Figs With Sherry Cream

This was a successful dessert after today's unsuccessful dinner. I made devilled mushrooms - it was edible and the sauce was very tasty but it just didn't go very well with the mushrooms and as I was eating it I was thinking how good it would have been with eggs or some Cauldron vegetarian sausages. I'll write about that another day. Anyway, back to the dessert, I bought some figs on special offer at the weekend and they really needed using so I baked them with honey and made a Spanish inspired cream flavoured with dry sherry and almonds.


Figs With Sherry Cream (serves two)

Four Figs
2 dssp runny honey
100ml double cream
Handful of almonds, halved
1 dssp dry sherry


1) Pre-heat the oven to 220c. Now slice across and down the middle of the figs without cutting right through the bottom of the figs. Place the figs in a small roasting tray, drizzle with the honey and put them in the oven for 10 minutes.
2) Meanwhile beat the cream with a mixer until it is thick and stands in peaks. Then stir in the sherry and almonds, saving a few whole ones back to present on top of the cream.
3) Serve two figs per person with a generous dollop of cream and the pan juices spooned over the top.

Roasting figs in honey releases this gorgeous pink liquid which tastes so good. It's a bit messy this pudding but in a good way. The sherry and the almonds give a great flavour to the cream, too.

Chicken Noodle Salad

If yesterday's chinese had a bit of the tacky chinese takeway about it then this is the modern, healthier side of the country's cuisine. And after a few days of lard it's good to return to the healthy eating plan. This is seriously healthy as the chicken for this salad is steamed. The first time I made this I tried smothering the meat in Szechuan peppercorns but because it was steamed I just ended up crunching on peppercorns. This is my second attempt, this time made with Earl Great teabags. These are optional - they only lightly perfume the chicken but it does smell nice when you lift the lid off your steamer.




Chicken Noodle Salad (Serves Two)

2 chicken breasts, skinned
2 inches of root ginger, thinly sliced
3 Earl Grey tea bags
salt and pepper
Chinese Leaf, shredded (you need about half a head)
2 portions of egg noodles
4 radishes, sliced
6 spring onions
1 red pepper
4 tbsp groundnut oil (or any other flavourless oil)
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 inch root ginger, grated
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely sliced (optional)

1) Put three tea bags in the bottom of your steamer, pour some boiling water over the top, put the top half of the steamer in place and stick the lid on.
2) Meanwhile make some slashes in the chicken breasts and put a thin slice of ginger in each pocket. Season both breasts with salt and pepper and put them in the top half of the steamer for 10-15 minutes until cooked through. You can take them out after 10 to check.
3) While the chicken is steaming, prepare your salad. First put the noodles on to boil for four minutes (or according to pack instructions). When they're ready, drain in a colander and put them under the cold water tap until they're cool.
4) Now shred the chinese leaf, cut the red pepper into large chunks and slice four of the spring onions. As for the other two, slice them lengthways. Put everything in a large bowl
5) When the chicken is ready, remove from the steamer and leave for a few minutes before cutting into large cubes and adding to the salad bowl.
6) Finally make the dressing. Just put the garlic, ginger and chilli (if using) in a measuring jug, add the oil and vinegar and give it a good stir with a fork. Pour over the salad and give it all a good mix to coat the salad in the dressing. divide between bowls and serve.

Out of all the salads I've made so far this is my favourite. You've got crunch from the chinese leaf, pepper and radishes, then there's the soft noodles and tender, aromatic chicken. Finally you've got a dressing which is punchy but doesn't overpower the chicken. Not sure if the tea bags do that much apart from make the kitchen smell nice but you could try tea-smoking the chicken or even poaching it in green tea. In fact I might try that next week. Watch this space...

Pork With Plum Sauce

I bought some plums on Saturday and made a chinese-style sauce to go with the leftover pork from Sunday's roast. Once again this doesn't fit into my healthy eating plan and it's not just because of the fatty meat. The plum sauce has quite a lot of sugar in it but it is always satisfying making a sauce that you usually find in a jar or a packet. I made some tomato ketchup last year and I think I enjoyed it all the more for the extra effort that had gone into making it.


