Summer Bake

It's Saturday morning, I sitting at my desk with a list as long my arm. But I don't mind as I have had a very busy but productive week. There have been lots of play days with my 3 year old and the weather has been so kind this week, we have managed to get out every day and meet with friends to play outside and make the most of the holidays.

I have limited childcare in the holidays as I want don't want to miss out on this important part of our lives, the downside to this means I end up working every evening until my bedtime and of course Saturday mornings. But now that I'm in the full swing of things I am finding that actually it's working pretty well and my days feel completely fulfilled.

I had a lovely suprise yesterday when my good friend Quirky Boots  sent me a text message to say that my new carrier bag holders had been featured on the not on the high street.com facebook page they are still there and have 115 likes!! So if you have a spare minute please take a look.

As it's the weekend I thought I would share with you a recipe that I made this week, it's an old favourite, it uses up the glut of tomatoes and courgettes that are available at this time of year. Whether you have grown your own or are taking advantage of the in season offers at the supermarket this dish is perfect accompaniment to a summer bbq or as a main dish with some nice crusty bread.

I made it in a big dish that I bought from a recent vintage fair for £1.00!!! Bargainous!

Courgette and Tomato Layer Bake

What you need:

2 x large (or four small) courgettes sliced thinly
2 x large (or 1 beef) tomatoes sliced thinly
1 x onion chopped or sliced
1 x red pepper chopped or sliced

olive oil (drizzle)
oregano and basil
garlic (crushed)

50g parmesan or any strong cheese (grated)
handful bread crumbs (optional)
 
What to do:
1. Fry the onion and pepper in some olive oil for 5-10mins until softened, over a gentle heat. After about 8 minutes add the garlic.

2. Put the fried ingredients in the bottom of the dish and layer the courgette and tomato slices in a round, following the edge of the dish. I had so many for this dish that I did two layers, it wokred fine, just needed a little extra cooking time.

3. Drizzle with olive oil and scatter with oregano and fresh basil.

4. Bake in a medium oven for about 30mins, once it all looks cooked cover the top with the cheese and breadcrumbs and bake for another 5 mins.

5. Tuck in!!

Day 37: Homemade Daily Challenge, Toad in the Hole

My heritage is partly from Yorkshire and all the ladies in my family can make awesome Yorkshire Puddings. This skill has always escaped me. No matter what I do, I end up with soggy pudding or burnt pudding. Never the light, crisp, well risen delights that my Mother seems to be able to make in her sleep! In theory it should be easy, get a pan nice and hot with a little oil, pour in some pancake mixture and put it back into a hot oven. But I have always avoided making a Sunday Roast through the shame that is my lack of yorkshire pudding skillage.

Last month I went to a Pampered Chef  party where the host said we were going to make fool-proof yorkies that would rise out of the dish and were easy peasy to make using the baking stoneware. Of course I didn't believe a word.

She added 1 cup plain flour, 1 cup milk and 4 eggs* to a bowl and whisked. Whilst the oven came to a roaring furnace (it's got to be hot I've been told).  Spray some oil into the stoneware. Pour the batter into the dish or dishes to about half way up and put in the oven. To my amazement about 20 minutes later she removed from the oven a dozen, huge, golden brown, crisp, fluffy puddings. I had to buy a dish just to see for myself!!

Two weeks later my dish arrived this weekend I had a bash at making a Toad in the Hole. I first baked the sausages for about 12 minutes in the dish as I then didn't need to add any extra oil, while I prepared the batter (same recipe as above) I poured it into the dish and put back in to over for 20mins on a high setting and then another 5 mins on a lower setting, that bits not an exact science as all ovens are different.

This is what I pulled out of the oven after said 25 minutes:

 

Unfortunately in my eagerness to fill my belly I forgot to take a side view so you could see how well it rose but it stood up from the dish by about 3 inches!! We were all very impressed and got stuck in with veggies and gravy. It was so simple and completely worked even for a first attempt. Although I am not sure my granny would approve of using American stoneware when if I had any actual skill I could make them in her old baking tin!! 

*In my original post I said 2 eggs you actually need 4 for a good rise!!

Day 33: Homemade Daily Challenge.

Herman is baked!

I baked Herman the German friendship cake yesterday, you can read about Herman's humble beginnings here, but just look at him now!

It was worth the effort. Although I think he did get a little singed (not burnt you understand).

I followed a similar recipe last Autumn but I think the quantities were greater so made a larger cake that required longer cooking. As my oven is a bit on the fierce side I think I might possibly stick to my original recipe if I were to bake it again, the original is as follows:

 

This time I left out the apples and added chocolate chips which take some of the moisture (some would call it sogginess) from the cake. But I know other people who have added nuts, honeycomb or other fruit, I think Herman is a fairly adaptable guy, so if a friend or neighbour ask you if you would like a batch of Herman to make I would really recommend it.

NB: I do also have a pdf and word of the recipe if you would like it. If you aren't lucky enough to be passed a batch of Herman I do also have the starter recipe which I will happily type for you and email if you should need it :)

Day 19: Homemade Daily Challenge

Baking day

For years I was a stranger to baking, but since becoming a Mum I have baked considerably more (which wouldn't be difficult as I didn't bake at all prior to motherhood). I don't know really why I have decided I like to bake now when I always bought cakes previously, is it a maternal instinct thing kicking in? Or it could just be that homebaking (even if like me you are a little bit rubbish at it) always tastes fantastic. It's also a pretty cheap way to entertain your toddler for about an hour and you get to eat the fruits of your labour at the end. 

