Chocolate Cheesecake

I have taken up baking for other people now that I am back to healthy eating. So I've been making cakes and cheesecakes for friends and family. My most recent being this chocolate cheesecake with crushed up maltesers.

I'm so bad at following recipes so I just make up I crushed up digestives and placed at bottom of dish covered it with melted butter and squashed down to make a flat base. I put this in the fridge to set and started on the topping. I took a tub of soft cheese about 300g, half a tub of mascarpone maybe 150g and a pot of double cream and whisked together. Add to this 2 bars of melted milk chocolate and a packet of crushed maltesers. Whip it together then add one bar of melted dark chocolate. Spread on base and leave to set in the fridge.

Scotch Broth

I love home made hearty soups and used to love my nan's version of scotch broth. My nan passed away many years ago so I only had my memories to make the soup on.

I used my left over Sunday roast  leg of lamb. I put the lamb bone in a large soup pan with some water, soup mix (pearl barley, lentils etc) and a lamb stock cube. I brought it to the boil and then added; carrot, turnip, celery, courgette, onion, rosemary and lots of salt and pepper. 

I let all the vegetables cook and then took out the bone and stripped it of meat. 

It was similar to my nan's and just as tasty. Even my 11 year old asked for more.

Menus for the week....

So last week I rejoined slimming world. I loved the plan since I started and lost just over 3 and a half stone (50lb). Since the end of last year tragedy has hit our family and friends meaning that I have not just fallen off the wagon but I have eaten it.
The past week has been tough and I'm honestly expecting to gain tomorrow after a week of steroids and strange work patterns. So tomorrow is a new day and a new week. I am  going to plan healthy yet filling meals and go back to taking my own meals to work. Working nights can be a struggle as you're never sure when to eat.

So for this week I will more than likely have fruit, cereal and yoghurt at breakfast time. Lunch varies to me as to what time I am working. Tomorrow is 4pm-10pm so I will have lunch before and a lighter dinner when I get home, the same on Wednesday. I am back to my night shifts on Thursday and Friday so again I will have to adjust my food accordingly.

I am not sticking to a certain day to cook a meal, just some ideas for the actual meals. So this weeks lunches will include tuna pasta with lots of vegetables, home made singapore noodles, jacket potatoes and maybe some salads or sandwiches for speed. Dinners I am planning on stuffed trout, a wintery beef stew with mashed potatoes, something that I can just throw in really.... Middle Eastern Chicken with cous cous, Steak with roasted vegetables, home made fishcakes slimming world style and a yummy cottage pie.  I will probably take either pasta or home made soup to work.

I will keep a log in my blog and  hopefully see where I am going wrong.... I have 16lb to lose for Xmas although come tomorrow it will probably be 20 :(

Lemon self-saucing pudding

I came across this recipe when looking for somethingg quick and simple to bake for a pudding. I used the bbc good food recipe and must admit it was a winner in our house!

It's the kind of thing you have all the ingredients for stuffed at the back of the fridge/cupboard. The only thing I would do differently is bake for perhaps 5 minutes longer. The self-saucing part of the is like a lemon curd and if you're like me and love lemons add a little extra lemon juice for that sharp kick

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup and Rosemary Foccacia

I am a massive lover of soup. I will try to make soup out of just about anything and often use it as a way to use leftover vegetables. I love all kinds of squash so this one was one that I actually planned. I like the sweetness of squash roasted in balsamic to give it that sweet and sour taste.

So that's how I come up with this. For this soup I used  just butternut squash as there were no other varieties available when I went shopping. I chopped up the squash skin still on, and threw in a roasting tin with some salt, pepper, cumin, olive oil fry light and covered with a splash of balsamic.I roasted for about 40 minutes until it caramelised a little and the squash was soft. 
Whilst waiting for the squash to roast I sweated off onion, garlic and carrot then added about a pint of vegetable stock, salt and pepper and simmered until soft. When the squash has cooled peel and add to onion and carrot. Bring back to the boil and check seasoning. 

