Tag: easy recipe

Recipe: Posh Cheese on Toast

Back in July I got to be a Judge at the International Cheese Awards and I came home with enough cheese to make a colony of mice very happy indeed. Between us we’ve been slowly working our way through the South Manchester Cheese Mountain™, with me commandeering the lovely Brie type cheeses I generally adore.

We seem to have a surfeit of cheddar style cheeses, which is fine, they’re a good multi-purpose cheese and a nice mature cheddar always has a place in our fridge. It’s tempting to cook up a big extra cheesy macaroni cheese or something similar, but when it comes to it, I don’t think you can beat a plate of cheese on toast. Not just any cheese on toast though, but posh cheese on toast.

Posh Cheese on Toast

This is one of my favourite quick meals. Take the comforting loveliness of cheese on toast, add a bit of frippery and it suddenly becomes more of a meal. It’s easy too and doesn’t take much longer than your bog standard cheese on toast.

Posh Cheese on Toast

Posh Cheese on Toast (feeds one hungry person)
One individual ciabatta, split in two lengthways
A handful of rocket 
A dollop of your favourite relish, I’ve gone with Ballymaloe original relish
Some Seriously Strong Extra Mature Cheddar

Method
1. Toast one side of your ciabatta (the crust side), once toasted remove from grill and spread over your Ballymaloe relish on the untoasted side. Thinly layer your rocket (or baby spinach if you prefer) on top, then evenly cover with Seriously Strong Extra Mature Cheddar. Pop under the grill.
2. Grill until the cheese has melted to your satisfaction.
3. Remove from the grill, leave for a minute to cool slightly, then devour.

Posh Cheese on Toast

Posh Cheese on Toast

Posh Cheese on Toast

It’s simple, but the best things often are. I guess in some ways it’s a bit like a pizza, but quicker and for my money nicer.

Note: We were given a block of Seriously Strong Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese to try free of charge on the proviso I used it in a recipe and blogged it. All images and opinions are my own.

Recipe: No Churn Peanut Butter Oreo Ice Cream

When it comes to peanut butter, you either love it or hate it. I am firmly on the love side, whilst hubs is staunchly hate, which only means one thing…. more for me! The summer holidays so far have been a bit meh, and I’ve been having to come up with new and exciting indoor things to do. One boring morning we decided to whip up a batch of Peanut Butter Oreo Ice Cream, the small boy loves helping out in the kitchen almost as much as he likes eating the results.

I found two new and deliciously different flavours or Oreo cookie in my local shop; the Golden Oreo which is a lovely crunchy vanilla flavoured cookie and the limited edition Peanut Butter Oreo. They were both crying out to be whizzed up in a milkshake, but I thought it was time to ring the changes and try some no churn Peanut Butter Oreo Ice Cream.

peanut butter oreo ice cream

Peanut Butter Oreo Ice Cream

Ingredients

1/2 jar smooth peanut butter (I used reduced fat)
2 tablespoons hot water
1 tin of condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pint of double cream (whipped)
1 packet of Peanut Butter Oreos

Method

1. Put your peanut butter in a large bowl and add two tablespoons of hot water, stir thoroughly as this will help to loosen the peanut butter making it easier to work with. Once mixed, add your tin of condensed milk and vanilla extract to the peanut butter and combine.
2. In a separate bowl whip your cream until it forms peaks, gently fold your cream into the peanut butter mixture.
3. Chop up, or bash up a packet of Peanut Butter Oreo cookies and gently stir into your mixture, making sure the pieces are well distributed.
4. Pour into a tub and freeze for 6-8 hours. We also made peanut butter oreo ice cream popsicles with some of our mixture which worked very well.

