Chocolate chip cookies

It's cute how my wee man can get pretty excited about baking or as he likes to call it "mixing". I have discovered a tried and tested recipe for "Vintage Chocolate Chip Cookies" on the BBC Good Food Website which has gone down extremely well with everyone. Chocolate is a big favourite in this household and I'm not sure how many chocolate chips actually made it into the bowl! So a handy tip when baking with toddlers...have an extra bag of chocolate chips! It also helps to have a grandparent around to help so that you can take the pictures! It's a really simple recipe which really just involves slowly adding everything together:

Ingredients
150g salted butter, softened
80g light brown muscovado sugar
80g granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
225g plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp salt
200g plain chocolate chips or chunks

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Put the butter and sugars into a bowl and beat until creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract and egg. Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt over the mixture and mix in with a wooden spoon. Add the chocolate chips and stir well.

Using a teaspoon, place small mounds of the mixture well apart on the baking trays. Bake in the oven for 8–10 mins until light brown on the edges and still slightly soft in the centre.

Leave on the tray for a couple of minutes to firm up and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Then eat! Yummy really!

Where's the plantain?

My hubby asked me yesterday how we were going to cook a Jamaican meal for friends this afternoon if we did not have any plantain? With the best laid plans the intention was to try and get some this morning but we got a bit behind schedule and cleaning the flat became a higher priority. Ah well we just had to make do. I'm a bit nervous actually blogging about my Jamaican cooking...

1. Because really it's not that authentic as a lot of it comes out of tins and
2. Well I don't know how good I am at it and
3. WE DID NOT HAVE ANY PLANTAIN, which I might add is the simplest and usually most mouth watering part of the whole meal!

Anyway I nervously forge ahead. 

First on the menu is rice and peas probably the most authentic part of the meal and the bit that can go very wrong. I religiously follow my Dad's recipe which I have saved written down in an old diary and is the only reason why the diary has never been lost or thrown away.

I have found that the real trick is to make sure to get your measurements right. That simply means it's the same cup measurement for the rice, kidney beans and coconut milk. Also no rice in this country takes 40 minutes to cook! Then once it's cooked leave it to dry out for a bit as the grains will separate. It was not a bad effort even if I did not have any scotch bonnet (yes that's another thing...I managed to cook this meal without scotch bonnet!) It appeared to go down a treat with the guests and my son had some and he liked it.

Callaloo is easy. It comes out of a tin so you just need to spice it up with some onions and pepper.

Johnny Cakes are nice and simple. You just need self raising flower, some salt (I'm afraid that I don't measure it), some butter (again it's go for broke, this time I actually added too much) and slowly enough cold water until it forms a soft dough. Then I deep fat fry them. I get the oil really hot then actually turn it down before putting the johnny cakes in so that they don't cook too quick as once I found that the outside cooked well before the inside.

For the Ackee and Salt fish, the only detail really is preparing the salted cod. You simply soak it for at least 30 minutes then boil it so that you can flake the fish off the bone. Then its just a matter of frying some onions, scotch bonnet and spring onions,  until the onions soften. There are some who add bacon at this point but I don't usually. Add the salt fish, then add a fresh tomato with the ackee and fry for another five minutes stirring gently. I usually season with a bit of thyme.

and of course the ackee comes out of a tin...

The Jerk Chicken is another forgery really. Simply season the chicken over night with some jerk seasoning which you can now easily get from your local supermarket. The only recommendation I would make is to use the wet seasoning and not the dry for this. I then fry them for a bit and finish the cooking in the oven just to get a bit juicier.

So that's it. I have now bravely shared my version of a Jamaican meal when living abroad in the United Kingdom. It's really great these days because you can get so much here now to help you out and usually from your local supermarket. Other favourites include spiced bun, Ting, Plantain chips, rum and of course fried plantain.

