Chocolate chequers cake

This morning the youngest child wanted to make a "big, stacked up cake" so we decided to go for a 4 layer chocolate chequers cake. Usually this is made by making one chocolate and one vanilla sponge cake but on this occasion purple was required and 4 layers! So we made 2 chocolate sponges and 2 purple ones.

Once cooled we cut a central circle out of each sponge and then cut round a bowl for a slightly larger circle then it was time to swap the central circle from each sponge with one of a different colour and then stack them up, making sure we alternated the main sponge colour, with jam or buttercream holding the layers together. Finally we coated the entire 4 layer cake in chocolate buttercream and sprinkled with decorations. 

It just looks like a large chocolate cake until you cut into it....

Now to find a tin tall enough to keep it in......

Chocolate

For some reason today I just need some chocolate! I really wanted to make something chocolatey but can't quite put my finger on what.... certainly not chocolate cake or a mound of chocolate cupcakes..... not even chocolate cookies..... hmmmm......

A bit a web browsing whilst munching on a dime bar (I was going to use it for Nigella's dime bar ice-cream so will have to replace it next time I am shopping) I came across cocoa moi, a blogger devoted to chocolate and there is a link to an even more devote chocolatier, chocolate alchemy, who clearly has too much time on his hands to be roasting his own cocoa beans!

Now, as I munch on the caramel chocolate digestives just discovered in the biscuit tin, I am contemplating my own chocolate thoughts, no that doesn't involve roasting my own beans, but perhaps roasted venison with chocolate vinaigrette or maybe hot chocolate wine both of which I just discovered on the bbc food website, in the meantime, pass the biscuits.......

Gluten free quinoa

A number of my friends have to stick to a gluten free diet so I have been exploring a few recipes. I found what looked to me like a fantastic recipe - quinoa curry - on the bbc good food website and immediately went out and bought the ingredients! Then I read all the comments and started to panic about the quinoa with someone liking it to "wallpaper paste"!! This put me off a little (to put it mildly) but having bought the quinoa I had to at least give it a go. Not wanting to spoil a whole batch of curry I simply read the instructions on the packet and cooked up a portion of the tiny grain. Before my eyes it changed colour and seemed to "uncurl" - facinating! I was really worried about the reaction to it so gingerly offered it to sample. It went down really well, not much taste, rather like cous cous in that respect, certainly no bad taste to it and I can't imagine where the likeness with wallpaper paste came from. I wonder if, like cous cous, it would take on the flavours of what it is cooked in? Well, next step is the quinoa curry so we will soon find out.......

Julie Child's Boeuf Bourguignon

Those of you that have seen the film Julie and Julia perhaps like me fancied giving the Boeuf Bourguignon a go!! Of all the recipes shown or mentioned on the film this one appealed to me as a must do (along with the boning of the duck which is an exprience I absolutely HAVE to try!)

Having spent a while searching for the bacon "chunk" I settled for the ready prepared lardons that the chunk was to be cut into anyway! Other than that there was no difficulty finding the ingredients. On advice from a friend who had already tried the recipe (and recommended the film to me in the first place) I didn't add as many small onions to the Bourguignon as the recipe stated - 18-24. She didn't feel they added to the end result and I have to say I was pleased I had taken her advice - I only added about 6. I will also admit at this point to a slight misread of the recipe adding 1 1/2 pints of red wine instead of the stated 1 1/4 pints. Apart from having to explain to my other half what had happened to, almost, his entire bottle of red wine this wasn't disasterous!

I decided to serve this with creamy mash potato although Julia Childs also recommends buttered noodles! This is one of my favourite recipes since stating the blog, along with the venison-less pie. It was absolutely gorgeous, loads of flavour, filling but not stodgy and such tender meat. I have already been asked to make this again and the leftover portion, reheated for lunch at work the next day, was clearly relished from the reaction the following evening!  

Caramel ginger crunch cookies

I really wanted to make these because I loved the idea of the caramel sweets melted on the top of the bite size cookies in the picture in the recipe book! Sadly mine did not turn out quite as pictured, I think perhaps I added a little more syrup than was required and they spread. Also I couldn't find any "wrapped hard caramels" that weren't covered in chocolate so I improvised with some little blocks of toffee smashed up and sprinkled on top!

