The Crazy Kitchen: November 2012

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Thursday 29 November 2012

Home-made Advent Stockings

At the beginning of the month I saw a post by Mummy Mummy Mum for an advent calendar, which made me think that Christmas was approaching, and fast. I got thinking straight away about how I could join in with the linky and make an advent calendar of our own. A few years ago I bought a stocking advent calendar from M&S and each year since I've squeezed 2 Cadbury Heroes or Celebrations in each stocking. There was no way of fitting 3 in so Jack has his chocolates in an advent train a couple of years ago and last year I forgot to buy the chocolates and bought last minute chocolate filled calendars from the local shop on 1st December. This year Jack is old enough to want the same as his brother and sister so I decided to make advent stockings large enough for 3 chocolates in each. Typically I threw all of Jack's baby socks out only a few months ago so I needed to buy new ones, which I found in Asda for £2 for 3 pairs of white socks which I dyed red.


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You will need:

24 white cotton baby socks
red dye (+ salt for the dyeing)
fabric glue
felt numbers (Ebay)
buttons to decorate
24 mini pegs (I already had these)
length of twine

  • Dye the socks as per directions on the pack - 1 pack was enough for 24 baby socks
  • Wash & dry the socks
  • Stick the numbers onto the socks with the fabric glue
  • Decorate with the buttons - sew or glue them on
  • Thread the pegs onto the twine and hang in position, securing at each end
  • Peg the socks up and fill with chocolates or treats

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Chocolate Mincemeat Ice Cream

I saw a recipe for an extremely simple ice cream on Mummy Mishaps, which she'd seen Nigella making. It doesn't need the use of an ice cream maker and only has a couple of basic ingredients so I thought I would give it a go to see if it really was too good to be true.

As I'd got some chocolate mincemeat left after making another batch of mincemeat slices I thought I would make a batch of ice cream to go with them, and the result really was amazing. It's a lovely soft scoop ice cream that, even after being in the freezer overnight, still remains soft enough to scoop. I adapted the recipe slightly to use up some cream that was already open in the fridge and use the whole can of condensed milk.


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Chocolate Mincemeat Ice Cream

397g can of Condensed Milk
400ml Double Cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g Chocolate Mincemeat *
1 tbsp dark Rum

  • Whisk the condensed milk and cream together until it forms soft peaks
  • Stir in the vanilla, mincemeat and rum until well combined and fruit is evenly distributed
  • Pour into a freezable container and place in the freezer. It will need around 4-6 hours to freeze.
This quantity almost filled 2 x 900ml ice cream containers - one for now and one for Christmas (somehow I don't think it will last that long though!)

* If you're using bought mincemeat and you can see the pieces of suet you will need to heat it to melt the suet first and then allow to cool before using, as I did when I made my mincemeat.


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Tuesday 27 November 2012

Chocolate Mincemeat Slices

With Christmas around the corner my kitchen is smelling all Christmassy with the scents of mixed spice and cinnamon. Last week I made some chocolate mincemeat and here's why. A great alternative to mince pies, especially for those that are not very keen on traditional mincemeat, they're easier than making mince pies, and a whole lot tastier too.

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Chocolate Mincemeat Slices

Shortbread layer
125g Plain Flour
25g Ground almonds
50g Caster sugar
110g Clover block*
zest of 1 orange (tip from Mummy Mishaps)

Mincemeat layer
400g Chocolate mincemeat

Crumble layer
100g Plain Flour
25g Chopped almonds
50g Clover block*
25g Demerara sugar
1/2 tsp mixed spice

  • In a mixer or food processor whizz the shortbread ingredients together until they come together in a ball
  • Press into the base of a greased rectangular baking tin & smooth out - I used one approx 28cm x 17cm
  • Spoon the mincemeat over the shortbread and spread out evenly
  • Whizz the crumble topping ingredients together until they resemble breadcrumbs
  • Spread the crumble evenly over the top of the mincemeat & press down with the back of a fork
  • Bake in a preheated 180 C oven for approx 30-35 minutes, until golden brown
  • Allow to cool in the tin before cutting into slices


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The Clover block used in this recipe is a great alternative to butter, not only does it contain 30% less saturated fat than butter, but it can also easily be used straight from the fridge. It's soft enough to be beaten and used in cakes but also firm enough for shortbread and crumble, as can be seen in this recipe. It's also great for spreading on toast, right out of the fridge. You can find out more about Clover, as well as recipes, on Facebook.