Yummy apples

So here are the apples I got from the green grocer to bake hubby's favourite apple pie. I can never be bothered to mess about with the pastry so I always end up making a cake. I got the simple recipe from the silver spoon which as it has an absence of spices I assume rests on the tastiness of the apples. We like it spicy though so we added some. 

Recipe

80g/3oz unsalted butter, softened
300g/11oz self-raising flour
3 eggs
150g/5oz caster sugar
3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
whipped cream, to serve (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a cake tin or mould with butter and dust lightly with flour. Whist together the eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in the butter until thoroughly combined. Sift in the flour mixture,  then add the apples and mix gently. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin or mould and bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then turn out, or serve immediately while hot. Served with whipped cream, if you like.

To my flour mixture I added a tsp of cinammon and some nutmeg. Once I added the flour to the mixture it became really thick and I thought how the hell am I going to get apples in here. As usual though I forge ahead and not just add apples but raisins as well! There was loads of mixture and it was interesting getting it all in the tin but...yep...I just forge ahead. I put a tray underneath the tin in the oven just in case there was spillage but surprisingly there was not. It turned out pretty good and tasted even better.

Whipped cream was not optional!

Yam Soup

I have been turning everything into soup these days (other than the odd freaky salad for lunch) as it's autumn. I want to cook things that will warm us up. It's especially a welcome home for hubby after a long day at work who has to then take the train back usually in the cold and wet these days. We got excited when we saw Yam at our local green grocer and just had to buy a piece. I have to be honest that it is something I have eaten from when I was young but have never attempted to cook it myself so was on the hunt immediately for a recipe. I was pleased to find a rather simple soup on line for which I pretty much had all the ingredients! You will find the source here. 

Ok so I did have some variances. Firstly we were all out of wild rice...or admittedly I never buy wild rice. Then I tend to prefer creamy to chunky soup. Hubby thinks I just like to hear the sound of the blender. I also started by softening onions with fresh garlic before adding the yam and stock. Then of course hubby likes it spicy so I added a touch of cayenne pepper as well as the curry powder to give it a kick. After it simmered for it's appointed time into the blender it went. OMG!!! How was I to know that it would turn out so thick. I guess that is what yam does and had I known I would definitely have added more stock than had been advised!  I ended up adding some milk in the vain attempt to thin it out a bit (the vain effect is evidenced in the picture below).

Anyway it still tasted rather nice and what a filling experience it was. I use the word filling literally here as a bowl of this soup certainly leaves you feeling extra stuffed. An experience definitely to be repeated.

A small piece of yam was reserved and is now being roasted with my chicken in the oven as we speak!

Something like a Blumenthal look-alike

So I have tried twice recently to cook chicken soup. The fist time did not turn out so bad considering I did not have half the ingredients but the second time was close to perfection (well perfection for me and hubby anyway) considering I had a few more of the ingredients. I was very pleased with the end result and especially with hubby's responses...'I love when you cook like this'....'I was dreaming of this kind of chicken soup'.

So this fabulous recipe came from the BBC food recipes website and it's by Heston Blumenthal.

Chicken Soup

Recipe:

1kg/2lb 4oz chicken wings 

100g/3½oz unsalted butter

2 large onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 large carrots, finely chopped

1 small head of celeriac, finely chopped

250g/9oz button mushrooms, finely sliced

200ml/7fl oz dry white wine

bouquet garni (thyme, bay leaf and celery leaves)

4 whole star anise

3 sticks of celery, finely sliced

3 leeks, finely sliced

a small piece of fresh ginger 

salt and freshly ground black pepper 

large bunch of fresh parsley

Method:
Put the chicken wings into a casserole, pour over cold water just to cover and bring to the boil on a high heat. As soon as the water boils, skim off any impurities that may have risen to the surface, lift out the wings and cool them under running water. Pat dry. 

On a medium heat, melt the butter, add the chicken wings, onions, garlic, carrots, celeriac and mushrooms, and cook for 15 minutes.