Pork With Plum Sauce (serves 2)

400g roasted pork, shredded or diced (I used the rest of the belly I cooked on Sunday but you coould stir fry some diced lean for five minutes)
450g plums, halved and stones removed
110g caster sugar
100ml white wine vinegar
150ml cold water
1tsp grated ginger
2 red chillies, halved and seeds removed
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 tsp chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
1 inch ginger, grated
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp cornflour, mixed with a little water
Egg noodles

1) First make the plum sauce. Put the plums, caster sugar, white wine vinegar, water and chillies in a saucepan, bring up to a merry simmer and cook for twenty minutes. The sauce won't be thick as you might expect but the cornflour will take care of that later. Now press through a sieve to get rid of the chillies and plum skin.
2) Now stir fry the carrot and celery in some groundnut oil for a couple of minutes. Then add the ginger and garlic and cook for a further minute. Add a teaspoon of rice wine and soy sauce and cook for another minute before adding the pork and about a third of the plum sauce (store the rest in the fridge. It'll last for a couple of weeks). You want enough sauce to come up just beneath the level of rest of the ingredients. Add the cornflour mix to the sauce and just warm through until thickened.
3) Meanwhile put the noodles on to boil for four minutes. Serve in bowls with the pork spooned over the top.

If you still enjoy the sort of chinese food you ate as a kid this is for you. As with apple sauce, this plum sauce works well with the fatty meat but it is rather sweet so it might not be to everyone's taste. As for the rest of the sauce you can use it with duck which I think it might be best suited to. Apologies for the picture. It doesn't make it appear very appetising!

Roast Pork Belly

Sorry to quote myself but I did say when I started this blog that I would treat myself to the odd high-fat dinner. Well this probably takes my quota for the month up as it'sone of the fattiest things I've eaten since I started writing about food. I only really made it because my Mum had given me some bramley apples that needed using. Also I thought I could use the leftovers in a seasonal chines plum sauce.

Roast Pork Belly (serves 4)

1.3kg Pork belly, scored
Lots of thyme leaves (about 4-6 sprigs)
4-6 sage leaves
2 onions, sliced
4 bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced
Juice of half a lemon
Juice of half an orange
1 tbsp caster sugar
Spinach and new potatoes to serve

1) When you buy the meat ask the butcher to score the skin for you. He should cut plenty of vertical slices in the fat. Then rub salt and pepper and thyme leaves into the cracks. Break up the sage leaves and rub those in too.
2) Pre-heat the oven to 220c, put the belly in a roasting dish and roast for half an hour. At this point a lot of juices will have been released from the pork and will start to caramelise on the bottom of the pan. A bit of this is okay but if you leave the meat sitting in it for the entire roasting time, the bottom of the meat will get too crusty. So, after the initial blast, lift the pork out of the tin, place the onion slices on the bottom and rest the meat on top.
3) Now turn the oven down to 180c and continue roasting for another hour. You should have some crackling on top of the pork and the juices should run clear when prodded with a skewer. Leave to rest for 15 minutes.
4) Meanwhile make the apple sauce. Core, peel and slice the apples and place them in a bowl with the lemon juice to prevent them from discolouring. Then put them in a small saucep;an with the sugar and cook until the apple has turned into a puree.
4) With about five minutes to go until the pork is done, put the new potatoes on to boil. When they're ready, drain them and put a knob of butter into the pan. Once melted, season with salt and pepper and lightly crush them with the back of a fork.
6) Finally put the spinach in a collander and pour boiling water on top of it until it has slightly wilted.
7) Cut the pork into thick slices and serve on topof the potatoes with some apple sauce and spinach on the side.

Unfortunately, because I didn't ask the butcher to score the meat properly, the crackling didn't crisp up enough. If this happens you can either whack the oven temperature up to the top and put the meat back in until you have good crackling. Or you can do what I did and remove the 'crackling' from the meat and put it straight in the oven. I'm not that big a fan of crackling so it wasn't a disaster for me. The pork is so soft and juicy it is comforting Sunday evening food of the highest order. Youw ill need a bit of apple sauce with each mouthful to cut through the juicy fat.