Having said all that these cookies are amazing! They are like soft ginger nuts with a chewy centre and topping. Everyone in the house loves them and they will definitely have to be made again. I will keep looking for those hard caramels and if anyone else finds any please let me know!

Spicy butternut squash soup with tomato or olive bread

This was a recipe that we all helped to make on the cookery day at Swinton Park. I enjoyed it then so decided to give it a go all by myself! We also made the bread but we did a couple of other flavours, I decided on these after a visit to the deli counter!

The soup was fantastic and even met with the approval of the butternut squash disliker in the house! It has a thai curry type of flavour but if you like things milder put only a small chilli in.

This was my first attempt at breadmaking since leaving school (apart from the team effort at Swinton Park) and I was amazed at how well they turned out! After the first kneading a kneaded in chopped up sun-blushed (or something similar!!) tomatoes into one batch and chopped up olives into the other. Then left to prove as usual. Neither bread has an overpowering flavour and I can even eat the olive bread despite being unable to stomach olives! I loved this, really therapeutic to make and fantastic flavours, definitely one to repeat and I'll be looking out for some alternative flavours for the bread too.

Spinach Barley Risotto

Well I thought I'd give the resourceful cook website another go so this time I went for the Spinach Barley Risotto. I love risotto, I know it can be a bit time consuming but it's not complex so it's great for those evenings when you really can't face anything too complicated! Usually my risottos have anything thrown into them I have handy, leeks, mushrooms, courgettes, and are made with the usual arborio rice. I have strangely (considering my love of it) never used spinach in one before and I didn't realise that pearl barley, as used in this recipe, could be used in place of the aborio.

The portion size wasn't huge but probably about right. I loved the spinach in it and the flavours were all really good. Not sure about the pearl barley though, I think I would prefer to use the aborio if I did the recipe again. The barley seems to take longer to cook and felt a little bit like hard work to eat even once cooked. The rest of the flavours were good though so overall a good, simple recipe from the resourceful cook and I only had to buy the barley as I had everything else in stock!

The Great British Bake Off

I am loving the Great British Bake Off on a Tuesday night on BBC 2 (or if like me your life doesn't work around the TV then watch it on iPlayer!)  

Each week the contestants have to cook their own recipes on whatever the theme is - last week was cakes this week biscuits next week will be bread - then they have to follow a given recipe to show off their technical skill and finally there is the "bake off". Each week 2 contestants leave the competition, so far they are down to 6 contestants.

I feel inspired to become a baker..... but slightly concerned about my waistline!!

Italian Meatballs

I love meatballs but for years I only ever bought them ready made. Then I watched them being prepared one day and realised just how easy they are to make, I know they take a little more time than throwing a bolognese together but they are so much more tasty and rewarding and if, like me, you have children then get them to make them and take the stress away completely!

You know those days when everything has just been a bit much and the children ask "what's for tea" and then pull a face when you tell them? Well if I tell them I'm making meatballs I am suddenly the most popular person EVER and we all feel so much better!

Blue cheese and brocolli pasta

I've had a few internet issues in the last week or so hence the lack of updates, hopefully this is all now sorted out and I should be back on track.....

A few blogs ago I told you about a website that appears to take some of the hastle out of planning your meals and knowing what ingredients to buy http://resourcefulcook.com/. This free website allows you to choose your menu for the week or a few days then gives you the recipes and a shopping list which you can also add your own items to. So I thought I would give it a try. I have to say it seemed great to be able to select the menus and just be given the shopping list so a big plus for that. I chose to go for a vegetarian menu, simple and quick recipes at a reasonable cost.

The first recipe was Blue Cheese and Brocolli Penne, admittedly I used pasta shells because I had them in stock but otherwise I pretty much followed the given recipe, a bit of a risk since blue cheese is not too popular with certain members of the family!!! The recipe was really easy and quick to make, the portions were more than ample but I have to say the meal was a little dull, not much more than just pasta with brocolli! Although it had plenty of strong flavours in the sauce it wasn't really thick enough to coat the pasta and was a little disappointing. Unfortuantely we both got a little bored of the food before we'd finished.

I guess I need to try out some more of the recipes in order to be able to recommend the site, the verdict is out at the moment.....

