Jamaica Style Pineapple

I had friends coming over for dinner. The main was fairly substantial so I wanted the dessert to be fresh and light. I love pineapple and have been a big fan of Jamie Oliver's pineapple with mint for years so I decided on this gem. Some restaurants might call it a carpaccio of pineapple but this always confuses me as I think of carpaccio as thin slices of raw beef or maybe tuna. Sometimes after a BBQ I like to serve grilled pineapple and I think this dressing would work brilliantly.





In common with Jamie Oliver's it's super simple. In contrast it isn't one for children!

1. Slice a sweet ripe pineapple in very thin slices. This one had a relatively soft core so I decided to leave it in but you could remove it.
2. Arrange the slices on a pretty plate.
3. In a bowl mix the zest and juice of one lime with 1 tbsp of dark rum, 1 tsp dark soft brown sugar, 1/2 tsp of grated ginger and pink peppercorns to taste. I used 1/3rd of one of these Knorr flavour pots. I tend to prefer fresh ingredients but these do seem to pack a punch.




4. Put the dressing into a little bowl with the pineapple. That's it. Super simple!

Enjoy!

Wine, wine, beautiful wine!

So one of the few decadences I'm not intolerant to is wine. As long as its only one glass (that means a large one right?) and it's not a sweet wine it's fine. So I've embraced this fact and gone on a bit of a wine mission. 

I went to a lovely wine tasting at my local independent wine shop Park + Bridge. It was great in more ways than the obvious, having someone to discuss the wine with made all the difference in making a choice that suited my palate and it had the added plus of getting chatting to some of the people who live in the area (something that any Londoners will know is rare!). 

At £10+ a bottle though wine from Park + Bridge is definitely for a more occasional bottle. 

This was my favourite. It tasted like a hug. 

A couple of the £5 or less Waitrose range have been perfectly drinkable, but in the lower price range the wine that really stood out for me was this Sauvignon Blanc from Aldi. Light but still fruity and flavoursome. I was impressed! 

Cookie Christmas Tree Decorations

I've been pretty unwell for a while now and it seems to have triggered a miriad of severe food intolerances. As a result I've a new found respect for anyone dealing with limitations to their diet. I try to always find the positive in a situation so rather than focusing on what I can't have I've been focusing on what I can.

To start with this was more about creating enough meals from the very limited ingredients I could have to get by. Now I'm getting more used to it and given that Christmas is around the corner I decided it was time to get back baking in the kitchen. My scales were getting lonely! 

I love all things winter and spice I wanted to try and make some Christmas tree decorations that I could eat if I wished, intolerances and all! Sometimes 'free from' recipes look to unusual ingredients and substitutions which lead to a frankly odd result. Many standard recipes can be amended with a few of my favourite ingredients so relying on my favourite margarine, Stork (which is dairy free) and favourite gluten free flour, Doves Farm I set about creating a gluten free, dairy free biscuit that would be firm enough to hold up when hung from ribbon on the tree. I then added a touch of the warming spices of winter. The evocative smell of the biscuits whilst they were baking was just divine. They filled the kitchen with the smell of Christmas and warmed my soul. 

They look wonderful on the tree and would make a lovely present placed lovingly in a beautiful gift box!

Recipe 

400g gluten free flour
150g light soft brown sugar 
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice or all-spice. 
1.5tsp gluten free baking powder 
150g Stork margarine 
2 eggs

1. Start by thoroughly mixing together the flour, sugar, spices and baking powder. 

Top tip, if your soft brown sugar goes hard and lumpy either pop a slice of apple in to help it soften or warm in the microwave for a few seconds. 

2. Using your finger tips rub the Stork margarine into the dry ingredients to create a bread crumb texture. Alternatively the pulse function of your food processor will achieve the same result. 

3.  Mix in one egg at a time. If the mixture is a little dry add a splash of water. 

4. Roll out the dough until it is about 1/2cm deep and use your favourite cookie cutter cut out your shapes. I used this intricate snowflake cutter I picked up in a 20% off event at Marks and Spencer.  

