Cream of Vegetable Soup

 Tasted lovely at a Soupday

Packet of casserole vegetables (Carrot, Onion, Swede, Leek, potatoes)

1/2 Onion although there is red onion in the casserole bag

Garlic

1 stick celery chopped

Knorr vegetable stock

Salt and pepper

Fry onions, then celery

Add everything else and cook for 30 minutes

Allow to cool and blitz

Warm up and add some single cream

Banana Bread Pudding

 Great alternative to Mum's Bread pudding

10 slices bread (crusts and slightly stale are good)

2 eggs

3oz brown sugar

3 Tbsp melted butter

5oz Fruit (Sultanas, Currants, Raisins)

Chopped walnuts - as many as you like

3 Ripe bananas

2 tsp Cinnamon

½ tsp Nutmeg

2 tsp Vanilla

1 cup milk

Optional top with sliced banana and caramel sauce

 

1.    Heat Oven Gas mark 4 Fan 140

2.    Soak bread in milk & water for about 2 hours

3.    Squeeze water out of bread

4.    Mix all ingredients well together

5.    Place in a large baking dish

6.    Bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours until solid

7.    Sprinkle with sugar (if desired)

 8.   Cut into squares

Cinnamon Apple Loaf

 Made 1 loaf and also did 1/2 the amount for 6 muffins

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups chopped apples peeled, about 2 medium apples
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

 

1.                 Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Spray a 9-inch round baking pan with non-stick spray or lightly grease with butter to prevent sticking.

2.                 In a large mixing bowl, beat together softened butter, granulated sugar, and dark brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined. Gently fold in chopped apples and walnuts.

3.                 Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and spread evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Blackberry and Apple Cake

 Had some creme fraiche to use up so modified the Banana Bread recipe. Going into the deep freeze for later

Ingredients:

1/2-1 c. sugar

1 c. crème fraiche

1/2 c. butter, softened

3 eggs

2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 medium cooking apples

Blackberries 

Directions:

1.    Heat oven to Gas 5 Fan 160.  Grease and flour either a large loaf tin or a medium round. 

2.    In a large bowl, beat together sugar, cream, butter, and eggs until creamy.   Add flour, baking powder, and blend for 1 minute. 

3.    Spread ½ batter evenly into pan. 

4.    Top with chopped apples and blackberries

5.    Add remainder of batter

6.    Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

7.    Dust with icing sugar or Icing

Oven Baked Creamy Tomato Basil Chicken

 I used chicken fillets instead of breasts and they were really tender. I also used my frozen tomatoes.

– 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts  

– 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
– ½ teaspoon black pepper, divided
– 1 can (14.5 ounces) crushed tomatoes
– 1 cup heavy cream
– ½ cup finely grated Parmesan — a little more doesn’t hurt
– 2 teaspoons dried basil
– 3 cloves garlic, minced
– ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes — I usually add more at the table
– 2 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter
– 1 teaspoon sugar, optional but I usually add it
– Extra Parmesan and dried basil for the top, if you like

 

Start with your oven at 375°F. Get out the glass Casserole dish—9×13—and just leave it on the counter so it’s ready.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. This is one of those steps I used to skip because honestly it seemed like busywork, but it does matter. A wet chicken breast in a wet sauce takes longer to cook and the surface texture stays strange. So. Pat it dry.

Season both sides with about half the salt and half the pepper, then lay the pieces in the dish with a little space between them. Don’t crowd them. The sauce needs room to get around them.

In a bowl—I use a medium one, whatever that means, the one that’s bigger than a cereal bowl but smaller than what I’d use for salad—combine the crushed tomatoes, heavy cream, Parmesan, dried basil, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, the oil or butter, the rest of your salt and pepper, and the sugar if you’re using it. Stir it until it looks like one cohesive thing. You’ll see the cream and tomato come together into that rose-pink color and it’ll smell good even before it hits the oven.

Pour it over the chicken Slowly, making sure every piece gets covered. Use a spoon to nudge sauce into the corners if it pools in the middle. You want the whole dish coated—this isn’t a recipe where the sauce stays on top. It bakes around and under everything.

Cover tightly with foil and bake 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, take the foil off—carefully,and put the dish back in uncovered. Another 15 to 20 minutes. You’re looking for bubbling around the edges.

Let it rest in the dish for 5 to 10 minutes before you serve it. 

Serve with pasta, rice, mashed potatoes, or crusty bread

Rhubarb and strawberry coulis

 A nice dessert for a hot day

250g fresh rhubarb, sliced

250g fresh strawberries, hulled

2 tbsp water

100g Greek yogurt

200ml double cream or whipping cream (lightly whipped)

 

Cook fruit: Place rhubarb, strawberries and water in a small pan.

Simmer: Heat gently for 10 minutes until soft and tender.

Blend: Purée the fruit mixture until smooth, then let it cool.

Make cream base: Whip the cream softly and fold it into the Greek yogurt.

Assemble: Layer the creamy yogurt mix and fruit coulis in glasses

Chicken and sausagemeat pie

 Would use puff pastry next time as my pies looked a little flat

Bought Pastry

For the filling:

• 1-2 chicken breasts dependent on size
• 1 onion, chopped
• 400g pack skin free sausages (no point in using fancy ones, but reduced-fat are good for this)
• about 45g sage and onion stuffing mix
• optional cranberry sauce
• salt
• beaten egg for glazing

Put the chicken breasts and onion in a pan with water and a pinch of salt, and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer on a very low heat for about 20 mins. Take out the chicken and put it on a plate to cool. Drain the liquid into a measuring jug and reserve 100ml . Put the onion into a bowl to cool.

Bring the reserved liquid back up to the boil in the pan, then switch off the heat and add the stuffing mix. Let it stand for a minute, then add to the onion. Let it cool down for a bit while you slice the chicken breasts into pieces. Once the stuffing mix has cooled a bit, chop the sausages and mix them in thoroughly.

Preheat the oven to 200C, Gas Mark 6, and line an 8″ sandwich tin with foil or baking paper. (Or use a springform cake tin if you have one – it shouldn’t need lining or greasing.) Place a flat baking tray in the oven to pre-heat, big enough to take your sandwich tin.

Roll out a bit more than half of the pastry to a circle and use it to line the tin. Put half of the sausage mix in the bottom, then top with a layer of chicken strips, then the rest of the sausage mix. Top with cranberry if using.

Roll out the rest of the pastry and top the pie, sealing the edges with a little water. Trim, make a couple of holes to let out steam, and glaze with the beaten egg.

 Bake the pie for 20 mins, then reduce the heat to 180C, Gas Mark 4 for a further 30 mins. Cool in the tin on a cooling rack, then chill if you’re going to serve it cold.