Out to lunch

Well today I was treated to a lunch out at Cloisters in Stamford. At the minute they have two meals for £12 and kids eat for free. We didn't have the children with us today but I asked about the offer and basically these are smaller portions so you would have to decide if this is appropriate for your child - I don't think my teenage son would appreciate it!! Today we both went for a starter, chicken and mushroom pate and stuffed mushrooms, followed by today's specials, chorizo, pepper and chilli rissotto and leeks, peas and bacon taglliatelle in a white sauce. 

Service at the restaurant is good and certainly the meal was good value. For a lunch out it is fine but I'm not sure I would choose it for an evening out or a special occasion. Definitely a recommend if you have young children and want a cost effective lunch out.  I am sure it is slightly strange to photograph your food in a restaurant but there you go, that just shows how dedicated I am!!  

Tomato, courgette and basil tart

This is almost a quiche but far enough away from it to convince even the most reluctant quiche eater (like my children!!). The recipe calls for ready made shortcrust pastry, of course you could make fresh if you prefer but with ready made pastry this becomes a really simple dish to make. I will need to invest in a deeper tart tin as I struggled to get all of the mixture in mine but otherwise a fantastic success enjoyed by all and suitable to eat hot or cold. Sadly my picture really doesn't do it justice!!

11th Birthday

Today was my daughter's 11th birthday. She is somewhere between child and teen - often dubbed "tweenies"!! So no more pony birthday cakes but not quite ready for the make up bag special made for her older step-sister last year! What to do...... 

Well chocolate cupcakes seemed like an ideal answer! Thankfully an invite to a friends house to play left me at home with the other two children to create the masterpiece of 36 chocolate cupcakes with chocolate butter-ice topping and shapes "iced" from melted chocolate. We loved creating the chocolate shapes for the tops and had a great time using our imagination to make things that represent her interests like musical notes, letters of her name and even a chocolate cupcake shape! I think the finished cupcake tower is pretty impressive and they tasted fantastic too!!

The resourceful cook website

What a fantastic site this appears to be, I will certainly be looking at using this site to make meal planning and shopping easier:  http://resourcefulcook.com/

Homemade pasta

No I'm not completely mad!! Making fresh pasta is admittedly time consuming so I only make it for lasagna and usually manage to rope in one or more of the children to help. On this occasion they all wanted to join in and we had far too much fun with the pasta machine seeing how long we could manage to get a strip of pasta without dropping it, squashing it or tangling ourselves up in it!!

Basically the recipe is 100g plain flour to every egg, I usually do about 200g for a lasagna and often throw in an extra egg yolk for good measure. You can use other types of flour, I used to go for 00 mixed with semolina flour, and you can colour the pasta with spinach, tomato paste, sundried tomatoes or even squid ink.

Pasta machines seem to range somewhat in price, don't pay more than £15 for one - Morrisons currently have them for that price and mine came from Argos some years ago. The dryer is optional but really useful and as it folds away its not a problem for storage like so many other "useful" gadgets!

Venison-less Pie!

Not being able to get hold of any venison at this time of year the plans for the venison pie were put on hold but the other key ingredient of the pie was steak so why not adapt and just make a steak pie? The recipe called for the steak to be marinated in port for 1-2 days followed by casserolling the meat for 2 and a half hours before finally constructing the pie so this is not a quick dinner! I have to say though this is well worth the effort and served to family and friends with smooth mashed potato and spring greens it made an impressive meal which everyone really enjoyed. Roll on the Autumn when I can try the venison version!

White Chocolate Blondies

So having tried brownies I move onto "blondies" the white chocolate version! These ones follow a really similar recipe to yesterday's chocolate brownies but contain macadamia nuts instead of hazelnuts. They have a great texture and I love the macadamias and the nostalgic "milky bar" flavour but for me these are just a little too sweet in that white chocolate way! If you give the recipe a try don't be too worried if the melted chocolate and butter looks a bit lumpy and seperated - it all comes good in the end!!

Chocolate and hazelnut brownies

The first lot of "proper" brownies from a fairly simple recipe with no surprise ingredients! A good dark chocolate taste with the crunch of the toasted hazelnuts, pretty good taste and look really pretty spinkled with the edible gold stars! They came out looking exactly like the picture in the book, a slightly goey texture. I think a score of about 6/10 because after all this is the first recipe so this is now my bench mark for all the others!