You could also make this with normal Oreos if you can’t get hold of the peanut butter Oreo cookies.

peanut butter oreo ice cream

This is such a great recipe to make with kids, it’s incredibly simple and because there are no eggs, no cooking, no fuss; it’s quick and easy to put together – the hardest part is waiting for it to freeze!

peanut butter oreo ice cream

The recipe made a lot of ice cream – nearly two pints of it, so it was ideal for making into popsicles and also for spooning into a tub. It is very rich, so a little goes a long way. Don’t forget to take your tub out of the freezer about 10 minutes before serving too so it softens a little.

It is so simple and utterly delicious, if you love peanut butter then you’ll love this recipe! If you try it let me know what you think.

If you enjoyed this, you might also like to try these recipes –

Recipe: No Churn Peanut Butter Oreo Ice Cream

Easy Recipe: Speedy Microwave Jam Sponge

In the early 1980s my Grandma (who was a professional cook) got herself a microwave and dedicated her retirement to figuring out how to use it. Her microwave cheffing was never considered a success. You could break your teeth on her sponge cakes and her scrambled eggs bounced. Everything which came out of her microwave was a disaster, which was enormously disappointing for someone who could make patisserie that would make French Chefs weep with jealousy.

I have shied away from microwave cookery, bar reheating leftovers, pinging ready meals and giving jacket potatoes a head start; the thought of baking a cake in the microwave sends me straight back to 1985 and I was resolved never to try it. That was until I was sent a jar of Duerr’s Rhubarb and Custard Homebaking Jam, the jam has been formulated to behave itself when heated, so it doesn’t go chewy like other jams might. Additionally it tastes just like those rhubarb and custard sweets I used to be addicted to as a child.

We decided it would be best to make a jam sponge and custard with this really lovely yummy jam (I had already liberally smeared some on a croissant for quality control purposes). I love steamed puddings, but who has the time? So I decided it was worth me tentatively experimenting with a microwaved version, what’s the worst that can happen?

I made my usual sponge recipe and popped it in the microwave for four minutes, checked it, decided it needed another two minutes and it was perfect. It was by far the lightest, fluffiest sponge pudding we’ve had in a long, long time. It took just ten minutes from weighing the ingredients to pouring custard over the finished pudding and filling our faces. This really is the perfect pudding if you need something quick, warming, universally popular and drowned in custard.

jam sponge

My microwave is 850 watts, yours may be different, so it might be best, at least the first time you make this, to reduce the cooking time, check it, and then check it ever minute until it’s cooked to your satisfaction. I originally guessed at 4 minutes, but my 850 watt microwave took 6 minutes to get to sponge perfection.

Microwaved Jam Sponge Pudding (serves 6)
Ingredients:
4oz Sugar
4oz Butter or Margarine (I always use Stork)
2 medium eggs
4oz self raising flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
Half a jar of Jam (I used Duerr’s Rhubarb and Custard Homebaking Jam)

Method:
1. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir through the eggs.
2. Sift in the flour and baking powder and gently combine.
3. Dollop your jam on the bottom of a large microwavable bowl, gently (very gently so as not to disturb the jam) dollop the sponge mixture on top of the jam and smooth it so it’s fairly evenly distributed.
4. Microwave for six minutes (check this often as it’s really easy to quickly overcook things in the microwave).
5. Once cooked, remove carefully from the microwave and eat while it’s still warm.

Serve with custard, cream or ice cream, or whatever takes your fancy.

This is ridiculously quick and easy, incredibly tasty and really, really popular. I think my Grandma would be really proud that I finally cracked the mystery of microwave baking.

Easy Recipe: Speedy Microwave Jam Sponge

Recipe: Easy Peanut Butter Butterfly Cakes

I’ve been doing a lot of baking recently which can only mean one thing, I’m happy. I’m not sure why I’ve been blessed with the gift of temporary inner peace but I’m going with it and enjoying the cakey results. Yesterday on a whim I whipped up an experimental batch of Peanut Butter Cakes. They turned out to be pretty darn good, so I’m sharing the recipe. It’s really easy, if I can bake it then so can you.