I chose to liquidize mine as I like a smooth soup and find it comforting on these colder days.


I served with Rosemary foccacia that I made using the wonderful Jen's no knead bread. I added some rosemary to the dough and sprayed a flat tin with olive oil fry light. Tried to dimple it a little but as you can see it's not the prettiest of breads. My only advice would be when adding rosemary less is more!!

Spaghetti Carbonara

This is one of my son's favourite meals and its so quick and easy to prepare. I've used Annabel Karnel's recipe for years, just altering a few things to suit our taste. I often substitute pancetta for bacon simply because we have it in. I also add onions and mushrooms for a bit of extra flavour.

I also add some black pepper and fresh parsley.

Quick cheese straws

My mum is coming over for lunch today and has made some veg soup. I was debating baking bread to go with it but thought I'd do something quick and easy.
Butter, flour, cheese, salt and paprika. Mix it all together roll into sausages and bake for 10-15 minutes. 
I used half the amount of butter as I did flour and about double quantity in cheese so they have lots of flavour.

Lamb Thai Style Curry

I love curry and anything with a bit of spice. So when I did have a night off curry was the order of the day. I never follow recipes with curry as I like to taste as I go along and adjust it to whoever is eating.

I always start with a basic paste/powder. I use my mortar and pestle to bash everything together before frying off the spices to release all the flavours. This week I used; garlic, ginger, scotch bonnet, lemon grass, cumin, coriander and bay leaves. I ground it all up to make a paste.

I used the paste to coat some lamb and browned in a wok. I then added some vegetables, onions, mushrooms, peppers and some chopped up cherry tomatoes. Coated all the vegetables then added about half a cup of water mixed with a veg stock cube and a tin of cocunut milk. Mixed it all together and left to simmer adding some lime juice just before serving with rice.

So little time...

Work has been hectic. I worked 11 out of 12 nights so food has been far from my mind. We've been living on pre cooked meals that I cooked before my long run of nights.

Back to normal this week and looking forward to trying some new things. My son is away with school from tomorrow so going to perhaps try some things he wouldn't normally eat.

Meze

My friend and her boys came over Saturday. As she's a vegetarian I came up with the perfect way to please everyone and we had meze. I made; melitzanosalata, hummus, spanokopita, tzatziki, saganaki, tirokafreti and keftedes along with baked pitta and flat breads to dip.

I started with melitzanosalata. Basically an aubergine dip. Roast an aubergine for around 40 minutes. Cut into small chunks if you want it a little quicker, add garlic, chilli and a splash of olive oil and blend. You can omit chilli or add as much as you prefer to your taste. 

Tirokafreti basically translates into spicy cheese dip. 

The simplest of all, blend feta cheese, olive oil and some chilli. 

Add a squeeze of lemon and mix 

Classic hummus. Again blender required, a stick blender is fine. Add a tin of chickpeas including the juice from tin, a dash of tahini (depends on your taste) garlic, olive oil and lemon and whizz. Season to taste. You can add other things depending on your taste, I've added beetroot, chilli and carrot in the past.

Sprinkle some paprika and serve.

Spanakopita has to be one of my favourite dishes ever.

For me it's real comfort food. I was considering making wee delicate triangles then realised I'm clumsy and have fat fingers so went with my usual pie version. 

Wilt a huge bag of spinach in a pan, do in batches if required. You can use frozen if you can't get hold of fresh. Squeeze to drain off the excess water. Fry in a little oil or fry light some onion and spring onion. I never stick to quantities so just whatever you prefer to your taste. Meanwhile mix 2 eggs a tub of ricotta and a block of feta and season. Once your onions are soft add the spinach and the egg mixture and cook on a low heat for a few minutes.

Line your dish with a few layers of filo. I use shop bought as I don't fancy attempting filo. I put around 3 layers on the bottom, add some of the spinach and cheese mix then another 3 layers of filo. Kind of like a lasagne. I use melted butter to stick the filo together. Finish with more filo maybe an extra layer this time and cover in melted butter. Cook in the oven for about 30 minutes or until pastry is cooked.

