Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Fruity crispy crumble

I absolutely hate throwing out food so when I found myself with an overstocked fruit bowl I thought a crumble was in order.
My freezer is my best friend and there's always a bag if mixed frozen fruit and a couple of punnets of blueberries.
When baking for Alison I'm trying to stay away from refined sugar and using honeys instead. To give the fruit some sweetness here I use Agave syrup which is quite sweet so doesn't need very much.


2 apples
2 plums
Handful of mixed frozen berries
Handful of frozen blueberries
1teaspoon agave syrup
2 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon lemon juice

In a saucepan cook all of the ingredients slowly until soft stirring occasionally. 


Place in a pie dish of your choice depending on how deep or shallow you want your crumble.

Crumble topping

100g self raising flour
100g oat flakes
50g unsalted butter
Pinch of cinnamon
1 teaspoon agave syrup

Rub the butter into the flour and cinnamon till resembling fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the oat flakes and syrup.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Sprinkle on top of the fruit and bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes. Serve with yoghurt, custard and for the lucky ones vanilla ice cream.


Saturday, February 22, 2014

Egg in a pot

These are a childhood favourite of mine very simple and very tasty.

Egg in a pot

1 egg
1 tablespoon of wilted spinach
1 teaspoon of creme fraiche or cream

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Line a ramekin with a little butter using a piece of kitchen table.

Put the spinach in the bottom of the ramekin and spread out with a fork, next smear the creme fraiche over the spinach. Crack the egg ontop and a twist if black pepper and its ready to rock.



Bake in the oven for approx 12-15 minutes depending on the oven.

These can also be done in a microwave but they don't turn out as creamy. Make sure though to prick the egg with a sharp knife and to cover with a saucer (or you may have egg all over your microwave). Again depending on the microwave it takes only 1-2 minutes on high.


Salmon and pasta

I had only fifteen minutes to make something for supper on Thursday afternoon due to an unscheduled visit to the garage with car problems.

On raiding the fridge I came up with this simple and tasty smoked salmon and pasta.

2 spring onions
Handful of mushrooms
1 stick celery
1/2 red pepper
1 large clove of garlic
1/2 courgette
250g Norwegian Smoked Salmon ( the one from Aldi is really good in my opinion)
1 good tablespoon of creme fraiche
200-250g pasta (I used an organic kids shapes one from Avoca with spinach and tomato flavours)
3 good handfuls of washed spinach leaves, frozen would be fine too.

To speed things up I sliced the celery, pepper and courgette and tossed them into a pan with a little simmering water to soften them slightly, once softened drain and plunge into cold water to prevent over cooking and loss of flavour.

For some texture quarter the mushrooms and sauté in a little oil and butter.

Put the pasta on to cook according to packet instructions.

In a large pan soften the spring onions and garlic on a low heat to get maximum flavour, stirring continuously so the garlic doesn't burn. Add the celery, courgette, pepper and mushrooms. Season with some black pepper . The pasta should be cooked at this stage so toss into pan along with the spinach leaves and smoked salmon. Stir in the creme fraiche and a good squeeze of lemon juice, being careful no pips slip in.


Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Minestrone soup

This soup uses similar vegetables to the chicken and butterbean one pot. I made it quick thick as its easier for Alison to eat (and me to clean up).
I get the small pasta from our local Polish shop, it's very good value and cooks quickly.
This is delicious with some slices of Chorizo from Lidl and Parmesan cheese.

Minestrone soup
1 onion
2 large cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 sticks celery
1 courgette
1aubergine
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
Handful mushrooms 
3-4 thin slices of mild chilli finely chopped 
Passata
200-250g Tiny pasta shapes
Chicken stock
Pepper

The time consuming part to minestrone is the chopping and dicing of the veggies but once their done its a simple process.

Sweat the onions and garlic off together in a little oil and butter with a twist of black pepper. Once again paying attention to not letting them burn. 


Add the remaining vegetables and allow to soften slowly, i put the lid on the pan turn the heat right down and store occasionally. 

Pour in the passata, pasta and about 200mls of stock. Once the pasta is cooked you can add more stock to create your desired consistency.

Finish with a handful of chopped parsley.



Chicken and butterbean one pot warmer


It's hard to cook for just one and a half people each week. I usually ended up throwing away half a fridge of gone off veg each week. So because my freezer is my best friend I buy veg like peppers, aubergines, courgettes, mushrooms, celery and spinach one week and make and freeze the likes of minestrone soup, veg curry and this chicken one pot.

Chicken and butterbean one pot

2 sticks of celery
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
2 breasts of chicken roasted and sliced
1/2 courgette diced
1/2 aubergine diced
Handful if mushrooms diced 
1/2 red pepper diced
1/2 yellow pepper diced
500mls chicken stock 

Slice and dice the vegetables as small or as large as you like. Younger babies will probably find it easier to eat if the pieces are smaller. Gently soften the veg in a pan with a little unsalted butter and oil. I give a twist of pepper at this stage too.

I always have some cooked lentils in a little chicken stock in my freezer so I added in 3 portions at this stage.

I then tipped in the cooked, sliced chicken, the chicken stock and the tin of drained butterbeans. Allow to heat through gently and serve.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Simple warming chicken soup

We were feeling a little under the weather last week so not only did I want to make something quick I also wanted it to be nourishing.


Chicken soup

Simple chicken stock
2 chicken legs
1 onion
2 sticks celery chopped roughly
2 carrots chopped roughly
1 parsnip chopped roughly
1 bay leaf
5 peppercorns
2-2 1/2 pints water

Put everything into a large pot, cover with the water and bring slowly to the boil, simmer for 2 hours if possible. I take the chicken out after about 40 mins and shred into whatever size pieces you like.
Strain the stock and discard the veg.

For the base of the soup finely slice 1 stick of celery, 1/2 a red pepper, 1/2 a yellow pepper and 1/2 a leek. Soften the veg in a pan slowly on a low heat as you don't want any caramelisation. Season with a little twist of pepper at this stage. 

Add the stock and pasta. 

When the pasta is very nearly cooked add the chicken pieces heat through and at the end tip in a small tin of sweetcorn.

Spiced banana bread

I have been wanting to make cakes and biscuits for Alison that are refined sugar and additive free. I came across this recipe that proved to be so simple and yum that even my friends raved about it.

Spiced banana bread
8ozs whole meal flour
4ozs raisins
2ozs diced dried apricots
4ozs butter
1tsp cinnamon
2 eggs beaten
3 medium bananas smushed up

Grease and line a loaf tin and preheat the oven to 360 f, 180 deg c.

Rub the butter into the flour and cinnamon. I actually added a teaspoon of honey in at this stage.


Then stir in the bananas, egg and dried fruit.
Depending on your oven the bread should take between 45 minutes to an hour.
Alison loves it for breakfast toasted with some Sunwheel Pear and Apple spread.