Smoked Mackerel Salad

After having curry and cake with Mum at the weekend it was back to the healthy eating in the week. Well, kind of - I did go have a hot dog from the shop next to the Market Porter before the Norwich V Chelsea game on Tuesday. And then there was dinner (and lots of wine) at Mildred's on Wednesday. Oh, and not forgetting the curries I had on Friday (Bawarchi) and Saturday (Sagar). Although at least Friday's curry was just some grilled chicken made with coriander, lemon leaves and all sorts of spices. Saturdays vegetarian curry was quite light too. Anyway, enough justification - here's the salad



Smoked Mackerel Salad (Serves 2)

2 smoked mackerel fillets, skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 handfuls of mini plum tomatoes
4 spring onions,sliced
250g mixed salad leaves (I had mustard leaves, red chard and mizuna)
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt and pepper

1) Not much to this. Half the tomatoes, slice the spring onions and skin and cut the mackerel into bite-sized pieces. Put in a bowl with the salad leaves.
2) Next make the dressing. Put the olive oil, mustard and vinegar in a jug, blend thoroughly with a fork and season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and divide into two bowls.

This is all about the quality of the mackerel and salad leaves. Buy some horrible peppered mackerel and some iceberg lettuce and this will be pretty boring. However with naturally smoke mackerel and some interesting, peppery salad leaves and this will be great. Then it's just about matching the flavours. I had mustard leaves, tomatoes and wholegrain mustard because they go very well with the oily mackerel and can stand up to the smokiness.

Pineapple Upside-Down Pudding

I saw this on the menu at Mildred's, a vegetarian restaurant in Soho. It's quite an old-school pudding - the kind of thing I used to be forced to make in food technology. Only then we just used a tin of pineapple rings and, if you were lucky, some glace cherries. I tried to update it a little with fresh fruit, mint and a pineapple juice syrup that I poured over the sponge when it was cooked.









Pineapple Upside-Down Pudding (Serves 6-8)

1 medium pineapple
Handful of fresh mint
4 tbsp caster sugar
110g butter, softened
110g caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
110g self-raising flour, sifted
4 tbsp caster sugar
8 tbsp pineapple juice
Greek yoghurt, mixed with a tablespoon of honey

1) Pre-heat the oven to 200c. Grease a sandwich tin.
2) Now for the pineapple. Cut off the peel, getting rid of any black bits. Cut it into quarters and slice out the core. Then cut the pineapple into one inch slices. Chop the mint and put in a pestle and mortar with the sugar. Give it a good bashing until it is all combined and put it in the bowl with the pineapple, Mix it all around with your hands and place the slices in the bottom of the sandwich tin. Set aside.
3) Now for the sponge. Cream the butter and sugar together with a mixer until light and fluffy. Then with the mixer running, just add a little beaten egg at a time. Fold in the sifted flour. Spoon the sponge mixture over the top of the pineapple and place in the oven for 40 minutes. Do check it after about half an hour though. If it is spongey to touch and a skewer comes out clean it is done.
4) While the sponge is cooking you can make the pineapple syrup. Just put the pineapple juice and the rest of the sugar in a small pan, turn the heat up and cook until it has reduced to a syrupy consistency. When the sponge is ready, prick holes in the top with a skewer and spoon the syrup over a tablespoon at a time. It will soak into the holes.
5) Invert a plate over the top of the sandwich tin and flip it over to turn it out. Serve with spoonful of yoghurt mixed with honey.

It's not often that I make deserts, let alone one using my own recipe so I was quite pleased with this. There's something so satisfying about turning out an upside-down pudding. It didn't feel heavy after the roast monkfish as the pineapple and mint tastes so fresh. Also, thanks to the pineapple juice syrup, the sponge was quite moist and sweet. It was a good end to great weekend with my Mum. Interestingly, when I went Mildred's in the week, it wasn't on the menu any more so I had passion fruit creme brulee instead - that's another pudding I'll have to make...

Roast Monkfish

My Mum came over last weekend to see The Merchant Of Venice at The Globe for which I'd bought tickets for her birthday. On Saturday night we went for a great curry at Bawarchi in Kensal Rise (one of my favourite Indian restaurants in London). Then on Sunday, Mum wanted to go to the Queen's Park farmer's market so I bought some food for lunch. I went for some Monkfish as Mum loves fish but doesn't get to eat it at home all that often (or at least without my Dad complaining about the smell). We had it with new potatoes and green beans followed by pineapple and mint upside-down pudding.


