Tag: recipe

Vanilla fudge recipe

Fudge! Who doesn’t love fudge, soft, sweet and, well, fudgey.

It’s pretty tricky to get it right, so a sugar thermometer/digital thermometer will really help here.

To the recipe!

Ingredients: makes about 1kg of fudge (£3-6)

  • 450g caster sugar
  • 450g double cream
  • 100g butter
  • 20g glucose syrup, about a tablespoon
  • 1 tbsp of vanilla extract, essence or vanilla bean paste, paste tastes better but is more expensive.
  • 1 tbsp salt

Equipment

  • Cake/baking tin, preferably square or rectangle and fairly large (18-23cm)
  • Saucepan
  • Wooden spoon
  • Sugar thermometer or digital thermometer
  • Pallet knife
  • (Optional) baking paper

Prep and cooking (45-60+ minutes)

  1. If you’re using baking paper, line the tin with it.
  2. Put the cream, butter, sugar and liquid glucose in a saucepan with the thermometer in on a low heat until the butter has melted and the sugar is dissolved, stir occasionally and gently. Make sure the saucepan is big enough to hold it all but small enormous go for the thermometer to get a proper reading.
  3. Turn the heat up, you need it to reach the soft ball stage, which is 116°c, be careful using full heat as you don’t want to burn anything to the bottom of the pan, try to use more gradual heat stirring occasionally and gently.
  4. Take the pan off the heat and keep an eye on it until it reaches 110°c, this should take 5-10 minutes.
  5. Add the vanilla and salt and mix in.
  6. Now for the hard work, if you’ve got a standing mixer with a beater attachment it will do the work for you here, if not it’s time to grab the wooden spoon and mix the fudge quite vigorously. You need to keep the thermometer in whilst doing this so try not to knock it out. Mix continuously until it reaches 60°c.
  7. Take the thermometer out at 60 and keep on mixing for 5-10 minutes.
  8. The mixing is what gives it its fudgey texture, by now it should be thick and look like fudge, if not it either needs more mixing or it hasn’t been mixed enough through the process.
  9. Pour it in the tin and smooth it out. Cover and leave for 12 hours. Don’t put it in the fridge! It will ruin the texture.
  10. Eat lots of fudge!

Costing

This should cost you some where in the region of £3.50, but can be nearly double depending on the quality of vanilla you use, most supermarket extracts are ok.

Again it depends how big/small you cut the cubes but it works out at about 9p each, I usually get 35-40 cubes.

Nutrition

As you’d imagine fudge is pretty dangerous stuff! But all the good stuff is.

Here’s the values based on a 28g serving

More recipes soon!

Prep guide; how to get perfect rice every time

It depends on how you define perfect, but when I say it I mean rice that is fluffy and doesn’t stick together or go all claggy.

The solution is shockingly simple, you just need to steam it through after cooking.

This requires no extra or special equipment, other than a bit of tinfoil (enough to cover the pan)

Let’s get to it!

What you need

  • Rice
  • Saucepan
  • Water
  • Tinfoil

How to get perfect rice every time

As you probably know all types of rice cook differently.

When it comes to the amount of water to use a ratio of 1:2.5 is usually a good starting point, so for every 1g of rice use 2.5x more water, e.g. for 100g rice use 250ml of water. For 237g of rice use 593ml of water etc.

Nearly all rice has a recommended cooking time on the packet, which is a handy guideline.

Bring the rice to the boil in 2.5x the amount of water, as it starts to boil turn the heat down low, put a lid on the pan (that fits) and simmer for the ‘recommended cooking time’ on the packet minus 1 or 2 minutes.

Before you turn the rice down to simmer make sure you stir the bottom with a wooden spoon to make sure nothing sticks and burns to the pan.

Once cooked simply turn the heat off and leave the pan there for 30 minutes with the lid still on.

I prefer to remove the lid 1-2 minutes before it’s cooked and wrap some tinfoil tightly round the top.

Leaving the rice covered and on the gradually lowering heat steams it through, when you uncover it 95% of the time you should have perfectly cooked rice 👌

And that’s it!

Nice and easy.

Dirty Cajun rice recipe

Dirty rice come in many (delicious) forms. Cajun is a pretty classic combination so here’s something I’ve put together.

To the recipe!

