Friday 22 July 2011
temporary hiatus
Because I went and spilled lime juice on my laptop and borked the keyboard. Bright spark that I am. I'll get it fixed when I cone back from Germany, and normal service shall resume. Have a good week everyone!
Sunday 10 July 2011
On account of SCIENCE...you put the lime in the ginger cake!
Yeah, see, I actually had this one ready to type up yesterday, but then I took my cousin to the science museum and was knackered afterwards, so never typed it up. Because I was tired, not a slacker like someone would have you believe. Typing it up now. I do have pics to put in here, but my phone is not co-operating, so I shall add them when my phone decides to behave.
So, to the post. I have a bumper post to make up for being a complete numpty and messing up the last couple of weeks. Here we go.
So, we had some sunny weather here, and the temperature hit 20. In Scotland, this caused great excitement. And makes me excited for summer drinks, my favourite being rum with ginger beer and lime.
And of course at this point ideas happened, and I had to go prep the kitchen:
Yes, everything I do is this erratic.
Summery drink love got me thinking; if it's super tasty as a drink, why wouldn't it be tasty as a cake? So your first recipe today: ginger and rum cake with a hint of lime.
Recipe:
50 g/2 oz butter or margarine
120 ml/4 fl oz/0.5 cup black treacle (molasses)
1 egg lightly beaten
60 ml/4 tbsp rum
100 g/4 oz/1 cup self-raising (self-rising) flour
10 ml/2 tsp ground ginger
75 g/3 oz soft brown sugar
25 g/1 oz crystallized (candied) ginger, chopped
(I also add 2 tablespoons of lime cordial)
Method:
This one is pretty easy. Melt the butter and treacle together in a pan until glossy, then let it cool slightly. Mix the rest of the ingredients in to form a soft batter, spoon into an 8inch cake tin, and bake at 200C/400F/gas mark 6 for 20 minutes. And you're done.
I use silicon moulds, which keep the cake really really moist, but be warned, the cake would take a little longer to cool in these, so don't try and turn them out too quickly (or they will fall apart, like mine did, which is why there isn't a picture).
I made this one initially because one of my workmates didn't believe I could bake. He said the only problem with it was the slice wasn't big enough!
Second up is something I have craved for ages, so decided to make, and is super summery: Key Lime Pie (explained the title yet?). Again, I found a super easy recipe for this, it is a little time consuming because the limes take a while to grate, but it's so, so worth it.
Recipe:
375g/12oz plain or sweetmeal digestive biscuits, crushed
150g/5oz unsalted butter
grated zest and juice of 8 large limes
570ml/1 pint double cream
1 x 397g/14oz can sweetened condensed milk
crystalised lime zest, to decorate (I'll explain this bit at the end)
Method:
melt the butter over a low heat. While this is happening, crush the biscuits to within an inch of their life. I used a pestle, just to make sure. Mix them into the melted butter, 'til it goes into a soggy-ish paste, like this:
then into the pan it goes (I used the same silicon mould as the last one, if using a metal pan make sure the bottom pops out). This needs to cool before adding the topping, so pop it in the fridge for now.
Now, the topping. This is simple, but will seem time consuming, as it takes ages to grate the limes. If you want to make candied lime peel to decorate, peel rather than grate the peel of one lime, and set it aside for later.
For the zest, grate the peel of the limes into a bowl, then cut the limes in half and juice them into a large bowl. The zest will get added to the mix later.
Once all limes have been zested and juiced, add the cream and condensed milk to
the juice, and wsk for about 2 minutes (it's possible to do this by hand, it doesn't go too stiff). At this point, you gently mix in the lime zest.
Get your super-dooper base back out of the fridge, and spoon the topping on to it.
Even it out, and stick back in the fridge for an hour/hour and a half, and voila, key lime pie.
So good it was out of the fridge for about 3 seconds before being munched, so i didn't get a chance to make the crystalized lime peel this time, but here's the trick to it in case you fancy it:
"To make the crystalized lime zest, wash and dry 2 whole limes and peel with a vegetable peeler. Using a sharp knife cut the peel into thin matchstick-sized strips. Blanch in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and refresh in cold water. Place 50g/2oz caster or granulated sugar into a small pan with enough boiling water to cover. Bring to the boil and heat until it reaches 180C/350F, use a sugar thermometer to test the temperature. Add the lime zest and remove from the heat. Stir well and pour into a metal sieve over a bowl. As the sugar cools separate the lime zest with a fork and allow to cool completely. When cool remove the lime zest from the sieve and rub off the excess hard sugar. Use as required in the key lime pie recipe."