I was provided with Clover block and the cost of the ingredients for this recipe

Monday 19 November 2012

Chicken Fried Rice

I don't claim to be a master of Chinese cooking but this meal is one that my family really likes. It's a great 'Fakeaway' way to use leftover roast chicken, or you can do what I do and cook one especially for making the fried rice. I used to make it years ago by adding the egg straight into the rice but a Chinese lady that I worked with told me to make an omelette with the eggs, slice it & add it to the rice at the end. She also advised to use pre-cooked and cooled rice to make sure that it doesn't stick together. Ever since then that is how I've done it - she wasn't a force to be argued with. You can add as much or as little of the vegetables that you want, and feel free to change for something that you have already in the fridge - peppers, courgettes, broccoli.

Chicken Fried Rice - Serves 4

Cooked & cooled Basmati rice - I cooked 300g of dried rice in the microwave
4 eggs, beaten
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
mushrooms, sliced
Cooked chicken
Dark soy sauce
Frozen sweetcorn & peas


  • Heat a little oil in a large non stick frying pan & make an omelette with the beaten eggs (or 2 smaller ones if your pan is small).
  • Set the omelette aside & slice into strips once cool
  • Heat some oil in a wok and add the onions and garlic & fry for 2 minutes
  • Add the mushrooms & fry for 1-2 minutes
  • Add the cooked chicken & a few good dashes of soy sauce & stir whilst heating
  • Add the sweetcorn & peas & a few more dashes of soy sauce
  • Place a lid on & cook for approx 8-10 minutes until everything is heated through
  • Stir in the rice, along with more soy sauce if needed, and heat through completely
  • Stir in the egg strips before serving



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Festive Florentines

Christmas is coming, there's no getting away from it. Just 5 weeks today we'll be frantically wrapping presents and peeling veg ready for the big day. As usual I'll be giving a few edible homemade gifts, once I figure out what I'm going to be making. The lovely Ruth Clemens from The Pink Whisk (I once travelled with her to a book launch and waffled for most of the journey about nonsense!) has teamed up with Persil to create some festive family recipes. At the weekend I made a variation of her Florentines, which turned out great so I'll definitely be making more just before Christmas to give away as gifts.

I decided to make it even more festive and use dried cranberries, and substituted the flour for ground almonds and added a little ginger.

Festive Florentines - makes 12

50g Golden syrup
50g Stork baking liquid
50g Demerara sugar
50g Ground Almonds
45g Flaked almonds
50g dried Cranberries
50g Sultanas
1 tsp ground Ginger
150g Milk chocolate

  • Preheat the oven to 180 C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
  • Heat the golden syrup, stork baking liquid and sugar in a pan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved
  • Remove from the heat and stir in the ground almonds, flaked almonds, cranberries, sultanas and ginger. Mix well.
  • Spoon onto the baking sheets, spaced well apart - 6 per tray.
  • Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden brown.
  • Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the trays for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Once cooled, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water, or in the microwave on short bursts
  • Coat the back of each florentine with the melted chocolate and allow too set.

