper) and align rolls and egg wash.

Now I have a fan assisted electric oven and find 170 plenty hot enough and place the tray in the bottom 3rd so pastry cooks but does not burn, for 30 mins.

Now you can get as creative as you like, I have added stuffing, grated apple, cranberry sauce, cooked chopped bacon, fried onion and so on with the sausage meat. You can roll them smaller and use chipolata sausages for a finer roll. You can use flavoured sausages, made some cracking ones using pork and chili sausages.

Enjoy xxxx

(oh and a quick by line costings, 12 pack sausages £2.55, pack of puff pastry £1, 1 egg 35p = makes 12 rolls approx 0.22p per roll!!) 

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Liebster Award I was nominated!

agh agh agh free fall panic the lovely Martha Mother  has nominated me for this, agh agh agh!

I am simples - I have a simples blog (and a very very very new one at that), erm just recipes (unless you find my work blog, but that is no way a massive literary addition to the blogerty world!)

sooooooooo

Being lazy I will quote Martha Mother " had nominated me to take part in this fun set of questions, so people can get to know us bloggers a little bit better and just spread the love a bit"

and just to plagiarise some more!

Here are the rules for all those taking part:

1. Acknowledge and thank the person that nominated you.
2. Use an award image to add to the post.
3. Answer 11 questions given to you
4. Nominate up to 11 blogs
5. Don't forget to let them know!
6. Give them 11 questions to answer.

1. Why did you start blogging?

I have always had a work blog, this is a fun/playful way of keeping my mindees families updated, giving access to family members in far flung corners. My food blog is totally different. I am an avid cook (not chef) and fairly accomplished (i.e. I can read and work an oven!), a few friends (don't have that many tbh) often ask me what I am doing for tea etc. One day a couple of them (well maybe my 2 only friends) suggested I blog what I do, so hence the incarnation of this very brand new blog.

2. Which one of your posts is your favourite and why?

Erm not one, but all so far, as they are food related, unless I pop a wine related post up, until then!

3. Sweet or Savoury?

Savoury!

4. Tea or coffee?

Duh Tea! 

5. If you could meet one person past or present who would it be?

I am a deep, thoughtful and intellectual person, I procrastinated over this for hours (hahahaha maybe not), I have no idea, never ever given it any thought tbh. So erm no one really.

7. Are you a working parent or a stay at home mum?

I am both, I am a childminder, I work with children at home (awesome!), my PITA's are now 21, 18, 13. However I am living my Lego dreams vicariously though others offspring now! love it x

8. If there was one piece of advice you could give your 18 year old self, what would it be?

Not a lot (as really don't know that much). However the advice I would give anyone is life is too short at that age, we live longer and longer, will be working till much later, go and have some fun.

9. Do you have any regrets?

Nope

10. 'When I grow up I want to be...' What did you want to be?

An Olympic swimmer! or an Olympic equestrienne 

11. Do you have a secret talent? 

Erm no I have no talents :) 

Gee now time to nominate (ARRRRRRRRGH)
 
Talya at motherhoodtherealdeal
Becky at cuddlefairy
Lucy at occupationmother
Trista at domesticatedmomster
Tim at slouchingtowardsthatcham
Deardads at deardadsblog
Steph at  diaryofamidlifemummy
Martyn at insidemartynsthoughts

MWAHAHAHA HAAR (evil laff!)

WOW Raspberry meringue pie ...................... just divine

So why not lemon, well my eldest pain in the bum, dislikes anything with lemon flavouring, so thought I would have a go at making a raspberry version.

Raspberry meringue pie

Ingredients:

• shortcrust pastry (shop bought or make your own, tbh its not difficult to make and does not shrink when blind baked as contains less liquid)
• 225 g plain flour
• 100g chilled butter
• 25g icing or caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• chilled water
•  300-400g fresh raspberries
• 300ml water
• 75g caster sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 40g cornflour
• 3 egg whites
• 120g caster sugar

Method:

• For the pastry
  1. I use a food processor to make my pastry, so pop the flour and icing sugar into the mixer  add the butter blitz until resembles fine breadcrumbs. 
  2. Add egg yolk and a little water until just comes together (use as little water as possible for the shortest crumbliest pastry).  
  3. Chill for 30 minutes and use to line a 9inch/23cm dish suitable for the type of pudding, I used a flan dish. I found it easier to lightly roll and place in the dish and then patch together using my fingers. Allow the pastry to stand above the sides of the dish (this can be trimmed off after cooking). 
  4. Line with greaseproof paper and baking beans and bake blind (fan oven 170) for 15 minutes, remove the paper and beans and bake for five more minutes. 
  5. Leave to cool while you make the filling.  
   