I'm actually super surprised this lasted us 3 days, it really brought out my dormant sweet toot again.
And what do we have to go with cake? Well, it's summer, so.....ICE CREAM!
Recipe:
4 egg whites
1 can condensed milk
1 carton double cream
flavouring of your choice (i use vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons).
**quick point on flavouring: if doing flavour from a bottle, use extract rather than essence. The condensed milk is rather thick, and won't pick up the flavouring from essence. Just so you don't waste time (^_^)**
Method:
Whisk egg whites 'til stiff. Add condensed milk. Whisk until stiff. Add cream. Whisk until stiff. Add flavouring, mix well. Place in a container and into the frezer for 24hrs. take out 5 minutes before use to defrost to scooping temperature. And seriously, it's that easy.
Enjoy people!
So, to the post. I have a bumper post to make up for being a complete numpty and messing up the last couple of weeks. Here we go.
So, we had some sunny weather here, and the temperature hit 20. In Scotland, this caused great excitement. And makes me excited for summer drinks, my favourite being rum with ginger beer and lime.
And of course at this point ideas happened, and I had to go prep the kitchen:
Yes, everything I do is this erratic.
Summery drink love got me thinking; if it's super tasty as a drink, why wouldn't it be tasty as a cake? So your first recipe today: ginger and rum cake with a hint of lime.
Recipe:
50 g/2 oz butter or margarine
120 ml/4 fl oz/0.5 cup black treacle (molasses)
1 egg lightly beaten
60 ml/4 tbsp rum
100 g/4 oz/1 cup self-raising (self-rising) flour
10 ml/2 tsp ground ginger
75 g/3 oz soft brown sugar
25 g/1 oz crystallized (candied) ginger, chopped
(I also add 2 tablespoons of lime cordial)
Method:
This one is pretty easy. Melt the butter and treacle together in a pan until glossy, then let it cool slightly. Mix the rest of the ingredients in to form a soft batter, spoon into an 8inch cake tin, and bake at 200C/400F/gas mark 6 for 20 minutes. And you're done.
I use silicon moulds, which keep the cake really really moist, but be warned, the cake would take a little longer to cool in these, so don't try and turn them out too quickly (or they will fall apart, like mine did, which is why there isn't a picture).
I made this one initially because one of my workmates didn't believe I could bake. He said the only problem with it was the slice wasn't big enough!
Second up is something I have craved for ages, so decided to make, and is super summery: Key Lime Pie (explained the title yet?). Again, I found a super easy recipe for this, it is a little time consuming because the limes take a while to grate, but it's so, so worth it.
Recipe:
375g/12oz plain or sweetmeal digestive biscuits, crushed
150g/5oz unsalted butter
grated zest and juice of 8 large limes
570ml/1 pint double cream
1 x 397g/14oz can sweetened condensed milk
crystalised lime zest, to decorate (I'll explain this bit at the end)
Method:
melt the butter over a low heat. While this is happening, crush the biscuits to within an inch of their life. I used a pestle, just to make sure. Mix them into the melted butter, 'til it goes into a soggy-ish paste, like this:
then into the pan it goes (I used the same silicon mould as the last one, if using a metal pan make sure the bottom pops out). This needs to cool before adding the topping, so pop it in the fridge for now.
Now, the topping. This is simple, but will seem time consuming, as it takes ages to grate the limes. If you want to make candied lime peel to decorate, peel rather than grate the peel of one lime, and set it aside for later.
For the zest, grate the peel of the limes into a bowl, then cut the limes in half and juice them into a large bowl. The zest will get added to the mix later.
Once all limes have been zested and juiced, add the cream and condensed milk to
the juice, and wsk for about 2 minutes (it's possible to do this by hand, it doesn't go too stiff). At this point, you gently mix in the lime zest.
Get your super-dooper base back out of the fridge, and spoon the topping on to it.