Ingredients: £2.79 – serves 2 (£1.40) or 3 (£0.93) (per serving)

  • 200g basmati rice
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 1 beef stock cube
  • 500ml water
  • 100-200g diced cooking bacon
  • 1 ball of mozzarella, diced
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 1 large onion, finely diced
  • 1 tbsp garlic paste
  • 1 tbsp ketchup
  • 2-3 tbsp Cajun spice
  • You shouldn’t need any salt here as Cajun spice has a shitload already
  • Oil, for frying.

Equipmemt

  • Saucepan
  • Knife
  • Chopping board
  • Tinfoil
  • Frying pan
  • Wooden spoon
  • Plate

Prep and cooking (40-50 minutes)

  1. First cook the rice but be sure to put 1 tbsp of Cajun spice, 1 beef and 1 chicken stock cube in the water when cooking, leave it covered until needed.
  2. Heat some oil in a pan on a fairly high heat until it’s nice and hot. Cook the bacon until the fat is rendered down and nicely crisp. Remove from the pan and keep to onne side.
  3. Add the onion to the pan, you want to get it nicely browned so the flavour develops, turn the heat up but don’t let it burn though. It’s a fairly fine line between nicely browned and burnt.
  4. Add the red pepper and cook for another 2-3 minutes, be sure to keep everything moving.
  5. Now add the garlic paste and ketchup cook for another 3-5 minutes while stirring.
  6. Remove to the heat and turn your attention to the rice. Remove the kids and fluff with a fork, and 1-2 tbsp of Cajun spice and mix well.
  7. All that’s left to do is mix the two together! Dirty.

Dirty rice all round

Costing

Cutting the cost

Looking at cost there are a few bits you can cut to save a bit, you can’t really change the amount of rice as it’s the bulk of the dish, unless you’re just cooking for 1.

Using half the amount of Cajun spice will save about 30p and you can just add some extra salt, the flavour won’t be quite as strong but still good.

The red pepper can be optional, removing it takes off another 45p, as is the mozzarella which saves an additional 45p.

This can cut the cost down to £1.59, or about 80p a serving.

All the prices used are from tesco.com on the date of this post.

Nutrition (based on 1 serving, half the above amount or )

Nutrition information

As you can see it’s fairly heavy on the carbs and a nice whack of calories, just about enough for a mealtime.

More recipes soon, keep on sending in your requests!

Mascarpone lemon cheesecake

This cheesecake uses mascarpone instead of regular cream cheese, which gives it a much creamier texture.

I like to do it with lemon because regular cream cheese has a slight sharpness/tang to it whereas marscarpone is a lot more mild.

Here’s the recipe!

Ingredients (makes 1 cheesecake)

For the base

  • 1 pack of digestive biscuits
  • 100-200g butter
  • 1-2tbsp brown sugar (preferably light)

For the filling

  • 200-300g marscarpone
  • 200-300g double cream
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 100-200g icing sugar
  • 2-3 lemons

Equipment

  • Food processor, or ziplock bag and a rolling pin
  • Zester or fine grater
  • Knife, or lemon juicer
  • Mixing bowl
  • Whisk, an electric one helps
  • Microwave or saucepan
  • Tart/cake dish
  • Wooden spoon
  • Spatula
  • Pallet knife

Prep and cooking (45+minutes)

  1. First make the base by smashing the biscuits, this is where a food processor helps, if you don’t have one just put the biscuits in a ziplock bag, wrap it in a tea towel and smash it with a rolling pin until it’s fine with little or no lumps.
  2. Melt the butter in the microwave/saucepan and mix with the biscuit until it holds its shape, using more butter will help it hold better but too much will make the base go soggy so don’t over do it.
  3. Grease the tart dish with butter and place the crumb in, fill the base and push down with a wooden spoon/hands.
  4. Put in the fridge for 10-20 minutes to chill.
  5. Whilst it’s chilling make the filling by beating the mascarpone with the icing sugar until smooth. Zest the lemons and mix well into the cheese. Juice the lemons and add a little at a time, mixing well in between adding more juice, until you have the desired flavour.
  6. Whisk the cream with the caster sugar to soft peaks and fold it into the cheese with a spatula.
  7. Spoon the mixture on to the biscuit base and smooth over with a pallet knife.
  8. Chill for at least 30 minutes, preferably a few hours.
  9. Either cut into portions, or just eat it like a huge biscuit.

