Double choc-chip biscuits

Ingredients

Butter, unsalted - 110g at Room Temp

Plain flour - 165g sifted

Cocoa powde - 30g

Egg - 1 large at Room Temp

Soft light brown Sugar - 200g

Vanilla Extract - 2 drops (1 Vanilla Pod always better but expensive)

Salt - Pinch

Bicarbonate of Soda - 1/2 tsp

Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp

Chocolate chips plain - 100g

Chocolate chips white -100g

Method

Cream the butter and sugar together, that means beat with a wooden spoon if you don't have an electric whisk. This is why you need the butter room temperature!

Stir in the egg and the vanilla drops and mix together until smooth.

Add the pinch of salt, flour, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder and baking powder and mix until it looks like a dough.

Add the chocolate chips and give it a really good mix together with your wooden spoon.

How many?

Depends on the size you roll them.

A walnut size ball will make around 16

A dobber (big marble) size will make 32

Space evenly apart on a baking tray lined with baking paper. If you are going for flats (Millie style cookies) then put 6 to a tray as they spread out when baking - literally melt into puddles.  If you want them more rounded roll into balls and leave in the fridge for half an hour before putting them into the oven.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Leave to cool, it really isn't wise to scoff them straight from the oven as delicious as they smell. The cooling time will allow them to harden.

Enjoy!

Mango Coulis, because it's pancake day

Pancake day (Shrove Tuesday) is today so I have made a Mango Coulis.

A little something exotic to pour all over the ice cream that I intend to have on my pancakes later today. Sure I will have to race my son to the fridge to make sure I actually get some!

What a fantastic colour! And it tastes just like Mango Lassi,

Ingredients

1 large mango, very ripe

2 tbsp icing sugar

Method

Skin the mango and chop up all the flesh.

Put the flesh and the icing sugar into a food processor and whizz for a couple of minutes.

Done!

Healthy Biscuits? Not sure, but very lovely!

Cranberry and Hazelnut Chewy Biscuits

Quick and Easy

Ingredients

Butter, unsalted - 110g at Room Temp

Plain flour - 195g sifted

Egg - 1 large at Room Temp

Soft light brown Sugar - 200g

Vanilla Extract - 2 drops (1 Vanilla Pod always better but expensive)

Salt - Pinch

Bicarbonate of Soda - 1/2 tsp

Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp

Cranberries, dried - 70g

Hazelnuts, blanched - 70g smashed to bits with a rolling pin (in a bag is easiest)

Flats biscuits or rounded? 

If you want your biscuits flat as in my photo then bake straight away, you'll need to preheat the oven to 190*C (gas 5)

but

If you would like them plump & rounded give them 1/2 hour in the fridge before cooking but make sure you still preheat your oven (gotta do this).

Method

Cream the butter and sugar together, that means beat with a wooden spoon if you don't have an electric whisk. This is why you need the butter room temperature! Just until combined.

Stir in the egg and the vanilla drops and mix together until smooth.

Add the pinch of salt, flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder and mix until it looks like a dough.

Add the cranberries and hazelnuts and give it a really good mix together with your wooden spoon.

How many?

Depends on the size you roll them.

A walnut size ball will make around 16

A dobber (big marble) size will make 32

Space evenly apart on a baking tray lined with baking paper. If you are going for flats (Millie style cookies) then put 8 to a tray as they spread out when baking - literally melt into puddles.

If you want plump biscuits and put them into the fridge for 1/2 hour first you can get 10 to a tray.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Leave to cool, it really isn't wise to scoff them straight from the oven as delicious as they smell. The cooling time will allow them to harden.

Enjoy!

Just because I love food with great colour - Raspberry Couli

Raspberry Couli Ingredients

Fresh raspberries - 250g

Icing sugar - 1 tbsp

Lemon - Juice of half (get rid of pips etc.)

Method

Put all the ingredients into a pan and gently heat until the raspberries have broken down to mushiness.

Put into a food processor and blitz.

Pass through a sieve to get rid of pips from the raspberries and you should end up with a gorgeous coloured and delicious looking couli.

Keep the couli in a jar in the fridge and use for pouring over crushed meringues and whipped cream to make  Eton Mess or pour over icecream, add into cakes - anything that takes your fancy.

With Pancake Day and Valentines creeping up quickly you can use it creatively!

Thai Green Chicken Curry

Delicious, serves 2 but being a lover of Thai food I could eat both portions myself or save one for later!

Ingredients for the Curry Paste

Lime Juice - 30 ml

Lime zest - 2 tbsps grated finely

4-6 whole green chillies (depending on your own taste, perhaps 2-4 to start you off)

Lemongrass - 1 stalk, sliced thinly

Ginger or Galangal - 3 thin slices

Coriander stalks - 1 heaped tsp, chopped

Roasted ground cumin - 1/2 level tsp

Roasted ground coriander - 1/2 level tsp

Garlic cloves - 2, chopped finely

Shallots - 2, peeled and chopped (Thai if you can get them)

Shrimp paste - 1/2 level tsp

Ingredients for the Curry

Chicken breast or thigh (thigh is tastier) - 250g (9ozs), chunks

Green pepper - 1, small chunks

Courgette - 1, small chunks

Coconut milk - 300ml (10fl oz)

Thai fish sauce - 15ml (1tbsp)

Palm sugar - 5ml (1tspn)

White peppercorns - ground, good pinch

Kaffir lime leaves - 4 fresh (hydrated if dried for a least 1/2 hour)

Red chilli - 1 shredded and deseeded

Veg oil - 2 tbsps

Method

Soak the sliced lemongrass in the lime juice.

