Goats Cheese and Caramelised Red Onion Tart

Dear Foodies,
      I made this tart because my brother has had a craving for a goats cheese and red onion tart for sometime and we couldn't find one in Tesco's anywhere. I thought this would be very complicated but when split into little seperate tasks it is actually a really easy and delicious tart to make from scratch.

Ingredients:

• 4oz Plain Flour
• 2oz Butter
• 3tbsp Ice Cold Water
• 6 Red Onions
• 2tbsp White Wine Vinegar
• 1tbsp Soft Brown Sugar
• 1tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 150g Goats Cheese
• 2 eggs
• 100ml Milk

How to Make:
    
Pastry

• Sieve flour and rub in butter (this can be done by blitzing in the mixer).
• Add the water slowly until the mixture has combined.
• Wrap pastry in cling film and place in the fridge for a minimum of 20 mins.

Red Onions

• Thinly slice the red onions and place in a pan with a knob of butter.
• Cook on a high heat until the onions begin to soften.
• Add sugar, white wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar and simmer for 20 mins.
• By adding the sugar this recipe cheats the caramalisation process however the longer you simmer this the better it will be.

Pastry Base:

• Roll out the pastry to 5 mm thick and place in a lined, buttered, tart tin.
• Trim edges and prick the bottom with a fork.
• Place a sheet of baking paper over the pastry and fill with baking beans - bake for 15 mins at 180 degrees celcius.
• Lift out baking beans and bake for a further 10 mins.

Putting it all together:

• Place onions in the bottom of the pastry base.
• Cover with crumbled \goats cheese (you could also add some roasted courgettes at this point)
• Whisk together eggs, milk and seasoning of your choice and taste together and pour over the onions and goats cheese.
• Bake at 180 for 25-30 mins

Heat onions until soft

 Add sugar and vinegars

 The bottom onion layer with cheese on top

One with courgettes

Enjoy xx

An Olympic Snack: Courgette and Chocolate Brownie

Dear Foodies,
      As you will be able to tell by the number of courgette based recipes that I am likely to publish over the month of August  courgettes are in season; and as one of the few vegetables we always have success with, our kitchen is inundated by a plethora of courgettes. Combining this with the Olympics, something that is on everyone's mind in England and will be through August, I decided to make courgette and chocolate brownies. For me this is ground baking cookery and while not necessarily healthy, having a vegetable as a sweet treat does feel healthy. So here is how to make my courgette and chocolate brownies which perfectly sum up the Olympic spirit and were enjoyed in our household while watching Bradley Wiggins making British Olympic history.

Ingredients:

• 125g Butter
• 100g Dark Chocolate
• 300g Soft Brown Sugar
• 3 Eggs
• 150 ml Milk
• 350g Plain Flour
• 2tbsp Baking Powder
• 4tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 450g (roughly 5) Courgettes Grated
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract 

How to Make:

• Line a 20x30cm Baking tin with foil or baking paper and then butter spread a thin layer of butter on the foil/paper (I do this with a paper towel). 
• Cream butter and sugar together (I prefer to do this in a mixer but both doing it by hand and with a mixer it is essential that the butter is soft).
• To the creamed butter mixture add the eggs one at a time, mixing continually, add the milk in the same way.
• Melt the dark chocolate in a glass bowl over boiling water - once cooled at the the butter, sugar, milk and egg mixture.
• Peel skins from the courgettes and then grate.  
• To the chocolatey cake mixture sieve in flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and vanilla extract.
• Once the dry ingredients are combined, stir in the grated courgette then tip mixture into the prepared tin, spreading evenly.  
• Bake for 25-35 mins at 180 degrees Celsius or until a skewer comes out clean.

Line and butter tin.

Grate courgettes

Mix in the grated courgettes

Yummy Yummy Yummy



 WARNING: These brownies may not increase our Olympic medal tally but will increase your enjoyment of the Games!

