New Make Bake 30 - High-speed Hamburger with Fast Fries

It's been a while since I last blogged. Not because I've not been making or baking new things (I have a backlog to get through!) but because I've been Birthday Cake making - blog to come soon.

M is very partial to burgers (well any meat shaped pattie really) and I wanted to make him a treat as he's working very hard at work at the moment. Usually when I make burgers I just mix mince with seasoning and shape into patties and fry (occasionally I'll chuck in some chopped onion, grated cheese, herbs etc) but seeing as my mum bought me a burger press for Christmas I thought I ought to try it with something slightly fancier for it's first outing. When I opened the burger press I wasn't really sure if I'd use it as I thought it was a bit gimmicky. I can however report that it was great and made quite a different to my burgers - they really held their shape and the results looked quite professional!

For my burger recipe I decided to give one of Nigella's recipes a go "High-speed Hamburger", as the ingredients sounded lovely and a bit different. The burgers are made of lean minced beef mixed with some caramelised onions (from a jar), buttermilk (you could use plain yoghurt if you can't get hold of buttermilk - I got mine in the supermarket near the cream), soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce and seasoned well with black pepper. It's quite a messy mixture so not one for people who don't like to get their hands mucky. Once they were mixed, I divided my meat into two and pressed it into the press.   Once formed I griddled my burgers until they were done to our liking (M has to have his well done, I prefer mine to be medium well).

As the burgers were so quick I served them with Nigella's Fast Fries. The fast fries are made from new potatoes which are crushed by putting them in a sandwich bad and bashing them with a rolling pin.This is very therapeutic after a long day at work! Once crushed, the potatoes are sautéed in vegetable oil until crispy. Mine got a little too crispy as someone (M) was late back from work so I had to keep them warm in the oven!

I served my burger in a toasted muffin, slice of cheese and some salad.

The burger was delicious and full of flavour. The onions and buttermilk gave it a lovely texture and taste to the usual burger which I've found can sometimes be quite dry (usually because M likes his cremated) but these were so moist and juicy.Delicious and quick!

New make bake 28 and 29 - Rice Krispie Chicken and Chicken with Katsu Sauce

A few weeks ago I snapped up a bargain in the Supermarket, Lisa Faulkner's new book - Recipes from my Mother for my Daughter. I'd heard lots of positive things about the book from the blogging world and so I settled down to have a read. Wow, so many lovely things which I wanted to try, I didn't know where to start!

From a quick look online it seemed that there were rave reviews about the Rice Krispie Chicken so it seemed to be a sensible place to start. M wasn't too convinced when I started getting the cereal out of the cupboard so it needed to be good to persuade him to give it a go. The recipe is very simple, you dip Chicken Goujons in mayonnaise and then dip them in crushed and seasoned Rice Krispies. I then baked them in the oven until they were golden and crispy.

I served mine with Baked skinny fries and ranch salad (from the supermarket). The fries were lovely, nice and tasty and yet healthy!

They didn't look as pretty as the ones in the book, some of the coating fell off (I think I used too much mayonnaise) but they were gorgeous. M took one mouthful and declared them as one of his favourite thins I'd ever made - high praise indeed. Very simple but very tasty and so easy to make.

A few days later I wanted to see if my success could be replicated so I decided to give the Chicken with Katsu sauce a whirl. It's Chicken strips coated in breadcrumbs (I used Panko breadcrumbs for the authentic Japanese taste) served with a sweet and slightly curry flavoured sauce. I'm quite scared of spicy foods with a lot of heat so I like the idea of controlling how much "burn" there is. The sauce called for curry powder and tomato ketchup which reminded me of the rice I made back in January and as I had really enjoyed the flavour so I figured this would be a tasty dish. I served mine with some stir-fried rice and beansprouts.

I didn't look the most "Yummy" of dishes due to the sauce but wow, it was divine. So tasty and such a lovely combination of flavours. I only made half of the recipe so it served two, next time I'd make enough and freeze the extra sauce for another time.

I think I'm really going to like this book :D

New Make/Bake 27 - Lamb Casserole with Feta Dumplings

Alas "Something for the Weekend" is no more, boooo. But good news, it has been resurrected in a new format called "Sunday Brunch" over on Channel 4. I've been watching it for a few weeks  before I wanted to share my views and after 2 weeks, I think I'm getting to like it. There are a few features missing which I enjoyed from SFTW (Gadget Roulette and Wayne and his amazing cocktails) but the banter and lovely food are the same which was always my favourite part of the show.

