Operation Christmas Pudding !

I've made my Christmas cake a couple of weeks ago.  I like that it matures that little longer while i feed it booze every couple of days !
I've left my pudding a bit late this year.  However i'm on it!

(Recipes for both my Christmas cake and Christmas pudding are posted previously here http://thatseasypeasy.blogspot.com/2014/11/christmas-prep-xmas-cake-pudding.html )

So, the other night i combined my ingredients for the pudding and let it sit overnight.

Fruit and flour mix       Important ingredient!   Ready to rest overnight

Today, i am steaming them.  I have made one for a 2pt pudding bowl (which my recipe caters for) and i used up the leftover Guinness and made a smaller pudding.
It will take 6 hours but as we have a range, so it's great that the electricity is not on for 6 hours and i can leave them sit steaming away and not be too worried about them.  Win win !

Here's a picture step by step for preparing for steaming:

    

Again, preparing the pots is crucial.
(all details in the previous Christmas baking posts.)

I love the smell around the house.  I had a sneaky taste of the mix and it's fab!
Now, just to pass 6 hours........

Avocado & tomato salad

I used Jamie Oliver's recipe to get an idea for an avocado salad.  

Avocados are one of those things.....i buy them with the best intentions but always struggle to figure out how I'm going to prepare it.  Then, it is left sitting lonely in the fruit bowl and eventually thrown out!  

I have made guacamole before with some fresh limes and fresh coriander.  

So, today i made this little salad for my lunch (I made just enough for one serving):

1. For the dressing i combined 2 TSP DIJON MUSTARD; 1 TSP RICE WINE VINEGAR; 1TSP LEMON JUICE; SEASONING OF OREGANO; WHITE PEPPER & SALT.
2. Once combined, i whisked in about 2 TBSP OLIVE OIL. And drizzled over the salad. 
3. The salad consisted simply of CHOPPED AVOCADO; TOMATO & BABY GEM LETTUCE.
4. Crack some black pepper over and enjoy.

Prep for your Xmas cake

XMAS CAKE RECIPE PREP!

(Secretly buzzing!) Dont' worry, i'm not going to frighten you........It's just that time of the year where we think about getting our INGREDIENTS together for our Xmas cake.
Your Cake needs to made weeks in advance and moistened every day with delicious grog to have that beautifully moist result at Xmas time.
I will not hide it..........i am so excited.
I would have Xmas all year round if it was up to me!
But i will make a deal with you........Make this one crucial step with me now and i will not mention the big "C" word until at least after Halloween !!

So, what i have done this morning is taken out my Christmas Cooking folder.  I will always start with my Xmas Cake and prepping this.  So I will steep the mixed fruit overnight before making the cake and then the cake will be wrapped up and moistened daily with grog for a few weeks.
We have 11 (and a bit) weeks to Xmas!
So really, if you don't prepare and prepare in advance, you will regret it.    

I mentioned last year, that first bulk buy of everything will make you think "Is it bloody worth this"! But look at it now........we don't have to buy a whole lot of stuff this time round.
Your mixed spice and other bits should be sitting patiently in your cupboard.
All i have to buy is my Brown sugar; mixed peel and another few bags of mixed fruit.

I will start it hopefully this week, next week the latest.  It really is worth it when you have a beautifully moist cake come Xmas time and everybody is raving about it, wondering how you got it so moist!
So, see you back in soon to see how we make it.......
Chao for now!

CAJUN LASAGNA

CAJUN LASAGNA

Who says Lasagna has to be made with mince!
I have made a Friday night dinner for 2.......

The plan in my head earlier was a vegetable lasagna. 
However, i decided to add some yummy cajun pudding from the fab "De Mad Food Company".
They have a wide range of flavours.  I pick up a couple most weeks.  We use them in breakfasts; lunches; dinners; snacks.....! 
So, i spot the cajun pudding sitting so lonely on my fridge shelf......
.......my vegetable lasagna has now turned into a tasty vibrant Cajun Lasagna!

The pudding meat with melt into a wonderful kick of cajun flavour as it cooks.

I have added a video on Facebook also.  It's my first attempt at this! 
I took 3 seperate videos on time lapse and then used an app to merge the 3 together. 
The first video is making the tomato sauce mix.  I went a bit fast so please forgive me!
I got the hang of it on the last one!

So, here's how i made it:

TOMATO BASE:
In a skillet, heat about 2 TBSP BUTTER with OLIVE OIL over a medium heat.
(the butter for flavour and the oil to stop it burning)
Add chopped ONION and GARLIC.  Soften for about 5 minutes.
To this add chopped CARROTS and then chopped PEPPER (i used yellow).

Season with SALT; PEPPER; BASIL ( i would normally use fresh basil - it makes such a difference and the colour is amazing, however i was out, so i had to use dried) and mix well.