Turn the heat up, pour in the wine, bring to the boil and reduce by half. Pour over cold water to cover by 5cm/2 inches, bring to the boil and skim off any impurities that may have risen to the surface. Add the bouquet garni and star anise, and simmer very gently for 30 minutes.

Add the celery, leeks and ginger and continue simmering very gently for another 15 minutes. Turn off the heat; season if necessary, add the parsley and leave to stand for 20 minutes.

Strain the soup through a fine-meshed sieve and then, if you have some, muslin. It can be eaten straight away, or left to cool and kept in an airtight container in the fridge.

Now it sounds good right! Definitely great considering the weather is changing and we are seeing less and less of Mr Sunshine. I learnt a new Italian word for it as well...uggioso. Of course I love following recipes exactly but sometimes when certain ingredients are missing you have to make do. Especially when it's the ones that you don't use regularly as well. 

Well first adaptation was the fact that I only had chicken thighs...but at least they still had the bone in them  which I think makes it better to form a sort of stock base or for flavour (I'm guessing by the way). Celeriac is also never in my house so that was missing. I used a bit of stock instead of the wine (which is probably cheating when it comes to flavours...oops). Then I had the right herbs just not the fresh ones so dried versions of the thyme had to do so it wasn't a bouquet garni. Ahmmm and I had no star anise either. Now I guess you understand that it was only a look-alike and not exactly the same thing! I never bothered to strain the soup either....hehehe.

Anyway...it still tastes great and a definite recommendation for you to try it!

Not just any hot chocolate

Yesterday was a rather rainy day in Verona. After all the hot weather we have been having here it was a nice break. This morning I have now woken up to the sun but a nice cool breeze which I hope continues for the rest of our time here which is actually quickly coming to an end. Last night after dinner the practice is usually an expresso but I felt for something rather different and requested to hubby's somewhat surprise a hot chocolate or should I say "Cioccolata Calda". Seriously its not just any hot chocolate and an Italian experience I promise you will never forget.

It starts with proper powdered chocolate (the first big difference, not this sweetened powdered stuff) mixed with a little bit of cold milk before putting it on the fire (it's in a pot at this point by the way) and then you had more milk. Then you add some potato starch which is used to thicken the liquid (the second big difference). It requires continuous stirring until it reaches the desired consistency of thick dark melted hot chocolate which you could technically 'drink' with a spoon.

Making Home-made Jam

I have always had the opportunity to take home jars of hubby's mum home made jam. So you can only imagine my excitement when the opportunity arose for me to actually help! There has been an abundance of fruit....the fridges are overflowing in this house, from peaches, to apples, to apricots. Just as a matter of note you cannot say no to gifts of fruits from the neighbour's either. So this morning we were making peach jam and I was overwhelmed with how easy it really all was. The bottles had been washed with boiling water and prepared and ready.

The next step was the peaches which needed to be peeled and cut into small pieces. A lot of our peaches were pretty mature and very easy to peel. I have boiled peaches in the past if they are not very soft to make them easier to peel but something tells me they won't make as nice jam! You should have about 1 kilo of peaches.

 

You then need to add the peaches with 350grams of sugar and put it in a large pot to boil. Hubby's mum then added a packet of 'Fruttapec' which means you have to add less sugar and boil for a lot less time. I found it great the she has a special wooden spoons only for making marmellata! After boiling for about 10-15 minutes she felt that the pieces were still too big after boiling so gave it a quick whizz with a hand blender. 

Now all we needed to do was fill the jars with sticky juice using a ladle. Of course be careful when handling the jars as once they have the jam inside they will be hot!!!! Then we turned them upside down and left them for 10 minutes while we started the process again.

 

And the next day...well just YUM!