Roast Monkfish (serves 2)

2x 200g monkfish fillets, skinned and pink membrane removed (ask the fishmonger to do this. Foolishly I didn't)
Rosemary, one spring
Thyme, couple of springs
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove
New potatoes (enough for two)
Green beans (enough for two)
Handful of flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped

1) Pre-heat the oven to 200c. Put the potatoes onto boil for 15-20 minutes. Then heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add the thyme leaves, rosemary, unpeeled garlic clove and the monkfish and brown on all sides for four minutes.
2) Tip the whole lot into an oven-proof dish and roast for 10-12 minutes until it is cooked through. While this is cooking you can put your green beans on for five to seven minutes, depending on how well you like them to be cooked.
3) Remove the fish from the dish, put it on a plate and cover with foil. Now squeeze the garlic out with the back of a fork and add this with a handful of chopped parsley to the potatoes. Then pour over the juices from the fish and lightly crush with the back of a fork. Spoon the potatoes onto a plate, put the monkfish on top and serve with some green beans on the side.

I made this while Mum was out weeding the garden. I wasn't going to use the herbs but as while I was out in the back I picked some and put them in with the fish. As monkfish is quite meaty it can take some robust herbs. I think I do prefer more delicate fish than monkfish but the flavours were good and it was a nice late summer lunch.

Pindi Chana

This is my attempt at making a version of a chickpea curry I had at an Indian restaurant in Marylebone called Cinnamon Spice. This was a pretty standard curry house but it had one thing on the menu that stood out from the usual mix of Jalfrezis and Bhunas and this was it. Mainly because of the inclusion of sun-dried mango which sweetened the nutty chickpeas. I first made this on the Saturday before the barbecue but stupidly added chilli powder which overpowered the fragrant chickpeas. So I tried it again when Jim, Andrew and Steve came over for the England V Russia match. It's quite a dry curry so it works well with a tarka dal and rice

Pindi Chana (Serves 4)

250g dried chickpeas
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
4 cardamom pods
1 tea bag
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 inch of root ginger, grated
1 green bird's-eye chilli, finely chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp garam masala
2 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1 tbsp tamarind paste
400g cooked new potatoes
4 dried mango slices, sliced thinly
Handful of coriander leaves, chopped

1) Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of water. The next day, drain the chickpeas and cover them with 1.5 litres of fresh cold water, adding the teabag, cloves, cinnamon stick and cardamoms. Cook for one hour until softened. You can cook the potatoes at this stage too. Just cut themin half and boil for 15-20 minutes.
2) Drain the chickpeas, reserving the water. Then fry the onion in some groundnut or sunflower oil for 15 minutes. Then add the garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for a further minute.
3) Meanwhile dry-roast the cumin and coriander seeds in a frying pan for a minute. Grind in a spice or coffee grinder or a pestle and mortar and add to the pan with the garam masala. Cook for futher minute.
4) Next add the tomatoes and the chickpeas to the pan with the reserved flavoured water and season with salt and pepper. When the tomatoes have disintegrated, add the potatoes and continue cooking until the sauce has reduced right down. Add the mango slices and potatoes and heat through for a few minutes before throwing in the coriander leaves right at the end.

Tarka Dal

2 tbsp groundnut oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2 garlic cloves, crushed
10 fenugreek seeds
1 inch root ginger, grated
150g red lentils
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 pint water
2 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1 tbsp tamarind paste
Hanful of chopped coriander
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala

1) Heat one tablespoon of oil in a saucepan, add the onion and cook for 10 minutes. Next add the mustard seeds, cover the pan and cook until they pop. Then add the garlic and ginger and continue cooking for a further minute.
2) Now add the spices and salt and cook for another minute before adding the tomato puree and heating through for a further minute.
3) Next add the lentils, tamarind paste and tomatoes and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the lentils are cooked.
4) Finally, to make the tarka bit, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a frying pan, add the chilli powder and garam masala and keep on the heat for a minute before adding it to the dal along with the coriander.

I put the curries and the rice on the table and as the boys helped themselves I couldn't help but think it was all a bit Joliver. I could imagine him saying "You get the lads around for the football and make a curry." I always complained that no one does this but now I have. At least the food was tasty. From start the finish the Pindi Chana appears to take along time but once the chickpeas are softened it takes hardly any time to cook. It was so much better without the chilli powder, too. This is a very fragrant dish and it smells fantastic. The tea gives the chickpeas a pleasing dark colour, too. One of my finer curries.