More recipes soon!

Sloppy joes recipe

Myrecipes.com

A staple of America, sloppy joes are basically chilli burgers without the chilli, I guess you could call it a deconstructed burger in a way.

And yes, you read it right it’s uses a lot of ketchup!

Here’s the recipe

Ingredients (makes about 8)

  • 400-500g minced beef
  • 8 burger buns
  • 1 green or red pepper
  • 1 medium/large onion
  • 1-2 tsp garlic paste
  • 400g ketchup (try not to use ketchup that’s really cheap as it’s usually far too sweet)
  • 1-2 tbsp American mustard
  • 1-2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1-2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1-2 tbsp gravy granules
  • Salt and pepper
  • Oil, for cooking

Equipment

  • Frying pan
  • Knife
  • Chopping board

Prep and cooking (15-25 minutes)

  1. Start by dicing the onion and dicing the pepper.
  2. Heat some oil in a pan to a medium heat in a pan, when it’s hot add the onion and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes until soft.
  3. Add the beef and garlic paste, cook for another 5 minutes or so until the mince has browned.
  4. Add the ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and sugar, stir well and cook for 10-15 minutes on a low heat until the sauce has thickened, add the granules, stir in and cook for another minute or two.
  5. In a clean frying pan(if you have one) heat it to a medium-high heat and toast the insides of the bun.
  6. Serve and slop out with joe.

Untidy Joseph

A sloppy joe is an American invention, it’s got quite a scary amount of ketchup in (and I love ketchup) but they are incredibly moreish.

More recipes soon.

Banoffee pie recipe

An English classic, toffee and banana, invented in East Sussex in the 70s when the chefs eventually reworked an American dish of a coffee toffee pie.

Here’s my recipe for banoffee pie;

Ingredients (makes 1 pie, enough for 8-12)

For the filling

  • 100g soft brown/light muscovado sugar
  • 1 tin of sweet condensed milk (about 380g)
  • 100g butter
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract/essence

For the topping

  • Bananas! As many or as few as you like, I usually use 3 or 4
  • 300ml double cream
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 50g white or dark chocolate

For the base

  • 1 pack of digestive biscuits
  • 100-200g butter

Equipmemt

  • Food processor, or rolling pin and a ziplock bag and/or tea towel
  • Mixing bowl
  • Measuring jug
  • Whisk, an electric one helps
  • Wooden spoon
  • Pallet knife
  • Piping bag
  • Tart case/quiche dish (22-24cm)
  • Chopping board
  • Knife
  • Microwave, or saucepan
  • Saucepan
  • Fine grater

Prep and cooking (60+ minutes)

  1. First make the base by smashing the biscuits, this is where a food processor helps, if you don’t have one just put the biscuits in a ziplock bag, wrap it in a tea towel and smash it with a rolling pin until it’s fine with little or no lumps.
  2. Melt the butter in the microwave/saucepan and mix with the biscuit until it holds its shape, using more butter will help it hold better but too much will make the base go soggy so don’t over do it.
  3. Grease the tart dish with butter and place the crumb in, fill the base and push down with a wooden spoon/hands.
  4. Put in the fridge for 10-20 minutes to chill.
  5. Whilst it’s chilling make the filling by heating the butter in a saucepan on a low heat and add the sugar. Stir constantly until the whole mixture is smooth and clean then add the condensed milk.
  6. Turn the heat up full, as it starts to come to the boil turn the heat back down low to simmer for about 5 minutes, make sure you keep stirring it and it should start to turn into a rich deep caramel.
  7. Pour this onto the biscuit base and level it out with a pallet knife. Put it back in the fridge for about 29 minutes until the caramel is cool.
  8. Ideally you need to do this fairly soon to when you intend to serve it as banana discolours quite fast, you can easily keep the base in the fridge for 2-3 days;
  9. Slice the bananas and place on top of the caramel however you wish.
  10. Whisk the double cream until whipped to soft peaks. Spread or pipe over the bananas.
  11. Grate the chocolate on top of the cream, you could make a caramel sauce to go over the top.
  12. Eat the damn thing!

More recipes soon!

London cheesecake recipe

Is it a cheesecake? No.

Is it a cake? No.

Does it have cheese? No.

Is it from London?

Honestly, I’m not sure, but from what I’ve heard it comes from an English chap who coined it with the name when given a task to do under pressure (scroll to the bottom for the story)

Recipe!