Winter Warmer

Yes it is strange talking about it being winter at the end of May,but that is what you get when you live on the other side of the world. In Auckland there was actually a weather warning because of all the expected rain! Well I guess it can't be nice here all the time. The point is though when the weather gets colder I always feel for food that is going to warm me up. One of my favourites is a big bowl of soup...on the menu last night:

Pumpkin Soup

Most of the recipes I found doing my usual trawl through cookbooks and on line had similar recipe, mine was heavily influenced by Annabelle White and her presentation on the breakfast show which you can view here

I melted a lob of butter with some olive oil and added a large onion and 3 cloves of garlic both chopped obviously. Then I added a tsp of ginger and some coriander. Fresh is probably best but I was working with what I got which was ginger in a jar and dried coriander which ain't that bad to be honest. Then I added the pumpkin. Then I think my favourite bit which really adds a kick to this recipe is a tbsp of curry powder...heat and flavour galore! Once it softened I added a few cups of chicken stock, all depending really on how much soup you are aiming for. And no I did not make my own chicken stock but go for it if you are so inclined and it will probably make a huge difference. Then you let it simmer till the pumpkin is nice and soft. I am a fan of smooth soups but I do not own a hand held blender so out came the potato masher...hence the lumps in the picture ( hubby thought it was lentils....hmmm possibly an interesting addition?). At the end I lobbed in some parsley and serve.

Tada...a winter warmer that goes down a treat!

Delectably divine!

My tour of the fish market in Auckland continued on to me buying some prawns! I had to take my time scooping them into the bag because I was very tempted to go overboard with the amount I was getting. I had spotted a recipe by Annabel Langbein which I was very keen to try.

Lemon Chilli Grilled Prawns

Recipe

500g raw prawn tails

1tbsp sweet chilli sauce

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp chopped red chilli

Freshly grated rind of 1/2 lemon

Method

Mix prawns with chilli sauce, garlic, chilli and lemon rind. Chill until ready to cook (they can be kept up to 12 hours in the fridge). Lightly oil a barbecue hot plate and cook prawns about 2 minutes each side until they turn pink (of course I was kind of missing the barbecue hot plate so I stuck mine under the grill and the time does not really change that much and the smell that was emanating was driving me crazy) Eat as they are or serve on Avocado and Snow Pea Salad.

Of course I very much liked that suggestion.........

Avocado and Snow Pea Salad

Recipe

200g snow peas

200g sugar snaps

1/2 telegraph cucumber, cut into 4cm long batons

1 large spring onion, finely sliced

2 just-ripe avocados, cut into chunks

Dressing

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander or mint

Method

Pour boiling water over snow peas. Drain at once and chill briefly in cold water. Just before serving combine all the dressing ingredients and toss with snow peas and other ingredients. Divide between serving plates and top with prawns.

I think the the sweet chilli sauce really makes this menu and is a relatively new ingredient to me...I had a hard time choosing which one I wanted to get at the supermarket....so I think I will have to start experimenting and trying different ones to decide my favourite now. I chose 'Golden Sun' this time round and made enough dressing for a week of salads :) Trust me we were sopping it up with the bread and licking our fingers.

It was a delectably divine experience.

Back to baking

I have been browsing through "Taste Magazine" which I found here one day in Auckland. Actually hubby bought it for me as a huge hint I think as I had been neglecting my cooking these days. Actually this is where the fish recipe below came from. So kids are back at school and work is a bit slow and I find myself with time on my hands these days so its back to baking....well something like that anyway. As the article by Sarah Bowman says

"This slice recipe came from my mother-in-law Gwennie and is one of those magical recipes that takes just minutes to make and everyone loves!"

Bren's Crispies

Recipe

250g butter

1 cup sugar

4tbsp cocoa

2 cups flour

1tsp baking powder

2 cups coconut

Thread coconut, for sprinkling on icing

Chocolate icing

3 cups icing sugar

4tbsp cocoa

1tbsp butter

A little boiling water

Method

1. 
   
   Preheat oven to 180C. Melt the butter, sugar and cocoa in a saucepan, then remove from heat.
2. 
   
   Add flour, baking powder and coconut and mix until combined. Press the mixture into a baking paper-lined slice tin and bake for 20 minutes
3. 
   