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Sunday 18 November 2012

Alternative Christmas Pudding

This year there will be 11 of us for Christmas dinner and, as well as the usual Christmas pudding, I'm probably going to be serving up a couple of other desserts, just in case anyone has any room left. One of the guests is a tad fussy though, but I'm reliable informed that he will eat a chocolate steamed pudding. With this in mind, along with OXO and Mermaid sending me a couple of their new products I've created a chocolate steamed pudding that I hope my fussy guest will approve of. Of course I won't be revealing the secret ingredient to him until after he (hopefully) eats his last mouthful.


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Steamed Avocado & Chocolate Pudding

50g Dark (70%) Chocolate
50ml Double cream
2 medium Avocados (approx 110g of flesh)
tsp lemon juice
110g Soft dark brown sugar
2 Eggs
110g Self Raising flour
20g Cocoa powder
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Chocolate sauce
50g Dark Chocolate 
100ml Double Cream
2 tbsp Golden Syrup

  • Heat the cream and chocolate gently in a microwaveable bowl until chocolate has melted, stir until smooth
  • Place the chocolate/cream into the fridge until almost set
  • In the meantime use an OXO Good Grips Avocado slicer* to scoop out the avocado flesh from the skin and remove the stone.
  • Mash the Avocado with the lemon juice until smooth
  • Beat in the sugar and eggs
  • Stir in the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda & mix well
  • Grease a Mermaid 2 pint pudding basin**
  • Pour half of the mixture into the basin and make a shallow well in the centre
  • Scoop out the (almost) set chocolate/cream mixture and place into the well
  • Cover with the remaining mixture
  • Cover the basin with 2 layers of foil & place in a steamer over boiling water
  • Steam for approx 1 1/4 hours
  • Heat the cream, chocolate & golden syrup gently until the chocolate has melted
  • Turn the pudding out onto a plate and pour the sauce over
Serve with ice cream


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* The OXO good grips avocado slicer is a handy little tool that is invaluable if you eat lots of avocados - it slices through the skin, makes removing the stone easy and then removes the flesh at the same time as slicing it, no matter how ripe your avocado is. This would be great to use when preparing avocados for salads.

** The Mermaid pudding basin is an excellent quality basin, made of hard anodised Aluminium and has a wide rim making it easy to tie string around to make lifting out of a steamer easier. The pudding that I made released easily from the basin, intact.

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I was sent the avocado slicer and pudding basin to use in creating a recipe

Chocolate Mincemeat

I've never made mincemeat before, I think it's been one of those things that has always looked a bit of a faff, probably due to the quantity of ingredients that the recipes usually have. After doing a bit of research though it didn't look like there was much to it so I thought I would give it a go, but adding some chocolate too to make it more appealing to my kids. I would've liked to add some nuts but I know the kids wouldn't eat it if there was big pieces of nuts in so decided to leave them out completely. I had intended to use the mincemeat straight away but ran out of time so I thought I would store it in a jar for a few days - after some more research I found that the best way to do this is to heat the mixture until the suet melts which helps to preserve the ingredients in the mincemeat. I also used vegetable suet so it's suitable for vegetarians.


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Chocolate Mincemeat - makes approx 1kg

500g Dried Mixed Fruit - any combination of fruits you like - I used raisins, sultanas & mixed peel
100g vegetable suet
1 Bramley apple, peeled & grated (approx 100g of apple)
Juice & zest of 1 lemon
Juice & zest of 1 orange
150g demerara sugar
tsp Mixed spice
tsp Ginger
tsp Cinnamon
3 tbsp Dark Rum
60g Dark chocolate (70%), grated

  • Mix all the ingredients together until well combined - & that's it!
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It smells divine - especially the combination of chocolate, rum and orange.

If you do want to store it for longer than a day or two then place the bowl in the microwave or oven (if your bowl is suitable) until the suet has just melted and then pour into a sterilised jar.


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My bowl wasn't suitable for microwave or oven use so I placed it over a pan of boiling water to melt the suet.