5. Using a chopstick or small round object make a hole in each cookie so that once cooked you can thread ribbon through. 

6. Bake at 150C for about 20-22minutes until golden brown and crisp on both sides. Remove from the oven and carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

7. Once cool you can decorate them by piping Royal icing and using your choice of sprinkles however as my tree is fairly rustic and the cutter is already quite intricate I wanted to leave them plain. 

8. Using some fine ribbon carefully thread it through to make a loop to hang the decoration on the tree. Just make sure there high enough so that small children and pets aren't tempted! Unfortunately there isn't much you can do about the big people ;) 

Enjoy! 

Homemade Sausage Roll and Rum Chocolate Cake, Treat Night

I was really looking forwards to this Saturday night Treat Night as recently every treat night I've been out so have only cooked healthy food for a while.

I decided I wanted to make a sausage roll and try a recipe my friend had given me after I licked the plate clean when she'd make this chocolate cake for a friends birthday!

In the past I've made sausage rolls with a variety of fillings, adding apple, spices, even cheese, but I fancied a really simple sausage roll so just stuck to good quality sausage meat. Feel free to experiment with your own flavour choices though.

I was having these for dinner so made them large but you can make them bite sized for picnics or parties. Much better than the shop bought ones and very easy to make.

I used shop bought puff pastry as I almost always do. I don't think life is long enough to make your own regularly ;)


Take one sheet of puff pastry and cut off about a third. Split 2-3 good quality sausages and remove the meat from the skins. Shape it into one large sausage and lay on the pastry. I used Waitrose Free Range Lincolnshire Sausages.



Break an egg into a little bowl to use as an egg wash.


Paint the egg around each egg as it will act as 'glue' holding your sausage roll shut.




Flip over the pastry so the sausage is enclosed.





Use your finger and thumb to press the two edges together making a pretty crimped effect




Bake at 220C for about 25 mins depending on how thick the meat is.





The finished result. I served it with lots of salad and copious amounts of ketchup. Delicious!





This chocolate cake has a hint of the Caribbean and is fab. Moist, rich and dark - just as chocolate cake should be! The original chocolate cake recipe was in cups so I converted it into grams as I prefer the accuracy for baking. I also only baked quarter of the recipe as I didn't want any leftovers and there were only two of us. The original recipe had Jack Daniels in it, which I think gave a better flavour but I didn't have any in so I substituted it for dark rum.

I started by weighing 64g plain flour into a bowl


Adding 64g caster sugar


And 32g cocoa powder


I then took one egg and 28g of butter and added the dry ingredients



Add 4tbsp of strong coffee and 4 tbsp of your chosen spirit.



Add 1/4 chopped ripe banana




Beat well.




Place in a 4'' cake tin or muffin cases and top with a few chunks of chocolate




Bake at 180C for about 20 mins (it will take longer if you make the mixture 4 times larger and you will need a pan 9x13 inches)





I served it warm with ice cream. A real treat!

The best sticky toffee pudding ever?

My dad rarely cooks anything, not even a boiled egg, however when I was young he and I decided we wanted to find the best bread and butter pudding recipe and we took it in turns to chose and make them. We must have made 7+ over one winter. He liked a Robert Carrier one best, whereas my favourite was a Gary Rhodes recipe, probably as it was sweeter.

A few months ago we were away for the weekend and the deal included dinner at the hotel. After dinner we split a sticky toffee pudding, which we both fought over the last scraps and agreed it was one of the best we'd tried.

The next night my other half disappeared downstairs, leaving me in the hotel room. I wondered what he was up to until he returned with two dishes of the sticky toffee pudding (he had leant from the night before that one wasn't enough!).

The taste stayed with me and since I have been thinking that I should try and make the best ever sticky toffee pudding. When my Saturday treat night landed on a weekend where we were doing major landscaping to the garden and lots of physical effort I decided it was time to give the first recipe a go. Unlike the 7+ attempts last time, I think this time the first recipe I chose might well be The One! Sticky and toffee, rich and sweet without being cloying. We all agreed it was one to have again.

It was from a Simon Hopkinson recipe. I did 1.5 times the recipe and used a 9'' cake tin.


