Je Goûterai - I will taste
28.6.12 - 52 recipes done!
Next target, 104 recipes to reach by the end of the year!
This evening’s dinner :) Soy Noodles with pak choi and spring onions, attempted seasoned egg and leek dumplings. I usually make my own dumplings but I’m trying out some of the frozen ones from a korean shop down the road. yumyumyum
I know Broccoli to some isn’t the greatest but I’ve had a revelation. I was just making a simple dinner, slow cooked leeks with spring onions and lemon mixed into beaten eggs and torn mozzarella to make a delicious omelette (yes, I have nothing else in the house bar eggs.. I wanted a couscous salad but no. I have none.)
Anyway I had a salad earlier so didn’t want it again for the side of my dinner so instead, I steamed some broccoli. However, eating it plain can be so boring. When I have Edamame beans, I always have them with crushed sea flakes on top, so I thought I’d give it a try with the broccoli.
I had another idea to give it an extra dimension. I took my mortar and pestle, added some sea salt, then some pine nuts I had just quickly toasted and crushed. I finished off by sprinkling the mixture atop of the broccoli before sitting down to try it. Simple but wonderful.
Pizza for dinner! Sauce made with garlic, shallots, red wine vinegar, passata and red onion chutney then topped with broccoli, mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes, one sliced regular tomato and bbq chicken :)
iamtherealfrankturner Asks:
je-gouterai Said:
Aww that’s so kind of you! Thank you so much!!! I’m glad your cake turned out well :) I
Went to cardiff to visit my family and a few days before, my parents had gone on a little road trip. They stopped off in Cheddar and brought me some back ^.^
I woke up this morning at 8:30, contacts still in, make-up smeared across my face and hair stinking of sick. It was not a good morning. I guzzled myself a couple of glasses of water, took out my lenses, texted people apologising for the previous night’s behaviour and went back to sleep for 3 hours.
On next waking up, I lied in bed for about an hour playing super Mario on my DS and hid under my covers from the world, it was time…. I needed to face the music and somehow stand up.
I made it. My feet touched the ground and I felt as if I had aged 50 years in seconds. I was hunched over, shuffling around to find my glasses and was shaking from the hangover. I needed to eat or there would be another repeat of last night’s awful end.
Holding myself onto the banister, I made my way down stairs to the kitchen. I usually have poached eggs when I’m hungover, fresh, healthy and filling. I had no eggs. I remembered I had bought myself an issue of Women’s Health the other day for something to read on the train back from London (will post about this trip soon!) and there was a section of Healthy-super-foods for breakfast, one of which was a refreshing looking smoothie. I never have them either so I decided to give it a try!
Serves one
250ml of semi-skimmed milk or soya milk (I had light soya c: )
1 banana chopped
2 tbsp good quality cocoa powder
2 tsp honey
-
Stick in a blender (or a jug and use a hand blender) and blend.
Took all over 2 minutes and created a deeply rich, smooth drink. The bitter chocolate was hushed by the sweetness of the banana and the honey. Depending on what kind of honey you use, you can bring different dimensions of flavour to the smoothie too. (If you’re vegan you can replace the honey with something like Agave Syrup) And it was so healthy! You get a bit of fat from the milk but with tons of protein too, potassium from the banana and a naughty bit of chocolate heaven. It was a life saver. It completely settled my stomach, got rid of the shakes and I feel 100 times better. Now I’m hungry again so gonna have something solid to eat! haha
(Sorry there isn’t a photo…. I couldn’t function properly this morning let alone gather the energy to pick up my camera and take a decent picture.)
No. 80: Jaffa Cakes – 26.2.13
That’s right bitches. Jaffa Cakes. I made Jaffa Cakes. I don’t even know if I should write an introduction to this. Recipe was taken from the Sorted website.
http://sortedfood.com/#!/core/jaffacakes/
Makes 12 Cakes/biscuits (you choose what you believe in) , Preheat the oven to 180oC
1 Orange
1 pack of Orange Jelly Cubes
50g Plain Flour
50g Caster Sugar
200g Dark Chocolate
-
Zest the orange into a bowl and set aside for later.