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Aunt Bessies Half Term Food Challenge #3

I think it's safe to say that since first seeing the Britmums Half Term Food Challenge I've become a bit of an Aunt Bessie's addict. You see I love a challenge, especially when it involves food, and once I saw that Britmums stated that participants can enter as many times as they like I just don't seem able stop myself. I've found myself perusing the Aunt Bessie's aisles, with the cogs in my brain constantly turning, I can't sleep at night without thinking of Bessie and her helping hands. If she's got a rehab clinic at Yorkshire Pudding Towers then get me to the front of that queue.

During a trip to Sainsbury's I spotted Beef Home Cook Casserole and got a little excited as it's not sold in my usual shopping haunt. I couldn't leave without adding one to my basket....along with a few other Aunt Bessie's essentials.

This has got to be one of the easiest meals I've cooked, ever, and comes with the added benefits of one pot cooking - not much washing up for the husband.


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Beef & Vegetable Chill - serves 2 adults & 2 children

Aunt Bessie's Beef Home Cook Casserole
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 can of kidney beans, drained
2 tbsp Chilli Paste - vary according to taste
200ml water
1 tbsp Cocoa Powder (trust me on this one)

  • Combine all the ingredients (apart from the cocoa powder) in a casserole dish, put the lid on and cook for 45 minutes at 200° C
  • After 45 minutes give it a good stir, add the cocoa powder, replace the lid & cook for a further 45 minutes whilst you prepare the Dumpluffins - a cross between dumplings and muffins (obviously) - lighter than a dumpling, but heavier than a muffin


Cheesy Corn Dumpluffins - makes 6-8

Aunt Bessie's Dumpling Mix
1 small can (140g) of sweetcorn, drained
1 Egg
5 tbsp Sour Cream
50g Grated Mature Cheddar Cheese + extra 25g for the tops
1 tsp mild chilli powder - vary according to taste

This is where it gets fun, and the kids can do this - 

  • put all the ingredients (apart from the extra 25g of cheese) in a large sealable bag and seal 
  • squish everything together until it's all combined
  • cut one of the corners of the bag off & squeeze the mix into a greased muffin pan
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  • Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese over the top 
  • Bake in the oven along with the chilli for the last 15-20 minutes of cooking time, until puffed up and golden


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Serve the chilli with rice and the dumpluffins

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Fruit Yorkshire Crumble Slices

Aunt Bessie's Home bake Yorkshires
300g Frozen Mixed Berries
Aunt Bessie's Tempting Golden Crumble Mix
Aunt Bessie's Creamy Instant custard

  • Remove the frozen yorkshires from their foil cases and arrange in a baking dish (I managed to fit 10 in my baking dish)
  • Scatter the frozen fruit over and around the yorkshires
  • Scatter half of the crumble mix over the fruit
  • Bake in a 220° C oven for 20 minutes
  • Make the custard in a jug with boiling water up to the 325ml level, whisk until smooth
  • Spread the custard evenly over the baked crumble
  • Top with the remaining crumble making sure to cover the custard completely
  • Place back in the oven for a further 20 minutes until golden brown
  • Leave to cool slightly before slicing


Can be served warm or cold


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My husband said this was the best dessert he'd eaten in ages - I'm not sure whether I should be flattered or insulted by that really!



This is my entry for the BritMums #halftermfood, sponsored by Aunt Bessie's

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Tuesday 13 November 2012

Mini Reese's Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cheesecakes

I'm not a fan of Hershey's chocolate in any form....apart from Reese's. Peanut butter cups melt in your mouth with a hint of saltiness, and Nutrageous bars are THE BEST chocolate bar ever - a combination of roasted peanuts, caramel, peanut butter and chocolate, what more could you want in a chocolate bar.

Myself and Emma have challenged ourselves to come up with a mouthwatering recipe using a Reese's product, and share our results. Along the way Leanne has joined in too. I can't wait to see what they've come up with but in the meantime, here's mine. The base is brownie-like and the topping is a variation on a cheesecake recipe I spotted on Pinterest. In hindsight I should've baked them in cases as they were quite difficult to remove from the silicone muffin pan. I also made some in individual jars as I'm trying to find some dessert recipes to make in jars for Christmas - I think I might need smaller jars though as these contain quite a large portion!