Peanut butter cakes

Easy Peanut Butter Butterfly Cakes (makes approx 20)

Ingredients:
8oz Butter or margarine (I used stork)
8oz sugar
4 large eggs
2oz peanut hottie powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
6oz self raising flour

For the icing:
2 big scoops of Betty Crocker vanilla buttercream style icing
2 heaped dessert spoons of Chocolate Peanut butter hottie

Method:
1. Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy and the stir in the eggs.
2. Carefully fold through the peanut hottie powder, baking soda and self raising flour until combined.
3. Dollop into cake cases, there should be enough to make about 20 buns.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 15 minutes. Once cooked leave to cool.
5. To make the icing (yes this is cheaty, but you can make your own buttercream if you want), beat the buttercream until soft and thoroughly mix in the chocolate peanut hottie powder, add a drop of hot water if it feels too stiff.
6. Carefully cut a circle out of the top of each of your cooled cakes, cut the circle in two, dollop a teaspoon of buttercream into the hole and top with the halves to make them look like butterfly wings.

Resist the temptation to eat them all in one go.

So there you have it, really, really easy peanut butter cakes, they’re something that would be great to bake with children, or just by yourself if you’re in your happy place like me.

Kitchen Basics: Versatile Tomato Sauce

One of the staple dishes in our kitchen is a really simple tomato sauce. I make a batch almost fortnightly and it’s used in a few different ways, from spaghetti and meatballs, in lasagne, with baked vegetable dishes and topping pizzas, it’s so simple to do and the basis of so many meals it is one of the first things I’ll be teaching the boy to cook. Using some of good quality tinned tomatoes, I knocked up a batch of sauce for a quick and simple meal this week.

Versatile Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
1 large onion (or two small ones) finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 bottle of passata
1 pod of tomato purée
1 teaspoon of oregano or mixed herbs
1 teaspoon of pesto, tomato pesto if you have it (optional)
Olive oil
Sugar
Salt & pepper

Method:
1. In a frying pan heat up a splosh of olive oil (about a tablespoon) and gently soften your finely chopped onion. Stir frequently until soft and then add your crushed garlic and warm through for a few minutes, don’t let it burn or it’ll go bitter.
2. Once your onion is soft, add the passata and warm through. While it’s bubbling away gently, add the tomato purée, herbs, pesto (optional) and salt and pepper. To balance out any bitterness from the tomato add a good pinch of sugar to taste.
3. Leave to simmer gently for ten minutes or so, stirring frequently.

To serve as I have done, toss through some cooked spaghetti and serve with meatballs and a sprinkle of cheese. Alternatively layer into your lasagne, or cook for longer until it thickens a bit more and use as a pizza topping.

tomato sauce

This tomato sauce is incredibly versatile and I know that even if I serve it just with some plain pasta it will be a meal the small boy will devour in one sitting. As it’s made from tomatoes it is one of his five a day and is probably healthier than what I could buy in a jar.

tomato sauce

I like to use good quality passata and purée where I can, you can tell by the colour, texture and flavour of the raw ingredient that anything you make with them will be tasty.

Recipe: Birnenpfannkuchen – German Pear & Ginger Pancake

We’ve been making Apfelpfannkuchen at home for a number of years, it’s a lovely baked apple pancake pudding, a bit like a sweet toad in the hole with fruit. It’s a handy store-cupboard pudding which takes no time at all to prepare and it’s pretty easy on the pocket as well as being delicious.

It occurred to me that it would be good to try making one using pears and ginger instead of the traditional apple and cinnamon. It was only afterwards I discovered that the Germans had beaten me to it and had got there first with the Birnenpfannkuchen, though all of the recipes I could find online were in German, so what you’re looking at here is probably the worlds first Birnenpfannkuchen recipe in English (I take my victories where I can find them).

Any pud that I can prepare with any degree of success must be easy, I’m not a natural when it comes to desserts, so I urge you to give this easy recipe a try. I promise you will not be sorry!