  

• For the filling
  1. Buzz the raspberries in the food processor. 
  2. Then press the raspberries through a sieve, you need to squeeze as much juice as possible.
  3. Take some of the juice and blend into the cornflour, then add all of the juice until combined.   
  4. Put the water into a saucepan and bring to the boil. 
  5. Pour the raspberry and cornflour mixture into the water whisking continually until it thickens. 
  6. Remove from heat temporarily.
  7. Mix the egg yolks into the sugar and whisk this into the thickened raspberry curd. 
  8. Bring back to the boil whisking all the time. 
  9. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little before pouring into the pastry case.
  
   
  
• For the meringue
  1. Heat oven to 130 (fan oven)
  2. I use a stand mixer for this, Whisk the egg whites in a bowl until they form stiff peaks.
  3. Whisk in the sugar a dessertspoon at a time.   
  4. Spread over the raspberry custard ensuring there are no gaps and bake for 45 mins until golden beige and crisp.
     

Serve with cream, Ice cream warm or cold, be warned it is seriously lush!

Simple peanut butter cookies!

I like to cook things that are a) as simple as they can be b) with simple ingredients, because I at my core am very simples too. 

So here is the best most simplest peanut butter cookie recipe borrowed from over the pond from a very close friend of mine

Ingredients:

• 2x cups of crunchy peanut butter
• 2x cups of coconut sugar (I used caster from the cupboard)
• 2 large eggs
• salted peanuts

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180/170 fan.
2. Whisk the eggs until light and frothy.
3. In a separate bowl combine sugar and peanut butter till fluffy
4. Fold in egg mixture until full incorporated
5. Place a dollop (yup that's a technical term there!) on a lined baking tray, sprinkle extra peanuts on the top and cook in the oven until golden brown.
6. Cool slightly and eat

 

Strawberry upside down cake (thanks Tesco)

I am a supermarket whore, I can never commit to just one, think its down to my attention span, I just get bored of the same old same old. So this week it was Tesco, I love the free food mags at the end of the checkouts they are a super free recipe inspiration giving resource (Asda, Morrisons, Sainbury's do them, sure Waitrose do but way too expensive a shop for my dainty toes to step into).

So browsing through found this and thought I would take it out for a spin.

Strawberry upside down cake

Ingredients:

• 225g softened butter (I use salted as like a pinch of salt in my cake just removes the need to add it)
• 225g caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2x orange zested and juiced
• 2xVanilla pod (I used vanilla essence 2x tsp, cba with vanilla pods tbh)
• 150 g golden syrup (have this in the cupboard but have to hide it from the sugar fiend)
• 225g self raising flour
  
  
  1. Preheat the oven to 180/fan 160. Grease a 9" cake tin and line with baking paper
  2. For the syrup, gently heat the syrup, vanilla, 1x orange zest ans 1-2 tbsp of the juice. Pour 2/3 of the liquid into the base of the tin, and set the remaining syrup aside for later.
  3. Arrange or do what I did scatter! the strawberries in the base of the tin.
  4. In a mixing bowl whisk the butter till soft and fluffy, then add the sugar, mixing till combined and fluffier, add the eggs one at a time, ensuring each is combined prior to adding the next, fold in 1x the orange Zest and 1-2 tbsp of juice, vanilla, then fold in the flour.
  5. Spoon mixture over the strawberries. Bake for 45 mins, or until the skewer thing system works, you know where the inserted skewer comes out clean.
  6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool foe 10 mins, then turn onto a serving plate, pour the reserved liquid over the cake.
  7. make pretty (if you can be faffed) with fresh strawberries and orange zest.

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
   Serve with cream or ice cream - we chose cream xxxx
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

Strawberry torte cake

Its June and the great British strawberry comes into its own, yesterday due to my work (its really hard you know ;) ) we went strawberry picking (hunter gatherer types can also find some in their local supermarket/grocer) at the most brilliant Secretts PYO, so what do you do with gorgeous fresh strawberries that's quick and easy? well try this simple but effective cake, 7 ingredients!