Lamb Burger

My plan for the barbecue was to make sure I wasn't left with a freezerful of burgers and sausages that would be left there for months until eventually being thrown away. Despite this aim I was still left with a bit of chicken tikka and some lamb from the souvlaki. I used some chicken in a roll for lunch but I gave the lamb a quick blitz in the food processor and served it with a bit of leftover pesto and yoghurt








Lamb Burger (serves 5)

1kg diced lamb shoulder or leg
4 garlic cloves, crushed
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 tbsp fresh oregano
2 tsp dried oregano
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
50g basil
1 tbsp pine nuts
1 garlic clove
6 tbsp olive oil
25g parmesan, grated
6 tbsp natural yoghurt
5 wholemeal baps


1) I used leftovers for the souvlaki for this. To make souvlaki you need to marinade the lamb with the garlic, lemon juice, oregano (dried & fresh), olive oil and pepper. Leave overnight.
2) Now you need to make the pesto. Put the basil in the blender with the pine nuts, garlic clove and olive oil. Blend until you have a smooth paste and then stir in the parmesan. As for the yogurt, add it a tablespoon at a time until you are happy with the consistency and the taste.
3) Now put the lamb in the food processor and pulse it. You don't want a meat paste, just something you can form into a patty. Then take 200g of meat per person and shape it into a ball before flattening into a burger shape. Now fry in some olive oil for five minutes on each side. Serve in a bap with a little of the basil and pesto spooned over the top.

I think this was even nicer than the kebabs and on a par with the forest burger I made for the barbecue. Obviously the lamb had been in the marinade for even longer so it had a fresh lemon and herby flavour but it didn't overpower the taste of the meat. I think burgers are all about getting the right toppings - too often I go for cheese or bacon which can be greasy but the yoghurt and pesto topping seemed clean and healthy even if it wasn't! I served it with some lovely tomatoes from John & Helen's garden and a bit of leftover potato salad. Proof that leftovers can be great as long as they're treated with respect.

Barbecue

I'm quite lucky to have a garden in London but I can't say I use it that often. This summer I could use the weather as an excuse but it's not as if I spent a lot of time lying around in the garden last year. So a few weeks ago I invited lots of my friends around to have a barbecue. I'd done this the year before and asked people to bring their own burgers and stuff. This year, influenced by the amazing barbecue Alex did for Beth's birthday in Bath, I decided to prepare the barbecued food myself while Lisa supplied the cupcakes (or buns as we call them in Norfolk). It seemed like a good plan although sporting events and tofu searching got in the way of food preparation on Saturday afternoon meaning I was up until 1 on Sunday morning making marinades. Still it was worth it.

Souvlaki (Makes 6-8 kebabs)

1kg diced lamb shoulder or leg
4 garlic cloves, crushed
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 tbsp fresh oregano
2 tsp dried oregano
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

1) Put the lamb in a bowl and mix it with the rest of the ingredients apart from the salt.
2) Soak wooden skewers in hot water to sterilise them. Then thread the meat on the skewers, season with salt and cook over the barbecue (or you can do them under the grill) for nine minutes, turning regularly to prevent them from burning. I have served these in pitta bread with moutabal but I was having a burger later on in the afternoon and too much bread can spoil a barbecue for me!

Beefburgers With Mushroom and Pesto

1.6kg chuck steak or, if you can't be bothered making your own, 8 Sainsbury's Taste The Difference burgers
8 Portabella mushrooms
50g basil
1 tbsp pine nuts
1 garlic clove
6 tbsp olive oil
25g parmesan, grated

1) Making the burgers. I've done this before. All you need to do is trim any gristly bits from the meat, take 200g per person, roll it into a ball and then flatten it into a burger shape. All good but, to be honest, Sainsbury's Taste The Difference burgers are just as good and it will be cheaper to buy eight of these.
2) Once you've got the burgers ready, you need to make the pesto. For this you just need to put everything apart from the parmesan in a blender. Then when you have a smooth sauce, stir in the parmesan.
3) Now for the mushrooms. Take out the stalks, brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. If you have a big enough barbecue (I don't) you can put the mushroomd on about five minutes before you start cooking the burgers. If not, just put them under the grill.
4) Now for the burgers. Season both sides with salt and pepper and put them on the barbecue. Turn after four minutes and season again. They should be ready in another four minutes.
5) So put the burger in a roll, top with one mushroom and barely a teaspoonful of pesto.