   Ice while warm and sprinkle with thread coconut. Cool, then slice and store in an airtight container.
4. 
   
   For the icing, mix icing sugar, cocoa and butter with enough boiling water to make a thick smooth icing.

Mine all went pretty much to plan until slicing it out of the cake tin and bits started to fall apart from it. I quickly shoved mine in the fridge....saved!

Hubby's big smile as he was digging into not just one but two slices means it could not have tasted too bad!

Whole Fish with rosemary, garlic and parmesan crumbs

So I guess technically this is a continuation of the previous post. My thoughts on buying fresh fish developed from the fact that that is exactly what I was doing yesterday. I guess I should mention that in Auckland maybe I should do research first before going to buy fish because I am lucky if I recognise the names of fish here! Snapper...always get snapper...hmmm mullet...oh ok recognise that one...SOLD!

On the menu today from Julie Biuso

Whole Fish with rosemary, garlic and parmesan crumbs

Recipe

1.2kg whole white fish or fish of you choice gutted and scaled

3tbsp olive oil

1tsp fennel seeds

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

2tbsp rosemary leaves

1/2tsp salt

1tbsp lemon juice

2tbsp dried breadcrumbs (or use panko crumbs)

2tsp freshly grated parmesan

Lemon wedges to serve

Method

1. Rinse fish thoroughly, drain briefly then pat dry with paper towels. For dressing, mix oil, fennel seeds, garlic, rosemary, salt and lemon juice together in a bowl.
2. Line a large roasting tin with a piece of tinfoil, then a piece of baking paper, each large enough to wrap around the fish. Put the fish on the paper and spoon over the dressing. Sprinkle with crumbs and parmesan. Firstly wrap fish in paper then foil, without turning it over.
3. Preheat oven to 200C and cook fish for about 30 minutes.
4. When cooked, fold back the foil and baking paper and carefully slide fish onto a heated serving platter. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

For me definitely an experience to repeat!

Reinstating Pizza night

It was not oh so long ago when I lived in Glasgow that we used to try and have a pizza night once a week. The aim being really not to have to cook too much and have a few beers while chillaxing in front of the TV. Wednesday nights in Auckland now suddenly have a lot to offer. It starts with Masterchef NZ, then Lie to Me and finishes with Law and Order SUV. So I have decided to reinstate pizza night. Of course the question remains if I am every allowed to cheat and get take away pizza or if it always has to be homemade.

My home made pizza has certainly developed over the years. My first was in Glasgow when we had just moved in and I was cooking as many different things as I could think of. I never thought of using a rolling pin until hubby came home to rescue me, thank goodness! Then of course I made the mistake of making one pizza for the two of us thinking that would be enough. Being married to a man who was raised in Italy changes they way one cooks a lot. Anyway I have finally got a recipe that pretty much works for me everytime... 

Pizza for 2:

Ingredients

Pizza Dough:

375g Plain flour

Salt

Yeast (1 satchet or just under 1tbsp depending on its form)

1 cup warm water

2 tbsp olive oil (optional)

Toppings:

I personally think passata and mozzarella and onions are a must but anything after that depends either on what is available or what we are feeling for. Personal favourites include tuna, aubergine (baked first in the oven), peppers and pepperoni! 

Method

Mix all the dry ingredients, make a hole and add the water. I mix with a spoon until it starts clumping together and then get my hands in there to help it form into a ball. Then I knead until my hands start getting tired. Please note that you can probably find official advice on the best way to  knead if you really want :) Then leave it to do it's business (rise) for at least an 1hr but 2 hours is definitely the best. If it is in a warm place it does it's business even better (rise!). I usually turn on the oven to preheat for while before putting the pizzas in.

Well you have waited the 2 hours or longer if you had to. Roll out the dough and yes do not be ashamed of using a rolling pin, and size is up to you or how well the dough has risen. Spread on the passata and add the cheese and then your toppings of choice, onions usually go on last. If you are lucky you have the fancy pizza trays otherwise place them on baking paper. Put them relatively low in the oven but not the lowest rung as it might burn and they usually take about 15 to 20 minutes.