Ingredients (makes 6 pastries, or 1 huge one)

  • 1 (or more) sheet of pre rolled puff pastry
  • Frangipane, enough to fill the pastry, 250-300g should be plenty
  • Jam, whatever you like best
  • Desiccated coconut
  • Icing sugar to make enough chocolate icing to cover the top of the pastry(s) (200-400g)
  • Eggwash or some milk

Equipment

  • Knife
  • Baking tray
  • Baking paper
  • Desert spoon
  • Mixing bowl
  • Sieve
  • Pastry brush

Prep and cooking (30-60 minutes)

  1. Start by heating the oven to about 180°c fan.
  2. Unroll the sheet of pastry and cut it in half along the long edge.
  3. Now you want to cut each half into 6, (with each half separately) cut the half in half vertically and then into thirds horizontally. This should leave you with 12 equal square/rectangles of puff pastry.
  4. line a baking tray with baking paper and put 6 pieces of pastry on it, these are the bases for your London cheesecakes.
  5. In the middle of each put about 1 tbsp of jam and flatten it a little, you want to leave 0.5-1 inch bare around the edges.
  6. Put some frangipane on top of the jam and spread out a little to cover it.
  7. Brush a small amount of egg wash/milk around the edges of put the top on each ‘cheesecake’. Push down lightly and try to make sure no filling comes out.
  8. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until golden and risen.
  9. When they’re ready take out of the oven to cook and make the icing by sifting the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add 1-2 tbsp of water and mix, add more water accordingly but only a tiny bit at a time as it’s easy to over do. Mix until thick but plyable.
  10. When the pastry is cool cover each one with icing and sprinkle desiccated coconut oven the top.
  11. Eat one, or two, or..ten?

Where did it come from?

I first heard about this a coworker mentioned a cockney cheesecake, some kind of pastry with coconut.

After looking into it turns out he meant a London cheesecake, and after some research it seems there’s mixed opinions on why it’s given that name, a lot of people seem to think it’s because the coconut represents cheese curds.

The most amusing story I found, and is the one I always go with, is that on a trip to America an English person was asked by an American friend to show him what a cheesecake is as he’d heard how great they are.

No knowing how to make it, the Englishman went through the cupboards and put together something with what he could find, the end product was given to the American as a ‘London cheesecake’.

Or so the story goes.

More recipes soon!

Romesco sauce recipe

This is one of many Spanish recipes I picked up whilst working with a top bloke in a makeshift tapas restaurant for about 3 months, he was my head chef and he’d come to England from Barcelona for work.

Romesco sauce is more of a cold dip, but it goes great with most meat especially steak.

It’s nice and easy to make so let’s get to the recipe!

Ingredients (makes about 400g)

  • 200-250g red peppers, roasted. You can roast your own or use ones in a jar from the shop.
  • 100-150g blanched almonds
  • 2-4 plum tomatoes
  • 1-3 tbsp garlic paste, more garlic will give it more heat I usually chuck quite a lot in
  • Either sherry, cider, white/red wine vinegar or lemon juice (1 or 2 tbsp)
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 70-100ml olive oil
  • Handful of fresh basil

Equipment

  • Frying pan
  • Food processor or immersion blender and measuring jug (food processor works best)

Prep and cooking (5-10 minutes)

  1. First you want to lightly toast the almonds so heat the frying pan to a medium-highish heat.
  2. When it’s nice and hot add the almonds and stir/toss them constantly for a few minutes until there’s nicely browned parts on the almonds, remove onto a plate and put to one side.
  3. Drain the red peppers so there’s not too much oil on them and put them in the food processor with the almonds, tomatoes (cut into quarters), garlic, paprika, vinegar and basil. (Everything except the oil).
  4. Blitz until you have a lumpy paste looking concoction.
  5. Leave the food processor running and pour in about 1tbsp of olive oil. After 5-10 seconds (or until the oil is fully mixed in) do this again until you have the consistency you want (the oil will emulsify the whole thing binding it into a sauce/dip)
  6. Add salt and pepper if you think it needs it.
  7. Dip! Or drink?

¿Cuál es la fruta que más se ríe?

La naranja, ja, ja, ja, ja…

Bad jokes aside, romesco is a delicious and easy sauce that can be whipped up in about 5 minutes.