I started by lining a tin. I used two strips and over lapped the edge to make it easy to lift the sponge out after baking.


I then finely chopping the dates and then soaking them in boiling water until the water was lukewarm



I then place the sugar, eggs and butter (as ever I used Stork margarine rather than butter) in the bowl of my food processor, followed by the flour and some Ndali vanilla powder (my new go to rather than vanilla bean paste).




Once the dates were lukewarm I also added them


And blended thoroughly




I poured the mixture into the tin and baked for about 45 mins




The next step was to make not one but two sauces.

Both were the same method - butter, dark brown sugar and double cream in a pan, stirred and heating and allowed it to come to the boil for a few minutes.







However, one was darker with more sugar and less cream which was poured over the top of the baked cake.







Once on top I popped it under the grill until it bubbled - and left it a bit too long as I got distracted!




The second sauce was lighter and had less sugar in and was used to pour around the pudding when it was served.




The recipe suggested serving it with double cream but I think a sticky toffee pudding is only a sticky toffee pudding if its served with custard!

I absolutely recommend you all try this recipe next time you want a treat.

Pancakes Galore - Shrove Tuesday

I love pancakes. I mean I REALLY love pancakes. Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day, whatever you call it I love it! I truly have no idea why we don't have pancakes more often throughout the year. Every year I say I will and every year I don't have anything other than the occasionally American style pancake for breakfast and a crepe if I go to France. This year I should eat more British style pancakes!

Pancake Day holds great memories for me. My dad hardly ever went in the kitchen as we were growing up. To be honest I don't think I thought he could actually cook, but the one thing he always did was cook the pancakes. If he was working or wasn't around for any reason we would postpone Pancake Day. My mum would make the batter to Delia's recipe and then when my dad came home he would cook the pancakes. He'd always cook them in lard (I assume as his mother had and as it has a higher cooking temperature) and would always toss them, making us laugh as he pretended to drop them or get them stuck to the ceiling.
Today I started the day with American style pancakes but a healthy version high in protein and low in sugar. I topped them with grated apple, a squeeze of lemon juice, berries and a spoonful of 0% Total Greek yoghurt. A fab start to the day and a perfect post workout treat.




The recipe can be found here
I then had a light lunch to leave room for a blow out evening of pancakes.

I started with a relatively healthy Bolognese Pancake Stack. I made this by layering up spelt pancakes with Bolognese.






I used the Delia recipe above but replaced the white flour with spelt whole meal flour. It was effectively a lasagne but with pancake rather than pasta layers. For the Bolognese I used half beef mince and half turkey mince as it's a leaner cut and bulked it with plenty of onion and mushrooms to increase the vegetables. I also omitted the béchamel sauce and topped with tomato sauce and a small sprinkling of Parmesan rather than loads of cheese.



The photo's aren't great but give you the idea







For pudding I didn't even attempt to be healthy and went all out.

For these pancakes I used Delia's standard recipe above with white flour as she does and I cooked them in lard as my dad would have done.

The first one I decided to try something inspired by a wonderful breakfast I had in a little cafe opposite the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam. I made this by pouring batter into the pan as normal and pressing rounds of apple into the batter before the first flip.






The apple cooks into the pancake and tastes great. I served it with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of agave nectar.



For the second one I kept things simple. It can't be Pancake Day without at least one lemon and sugar pancake. I squeezed a generous amount of lemon on the cooked pancake and sprinkled liberally with granulated sugar. Simple and delicious!



Next up was a Nutella pancake. I make this by cooking the pancake on one side and then flipping. As the second side cooks I put a generous spoonful of Nutella in one corner of the pancake so it could start to melt and then folder the pancake into quarters squashing in the Nutella with the back of my spatula.









Finally, was the Big Bang, based on a banana split sundae I went all out on this pancake. Totally OTT and fabulous!
I cooked the pancake on one side and flipped it. While the other side cooked I added slices of mars bar and allowed them to start to melt from the heat of the pan and added slices of banana.






I then put it on the plate and added whipped cream, chocolate ganache and lots of salted caramel sauce. Wow!



After all of that I now feel rather obscenely full and am kind of understanding why I don't do this more often!