On the very first show Simon Rimmer made a really lovely sounding dish which received great reviews from the guests, Lamb casserole with feta dumplings. As a huge fan of Lamb I thought it would be a great recipe to try.

Lamb Casserole with Feta Dumplings

Recipe by Simon Rimmer, Sunday Brunch

Ingredients

For the Lamb Casserole

• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 450g good-quality lamb mince
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• Few sprigs rosemary
• 200ml Madeira
• 200ml strong beef or game stock

I added two tablespoons of Tomato Ketchup and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce it give it some extra sweetness and depth.

For the topping

• 225g plain flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 100g unsalted butter, cubed
• 175ml sour cream
• 150g feta cheese

(I halved the ingredients so that it served two)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6. For the filling, heat some oil in a deep heavy-bottomed saucepan and brown the mince. Remove the mince from the pan and set aside.
   
2. To the same pan add the onion, carrot and garlic and fry gently to soften but not colour.
   
3. Add the lamb mince back to the pan, add the cinnamon and tomato purée and cook out for 4-5 minutes.
   
4. Add the rosemary, Madeira, stock and some seasoning, and bring to the boil. (This is where I added the tomato ketchup and Worcestershire sauce) Then allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes.
   
5. For the topping, in a blender pulse together the flour, baking powder, salt and butter. When it looks like breadcrumbs add the sour cream and do the same again. The dough will be very sticky.
   
6. Spoon the filling into individual pie dishes, then spoon dollops of the batter on top. Sprinkle over the feta and bake for 25 minutes until crisp and golden.
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   I served mine with a baby leaf salad and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
   
   
   It was delicious, quite sweet and rich (especially the Feta Dumplings) and very yummy. Initially when I was making the Casserole I thought that it wouldn't be enough for two but with the dumpling it was very filling. Next time I'd be tempted to make all of the filling and freeze half for another time.

New Make/Bake 26 - Banoffee Mess

Last week was M's mums birthday, so to celebrate M's brother cooked us dinner (Fajitas - yummy) and I was  asked if I'd make dessert. It was a week night and I was in the office all day so I needed something I could put together quite quickly and could be easily transported. M's mum's favourite thing I make is Banoffee Pie but I knew I wouldn't have enough time so I decided to make a Banoffee Mess - like Eaton Mess (Cream, Meringue and strawberries) but with Banana and Biscuits.

A typical Banoffee Pie has a crumbly biscuit base - lots of debate about which biscuits are best, my mum always uses digestives but personally I prefer Hob Nobs! You then bake the biscuit base mixed with some melted butter until its lightly golden (about 10-15mins). Once cooled you then top it with caramel sauce - you can either boil a tin of condensed milk covered with water (it must stay covered with important otherwise it will explode!) or you can cheat and use the ready-made caramel sauce! The final stages are topping with sliced banana and some whipped double cream and a sprinkling of chocolate - delicious!

For my Banoffee mess I started by whipping up some double cream (a large tub) and two tablespoons of icing sugar. I think added a drizzle of ready-made caramel sauce and folded in some crumbled up meringue pieces (I used 6 meringue nests) and 3 sliced bananas. 

I crushed up half a packet of Hob Nob biscuits and layered the Banoffee mixture with crushed biscuits and more caramel sauce in a pretty glass (I would have gone for wine glasses or similar but I didn't have enough clean ones!).

The feedback was that it was delicious, lighter than a Banoffee pie but equally as tasty. Easy, quick and yummy - what else could anyone ask for a dessert?!

New Make/Bake 25 - Creamy Chicken and Leek Spuds

After a hectic weekend, including a Saturday spent on a beginners cake decorating course (where I learnt lots of new tips and tricks) I fancied a quick and easy dinner but nothing too fatty.

I'd spotted a recipe on the BBC Good Food site a few weeks ago which I'd bookmarked to try, Creamy Chicken and Leeks.

I do enjoy a jacket potato, typically with beans and cheese, Mince or tuna and sweetcorn or if I'm feeling posh Brie and Bacon.The one thing I don't like is how long they take to cook as I'm not really known for my patience and I don't like microwaved potatoes as they always seem to be soggy. So I make my jacket potatoes the cheats way! I microwave the potatoes until they are soft (usually about 5-10 minutes depending on the size of the potato) and then I stick them with a skewer, drizzle with with a bit of olive oil and then bake them in a hot oven for about 20 minutes (turning once, halfway through). And voila, perfect jacket potatoes, fluffy insides and a lovely crispy outside.