Even it out, and stick back in the fridge for an hour/hour and a half, and voila, key lime pie.
So good it was out of the fridge for about 3 seconds before being munched, so i didn't get a chance to make the crystalized lime peel this time, but here's the trick to it in case you fancy it:
"To make the crystalized lime zest, wash and dry 2 whole limes and peel with a vegetable peeler. Using a sharp knife cut the peel into thin matchstick-sized strips. Blanch in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and refresh in cold water. Place 50g/2oz caster or granulated sugar into a small pan with enough boiling water to cover. Bring to the boil and heat until it reaches 180C/350F, use a sugar thermometer to test the temperature. Add the lime zest and remove from the heat. Stir well and pour into a metal sieve over a bowl. As the sugar cools separate the lime zest with a fork and allow to cool completely. When cool remove the lime zest from the sieve and rub off the excess hard sugar. Use as required in the key lime pie recipe."
I'm actually super surprised this lasted us 3 days, it really brought out my dormant sweet toot again.
And what do we have to go with cake? Well, it's summer, so.....ICE CREAM!
Recipe:
4 egg whites
1 can condensed milk
1 carton double cream
flavouring of your choice (i use vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons).
**quick point on flavouring: if doing flavour from a bottle, use extract rather than essence. The condensed milk is rather thick, and won't pick up the flavouring from essence. Just so you don't waste time (^_^)**
Method:
Whisk egg whites 'til stiff. Add condensed milk. Whisk until stiff. Add cream. Whisk until stiff. Add flavouring, mix well. Place in a container and into the frezer for 24hrs. take out 5 minutes before use to defrost to scooping temperature. And seriously, it's that easy.
Enjoy people!
Monday 4 July 2011
Uh oh....
so I did it again; I don't have a post. I do have two very valid reasons as to why though:
Graduation and Graduation Ball.
This week's is going to be a massive post about ice cream and cake, I will make it up to you all.
Graduation and Graduation Ball.
This week's is going to be a massive post about ice cream and cake, I will make it up to you all.
Monday 27 June 2011
Oops.....
Yeah, so this is late again. I totally take the blame this time, I signed myself up for a double shift Friday, then indulged myself by going to see the awesome Steph, Pete and Caroline on Saturday. So again, I have nothing prepared.
I really need to get better at this.
So apologies, I don't have anything prepared, and I don't even think I can riff on anything this week. I fail at blog.
I really need to get better at this.
So apologies, I don't have anything prepared, and I don't even think I can riff on anything this week. I fail at blog.
Sunday 19 June 2011
The Clangers' Soup Dragon
Well, look at me, being all late with my first post, I deserves a slap on the hand. Though it wasn't really my fault, I did plan to make something last night, but plans changed, and it didn't happen. To compensate, here is a picture of the apples I just had as a snack:
I can see why the red one wanted the green, he did indeed have juicy juicy flesh.
But apples are not what I'm here to talk about.
I was sitting in the car on my way home last night wondering what on earth I could now post about, and nothing came to me. Until this morning, when I got up, came downstairs and found my mum at the cooker. Making soup.
This lead me to thinking about my opinion of my mum's lentil soup (it looks like vomit, but is the tasty lentil soup I have ever had), to what my favourite soup is (a toss-up between asparagus and mushroom, I think), to what kind of soup the Clangers' Soup Dragon would have made. Since they live on the Moon, probably rock. Or cheese, depending on who you believe, but that got me onto a cheesy tangent, and is also not the point of this post. But it is slightly relevant.
Just for the record, Roquefort is the best cheese in the world.
But soup. That is the point of all of this. One of the most diverse, simple dishes in the world, and yet it can be one of the most surprising too. Now, to the basics; what does one put in soup?
This simplest answer is stock, but then leads to a whole bunch of new questions; what kind of stock? should I make it myself? Does it have to be thick/full of ingredients/smell good? Yes, to all of the above, in various batches.
I find the type of stock you use depends entirely on what you're chucking in the pan, but then, it's not always totally straightforward. Take Scotch Broth, to be stereotypical and all that; it's mostly made of veg, but it has a meaty stock, usually made by boiling a ham shank, the meat of which is then cut from the bone and thrown back in. One of the best winter soups ever.