Strawberry torte cake

Ingredients:

• 400g or so of strawberries hulled and halved
• 150g of granulated sugar
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 115g of softened salted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 125g plain flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170/gas 4-5, and grease a shallow cake dish, I used a flan dish.
2. In a bowl (I use a stand mixer, effort and time saving) Cream the butter till light and fluffy, the add the sugar, again beat till fluffy
3. Then add one egg at a time, beating thoroughly in, then add the vanilla.
4. Then slowly fold in the flour and baking powder.
5. Spread the mixture in and then arrange the strawberries, right way up, either in a pattern or scattered with want and abandon.
6. Sprinkle some granulated sugar on the top and bake for 35-40 mins. or until a toothpick placed in the centre comes out clean.

Serve with cream, or warm with ice cream, or whipped cream with lemon juice and rind included xxx

Creamy Chicken with potato dumplings

At the sound of the title I can hear the slumping of shoulders and faces hitting palms across the world, fear not its really very simple and easy in fact total cook time is just  30 mins!

Creamy Chicken with potato dumplings

Ingredients:

•  1 onion diced
•  120 ml of white wine/dry vermouth
•  15 ml of chopped fresh tarragon
•  300ml double cream
•  225g main crop potatoes
•  175g suet
•  2 tbsp of dried mixed herbs
•  50 ml water
•  cooked chicken (approx 4 breasts worth)
•  300 ml vegetable stock
•  115g self raising flour

Method:

1. Place onion, stock, wine/vermouth in a deep sided pan and simmer for 20 mins, add chicken pieces for the last 5, remove chicken.
2. Reduce the stock by a 1/3, remove from the heat and stir in the cream and tarragon, reheat gently, stirring until thickened, season and lastly re-add the chicken.
3. Heat your oven to 190/gas 5.
4. put chicken cream mixture into an oven proof dish.
5. Bind potatoes, flour, suet, herbs and mix with the water, knead lightly to make a soft dough. Divide into balls (size depends on how big your dish is, however aim to cover the top allowing room for the dumplings to extend), place on top of chicken, and cook uncovered in the oven for 30 mins.

Cheesecake (AKA food of the gods!) the easiest recipe ever.......

The ultimate kitchen cheesecake recipe soooooo simples and yummy.....

So the basic recipe is this

Biscuits (any crumbly kind, will offer suggestions for different styles) 300g

Butter 100g

Cream cheese (plain) 250g

Double cream 250g

Method:

Crush biscuits and melt butter, mix melted butter to biscuit crumb, until combined (more butter might be needed as some different types of biscuit absorb the butter differently), gently press down into a flan/quiche dish, I line mine with foil helps to remove the cheesecake with ease. Chill until firm.

Pop the cream and cheese in a bowl, and whisk until combined and thick enough so it stays in the bowl. 

Now add your flavour, 1 tbsp of Lemon and rind for lemon, melt the same quantity of chocolate as cream/cheese allow to cool slightly then whisk in, any fruit, fresh is better as not too liquid, a tsp of vanilla extract for vanilla and sooooooo on xxx

Spread on top of the base and chill, can be done and ready in just over 1hr.

This week I did a nice biscuit base, with dark chocolate and raspberry, last week a two tiered malteaser flavoured one, I did the above cream/cheese mixture x2 one layer had milk chocolate and 4tbsp of malted drink powder, the other was just white chocolate and I used malted milk biscuits for the base xxx 

Deep filled lunch rolls.

I hate making lunches, I find it tedious and repetitive. I also get fed up with the moaning about what I have made them, so I now do this........

Deep filled lunch rolls

So to start with you need some rolls, any will do however I have found that the plumper the roll the easier it is to fill, crusty rolls are the best, however any will do the job.

Slice the top of the roll off, thickly enough to use as a lit, but not so that you loose most of the roll.

Then carefully strip the inside of the roll out, making a well in the middle (save the bread removed for a later use (will blog that later))

Then start to layer in your fillings.

 Now I cant stand a dry sandwich, so mayonnaise or salad cream is a must, so I always put in a filling such as, tuna mayonnaise, egg and mayonnaise, cream cheese. you can be as inventive as you like. Below is mini cooked sausage sliced, with grated cheddar and 1 tbsp of mayonnaise.