Put the ingredients for the curry paste into a food processor, add the soaked lemongrass and blitz to a paste, it will be coarse. Make sure it is well mixed, incorporate the bits left around the side.

Heat the oil gently in a wok or frying pan, add the chicken and cook for 6-7 minutes stirring . 

Add the pepper and courgette and cook for a further 4-5 minutes until the chicken is just cooked.

Take out the chicken and set aside.

The can of coconut milk will consist of a hard cream and a watery milk, separate the 2 into 2 bowls or jugs.

Heat the wok or frying pan on a medium heat and add the coconut cream and stir all the time so it loosens and so that it does not burn. It will begin to separate but this is okay, it will look as though it has curdled but don't worry.

Add 1/2 to 2/3 of the curry paste - the more you add the hotter it will be so TASTE it.

Add 3/4 of the coconut milk from your bowl or jug a little at a time and cook, keep stirring on a medium heat. Let the sauce reduce a little but KEEP stirring or it will stick.

Add more curry paste if you want it hotter - keep TASTING it.

If the sauce gets too thick add more coconut milk little by little. If you do add more give it 2-3 minutes more cooking, keep stirring.

Add the chicken, courgette and the pepper and stir thoroughly. Cook for 4-5 more minutes, stir to stop it sticking.

Stir in the Thai fish sauce and palm sugar. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Just before serving add the shredded kaffir leaves and the red chilli.

Serve with rice, good company and a little fruity white wine or very cold beer.

Vietnamese style Fishcakes

As a starter or as a main with a fresh salad.

I go to my local fishmonger if I want precise amounts but if you buy your fish from the supermarket you may end up buying more than you need so make enough to put away in the freezer.

Ingredients  for 2 good sized portions or 4 small starter size portions

50g white fish fillet (skinless)
50g salmon fillet (skinless)
100g cooked prawns
5ml / 1 tspn red chilli paste
1 clove garlic, crushed to a paste
2.5ml / half tspn ginger, chopped very finely
4 kaffir lime leaves, soaked and shredded
1/2 tspn fish sauce
25g green beans, trimmed and chopped small
1/2 egg white, beaten
1/2 tbspn oyster sauce
Veg oil or groundnut oil for frying
Panko breadcrumbs (good for adding to the mix if it is too loose to handle and for coating the fishcakes if you like a slight crunch)


Wash all your fish in a colander, wipe with kitchen towel and add to a food processor, make a smooth paste. Add in the chilli paste, ginger and the crushed garlic and and mix well.

All of the other ingredient, except for the oil, can be mixed together in a large bowl. Add the fish paste mixture and use your hands to mix together. At this stage if the mixture is loose and you can't make a 'cake' or 'patti' out of it then add the panko breadcrumbs to stiffen it a little.

Shape into the size of fishcakes you would like. If you think the mixture is still too loose or sticky then coat the fishcakes in the panko breadcrumbs. Put into the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

I double up the ingredients and make a batch of smaller fish cakes for my son

They are now ready to fry, 2-3 minutes until golden.

Lovely with a crunchy, fresh salad and sweet chilli sauce.

Korean style Stir-Fry

Tasty, healthy, crunchy, fresh...simply packed full of flavour. It's quick and it's easy and it's healthy.

A recipe for 2 but if you have lots of friends over just throw in as much as your wok/frying pan will hold. Check the taste from time to time.

If you prefer beef simply substitute the tofu for steak.

Ingredients

100g pak choi chopped into strips - simply put it on its side and chop right to the base
150g Tofu (I love the wet block of tofu, you can cut it down into cubes and marinate in the soy sauce)
200g beansprouts
1/2 carrot or 1 small - sliced into long, thin crudites
6 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons of mirin but clear honey is fine too
1 tablespoon of veg or sunflower oil for the frying pan
2 garlic cloves, sliced, crushed, whatever
1 red chilli finely chopped
4 spring onions chopped into small rounds
handful of sesame seeds (nice toased)
handful of pine nuts

Serve either noodles (or rice)

Method

• Cut up the tofu into cubes or similar shapes, add to a bowl and pour over the soy sauce and mirin. Leave to marinate for a least an hour, turn the tofu from time to time to coat. 
• Once marinated remove the tofu from the soy & mirin sauce and on a very high heat in the veg oil and keep turning until all sides are brown and crispy looking. Keep the sauce to use with the other ingredients. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• At this point I threw my 3 minute egg noodles into a pan of boiling water.
• Add the spring onions, garlic and chilli and fry for a minute before throwing in the pak choi, beansprouts and pine nuts. Fry for a further 2 minutes then add the sauce you saved from the tofu. Taste it - do you want more soy sauce?
• Both stir-fry and noodles are ready. At this point you can add the noodles to the frying pan and stir them through. Add the tofu and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.
• Enjoy.

You will find that the pak choi, tofu, beansprouts and spring onions all come in bigger packs than the amounts suggested in this recipe SO if you want to make sure your fridge doesn't become clogged with food that gets wasted invite some friends over and add the entire contents of the packets or bunches etc. that you have to buy and simply double up on the soy sauce and mirin. Taste frequently and alter as necessary!