If you can't find toasted hazelnuts don't worry just pop them (whole or chopped) in a warm, dry frying pan and let them toast for a few minutes. Don't have the pan too hot, they smell fantastic!

Cheesecake Brownie

As part of my ultimate brownie quest and for the dessert for this evening I present the cheesecake brownie!

It looks beautiful and has the chocolate intensity of brownie and the "cheesiness" of a cheesecake and I do like it but somehow it is not quite enough brownie (perhaps because of the lack of nuts) or enough cheesecake - I think it needs more flavour.

A good starting point for some experimentation I think.......

Chicken casserole with rosemary dumplings

Well the venison hunt was sadly unsuccessful, apparently I'll have more luck in September time so the recipe has been adapted to be steak and I'll try it again with the venison when its "in season". The steak/venison has to be marinated in port for 1-2 days so while we wait for that I found a real comfort food casserole with dumplings! Whilst probably not the most appropriate recipe for the middle of summer I think I can be excused since the weather is pretty dire and the comfort factor of this sort of food far outways any seasonal requirements! I was a little concerned about the rosemary in the dumplings as for me this is more of a soap aroma than something to add to food and I will admit to sampling the wine as well as pouring it into the casserole!

I have to say this was a great recipe, easy to prepare, not particularly time consuming and I think even the children would have happily eaten this (I'll try it again when they're home and see!) However next time I will omit the rosemary, perhaps I'll play around with other herbs rather than leave the dumplings plain but as I thought the smell for me is just to soapy!!

Julie and Julia

Well last night I finally watched the film Julie & Julia as recommended by a friend some time ago and reminded of by two friends recently when I talked about setting up my own blog. For those of you who haven't seen it its an American comedy-drama about events in the life of chef Julia Child, and Julie Powell, who aspires to cook all 524 recipes from Child's cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" during a single year "blogging" about her experience.

I wasn't sure I'd enjoy the film, despite recommendation, but actually it's definitely worth a watch. I feel slightly in awe at the enormity of the task that Julie took on, I don't believe that I could manage 524 French recipes in a year, but that was her assignment this is mine!!

Tomorrow I am heading off in search of some venison for a pie and starting my quest to discover the ultimate brownie recipe......

We'll definitely have that one again!!

Well, after yesterday I settled down with my cookbooks to find some inspiring new spinach recipes! There were so many to choose from but we decided on chicken stuffed with spinach and gruyere. The plus side of the children being away is no complaints on the menu choice however it also means I haven't bothered to go shopping so what to serve with the chicken? In the end I went for potato cakes (with red onion), green vegetables and of course a little more spinach!!

The meal was pronounced "the best meal in ages" which either means it was really rather good or that usually my cooking is pretty awful!! I'm going for the former unless I'm told otherwise........

What to do with spinach??

I am very lucky to have a fairly regular supply of spinach from a family member's garden (although the children might disagree!) However I often end up simply wilting it in a pan to serve with a pasta dish or other dinner, alteratively I might through together a spinach omellete/fritata utilising whatever ingredients are available such as potatoes, leeks, courgettes, onions, peppers etc.

So last night as I was wilting the spinach to go with my pasta and sauce I thought...... what else could I do with the copious amounts of spinach remaining in the fridge?? Hmm......

Chilli Chocolate Cookies

Only having one child for a week seemed like a luxury but of course I had forgotten that one child alone needs entertaining! So we decided to spend a day baking. Having spent most of the day deciding on what to cook we then had to shop for a few missing ingredients before spending the whole afternoon in the kitchen.

The resulting Daisy Cakes were successful only with child number 2, the M&M cookies went down fairly well, I LOVED the rhubarb custard melting moments, the low-fat lemon and blackberry cheesecake was a hugely successful birthday cake for Grandad but the Chilli Chocolate Cookies went down a storm with everyone who tried them and will definitely be made again! The recipe called for 3 red thai chillies which I couldn't find in the supermarket so I went for a standard large red chilli to make the candied chilli ingredient. Next time I would be braver and use a little more chilli (or find the right thai chillies!)