Mini Reese's Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cheesecakes

Base
80g Dark chocolate
80g Peanut Butter ( I used smooth)
100g Dark brown sugar
2 Eggs
50g Cocoa powder

Cheesecake
300g Cream cheese
100g Caster sugar
60g Peanut butter (smooth)
2 Eggs
30g Cocoa powder
Reese's miniature peanut butter cups, unwrapped


Topping
Cream cheese
toffees
Dark chocolate spread

  • In a pan melt the chocolate, peanut butter & sugar
  • Remove from heat & allow to cool a little
  • Beat the eggs into the chocolate mixture and stir in the sifted cocoa powder
  • Spoon a tablespoon of mixture into the muffin pans & smooth - I filled 6 muffin cases & 3 jars
  • Place a miniature peanut butter cup on top of the base, pressing down a little

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  • Beat the cream cheese, caster sugar and peanut butter together until smooth
  • Beat in the eggs and then the sifted cocoa powder
  • Pour the cheesecake mixture onto the bases
  • Place the muffin pan into a larger roasting pan & pour boiling water around the sides
  • Bake in a preheated 160 C oven for 20-25 minutes until 'just' baked 
  • Allow to cool fully before removing from the pans
  • For the topping beat equal amounts of melted toffees or dark chocolate spread with cream cheese and spread onto the cheesecakes
  • Decorate as desired - I used a sliced Reese's Nutrageous bar

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Corned Beef Bolognaise

Corned beef is not something that I buy, because I can't stand the stuff. The husband has different views though and often reminisces about the good old days when he enjoyed corned beef & salad cream sandwiches - I still don't buy it though. Can you imagine his joy when I was asked if I would like to receive some to use in creating a recipe or 2. When the cans arrived he immediately popped one in the fridge ready for his sandwiches. 

I decided to use a couple of cans and see how they faired up in a bolognaise. The cans don't have keys on them like I remember and instead now have a ring pull, making them very easy to open. The corned beef is still the same as I remember though and not something that I'll be eating in my sandwiches anytime soon.

Corned Beef Bolognaise

olive oil
chopped onion
sliced mushrooms
sliced peppers
2 garlic cloves
2 cans of Corned Beef, roughly chopped
1 can of chopped tomatoes
mixed herbs
1 tsp Paprika
142g of tomato puree

  • Heat the olive oil in a large pan and fry the onions, mushrooms, peppers & garlic until softened (I used frozen but you can use fresh too)
  • Add the corned beef & mash down
  • Add the tomatoes, herbs, paprika & tomato puree and stir well
  • Place the lid on and simmer until the sauce turns rich and thick
  • Serve with pasta and grated cheese on the top
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This went down very well with everyone, and whilst I didn't dislike it, it's not something I'll be eating on a regular basis, mainly due to the high fat content - but I wouldn't rule it out if we were snowed in and had no access to fresh food!


I was sent 6 cans of Princes corned beef for the purpose of using in recipes

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Chocolate Banoffee Celebration Cake

Twelve years ago today I became a Mum for the first time. Over those very fast twelve years my baby boy has gone from this


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to this.