-
Dissolve the jelly in half the recommended amount of water and squeeze in the juice of the orange. (I used about 250ml of boiling water and the juice of an orange is about ¼ of a cup of juice. Making up about 300ml all together)
-
Pour the Jelly into a shallow baking tray lined with clingfilm so that it forms a sheet about 1/2cm thick. Place in the fridge to set.
-
Meanwhile, boil a pan of water and reduce to a simmer.
-
Place a mixing bowl over the simmering water and add the sugar, eggs and orange zest and whisk until pale and fluffy. I would do this with an electric whisk and will take about 5-8 minutes.
-
Remove the bowl and carefully fold in until well mixed.
-
Grease a muffin tin and spoon in the batter, only enough to coat the bottom of the indent, about a heaped teaspoon – a tablespoon
-
Bake the cakes for 10 minutes until golden and spring back when lightly touched.
-
Ease he sponges loose once they have cooled, keeping them in the muffin tin.
-
Melt the chocolate slowly in the microwave or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
-
Cut the jelly sheet into discs a little smaller than the diameter of the cakes.
-
Place a jelly disc onto the centre of each sponge and drizzle the melted chocolate so that it just covers the cake, spreading with the back of a spoon so it reaches the edges too.
-
Wait for the chocolate to set by placing the fridge or leaving out for a little bit.
Yum yum yum! I couldn’t get hold of orange jelly so I used strawberry jelly with a ¼ cup of apple and raspberry juice. I think the jelly was still a little bit too thin for these Jaffa Cakes but they were pretty good replicas! The sponge was really light but with a slight chew like the Jaffa Cakes themselves. I probably over did it with the chocolate. I would say these are wonderful to have a go out with kids or with a group of friends :)
No. 79: Tortilla with Huevos Rancheros – 27.2.13
I have a game for my Nintendo DS called ‘Cooking Guide’. I hadn’t used it in ages so thought I’d have a look through some of the recipes. I found this lurking in the recipes of Mexico and it was so simple I had to try it. I went straight to the shop to get tortillas and had them ready for breakfast.
Serves 1 (Because, to be honest, most of us are alone in the morning…….. I think……) You will need a frying pan with a lid!
1 tbsp olive oil
100g Whole tomatoes, tinned
1/8thof an onion
Dash of Chilli Sauce
dash Olive Oil
1 tortilla
2 eggs
pinches of salt and black pepper, to taste
Finely chopped flat leaf parsley (op)
-
Peel and finely chop the onion. Add the olive oil into a sauce pan and fry on a medium heat until softened.
-
Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with your spoon as they cook. Season, cover and simmer for 10minutes over a low heat, remember to stir the mixture as it cooks so it doesn’t stick or burn.
-
Once reduced, remove from heat, stir in the chilli sauce and set to one side.
-
Brush some oil over a frying pan and heat on low. Crack each egg into a bowl.
-
Place the tortilla in the frying pan and spoon over the salsa and pour the eggs on top. Season with salt and pepper and cover with the lid.
-
Cook the eggs until set, slide onto a plate and garnish with parsley.
This was a fiery way to start the day! I added a little more chilli sauce for good measure on top which was delicious! The warm salsa contrasted so well with the creamy runny yolk. The tortilla crisped up in the pan and by the end of it, I could pick it up like mini pizza slices. It was such a simple and hearty way to start the morning. My only downfall with this was the original recipe. It said to only partially cook the eggs, it came with a photo of the ‘final outcome’ and the most part of the egg was raw. Hell no am I eating eggs like that, no thank you. Just make sure the white it thoroughly cooked when you come to eating it and it’ll all be a-okay!
Oh. And Yes. That is a double yolked egg in that picture, suck on it.