Keftedes are little meatballs. I do mine flat more like mini burger patties as I find them quicker to cook. Mix together pork mince, parsley, mint, garlic salt and onion. Work all the herbs in with your hands then add an egg, mix and leave in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. Whilst waiting soak two slices of bread in a little milk then add the bread mix to theI  meat. Season with salt and pepper. Roll into desired shape coat in flour and fry in a griddle pan or frying pan

I used a HFW recipe for flatbread. I say recipe, more quantities. You can find it here. Simple flatbreads but great for dipping and even better for sharing.

Baked pitta chips. Exactly what it says. I cut up some whole meal pitta into triangles put on a baking try squirted with some fry light and seasoned with salt and pepper. Threw them in the oven for about 20 mins turning half way through until crispy. Lots of crunch for the perfect dip

Saganaki is simply fried cheese. Halloumi has to be my favourite cheese ever. I sliced it into inch thick slices, rolled in flour and fried in olive oil and served with lemon. Delicious

Finished meze

Maple gammon steaks with creamed leeks

This was one of those 

quick and simple meals that I just happened to come across and was so glad that I did. Click here for the recipe, straight from the delicious Gino D'Acampo. I omitted the parsley oil and when I was sauteeing the leeks I added some sliced new potatoes

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Singapore Noodles with a Carribean Twist

Mix of spices

So tonight I'm back to work and it's a quick simple dinner. I had a few bits of left over this and that in the fridge so decided to put them together to make a Singapore style noodle dish.

I started off with this lovely bowl of spices for the flavour. I wouldn't be without my mortar and pestle as it comes in so handy for bashing flavours together.

I made a paste out of fresh garlic, ginger, lemongrass and scotch  bonnets. Added in some 5 spice, chilli flakes, paprika, cumin, a chicken stock cube and soy sauce. 

Simmering veg

I fried off my spice mix with onions until browned added my other veg; peppers, cherry tomoatoes and mushrooms. I then added a little boiling water so the stock cube wasn't over powering and simmered until most of the water was gone then added cooked chicken and bacon.

Normally I would use some other vegetables too and bamboo shoots but kind of made it up as I went along.

Cooked my noodles in a big pan of water and then added them to the vegetables and mixed. Left it on the heat for a minute or so so that all the flavours infused together. And I must say the addition of the scotch bonnet really did give it an added depth.

Ready to Serve

Busy week, not much cooking thanks to extra shifts at work. 

I did make maple glazed gammon with creamed leeks and potatoes earlier in the week which was amazing. Pics and recipe to follow.

Tonight I am making a quick dinner.I am working nights again so I'm going to make a quick singapore style noodles, one of my favourites filled with lots of vegetables and some leftover cooked chicken.

Not really from a recipe this one, just a kind of trial and error type thing but will post pics and recipe later. 

Panzanella and Spring Onion Galette

Panzanella and Spring Onion Galette 

I had already made panzanella from Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall's river cottage veg every day book when I had some unexpected guests. So I had a rifle through the cupboards and made spring onion galette from the same book to accompany it. 

I couldn't find the recipe online but it was pretty simple, puff pastry rolled out on an oiled/greased tray (I used fry light) topped with spring onions, salt, pepper and cheese. The recipe also called for olive oil but I used fry light olive oil spray. Bake in the oven for around 25 mins on gas mark 5 or until pastry is cooked. Simple yet delicious.

Kind of following the crowd...

I love to cook. Whether it's following a recipe to the letter, changing a few things here and there or just completely making it up as I go along....I love it. 

I am a serial dieter and am currently half following slimming world. I say half as I've kind of fell off the wagon right now. 

I joined a group on facebook where some of the others have food blogs, I love reading their blogs and often use them for ideas so thought I'd join in.

Going to try and upload some pics I've already taken and hunt out the recipes.

So enjoy :)