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A birthday wouldn't be a birthday without a cake so today I've been making one for Sam, he specifically asked for caramel crunch chocolate fingers and no vegetables! Here's what I made


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Chocolate Banoffee Celebration Cake

3 small bananas, mashed (approx 250g)
150g butter, softened
225g soft brown sugar
4 eggs
225g Self Raising flour
40g Cocoa powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

  • Beat the banana, butter & sugar together
  • Add the eggs, one at a time with a little of the flour with each egg
  • Sift in the remaining flour with the cocoa powder & bicarbonate of soda
  • Divide mixture between two 8" sandwich tins & bake in a 180 C oven for approx 25 minutes
  • Remove from tins & cool on a wire rack


Filling, Topping & Decoration

100g Toffees
1 tbsp boiling water
400g Full Fat Cream cheese
220g Dark chocolate spread
1 small banana, thinly sliced
3 boxes of Cadbury's Caramel Crunch chocolate fingers
8 Cadbury's Caramel miniatures

  • Melt the toffees & water in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water
  • When melted, beat until smooth & remove from the heat
  • Beat in the 100g of the cream cheese & set aside
  • Beat the remaining cream cheese with the chocolate spread
  • Spread half of the caramel over the base of one of the cooled sponges & lay slices of banana on top
  • Spread the other half of the caramel over the base of the other sponge and sandwich them together
  • Cover completely with the chocolate topping & arrange fingers around the sides
  • Decorate with the remaining fingers and halved chocolate caramels


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    (I've just double checked & I definitely put 12 candles on the cake...one of them must have been hiding!)
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Monday 5 November 2012

Let's Get Cooking with Flora Cuisine

Flora Cuisine have recently launched a new cookery book which contains everyday recipes from Mum's & Dad's around the country. The book was created with chef Jean Christophe Novelli's favourite recipes from a competition run earlier in the year on their Facebook page.

The book includes a range of recipes including cakes and cookies as well as savoury dishes.

At the moment Flora are running a competition where you can win a weeks worth of family dinners as well as a copy of the cookbook. You just need to download a copy of the book and try one of the recipes out and send a bite-size recipe review. You can read more about the competition here, as well as downloading a copy of the great little book.

I was challenged by Flora to cook one of the recipes from the book for my own family and share my thoughts. I was sent the ingredients for Keralan Prawn Biriyani and although I'm not that keen on prawns my husband and daughter love them, so I was happy to give it a go.

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Keralan Prawn Biriyani

  • Preparation time

    30 minutes
  • Cooking time

    20–25 minutes
  • Serves

    4–6
  • Course

    Mains and soups
  • Main ingredient

    Fish

Ingredients:


Masala

  • 500g raw tiger prawns, peeled
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • Salt
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 3 tbsps ginger paste
  • 3 tbsps garlic paste
  • 2–3 green chillies, left whole but slit vertically
  • 2 tsps ground coriander
  • 125ml water
  • 2 tbsps lemon juice
  • 10 chopped mint leaves or 1 tsp mint sauce
  • 1 ½ tsps garam masala
  • 5 sprigs of chopped coriander leaves or 2 tsp coriander paste

Rice

  • 350g basmati rice
  • 3 tbsps Flora Cuisine
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 1250ml water
  • Salt

Garnish

  • Roasted cashew nuts, optional
  • Fried raisins, optional
  • Fried onions, optional

Preparation:

1. Toss the prawns with chilli, turmeric and salt and set aside to marinate for 20 minutes.

2. Now cook the rice. Pour the water in a pot and add 350g of rice to it. Cook in the microwave at full power for 20 minutes. 

3. Meanwhile, heat the Flora Cuisine in a non-stick frying pan. Add in the onion and fry, stirring, until softened. Take the rice pot from microwave, mix in the fried onion with salt to taste and resume cooking the rice in the microwave for the remaining time.

4. In the same frying pan, fry the marinated prawns in 2 batches. Fry each batch of prawns on one side for 4–5 minutes, then turn the prawns and fry for another minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a kitchen towel.

5. Using the same pan, fry the onion for prawn masala till light brown. Add ginger paste, garlic paste and green chillies and mix in. Add in ground and fresh chopped coriander, 125ml water, salt, the fried prawns, lemon juice, mint and garam masala and simmer gently.

6. Once the rice is cooked through, use a fork to fluff it up. Lightly mix the rice and the prawn masala together and garnish with roasted cashew nuts, raisins and fried onions. Serve with yogurt raita, hot pickle and poppadoms. 