So we have just baked these cookies, and they are very yummilicious, dead easy to make if you don't have all the ingredients I think you could easily substitute the brown sugar for all white, I used half butter half Stork margarine.

The recipe was adapted from this book which can be bought at amazon


The Recipe: (makes 12)

125g softened butter
75g white sugar
75g soft light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g self raising flour
100g sugar coated chocolates (I used Smarties)

1. Preheat oven to 190C/375FGas 5. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
2. Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, beat in the egg and vanilla.
3. Sift in flour and beat into mix. Add Smarties.
4. Drop rounded tablespoons of mixture onto baking sheet, spaced well apart as they will double in size whilst in the oven.
5. Bake until golden 8-10 minutes.
6. Cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes and transfer to cooling racks

They are particularly delicious if you eat them still warm with ice cream as the chocolate is crunchy and gooey.  The recipe states they are best eaten on the day they are made (who am I to argue).

We packaged some up for Eva's granny (who she calls Ninny).

Day 15: Homemade Daily Challenge

Well the hangover is still lingering a little (such a lightweight) but I still managed a nice day shopping with the family yesterday, we went to the Library and I found a magazine that was suprisingly good, it is not one I would have picked up in a shop but after browsing through it I went to Smith's and bought a copy of my own.
It's called Homes and Antiques and it is really is a magazine of two halves, the first is a bit lifestyle/interiors but this month's had quite a few good craft ideas with a vintage twist (as you might expect from the title) but the second half is a bit more serious antiques, I'm not really into this but the first half more than made up for it. It also has a classified section for people selling antiques and diary dates for vintage and collectible fairs around the country.

Because I felt a little delicate I decided I need some home comfort food last night and so made a chicken and mushroom pie which is a really simple recipe. If I am buying a pack of shortcrust pastry I make a couple of pies the other in the photo is a corned beef and onion which I have baked and have now frozen for a midweek supper.

(It's not the best photo in the world but I was in a rush to eat it).



Serves 2-3
You will need:

1 Onion
12 Mushrooms
2 Chicken breasts
2 smll pots single cream
1/2 pint chicken stock

Shortcrust party (I bought mine but you can make your own if you feel like you need to)

What you do:

1. Fry off the onion and mushrooms and add the chicken (cube it first), once it has browned preheat oven to 160C ish and boild the kettle.
2. Add a crumbled stock cube to the frying pan and 1/2pint of water, enough to just cover the chicken. Give is a stir and turn up the heat so it boils and kind of poaches the chicken. After about 5 mins add the cream (you might not need it all) and turn the pan to a simmer, stir every minute or so while you roll out the pastry.
3. After about 10 mins the pan mixture should have reduced to a thick creamy consistency, if not turn the heat up and keep stirring!
4. Season and add the mix to a pie dish. Egg wash around the lid of dish and place pastry over the top, cut a couple of slits in the top and egg wash the top.
5. Bake in oven for around 15-20 mins until browned.

I like to serve this with mash, brussells and carrots.

Day 13: Handmade daily challenge

Happy Friday everyone! Yay, nearly the weekend here's and easy peasey storecupcoard recipe that I had for my dinner last night and you might want to try over the weekend.

It is a sort of Sausage Stew but doesn't require hours of cooking and can be made using hotdog sausages. But I also think you could bung it all in the slow cooker and it would do any harm, just brown everything first so that it tastes yum.

Cube and fry 5-6 rashers of pancetta until golden and add a crushed garlic clove, after a few seconds add dried mixed herbs, two tins tomatoes and a stock cube once it's all bubbling nice add a tin off mixed beans (you could use dried beans and soak them over night - if you can be bothered).

Either grill or fry some sausages in another pan and once cooked slice into inch size pieces. It should all start to thicken within around 10 mins, if not turn up heat.

Then add some shredded green cabbage and cook for further five mins.

Serve with some nice bread.

It might not look much but it's very tasty, it's ready in 20 mins and my two year old loved it :)

Day 2: Homemade daily challenge

I have an awful lot to thank my Granny Jeanie for, including this delicious soup. She came from Motherwell in Glasgow and to say she was frugal is an understatement, this soup more of a broth than a soup, when the weather turns cold everyone in my family makes it and has been a winter staple for generations, and we all seem to have out own version of it, my Dad adds cous cous to thicken it more. These quantities make a huge batch, I often make it for supper on a Monday and then have it for lunch everyday that week. It also freezes really well.

Granny Jeanie’s Homemade Soup Recipe

1 small unsmoked ham joint

1 swede

3 carrots

1 leek

1 parsnip

1 cup dried pearl barley

1 tbsp fresh parsley

Boil the ham in water for about 1 and 1/2 hours, scooping any scum off the water surface as it cooks. Remove the ham from the pan and put on a plate to cool, drain the stock and reserve in a bowl.

Put the saucepan back on the heat and add a little oil, gently colour the leek and add the other veg. After a few minutes ladle in the stock and bring to boil, add pearl barley and simmer for around 30 mins or until stock pearl barley is cooked through.

Remove fat from ham joint and cut meat into cubes.

Using a hand held blender, whiz up the soup in the saucepan, to a thick broth consistency.

Add the ham and allow it to warm through, serve in warm bowls with chopped parsley on top preferably with a crusty roll and butter.

This makes a shed load of soup but it freezes really well and keeps in the fridge for a few days too.