Generally though, unless I am making a soup that has meat in it, I tend to stick to a vegetable stock, if for no other reason than I can share it round more people, as my veggie friends will be able to enjoy it too.
Right, now I'm done rambling about that, I'll talk about a couple of my favourite types of soup, then clear off and let you get on with your day.
One of my favourite soups to make is curried sweet potato and butternut squash soup. Two of my favourite veg, plus a whole load of spices makes me a very happy girl. The sweet potato and butternut squash soup is also very nice on it's own, and dead simple; boil some sweet potato and squash in a veggie stock until soft, then blitz the whole lot in a blender. Serve with thick white bread for best results. This also works really well with pumpkin, which you serve with a swirl of cream.
Currying a soup is a little more tricky. No matter what the recipe tells you, add a LITTLE of the spices at a time, otherwise you'll lose the flavour of the veg and just have a bowl of tasteless mush. What a waste. Also, add the spices after you've blitzed the soup, that way they're not lost in the water, and you don't end up adding too much. When I'm currying soup I tend to add curry powder, cumin and cinnamon in varying amounts depending on taste. Also grind in some black pepper, and you're all set.
On the note of my favourite soup mentioned above, I have the easiest recipe for mushroom soup in the world. Boil a whole load of mushrooms, of various types if you wish, in about 3/4 a pot of water, then add a carton of cream, usually single. Cook a little longer, but try not to boil in case the cream curdles, stir through, blitz, season, and there you go. I find I have time to make this one before going to work in the morning when I decide I want soup for lunch at the last minute.
A last one that I really, really like, though it does sound a bit odd, as it relates to the Clangers, in that it contains cheese; cauliflower and cheese soup. Seriously, try it, it's properly scrummy. As with the others, boil the cauliflower in a veggie stock, I sometimes add broccoli too, then take off the heat before adding lots of grated cheese. Cheedar is perfectly acceptable for this, I like to chuck some Roquefort in too, for a stronger flavour, though be warned, it will make your soup smell like feet. Totally worth it though. This soup tends to be pretty runny, even after blending, so you might need to add some cornflour to thicken it, but like the spices, don't overdo it. It's be tastless stodge if you do.
Perfect accompaniment to soup? Thick, white bread, such as tigerbread, with a little butter on top, torn up and dipped in. Or croutons. And I don't mean those little cube things you buy in a bag and chuck on Caesar salads, I mean proper, thick, cheesy croutons. I usually make mine by slicing a baguette into about half inch slices, toasting them in the grill on both sides, then putting cheese on one side and sticking them back in until the cheese melts. These are particularly fine with onion soup. If I'm in the mood, I sometimes make garlic butter to go under the cheese; literally by crushing some garlic and mixing it with butter.
Right, I think that's enough about my weird soup habits, I may touch on this again if becomes relevant. Because, y'know, soup makes the world go round.
I can see why the red one wanted the green, he did indeed have juicy juicy flesh.
But apples are not what I'm here to talk about.
I was sitting in the car on my way home last night wondering what on earth I could now post about, and nothing came to me. Until this morning, when I got up, came downstairs and found my mum at the cooker. Making soup.
This lead me to thinking about my opinion of my mum's lentil soup (it looks like vomit, but is the tasty lentil soup I have ever had), to what my favourite soup is (a toss-up between asparagus and mushroom, I think), to what kind of soup the Clangers' Soup Dragon would have made. Since they live on the Moon, probably rock. Or cheese, depending on who you believe, but that got me onto a cheesy tangent, and is also not the point of this post. But it is slightly relevant.
Just for the record, Roquefort is the best cheese in the world.
But soup. That is the point of all of this. One of the most diverse, simple dishes in the world, and yet it can be one of the most surprising too. Now, to the basics; what does one put in soup?
This simplest answer is stock, but then leads to a whole bunch of new questions; what kind of stock? should I make it myself? Does it have to be thick/full of ingredients/smell good? Yes, to all of the above, in various batches.
I find the type of stock you use depends entirely on what you're chucking in the pan, but then, it's not always totally straightforward. Take Scotch Broth, to be stereotypical and all that; it's mostly made of veg, but it has a meaty stock, usually made by boiling a ham shank, the meat of which is then cut from the bone and thrown back in. One of the best winter soups ever.