Enjoy xx

Mexican Bean Dip

Dear Foodies,
     One of the main aims of this blog is to share some of the recipes that I find and therefore prevent you from doing a lot of leg work. Rick Stein said on his desert island discs recording that there was no shame in using other people's recipes and I am a firm believer in that. This recipe comes from the Summer 2012 issue of the BBC Vegetarian magazine. The magazine recommends that you eat this dip with nacho's and cheese but I am planning on having it spread on a wrap and covered with Mediterranean vegetables and some slices of grilled chicken for an uber healthy weekday dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 Onion chopped
• 1tsp Soft Brown Sugar
• 1tsp White wine vinegar
• 2 Garlic Cloves crushed
• 1 tsp Cajan Seasoning
• a can of Mixed Beans
• a can of chopped Tomatoes

How to Make:

• Fry the onion with some oil until soft
• Add the garlic, brown sugar, cajun seasoning and white wine vinegar
• Mix in beans and tomatoes (and any added chilli if wanted)
• Reduce any liquid from the mixture by simmering for 10 mins

soften onions in oil

add spices

Enjoy

Enjoy xxx

Keep Calm and Eat Scones

Dear Foodies,
Every year my mum runs the Cream Tea stall at our local village event. Every year she makes 200 scones and so this year I decided to help, making over half of them for her in order to both be helpful and to take my mind off my results which came out later the same day. I got making the scones down to under 5 mins and with 10 mins cooking time these are ridiculously quick and yummy treats.

Ingredients:

• 250g Self Raising Flour
• 50g Sugar
• 50g Butter
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 100ml Milk

How to Make:

• Heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius/Gas Mark 4
• Place flour, sugar, butter and baking powder in the food processor and blitz to mix all the ingredients together
• Cut butter into cubes and add to mixer before blitzing again to form a fine bread crumb like consistency
• While the mixer is still running add the milk a bit at a time until the mixture begins to combine
• Pour mixture out onto a lightly floured board - combine and roll out to 2-3 cm thick - try not to handle too much
• Use a 6cm cutter and cut out your scones (should make between 8 - 10)
• Cover in milk or egg wash and bake for 10 mins until golden brown
• Eat with cream and strawberry jam

Mix together dry ingredients

golden scones

Eat with a glass of Pimms for the perfect summer feeling xx

Apple Jam

Dear Foodies,
     This year our village event known as 'The Gallop' presented me with a challenge - a Jam competition. I wanted to make a jam that wasn't run of the mill so I adapted a Victorian recipe to produce this spiced apple jam. Sadly my Jam wasn't a winner but it is still a really delicious treat. Although a little sweet this jam will make an amazing jam tart or used in place of lemon curd in lemon meringue pie or simply just spread on a cracker.

Ingredients:

• 4lb apples
• 4lb jam sugar
• 5 dessert spoons of Cinnamon
• 3 dessert spoons of ginger
• 1 1/2 dessert spoons of allspice
• 1/2 pint brandy

How to Make:

• Core and peel the skin off the apples then chop into chunks and cook until soft in two pints of water
• Once the apple is soft add jam sugar, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and the all important brandy.
• Bring the ingredients to the boil then place your Jam thermometer in the pan and heat to 220 Fahrenheit - alternatively boil until the jam when placed on a cool plate and pushed with a finger creates a wrinkly skin this should take about 10 mins
• Then pour jam into heated sterilised jam jars and put on lids immediately - this will seal your jam.

Bring to the boil

Enjoy your jam and I hope you have more luck than I did in any competitions xx

Asian Coleslaw

Dear Foodies,
With barbecue season coming up you may be looking for something a little bit different to put in your burger or have with a roast chicken and my Asian coleslaw is the perfect and easy dish to fill that gap.

Ingredients:

• 3 carrots
• 1/2 a white or red cabbage
• 50g almonds chopped
• 3 spring onions
• 1/4 cup of light soy sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes (or more if wanted)

How to make:

• Peel and top and tail carrots, then use the peeler to create long thin strips of carrot
• Grate the white cabbage 
• Combine cabbage and carrots in a bowl
• Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, cider vinegar, sesame oil and chilli flakes and the tip over carrot/cabbage mixture
• Before serving top with almonds and finely sliced spring onions

Use the peeler to create strips of carrot

Grate the Cabbage



Top with almonds and spring onions



Happy Barbecuing xx

Mumma Leach's amazing birthday cake!

Dear Foodies,
     Today's blog is dedicated to the amazing, beautiful Mamma Leach who's cooking inspired me (with the exception of a few legendary disasters) and who has quite a large following among my friends. Mamma Leach has made birthday cakes for my brother and I from our 1st birthday's and this years cake is definitely among the best! The fact that it is a bunny originates from a filthy stuffed rabbit which mum and I won at a 'guess the name' stall having guessed Franklin. From then on I have hidden 'Franklin the transvestite bunny' from Mamma Leach's numerous attempts to bin him. So in honour of Franklin and Mamma Leach a photo of this cake had to be on my blog. The head is a carrot cake while the ears are a raspberry jam layered sponge cake.

All Hail Mamma Leach
xxx