Ecco Fatto!

Spiced Bean Quesadillas with only slight adaptations

Even when you reach the end of the shopping week or month there is usually a few ingredients left in the fridge or cupboard to do something...well you hope anyway...so what great fortune I had to realise that I could still make a lovely dish of Spiced Bean Quesadillas courtesy of Annabel Langbein:

Ingredients

Splash of Olive Oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2tsp cumin

1tsp chilli powder

310g can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1/4cup sweet chilli sauce

salt and ground black pepper

1 cup grated tasty cheese

2tbsp chopped fresh coriander or spring onions

4 fresh flour tortillas

Method

Heat oil and gently cook garlic, cumin, and chilli powder for about a minute. Roughly mash beans and mix in spice mixture and chilli sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Spread 1/4 of the mixture on a tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and coriander and place in heated frypan. Top with another tortilla and cook until golden then turn to brown other side. Makes 2 'sandwich' quesadillas.

OK all sounds good but I had to make some slight adaptations. Fresh herbs never last very long in our house I hate to admit but I had a lonely spring onion sitting in the fridge so I added the little fella to the mash beans mixture. I did not really have a bottle labelled sweet chilli sauce but in the fridge was a bottle of tasty Wahawera kiwifruit (which makes the sauce have a slight sweet flavour) and habanero sauce so I added a teaspoon of it. We bought this sauce actually during our time in the Bay of Islands. Hubby loves his hot sauces so when we find something new he jumps at the opportunity to get it so he can try it! One of his favourite things!

Of course I don't have that non stick frying pan remember so I fill and fold my tortillas, making a total of four, and put them in a baking tin and smack them into the oven for around 10-15 minutes, you know when they start smelling good. I also had some dregs of passata left in the fridge so I put some of that on top which also makes them seem a bit more like a main course rather than a snack.

All in all very yummy for my tummy!

I don't want spaghetti bolognese!

Unlike me not one of my husbands favourite dishes. Yet we always have minced beef in the fridge. I don't know when it started but it just ended up being a staple we bought when we did the weekly shop. Even here in Auckland we have added it to our monthly shop. Maybe it's because secretly bolognese has always been one of my favourite dishes or because hubby makes the best chilli (I must ask him if I can blog about that). Whatever it is there it is in the freezer needing defrosting and now needing a recipe to turn it into something good.

So off I go to do the recipe internet hunt. Now if I am not careful these hunts can take me all day as I uhm and ahh over them trying to figure out which one sounds the best and probably more importantly if I actually have the ingredients in the house. I also hate to overcomplicate things so the simpler I usually believe is the better. Today though hubby had an idea of what he wanted, which can either be a good thing or a bad thing. He wanted polpette and he probably was thinking about how his mum makes it. It is probably a bad idea to think I can ever compare my cooking to his mother's, his Italian mother! So the pressure is on. When I finally find a recipe which even had an Italian title I think I must be in luck.

Polpette di Carne Fritta

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Serves 4

• 400 grams beef
• 150 grams breadcrumbs
• 150 grams grated parmigiano
• 2 eggs
• Minced parsley and garlic to taste 
• Salt and pepper
• Oil and butter for frying

Preparation: Mix the meat with breadcrumbs, parmigiano and eggs and season the mixture to taste with parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Form them into balls and fry them.

OK so it all went pretty much according to plan until it came to frying them and I without a non stick frying pan (I'm renting my flat and am only in Auckland for a year so it has not made it to the shopping list) got into a bit of trouble. They were sticking to the pan and so therefore breaking apart. After a few curses (I get a bit heated when I cook) I banged them into the oven...easily salvaged and yes they tasted great. You can then pretty much serve them with anything. They are great on a summers day with fresh salad or fried vegetables or just stuff them in a pitta bread with condiments! It is one of those recipes I will head back to again and again.Yummy.