Birnenpfannkuchen

Birnenpfannkuchen – German Pear & Ginger Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:
50g butter
2 teaspoons of oil, I used groundnut
1 tin of pear halves in juice
2 teaspoons ground ginger
75g plain flour
65g sugar, I used golden granulated, but use what you have
3 eggs
150ml semi-skimmed milk
Pinch of salt

Method:

  • Preheat the oven to 220C. I used my tarte tatin pan, but if you don’t have one of these a lined cake tin will be fine.
  • Put the butter and oil in the pan and put in the oven to melt for a couple of minutes, once the butter has melted arrange your pear halves in the pan and sprinkle over a teaspoon of ground ginger. Put in the oven to warm through while you do the next bit (tinned pears are already soft, but if using fresh pears cook until they are soft but not collapsing).
  • Meanwhile, tip the flour into a bowl with a pinch of salt, add the sugar and a teaspoon of ground ginger and combine. Add the eggs and milk and whisk thoroughly so it forms a thick batter.
  • Remove the tatin pan with the pears from the oven and quickly pour over the batter. Put the pan back in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, make sure you keep an eye on it towards the end. When it’s cooked your Birnenpfannkuchen should be all puffed up and golden brown like a giant Yorkshire pudding.
  • Once cooked flip it out of the pan, upside down on a plate and serve either hot or cold with cream, ice cream or custard, whatever floats your boat.

Birnenpfannkuchen

If you liked this easy recipe you might like my incredibly easy Joulutorttu recipe (Finnish jam tarts).

Recipe: Authentic Imam Bayildi Armenian style

My beautiful son is part Armenian. I have no hint of interesting ancestry on my side of the family, so I have wholeheartedly embraced some parts of Armenian culture to help him keep in touch with some of his roots. If I’m honest it’s mostly the bits which involve food.

Armenian food is very Mediterranean, you can find very similar food in Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. They do beautiful things with vegetables, so I’m sharing my favourite vegetarian Armenian recipe Imam Bayildi, I hope you like it.

Imam Bayildi is basically stuffed, baked aubergines. It is simple to make, you can prepare them ahead of time and then cook them when you need them and they are melt in the mouth gorgeous. I like to use good quality ingredients in this recipe as every single mouthful zings flavour. Fresh vegetables are essential and good quality tinned tomatoes are ideal, full of flavour and a little does go a long way.

This recipe serves four.

Imam Bayildi Imam Bayildi

Ingredients:
2 aubergines
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced (I prefer red, but a white onion works too)
2 cloves of garlic
1 green pepper, finely diced
Half a can of good quality tinned tomatoes
Big handful of chopped parsley
1 teaspoon of sugar
Salt & pepper

Method:
1. Cut the top off each aubergine, slice it in half lengthways and scoop out the flesh, leaving an aubergine boat, leave a little of the aubergine flesh around the skin so it can help retain its structural integrity while in the oven. Griddle the aubergine halves on a high heat until they have a little bit of char, then put in a baking dish so they are snuggled up close to each other, this will help them keep their shape in the oven.
2. Chop up the aubergine flesh and fry gently in the olive oil, while that is cooking (stir frequently) chop and add the onion and peppers to the pan. Cook until they are all soft and then add your crushed garlic cloves and half a tin of good quality chopped tomatoes.
3. Season well and add your sugar, cook and stir regularly until most of the liquid has evaporated and all of the vegetables are cooked and soft. Stir through the chopped parsley (reserving a small amount to garnish with later).
3. Carefully spoon the tomato and vegetable mixture into the aubergine skins. Add two tablespoons of water to the baking dish to help the aubergines to cook. Bake for 30 minutes at 200c.
4. Once cooked serve with salad, rice or bulgar wheat, maybe some pitta bread.

Imam Bayildi

We love Imam Bayildi, it’s a regular meal for us; really flavoursome and healthy as well as being a traditional Armenian meal. If you enjoy aubergines, you might also really like this Armenian Ikra recipe.