It’s great on a buffet as a dip or you can use it to marinate meat.

Goes well with a bbq 🔥

White or dark chocolate and vanilla mousse recipe

When someone mentions mousse it always sounds fancy, but they’re not all that tricky to make, and plenty of fun to eat.

This recipe is a request for the Facebook page, feel free to message with any recipe requests.

To the recipe!

Ingredients (makes enough for 4, or maybe 1..)

  • 300ml double cream
  • 30-50g caster sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 200g white or dark chocolate
  • Either vanilla flavouring, essence, extract or a fresh pod

Equipment

  • Saucepan
  • Whisk
  • Mixing bowl
  • Measuring jug
  • Ramekins, or something to put the mousse in

Prep and cooking (10-20 minutes)

  1. Put 60ml of cream in a saucepan with the vanilla and warm on a medium heat until it starts to bubble around the edges, don’t let it boil.
  2. Whisk the egg yolk and sugar in a mixing bowl until smooth and creamy, add a tablespoon of the hot cream to the eggs while mixing, do this a few times and then add it back to the saucepan. This is so the egg yolks don’t scramble.
  3. Turn the heat down low and whisk until it thickens a little, enough to coat the back of a spoon. (Don’t let it boil)
  4. Remove from the heat, smash the chocolate up and stir it into the cream mixture until it’s all dissolved and is nice and smooth, you shouldn’t need to return it to the heat for all the chocolate to melt but it will take a few minutes and you need to keep stirring it.
  5. Put this mix to the side to cool and in another bowl whisk the remaining 240ml of cream until whipped to soft peaks.
  6. When the chocolate mix is cool enough simply fold in the whipped cream, refrigerate and enjoy!

At a mousse end

A lot easier than you may have thought!

This can be combined with other deserts to make some great combinations, or just enjoyed on its own or with some berries do a garnish, or something.

More recipes soon!

Manchester tart recipe

No, not a northern woman with loose morals (or loose something), but a delicious desert!

This recipe was a request from the Facebook page (feel free to message any requests) and I’m glad it was bought up because it’s brilliant!

Ingredients (makes 1 tart, 24-26cm)

  • 500g shortcrust pastry
  • 250-300g raspberry jam
  • 200-400g fresh raspberries
  • 100g desiccated coconut
  • 100-150g caster sugar
  • 500ml full fat milk
  • 400ml double cream
  • 60-80g cornflour
  • 5 egg yolks
  • Either vanilla flavouring, essence, extract or 1 fresh pod (scrape out the inside)
  • Some flour and icing sugar for dusting
  • Some butter for greasing

Equipment

  • Rolling pin
  • Tart case, about 10 inches
  • Baking beans/rice
  • Tin foil or baking paper
  • Desert spoon
  • Mixing bowl
  • Whisk
  • Saucepan
  • Bowl or container that fits in fridge.

Prep and cooking (60-120 minutes)

3. Use the rolling pin to pick up the pastry
  1. First heat the oven to about 160°c fan (gas 4).
  2. While it warms up roll the pastry out, use flour on the work surface to stop it sticking, roll it into a disc about 1-2 inches bigger than the case. Use the rolling pin to pick it up and place it in the case.
  3. Blind bake for 15-20 minutes until it’s a pale golden colour. Then remove the baking beans/paper and put in the oven for another 5-10 minutes until cooked
  4. While the pastry is baking make the custard by heating the milk and vanilla in a pan, make sure it doesn’t boil over but you need to get it heated to just before boiling point.
  5. Whilst the milk is warming, whisk the egg yolks, cornflour and sugar until thick and creamy.
  6. Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture a little at a time while whisking, then return it all to the pan on a low heat until you’re left with a nice thick custard.
  7. Put it in a clean bowl/container and dust the top with icing sugar (this stops it getting a skin on the top of it). Chill for 30 minutes or until cold all the way through.
  8. When the tart case is ready (don’t forget it’s in the oven) already the jam to cover the bottom of the pastry case and put to one side.
  9. Whisk the double cream until whipped and then mix into the custard with the coconut with a whisk/wooden spoon.
  10. Cover the layer of jam on the pastry case with fresh raspberries.
  11. Fill the case with the devilish cream custard and top with more fresh raspberries.
  12. EAT!

Serve with custard

Be careful, it’s a dangerous combination..

More recipes soon!