I wrote recently about how well my sweet basil seeds were growing, but my disappointment with the lack of parsley activity. Well my parsley seeds finally sprouted last week...
Obviously both herbs still have a long way to go until I can actually use them, but I'm very happy with their progress... I haven't killed them off yet through overwatering/underwatering which is a pleasant surprise. Maybe I will develop green fingers after all!
Lisa x
I found this recipe in an old Easy Living Magazine I was flicking through last week - it was featured as an idea for homemade gormet picnic foods. Whilst I have no upcoming picnic plans I was inspired to give this recipe a go - I'm not a massive fan of fizzy soft drinks so I mostly drink water, cordials/squash and tea whilst at home. My family gets through numerous bottles of Robinson's orange squash and Bottlegreen's elderflower cordial! So trying to make my own cordial really appealed to me for a bit of a change.
I'd never made a homemade cordial before, and didn't realise how easy it is to do. The cordial tasted delicious and my family loved it - it wasn't long before it was all gone! I really liked the passion fruit flavour too - when I looked in my local Sainsbury's store there weren't any similar flavours to this, so it was definately more of an exotic flavour to the standard orange squash I normally drink!
Recipe - Passion Fruit & Orange Cordial
Makes about 750ml
Ingredients:
375g sugar (I used white caster)
6 oranges
3 passion fruit
Method:
1. Add the sugar and 375ml of water to a saucepan. Add the zest of one of the oranges to the pan and bring the mixture to the boil - simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring every so often to dissolve the sugar.
2. Squeeze the juice from all the oranges and scoop out the pulp from the 3 passion fruit. Add this to the saucepan and allow the mixture to cool.
3. Once cool, strain the mixture and put it into a bottle. I didn't have anything of a suitable size, so used a couple of empty gin bottles that my mum normally uses for making sloe gin for christmas!
You can dilute the cordial with either still or sparkling water - it will keep for up to 5 days in a sealed bottle in the fridge. Make sure you give the bottle a bit of a shake before each serving, then dilute to your preferred strength.
Lisa x
Last week I posted a recipe taken from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'Take Three Good Things' that used potatoes, asparagus and halloumi (find the recipe here).
This week I have tried another delicious recipe from this cookbook (available on Amazon) using potatoes, cauliflower and curry as the three key ingredients. I made this for my lunch today and it took me no more than 15 minutes to prepare.
Recipe - Curried Potato Salad with Cauliflower
Serves 4
Ingredients:
400g new potatoes, cut into approx. 2cm chucks
Half a medium cauliflower, trimmed & cut into small florets
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and pepper (to season)
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons plain natural yoghurt
1 tsp of curry paste (I actually used a teaspoon of mild curry powder as a substitute, but this still worked well)
Method:
1. Bring a large pan of water (with a pinch of salt) to the boil. Add the potatoes and simmer for about 3 minutes. Then add the cauliflower and cook for another 3 minutes until both are just tender. Drain and leave to cool.
2. Make the curried mayonnaise whilst the veggies are cooling - combine the mayo, yoghurt and curry paste/powder in a bowl.
3. Once the potatoes and cauliflower are cool mix them with the curried mayo. Season with some salt and pepper, and add the squeeze of lemon juice.
Done!
A great quick lunch idea. I actually think it would also be nice served warm - just mix the potatoes and cauliflower with the mayo mixture before they have cooled. I think I'll try it this way next time.
Lisa x
This ginger cake is definately not the prettiest of cakes, but it's certainly full of flavour.
I
personally like to eat it as a dessert with some warm custard,
or alternatively you could enjoy a slice with a cup of tea for an afternoon treat!
Recipe - Jamaican Ginger Cake
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients:
75g butter
150g flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp ground ginger
A pinch of ground nutmeg
2 tbsp milk
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
75g black treacle
75g golden syrup
75g dark soft brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.
2) In a large bowl sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a separate bowl mix together the milk and bicarbonate of soda.
3) Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the treacle, syrup, sugar and 75ml of water - kept it on a gentle heat so the mixture does not boil. Add this to the bowl of flour & spices and then add the milk mixture. Stir in the beaten egg.
4) Stir the mixture well and pour into the loaf tin. Bake in the centre of the oven for about an hour and 15 minutes - or until a metal skewer comes out clean. The cake will be dark in colour, but if it looks as if the top is starting to brown too much during cooking then cover the cake with some foil halfway.
5) Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack.
Lisa x
During the week I normally have a quick bowl of porridge or cereal for my breakfast before heading out to work. Not very exciting! So at the weekend I always fancy taking my time to make something a little more special and delicious. A few months ago I found a recipe for baked spinach eggs in Easy Living magazine, and I've sucessfully made this recipe several times since. It's a great idea for a weekend breakfast or brunch, and it only takes about 15-20 minutes to prepare and another 12-15 minutes to cook.
Recipe - Baked Eggs with Spinach and Leek
Makes4
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
20g butter
2 leek, trimmed & sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
300g baby spinach leaves
4 eggs
80ml single cream
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Salt & Pepper for seasoning
Bread, to serve
Method:
1) Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
2) Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the leeks and garlic and cook for around 5 minutes until soft. Add the spinach and cook until wilted.
3) Blend the spinach and leek mixture in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of the cream. Season the mixture and add the nutmeg.
4) Divide the spinach and leek mixture between 4 ramekin dishes. Crack an egg into each one and then divide the rest of the cream into each dish and season with salt & pepper.
5) Place the ramekins into a baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Serve with some toasted ciabatta or sourdough bread.
So yummy!!
Lisa x
I mentioned last weekend that I had planted some parsley and basil seeds (see here) - and thought I'd show how my basil is progressing...
It's started growing!
Wish I could say the same for the parsley, but nothing has sprouted from my Seedpod yet :( I've been told this is to be expected though - basil apparently grows faster than parsley. Will continue to keep you posted!
Lisa x
Last week my mum bought Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's cookbook 'Hugh's Three Good Things on a Plate', and whilst flicking through it his recipe using potatoes, asparagus and halloumi caught my eye. So yesterday I decided to make myself this dish for my lunch, using a fresh bunch of homegrown asparagus before the British Asparagus Season ends in mid-June. Here's how it turned out...
It tasted so good, after I'd finished my big plateful I wish I'd made enough to have seconds! Unfortunately I was only cooking for myself, so had adjusted the recipe quantities to make only 1 portion :( This dish makes a great lunch, or Hugh suggests serving it with sourdough bread to make a more filling meal of it.
Recipe - Hugh's Take Three Good Things - Potatoes, Asparagus & Halloumi
Serves 4
Ingredients:
600 - 700g new potatoes
4-5 cloves garlic (unpeeled), bashed
2 tbsp olive oil
400g asparagus
225g halloumi
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and pepper to season
A tbsp chopped parsley (optional)
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 190C. Cut the potatoes into small chunks. Pour the olive oil into a roasting tray and then add the garlic and potatoes with some salt & pepper to season.
2. Whilst the potatoes are roasting, trim the ends of the asparagus and chop the spears into 3-4cm lengths. Cut the halloumi into small cubes (approx. 2cm)
3. Add the asparagus and halloumi to the potatoes once the 30 minutes have passed. Toss the ingredients to combine. Return the roasting tray to the oven and cook for 15 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and discard the garlic cloves. Add a generous squeeze of lemon juice and toss all the ingredients together. Before serving you can scatter over some parsley if desired.
After this success I'm keen to try out more of the recipes from Hugh's cookbook, although there are so many tasty looking things I can't quite decide which to try next! The cookbook is currently available on Amazon for a very reasonable £9.99 (see here).
Lisa x
I think I'm currently going a bit Jamie crazy! I do love most of the recipes of his that I've tried - and after writing about the June 2013 Jamie Magazine on Friday I was inspired to have a go at one of the recipes over the weekend. I decided to try to make 'Tomato Soup with Orzo' (which appears on pg 119) as it uses storecupboard ingredients which I already owned. Plus, I had a box or orzo which has been sat in my cupboard unused for months (probably a year or so actually!) and I didn't really know what to do with it until now. It's basically pasta that looks like rice....
Recipe - Tomato Soup with Orzo
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp dried mint
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
750ml chickent or vegetable stock (I used chicken)
100g orzo pasta
Method:
1. Heat the oil in a big saucepan and add the onion, garlic, mint and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook over a medium high heat until the onions soften.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes. Use a stick blender to blitz the soup until smooth.
3. Add the stock and the orzo and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the orzo is tender.
4. Serve! I added a couple of roughly torn fresh basil leaves too on serving, just because I love the tomato/basil combo.
A quick and easy recipe to make a filling and tasty soup!
Lisa x