Chicken/Tofu Tikka Kebabs

500g tofu, cut into chunky cubes. OR 4 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
Pinch of salt
Juice of one lemon
6 tbsp plain yoghurt

1) Another easy one. Make sure you sterilise your skewers in hot water for 30 minutes. Then mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, add the chicken or tofu and get it all covered with the marinade. Leave in the fridge over night.
2) Thread onto skewers and put on the barbecue. You need to turn the tofu or chicken regularly to prevent the yoghurt from burning. The tofu is done when it has browned and has gone a bit crusty on the edges. For the chicken, the juices should run clear and it shouldn't be pink in the middle. This should take about 10-15 minutes.

Jerk Haloumi (serves four)
500g Haloumi, cut into thick slices
3 tbsp groundnut oil
3 tbsp Walkerswood Jerk seasoning
Wholemeal pitta bread
3 tbsp mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lemon
1 carrot, cut in half lengthways and finely sliced
1 celery stick, finely sliced
1 red onion, cut in half and finely sliced
Handful of flatleaf parsley
1) Cut the Haloumi into thick slices. They need to be big enough to ensure that they don't fall through the bars of the barbecue grill. Then mix the olive oil with the jerk seasoning and gently mix the haloumi slices with the marinade with your hands. Set aside for a couple of hours.
2) Now make some coleslaw by mixing the mayonnaise with the lemon juice, carrot, celery, onion and parsley.
3) To barbecue the haloumi you just need to get it on when it's really hot. All it needs to do is brown on either side but you don't want it to blacken. Then just serve about three slices per person in a pitta with some coleslaw.


Potato Salad
450g sweet potato, peeled and cut into large-ish chunks
450g waxy potatoes (I used Vivaldi), halved
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
125ml mayonnaise
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tsp Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red onion, finley chopped
100g kidney beans
salt and pepper
handful chopped parsley
1 green chilli, sliced

1) Boil the potatoes for 20 minutes until tender. Meanwhile boil the sweet potatoes for 15 minutes.
2) Chop the hard-boiled eggs and put in a bowl with together the rest of the ingredients before stirring in the potatoes. Mix around gently with your hands, making sure not the break up the potatoes.

Lisa's Vegan Cupcakes

1 cup (220ml) soymilk
1 3/4 cups (260g) plain flour
1 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp cornflour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup (110g) non-hydrogenated margarine
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup (150g) caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract



For the mint icing
1/2 cup (110g) non-hydrogenated margarine
3 cups (350g) icing sugar
2 tbsp soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
mint extract and green food colouring to taste

1) Pre-heat then to 180c and line a muffin tray with 12 muffin cases
2) Combine the soy milk with vinegar and whisk. Set aside
3) In a large bowl, beat the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the vanilla extract.
4) In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cornflour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5) Beat the soy milk mixture into the butter and sugar mixture and then fold in the dry ingredients.
6) Divide the mixture between the muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes.
7) While the cakes are cooking, make your frosting. Combine the margarine, icing sugar and soy milk. Beat until nice and fluffy. Add vanilla, mint and food colouring and mix thoroughly.
8) Take the cakes out of the oven, leave to cool and spread frosting generously over the top of each one.


Nigel Slater's Chocolate Brownies

300g caster sugar
250g butter
250g dark chocolate
3 eggs and one egg yolk, beaten
60g plain flour
60g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder

1) Pre-heat the oven to 180c and grease and line the bottom of a small roasting tin with baking paper.
2) Break 200g of the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and melt it over a pan of simmering water. Chop the rest of the chocolate finely. Set aside.
3) In a seperate bowl or a food mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4) Beat the eggs in a small jug and sift together the flour, cocoa and baking powder into another bowl.
5) Now you can put the mix together. Beat the eggs into the butter and sugar mixture a little at a time. Then mix in the melted and chopped chocolate before gently folding in the flour mixture.
6) Spoon it all into the tin, smooth the surface and bake for 35 minutes. When it comes out of the oven it will have risen but it will look as though it hasn't cooked. Don't worry about this. When you leave it to cool for at least an hour it will sink a bit and you can then cut it into squares.