Generally though, unless I am making a soup that has meat in it, I tend to stick to a vegetable stock, if for no other reason than I can share it round more people, as my veggie friends will be able to enjoy it too.
Right, now I'm done rambling about that, I'll talk about a couple of my favourite types of soup, then clear off and let you get on with your day.
One of my favourite soups to make is curried sweet potato and butternut squash soup. Two of my favourite veg, plus a whole load of spices makes me a very happy girl. The sweet potato and butternut squash soup is also very nice on it's own, and dead simple; boil some sweet potato and squash in a veggie stock until soft, then blitz the whole lot in a blender. Serve with thick white bread for best results. This also works really well with pumpkin, which you serve with a swirl of cream.
Currying a soup is a little more tricky. No matter what the recipe tells you, add a LITTLE of the spices at a time, otherwise you'll lose the flavour of the veg and just have a bowl of tasteless mush. What a waste. Also, add the spices after you've blitzed the soup, that way they're not lost in the water, and you don't end up adding too much. When I'm currying soup I tend to add curry powder, cumin and cinnamon in varying amounts depending on taste. Also grind in some black pepper, and you're all set.
On the note of my favourite soup mentioned above, I have the easiest recipe for mushroom soup in the world. Boil a whole load of mushrooms, of various types if you wish, in about 3/4 a pot of water, then add a carton of cream, usually single. Cook a little longer, but try not to boil in case the cream curdles, stir through, blitz, season, and there you go. I find I have time to make this one before going to work in the morning when I decide I want soup for lunch at the last minute.
A last one that I really, really like, though it does sound a bit odd, as it relates to the Clangers, in that it contains cheese; cauliflower and cheese soup. Seriously, try it, it's properly scrummy. As with the others, boil the cauliflower in a veggie stock, I sometimes add broccoli too, then take off the heat before adding lots of grated cheese. Cheedar is perfectly acceptable for this, I like to chuck some Roquefort in too, for a stronger flavour, though be warned, it will make your soup smell like feet. Totally worth it though. This soup tends to be pretty runny, even after blending, so you might need to add some cornflour to thicken it, but like the spices, don't overdo it. It's be tastless stodge if you do.
Perfect accompaniment to soup? Thick, white bread, such as tigerbread, with a little butter on top, torn up and dipped in. Or croutons. And I don't mean those little cube things you buy in a bag and chuck on Caesar salads, I mean proper, thick, cheesy croutons. I usually make mine by slicing a baguette into about half inch slices, toasting them in the grill on both sides, then putting cheese on one side and sticking them back in until the cheese melts. These are particularly fine with onion soup. If I'm in the mood, I sometimes make garlic butter to go under the cheese; literally by crushing some garlic and mixing it with butter.
Right, I think that's enough about my weird soup habits, I may touch on this again if becomes relevant. Because, y'know, soup makes the world go round.
Thursday 16 June 2011
A New Beginning
Well, here we go again. I might actually maintain this blog!
Now that uni is all over and done with, and everyone is off getting on with their lives, in order to get money to do what I want with my life, I'm stuck back at my cleaning job. 5 weeks in, and it's already depressing me. And what do I do when I'm depressed? I cook.
So here it is; this is going to be a running commentary of my favourite recipes, fun experiments and the best new discoveries I make whilst wrecking my mother's kitchen and giving her more gray hairs than she would ever wish for. Not that it stops her and Dad from eating the end results mind you.
I shall hopefully post at least once a week, mostly likely a Friday or a Saturday, depending on my work shifts and therefore when I have time to put a post together. Fingers crossed this shall work, let's give it a go! (^-^)
Now that uni is all over and done with, and everyone is off getting on with their lives, in order to get money to do what I want with my life, I'm stuck back at my cleaning job. 5 weeks in, and it's already depressing me. And what do I do when I'm depressed? I cook.
So here it is; this is going to be a running commentary of my favourite recipes, fun experiments and the best new discoveries I make whilst wrecking my mother's kitchen and giving her more gray hairs than she would ever wish for. Not that it stops her and Dad from eating the end results mind you.
I shall hopefully post at least once a week, mostly likely a Friday or a Saturday, depending on my work shifts and therefore when I have time to put a post together. Fingers crossed this shall work, let's give it a go! (^-^)
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