Add in chopped CAJUN PUDDING (see above) and cook for a minute or 2, making sure to stir so as not to stick to bottom of pot. 

Next, mix in about 3TBSP TOMATO PUREE well to combine.  Then a tin of CHOPPED TOMATOES.  And then about 3TBSP VEGETABLE BOUILLON (it's powder form). 
Stir well and then add a little boiling water. 

Turn the heat to a medium/low and top up as you go with a little boiling water at a time.
Your sauce should be a thickish (not runny) sauce so make sure you add this water every so often, making sure to stir, so as not to burn.
Simmer for about 15minutes.

TASTE TEST!  Make sure you always taste test your food for seasoning.

While your tomato base mix is simmering, make your
HOMEMADE BECHAMEL/WHITE SAUCE:
In a saucepan, melt about 1 TBSP BUTTER over a medium/low heat.
With a whisk ready, spoon in 2 TBSP CORNFLOUR bit by bit, whisking well to combine.
It should come together into a "ball".
Add MILK bit by bit and whisk well.  You will see it thickening so make sure to keep stirring, adding the milk bit by bit until you get a nice thickish consistency. 
Keep an eye on it and whisk in more milk if need.
Turn the heat to a low.
It will take about 15 minutes in total.
Add a shake of white pepper and mix to season.

ASSEMBLE the lasagna:
Start by adding a spoon of base mix into the bottom of oven dish, sprinkle with grated cheese.
Next is the lasagna sheets.
(check the pasta sheet package when purchasing as some require pre-cooking.  I tend to buy the ones that do not need it and that can be added straight in)
Do not overlap but make sure to cover every inch.
Then spoon some bechamel sauce, making sure to cover all the pasta sheets.
REMEMBER: Your lasagna does not need to be all sauce with little pasta.  In fact, i prefer to have as much layers of pasta sheets as possible.  So don't worry if you don't have too much base mix or bechamel in between.  It doesn't matter.

Repeat the process, ending with the tomato base mix on top.
To finish, top with some grated cheese; slices of tomato; a grind of black pepper and 2 or 3 knobs of butter.

Pop your dish on a tray and bake in a preheated 190degree oven for about half an hour.
Check your pasta sheets are cooked by slicing a knife through.
If you find the lasagna is burning on top, cover with tin foil.

ET VOILA! 
Enjoy your yummy, tasty Lasagna dish with a fresh crisp side salad of greens with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

I hope you enjoy xx

MY CHICKEN & CHORIZO FAJITAS

So, we just had a lovely long weekend with the Bank Holiday. 
I made so yummy things including a BAILEYS FLAKE CHEESECAKE and a BLACKCURRANT SWISS ROLL.
For dinner one of the evenings i made CHICKEN CHORIZO FAJITAS.....my version!
They went down well with all and would definitly make a great party crowd pleaser.

I make these quite a bit.  I spoon out what the children will eat from the prepared cooked mix and i pop their fajita's into a seperate oven dish.  I then do the rest in another oven dish with the works!

The great thing about these is that you can use anything you like......any flavour, any spice, any meat or veg.
Here i have gone for a hot and spanish theme with the chorizo added in along with some hot piri piri sauce.

If you want to save time, you can prepare and cook the mix in advance and have your cheese grated and ready to go, just to assemble and bake later.

TIP: have all your meat and veg prepared on plates for cooking.....it makes it alot easier.

Here's how i made them this time around:
FOR MIX:
-In a skillet add a good glug of OLIVE OIL and heat on medium heat.  Add chopped ONION AND GARLIC and soften.
-Next, add cubed CHICKEN.  Add seasonings of SALT; BLACK PEPPER; CAJUN SPICE; GARLIC POWDER and brown the chicken.  Once browned, add sliced CHORIZO.
-If there is excess water when the chicken is browned, drain.  Then add a good tablespoon of TOMATO PUREE and mix in well so that it is combined.  Add a tin of chopped TOMATOES, 2TBSP VEGETABLE BOUILLON (if you dont have this use a veg stock cube/pot); a dash of hot PIRI PIRI SAUCE and a drop of boiling water if there is not enough liquid or if the sauce is to thick.  Be careful though not to add too much water....you don't want the sauce to be too runny!
-Season your mix well again with SALT; BLACK PEPPER AND OREGANO. Bring your mix to a bubble and then simmer for about 15 minutes.
TIP: always taste test your food!

ASSEMBLING:
-Lay your wrap out and spoon in some mix into the middle.  Add some grated CHEESE.  Wrap the 2 outer sides in and fold the 2 other flaps in.  Continue with all your wraps, leaving some sauce mix to spoon over the top.
-Lay your wraps, face down, into an oven dish, spoon remaining mix over the tops. Add some grated cheese on top and a grind of black pepper. 
-Bake uncovered in a preheated 190degree oven for about 15 minutes.  You want your mix and sauce to be well heated through and your wraps to be crispy.  But careful not to burn the wraps!
-Serve with some yummy homemade potato wedges and a selection of sauces/dips for your guests to choose from.  (sauces i use would be taco, mayo, garlic mayo or tomato).