The Recipe was really simple and easy. Typically with me being me, I did add a few extras: a squirt of honey, and a sprinkling of grated cheese.

M's verdict was that it was delicious (lots of meat and leek is always bound to keep him happy to be fair) and has to be made again soon. I thought it was yummy, very creamy and tasted like it was bound to be full of calories but was actually rather healthy (I used half fat cheese and Crème Friache).

New Make/Bake 24 - Lego Birthday Cake

Last week I decided to test my lovely Birthday Present - a new food mixer! Probably not the most exciting birthday present but considering baking is my new hobby I figured it would be something I'd never get bored off and could use for ages.

Previous to this I had a Kenwood Prospero which is the compact and one of the smallest Kenwood mixers. It was working fine, however it was a little on the small side as it only takes mixes with less than 6 eggs. Fine for smaller cakes but seeing as some of the cakes I've made have been 10 egg mixes, I figured an upgrade was required. I was torn between the KitchenAid (Retro glam and much loved by St Nigella) and the Kenwood (Sturdy, strong and Heston's weapon of choice). I wanted a machine that did more than just mixing and whisking and after much debate and research I decided on the Kenwood due to the huge variety or attachments (never ending presents!) and the reliability record - my mum has a Kenwood dating back from the 70s and it still works like it was new.

I picked a few ideas and then asked M to see how much my friends would "donate" so I could get my hearts desire. And to my great surprise, I got the dream machine, a Titanium Major Kenwood Chef.

My new mixer (aka Ken) is on the left and my old mixer on the right. Ken is a whopper, a beast and looks much prettier than I'd expected. He's really heavy so is going to sit on the side so he's always ready and raring to go.

For Ken's maiden voyage I tested him out by making my nephews birthday cake. My nephew is currently obsessed with Lego so my brother asked for a cake with a Lego theme. As I'm not really an expert I thought I'd try and make it simple so I made a cake decorated to look like a Lego brick!

I started with an 8" chocolate and vanilla marble cake.  Once cooled I split the cake and sandwiched and crumb coated it with vanilla buttercream. I also covered the cakeboard with Lego wrapping paper to add to the theme!

I then covered the cake with blue sugarpaste. To make the cake look more "brick-like" I covered some slices of swiss-roll with buttercream and sugarpaste and then stuck them to the top.

I was quite pleased with the final result. I still need to work more on smoothing my sugarpaste - I think I need to leave it quite thick. More practice soon I think....

The final result was a very happy and full-up little boy!

New Make/Bake 23 - Pork and Ricotta Meatballs

After a very hectic weekend celebrating my 29+1 Birthday I wanted an easy and relaxed meal to start the week. After a rummage in the freezer I noticed that I appear to have overstocked myself with pork mince (4 packs - eeek!) so thought I ought to do something to use them up. I also had a pot of ricotta with today's date so rather than follow a recipe, I thought I'd invent my own for once!

Pork and Ricotta Meatballs with a Creamy Tomato Sauce
Serves 2

Ingredients

For the Meatballs
250g Pork Mince
Large Handful of the following: Breadcrumbs, Grated Parmesan (I always keep some of both handy in the freezer) and freshly chopped Chives
2 garlic cloves, crushed (we love garlic so use less if you're not such a fan as us)
50g Ricotta Cheese
Seasoning

For the Creamy Tomato Sauce
Oil (I use an Olive Oil Spray)
1x400g tin of Chopped tomatoes
1/2 red onion finely diced
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Tomato Purée
100g Ricotta Cheese
Seasoning

Method

1. Start by mixing all of the Meatball ingredients in a large bowl until combined and shape into large marble sized balls
2. Fry the red onion in a few sprays of Olive Oil until it softens
3. Add the meatballs and fry until brown (about 5 minutes) 

 
4. Add the tinned tomatoes and some water (I just rinsed the can out with some warm water)
5. Add the Dried Oregano, Tomato Purée and Balsamic Vinegar. Bring to the boil and the simmer for 10 - 15 minutes until the tomato mixture had reduced and the meatballs are cooked through.

6. Check the seasoning (I found mine was a little sharp so I added a pinch of sugar) and then stir in the Ricotta Cheese.
7. Once combined, serve with some fresh basil and cooked pasta of your choice - I had wholemeal spaghetti.

Considering I didn't follow a recipe I was actually quite pleased with it. It tasted lovely, the meatballs were really tender and juicy and the ricotta added depth to the tomato sauce. Yummy!