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This dish was really easy to prepare and turned out really well. I never normally cook rice in the microwave and I was really surprised how well it turned out. I often end up overcooking rice in a pan but this method of cooking it makes it easier to make sure it doesn't get overcooked. I was sent cooked prawns so I just added them towards the end of cooking.

There was a 'cook's tip' at the bottom of the recipe suggesting to layer everything up and bake for an additional amount of time, which I did, which allows the rice to soak up the sauce. I scattered some raisins and almonds over the dish and served it with yoghurt and mint raita.

The dish was full of flavour and I even ate the prawns, but I couldn't convince Sam to try one - although he did say he would for £10! He did eat a plateful of rice and sauce (minus prawns) and gave it the thumbs up, as did the husband an Hanna, who absolutely loved it all.

I will definitely make this Biriyani again but next time I'll probably use chicken so everyone can enjoy the complete dish.


I was sent a copy of the cookbook and all ingredients needed to cook the dish, for the purpose of this post

Aunt Bessie's Half Term Challenge #2

This is my second entry into the BritMums #Halftermfood Linky Challenge with Aunt Bessies. You can find my previous entry here. This is a nice easy, but tasty, meal that the whole family enjoyed. Ready made Yorkshire Puddings are a great addition to a meal as they only take a few minutes to crisp up in the oven. We all love the Aunt Bessies Roasted Vegetable stuffing mix so I thought combining it with cheese would make a tasty pie filling.

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Cheesy Vegetable Yorkshire Pies - serves 4-6
Prep time : 5 minutes
Cooking Time : 25 minutes

Aunt Bessie's Large Yorkshires (6)
Aunt Bessie's Roasted Vegetable Stuffing Mix
200g Feta Cheese
50g Cheddar Cheese, grated
Aunt Bessie's Homestyle Chips
Salad
  • Make the stuffing up as per directions on the back, adding the butter and mixing well
  • Crumble in the Feta cheese & mix well
  • Arrange the Yorkshires in a baking dish & load up with the stuffing mix
  • Top with grated cheese, cover with foil & bake in a 200°C oven for 25 minutes, removing the foil for the last 5 minutes of cooking time
  • Serve with Aunt Bessies Homestyle Chips & Salad
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Raspberry & White Chocolate Pancake Stack - Serves 4
Preparation Time : 2 minutes
Cooking Time : 4 minutes

Aunt Bessie's Perfect Pancakes
Aunt Bessie's Instant Custard
100g White Chocolate
200g Ice Cream
200g Frozen (& thawed) raspberries

  • Place the pancakes on a microwaveable plate & heat in the microwave for 4 minutes
  • Meanwhile make the custard up as directed on the pack & stir in the chocolate until melted
  • Layer the pancakes up with the ice cream, raspberries & custard
  • Cut into quarters & serve
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This is my entry for the BritMums #halftermfood, sponsored by Aunt Bessie's

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Friday 2 November 2012

Bonfire Night Treats

With Halloween now over it's time for bonfires and fireworks so here are some quick and easy treats to that the kids will enjoy both making and eating.


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Chocolate Covered Apples

You will need :

Apples
Lollipop sticks
Chocolate flavoured cake covering
Sprinkles

  • Wash & dry the apples
  • Stick the sticks into the apples almost all the way through
  • Melt the cake covering in a microwave on short bursts, stirring every 20-30 seconds
  • Dip the apples into the chocolate to  cover completely
  • Decorate with sprinkles
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Breadstick Sparklers

You will need :

Breadsticks
Chocolate Covered Cake covering
Sprinkles


  • Melt the cake covering in a microwave on short bursts, stirring every 20-30 seconds
  • Dip the breadsticks into the chocolate - doing it in a narrow container will help to get more of the breadstick covered
  • Decorate with sprinkles




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