Layer this in.

Then, pop the lid back on, wrap quite firmly in clingfilm, I add labels, just to save the complaints of the sandwich roulette! 

A few hints and tips:

• Ensure you buy/use things that will not go out of date in the week the rolls will be used
• Wrap entirely to ensure the bread does not dry out
• Thin slicing of ingredients mean you can get more in
• Use up stuff in the fridge, you know that rouge courgette, thinly slice and fry gently in oil and drain, then use as a sandwich layer
• Make several different ones, so 3 of one, 3 of another etc
• Make as many as you need, or go over so that if you fancy a quick lunch you can grab one yourself
• Perfect for those impromptu picnic!

LUNCHES xxxx

What to do at lunch times?

So dinners are planned for the week, what to do about lunches!

Packed lunches

For those at school/work I bulk make lunches (Sunday afternoon, or if like today cream crackered from being at a horse show, tomorrow!).

I purchase takeaway boxes from my local cash and carry.

So into these go pasta salads (recipes at a later blog date)

Bread Rolls

 

Deep filled bread rolls, (full guide at a later blog date) wrapped clingfilmed and in the fridge, all labeled.

Jacket potatoes

 

Simples, depending on the size of the spud, 5-8 mins per side in the microwave, remember to pierce the skin several times first. Go for your life with fillings, tuna and mayonnaise, beans and cheese, coronation chicken (again will blog up at a later date).

Why this blog, essentials and the basics..........Part 1!

My Foody Bloggy 

Why?

Okay this blog is a demand blog from some friends of mine (Lucinda and Jube!)

Due to financial reasons I have to food plan, I have always done it and have some cracking recipes, of which most look like the most complicated thing ever yet are really simple things to make with the simplest of ingredients.

My essentials

  Kitchen equipment:

• Slow cooker
• Scales/measuring cups (handy if using American recipes)
• Electric mixer with whisk attachment
• Cheese grater
• measuring spoons
• plastic and ceramic mixing bowls (several as I am a messy cook and can have several things on the go at any one time)

Cupboard essentials:

To be fair I don't stock pile things, I tend to buy whats required if I don't have it or have run out, but like most things, they last a while and if you only use a pinch of this and that......!

however a a rough guide

• Worcester sauce
• Tabasco/hot sauce
• light/dark soy
• mustard powder
• mustard English/wholegrain/Dijon
• Vinegar, red wine,white wine, cider, balsamic
• all herbs
• all spices
• All types of stock cube
• breadcrumbs
• Flour plain/self raising
• Baking poweder
• Arrowroot
• cornflour
• cocoa powder
• all sugars
• all pasta types
• chopped tomatoes
• passata
• canned beans
• canned veg

Fridge essentials:

• Butter (salted/unsalted)
• Pasty any kind
• milk
• dounble cream
• cheese 
• fromage frais
• cream cheese 

The essentials .................... part 2

Time to get..........

Organised!!

 

Cook books, recipes, food apps and other such things. 

To start with you need to meal plan, to do this you will need a selection of recipes for inspiration, to make life easier in the beginning, get a selection of cook books and start to sift through them, later on you can use apps and websites to source out possibilities, then just make note of ones that you like etc

Apps

Some are good, I like free apps (who does not!). Some are okay and will offer up free stuff but then require finances to access more (my opinion on this, meh, ambiguous). Some require a fee or subscription, Why? dont get this bit, as 99.999999 % of recipes are available online, in a blog etc anyway, so why????

I like Yummly 
Just as an example ........

Websites

 

There are loads, loads and more loads!

Sooooooo

oooooooo there are 7 days in a week (feels like 12 sometimes!), plan your meals around when you like to go shopping, mine tends to be on a Friday when its my day off, so Friday morning I sit down look through the cookbooks and decide what I fancy cooking. 

Make things easier by mixing in a slow cooker recipe with a 30 min meal, with a 2 hr preparation meal, then I can cherry pick what suits me best on the day.

So an example this is this weeks menu :-

Beef and Bean hotpot bake

Pork and Garlic bread bake

Fish and leek grills

Bacon and tomato risotto

Sausage and butter bean bake

Turkey and macaroni

BBQ pulled pork

As I said I don't specify a day as this allows flexibility as sometimes you don't know how your day will go xxx