It was a feast! The tofu tikka and chicken tikka was okay but I prefer these grilled with a masala sauce. However the lamb kebabs were much better on the barbecue than under the grill and although they were very meaty you could still taste a slight zing from the lemons. Most successful, however, were the burgers. With the mushroom on top they were very juicy and the pesto was really fresh. I didn't actually eat any of the jerk haloumi but I have made it before in the frying pan (perhaps better?) and it does have quite a kick. As for the deserts, Lisa's cakes were a revelation! I couldn't believe how light they were. Company wasn't bad either! A great afternoon.

Pasta with tomatoes and prawns

I was going to make a chick pea curry tonight but after working late and spending an hour buying food for Sunday's barbecue in the supermarket I was starving and couldn't contemplate boiling pulses for an hour. So there were two things in the reduced counter - king prawns and peperonni pizza. I toyed with having pizza but in the end plumped for the prawns. A better choice.

Pasta with tomatoes and prawns (serves 1)

A bowlful of pasta (i used fusilli)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
9 baby plum tomatoes, skinned (if you can be bothered) and halved
1 tsp tomato puree
125g king prawns
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
small pinch chilli flakes
A squeeze of lemon juice
1 tbsp flatleaf parsley, chopped
parmesan or manchego, grated

1) If using raw prawns, fry them first with a little olive oil, the lemon juice, chilli flakes and parsley. Set aside. If using cooked prawns (I was on this occasion) just put them in a bowl, squeeze a little lemon juice over the top and combine with the parsley and chilli flakes. Set aside.
2) Now put the pasta onto boil in a pan of boiling, salted water.
3) Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a small pan and cook the garlic for a minute. Then add the tomato puree and continue cooking for a further minute. Next the paprika goes in for another minute and then the tomatoes. Cooking until you have a nice thick sauce. Add the prawns at the end.
4) Now drain the pasta and put in in the pan with the sauce and prawns. Stir everything around to coat the pasta, grate some Parmesan or Spanish Manchego over the top and serve in a bowl.

I don't normally like mixing cuisines but with the paprika and pasta it has a bit of a Spanish and an Italian thing going on. But considering it only takes ten minutes to make it is so tasty so it doesn't matter. I love smoked paprika - you can always taste it lurking in the background but unlike chilli it doesn't hit you with heat. Also it does add an interesting flavour to the slightly zingy prwans which could have been a bit dull. Of course you don't have to eat it with pasta - you could just have the prawns with some crusty bread. That would be more Spanish. I think...

Coronation Eggs

I've been in Swansea this weekend for Dave and Julia's wedding. The plan was to get the bus to Rhosilli today, but tired and with a slightly sore head I didn't feel like sightseeing and got the train home instead. The last thing I wanted to do when I arrived back in London was go to Sainsbury's so I slumped on the sofa, watched Villa v Chelsea and searched the store cupboard. This is what I came up with...

Coronation Eggs (Serves 2)

4 eggs
5 tbsp light mayonnaise
5 tbsp natural yoghurt
2 tbsp mango chutney
1 tbsp garam masala paste
salt
125g basmati rice
A pinch of saffron
4 cardamom pods
1 cinammon stick
2 whole cloves
Juice of one lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
Salad leaves

1) First you need to make the rice because it needs to cool. Rinse the rice, then add the saffron, cinnamon stick and cloves to the water, being to the boil, turn the heat down to the lowset setting, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain if necessary and leave to cool in a bowl.
2) When the rice is cool, put the eggs onto boil for ten minutes. Now cover the eggs with cold water, peel the shells off and cut each egg in half lengthways.
3) While the eggs are boiling you can make the coronation-style sauce. Mix together the yoghurt, mayonnaise, mango chutney and curry paste in a bowl. Season with a little salt.
4) Fluff the cooled rice up with a fork and add a tablespoon of lemon juice. Then make a quick salad dressing with another couple of tablepsoons of olive oil. Give each person two eggs a handful of salad leaves, a couple of large dollops of sauce and half the rice.

Obviously this is usually made with chicken but I love an egg curry and really the coronation sauce is just a spicy mayonnaise so it works well. Although Coronation Chicken is a bit naff it looks quite pretty. I nearly ruined it by putting sultanas in the rice but eventually decided that was only one step away from frying slices of banana in curry powder. Of course the original dish was created for the Queen's coronation in 1953 and I ate this while watching the film The Queen which was on TV this evening. My Dad would call that ironical.