Recipe: Halloumi & Caramelised Onion filo rolls

I like filo pastry. I like using it because it’s so easy and it makes pies so much lighter than if you use a standard shortcrust. We use it a lot. This weekend I made a few spinach and feta pies but I had a few sheets of filo left over. Not wanting to let them go to waste I knocked up a plate of halloumi and caramelised onion & filo rolls. They’re so quick and easy to make and great for picnics and lunch-boxes too.

Halloumi, caramelised onion & filo rolls

Recipe: Halloumi & Caramelised Onion filo rolls

Ingredients:
1 pack of halloumi, sliced into 6 thick slices
3 sheets of filo pastry
1 onion, sliced
1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
3 teaspoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of sugar
Salt & pepper
Small bowl of water

Method:
Put 2 teaspoons of olive oil into a frying pan, fry the sliced onion until soft but not brown. Add your teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and teaspoon of sugar, season with salt and pepper and stir. Set aside to cool.

Oil a baking tray and pre-heat your oven to 220. Take your filo and cut it in half (landscape, not portrait). You will need to work quickly with the filo to stop it drying out.

Take one half sheet of the filo, about an inch from the bottom of the filo place your slice of halloumi, top with some caramelised onion, dab the filo with water so when you fold, roll and press it the sheet will stick together. take the bottom inch and lay it over the halloumi, pat down, fold the sides in and then roll the halloumi down the length of the pastry making a roll. Place on your oiled baking sheet. Do the same with the rest of the halloumi.

Once all the rolls have been made (don’t worry if they look a bit rustic, it adds to their charm), brush with olive oil and put in the oven for ten minutes, check on them, they may need another few minutes, but don’t worry if they ooze a little, that’s normal and adds to their unctuousness.

Once they’re brown enough, remove from the oven and put on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes.

They’re lovely eaten still warm from the oven, or cold the next day. We liked them best with a tomato and chilli dipping sauce.

You can play about with this and maybe use sautéed peppers instead of the onion. I’m going to try making them with a thick chilli jam which I think would work really well. I’d not change the cheese though. The halloumi is great for this, it relaxes but doesn’t melt and has that amazing salty tang.

Recipe: Halloumi & Caramelised Onion filo rolls

If you enjoyed this recipe, you can find more of my recipes here.

Recipe: Gin and Tonic Lollies – Just for grown ups!

These gin and tonic lollies are great fun at parties and barbecues. They’re perfect to make in advance for an easy dessert or for a refreshing summer treat once the kids are in bed. You can use whatever gin you have, choose your favourite gin and maybe spike it with some botanicals which complement your chosen gin.

You could also try using your other favourite drinks such as Pimms or Mojitos for a refreshing summer treat.

Gin and tonic lollies

Gin and Tonic Lollies

Makes 6 lollies – Ready in 4 hours

Ingredients
35 ml gin
½ lemon, juiced and zest finely grated
45 ml (3 tbsp) sugar syrup (available in most supermarkets)
250ml tonic water

Method
Prepare the ice lolly moulds by first rinsing them with warm water.

Combine all the ingredients in a jug and pour into the prepared moulds, leaving a small gap at the top. Clip the handles onto the moulds and place in the freezer and leave for a minimum of about 4 hours.

To serve the lollies, run the lollies in their moulds very briefly under warm running water and serve immediately.

Warning – they’re so good you might not be able to stop at just one!

Cooks Notes – these days most people have a favourite gin or favourite style of gin. You could easily swap out the lemon and add whatever you would normally serve with your favourite gin. Cucumber perhaps, or mint; a slice of pink grapefruit or a sprig of rosemary.

Likewise, these days tonic water isn’t just tonic water. There are several different styles of tonic water available which have been designed to complement different styles of gin. So you can make these Gin and Tonic Lollies with whatever gin and tonic is your favourite, or if you don’t have a favourite, normal supermarket gin and tonic is absolutely fine too.

Recipe: Gin and Tonic Lollies - Just for grown ups!

This recipe was developed in conjunction with an Appliance House Chef.