Baked Egg Custard

I’m afraid this is another of Nigella’s but I halved it in order to stave off my greediness!

Ingredients:

1/2 pint of milk
25g sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Nutmeg

Method:
Preheat oven to 150 degrees.
Butter a dish big enough to hold the mixture.
Whisk together eggs, sugar and vanilla.
Heat milk til hot (not boiling). Whisk into egg mix.
Pour through a sieve into dish.
Put dish in bain marie.
Cook in oven for about an hour.

This is the perfect comforting Sunday night dessert. Eat warm and then cold the day after, mmmm….

Pan Fried Salmon with Noodles in a Barbeque Glaze

Bubble and Squeak

I made the bubble and squeak last night for dinner but I had a little left today so made it into a nifty little lunch, this stuff tastes even better the day after.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 Potatoes

Half a swede

Quarter of a Savoy cabbage

I onion

1 Leek

Salt and Pepper

Method:

Boil the potatoes and swede until tender and mashable.

Fry the onions and leeks til soft and golden.

Mash the potatoes and swede.

Shred the cabbage and mix in with the potatoes and swede then add mix to the pan with the onions and leeks.

Fry, squash, flip, fry.  Make sure you encorporate all the lovely crispy bits, then flatten and squash to create a crusty base and flip to crispin up the other.

Serve alone, with a fried egg, some bacon, sausages or use your imagination and accompany with something  else.

Easy peasy, bubble and squeak, squeak, squeak!

Pear, Chocolate and Bread Pudding

Another bread pudding I know!  It’s this flipping gluten free bread it goes stale so quickly and I wouldn’t want to waste it now would I?!

Ingredients:

Serves 3/4 normal people 2 greedy pigs!

A quarter of a gluten free loaf (I used Genius but you could use anything, i’m sure a nice brioche or stale baguette would be lovely too)

Half a pint of milk

2 Eggs

A teaspoon of vanilla extract

Two dessert spoons of sugar and a heaped teaspoon for dusting with

About 1 tinned pear chopped

About a third of a bar of dark chocolate

Method:

Pre heat oven to 150 degrees.

Cut the bread into cubes and put into ovenproof dish.

Sprinkle over and mix in between the chocolate, broken up into little chunks, and the pear.

Whisk up the eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla extract.

Pour custard mixture over bread til almost full.

I then weighed mine down for a ten or so min with a lid to make sure all the bread cubes got a thorough soak, if you can be more patient wait longer and leave in fridge until needed.

Place pudding dish in a larger pan or dish and fill with jusy boiled water (bain marie).

Sprinkle over teaspoon of sugar to creat crunchy top.

Put in the oven for 45/60 min until just set.

Leave to cool slightly before eating, remember I burnt my tongue last time!

Crispy Squid

Ingredients:
Squid rings, I used frozen from my beloved Wing Yips and defrosted in a bowl of water but I’m sure fresh would be lovely, much easier this way though!
Cornflour
Paprika
Salt
Ground black pepper
Oil for frying

Sweet Chilli sauce to serve.

Method:
Mix cornflour, paprika, salt and pepper in a bowl.
Toss squid through until evenly coated.
Heat oil in large frying pan, about a cm deep.
Check temperature by throwing a cube of bread in oil, if it bubbles and begins to golden then it’s ready.
Gently put rings in oil, don’t overload, best to do in batches. Fry for about a min or so until crispy and golden. Be careful not to overcook as they end up like rubber!  Drain on kitchen towel and plate up.
Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

Chinese Roast Duck Salad

I went on a little trip to Wing Yips Chinese Supermarket yesterday in search of few little oriental bits and with the desire to purchase some roast duck.  Sometimes the urge just grabs me!  Anyways big up to Wing Yips, I love this place.  I grew up in Birmingham with the luxury of the one in Duddeston which was a short drive away and am very lucky to have a super chef dad who would take me to wonder round the aisles of new and exotic foodstuffs.  I always remember him pointing out the live lobsters in the tanks and looking at all the strange and wonderful products.  As a result my first knife was a clever (super massive knife, great for intimidating silly boys with! B watch out!) from there and I love going round the place whenever I get chance.  The one I go to now is in Croydon off Purley Way.  It has a lovely chinese restaurant in the complex called Tai Tung which always seems to be busy whatever the day or time.  Anyway it is in this restaurant you can buy the most delicious roast duck to take away, just like the bronzed and laquered ones you see hanging in Chinese restaurants and cafes in Soho.  So after my wander round the aisles of Wing Yips I popped in to purchase half a roast duck. 

Chinese Roast Duck Salad

Ingredients:

Roast Duck from Tai Tung (or roast a duck breat or two making sure you crisp that skin up)

Baby Spinach

Spring Onions, Sliced into strips or chopped (you choose)

(I didn’t put these in because i was limited by the contents of my fridge but would suggest adding sliced cucumber and some shaved carrots (speed peeler).)

Dressing Ingredients:

A spoonful of plum sauce

A splash of the super rich and delicious gravy given to me by the roast dick chef at Tai Tung.  (a subsitute of soy and a splash of sesame oil would prob do the trick, but please if you ever get the opportunity try this stuff.)

A splash of balamic

The juice from a clementine

Method:

Cut the duck into strips and add to bowl.

Add spring onions, and other salad ingredients.

Mix together dressing, i know i’m crap at measurements but live a little and experiment, taste your way and you’ll work it out!

Pour dressing over salad.  Toss.

Serve.

This is like Duck and Pancakes without the pancakes and really moreish.

Enjoy…

Stuffed Butternut Squash

Recipe stolen and slightly tweaked from Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall’s ‘River Cottage Everday’.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, sliced into two halves
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 generous knobs of butter
A drizzle of olive oil
A teaspoon each of chopped thyme, basil and marjoram
A couple a spoonfuls of creme fraiche
Salt and pepper

Method:
Pre heat oven to 190 degrees.
Wash, split and scoop out seeds from squash
Place two halves in tray.
Spinkle chopped garlic in to the holes of the squash.
Add a knob of butter to each hole.
Drizzle squash with oil.
Cook in oven for about 45 min or until squash is tender.
Scoop out flesh leaving a little round sides to hold shape.
Mash flesh in bowl with herbs, creme fraiche and plenty of seasoning.
Return mixture to squash skins and grate on some Parmesan cheese.
Put back in oven for ten min.
Serve.

Sweet Potato Wedges

Fairly healthy snack, very yummy too!

Ingredients:
Sweet potatoes
Oil ( I use olive or if feeling v healthy that spray stuff)
A sprinkle of paprika
Salt
Creme fraiche and sweet chilli sauce to dunk into

Method:
Cut the sweet potatoes into wedges.
Place in a tray and drizzle with oil.
Shake on some paprika and salt.
Mix about a bit making sure all the wedges are coated in the oil.
Bake in a hot oven (220degrees) for about twenty five min.
Keep checking and turning to ensure even cooking and crispyness.
Serve with creme fraiche and sweet chilli sauce. Yum, yum….

Fennel, potato and leek soup

Ingredients:
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 leek, sliced
1 bulb of fennel, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1 veg stock cube
Boiling water
Creme fraiche
Salt and pepper
Bacon to serve (optional)

Method:
Sweat all the veg (except potatos) in a pan for about ten min or bung in a covered bowl with a little oil in the microwave for same time.
Transfer to pot fry gently for a minute then add potato.
Cover with boiling water and add stock cube.
Simmer for ten min until potato is soft.
Blend mixture.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add big spoonful of creme fraiche and stir.
Serve with a little blob of creme fraiche and for extra indulgenge some crispy bacon bits.

Braised Beef Brisket