To make the potato wedges:
-Simply wash and dry your potatoes and cut them into large wedges.
-Pop them into an oven dish.  Add a good drizzling of olive oil over the wedges and simply season with the same seasoning you used for your fajita mix.
-Oven bake, tossing regularly, in a preheated 190degree oven for about half an hour.

Of course you can use frylite or flora cuisine to you cooking for a lighter option.

Hope your give them a try....they are delicious !
Enjoy!

BROWN BREAD

SATURDAY BAKING!
BROWN BREAD
I have just made some yummy fresh brown bread.  I haven't baked in a little while, since coming back from holidays.  So today, with the rainy weather, i think it's the perfect day for it.
I was given a simple, easy to follow recipe and have stuck with this ever since.

This recipe amount will make 3 loaves, as the 3 take 1 litre carton of buttermilk. I tend to freeze any loaf i am not using straight away after its cooked and cooled.

Here's how i made it:
In a large mixing bowl combine your dry ingredients: 850g COARSE WHOLEMEAL FLOUR; 510g SELF RAISING FLOUR; PINCH SALT; 1TSP BREAD SODA. (you can also add up to 3 handfuls of brown sugar here if you wish, however i like to omit it as it can be quite sweet).
In a bowl melt a block of BAKING BUTTER. Add in 4 EGGS, whisked. Add to your dry ingredients.
Add 1LT BUTTERMILK.  Mix until all ingredients combined.  I tend to get in there with clean hands and combine well. 
Transfer mixture between 3 loaf tins.  I line mine with paper baking liners.  If you are not, you need to greese your tins.
TIP: if you are going to use these liners, make sure to remove them carefully from the cooked breads. 
If you remove them too soon, when the breads are too hot, you will remove half your bread with it! 
If you remove it too late, when the breads are cold, you will never get the paper off the breads!  So, there's a happy medium you need to find to remove the paper liners carefully.

Also, wet the back of a wooden spoon and smooth the tops of your loaves. It is a fairly wet sticky mix so this will help to smooth the tops easily.
Bake in a pre heated 200 degree oven for the first 20mins then turn heat down to 180 and bake for a further 40mins.
I then remove the breads from the tins and leave bake for 10 more mins.
Cool on rack. (see tip above)

LAMB STEW

LAMB STEW...The perfect warmer for this cold dull day.
The lamb is beautiful and succulent cooked slowly.
And that's exactly what i did here......
I generally just add in whatever is to hand with these pot dishes, but they more or less result in the same flavours.
Here's what i did today:

1. In a skillet heat a little olive oil on high heat.  Add your lamb stew meat, season with salt; pepper; paprika and meat seasoning and brown meat, stirring so as not to burn.
2. Drain your meat of excess fat oil.  Return to pot and add about 2tbsp cornflour.  Stir well to combine and cook off the flour a little.
3. Off the heat i stir in 3 tbsp brown sauce and 2 tbsp tomato sauce until well combined.  Return to heat and add 3 tbsp veg bouillon powder, 1 chopped garlic clove, seasoning of salt; pepper and rosemary and boiling water to cover.  Turn heat down and Simmer for about half hour.  It should be gently bubbling away.
4. Now for your veg!  Add chopped carrots first.  Continue to cook for 10 minutes.  Then add chopped parsnips and sweet potato.  Another further 5 minutes of cooking before adding chopped courgettes for the last 5-10minutes.  (i add the veg this way as i hate mushy courgettes or sweet potato !!)  Altogether your lamb should be slowly cooking for about 1 hour.

Ready to serve with piping fluffy potatoes.......delicious!

Vanilla cheescake

Looking for a sunday dessert?  Here's how to make my CHEESECAKE.

1. Crush 400g digestive biscuits.  Pour 125g melted butter over them and mix well to combine.  Topple into a prepared greased and base lined (this is when those pre-cut round and square base liners that i blogged about before come in handy) spring form tin and press out to the edges, evening out the top to form a smooth biscuit base.  Place in fridge to set and chill.
2. Meanwhile, in your mixer place 600g room temp cream cheese and whip lightly.  Add in 3&1/2 oz icing sugar and a drop of vanilla extract and mix for a minute or two.  To this add 300ml whipped cream and fold in.
3. To this i added in some crushed up maltesers and stir in.  You could add in anything you fancy.  You could try flake chocolate maybe or broken pieces of different chocolate bars.
4. Empty the mix onto the chilled biscuit base using a spatula to get every bit from the bowl.  Even out the mix and top with some grated chocolate and whole maltesers to decorate.  Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.  Best to refridgerate it overnight

Honey & Nut lemon drizzle cake

Honey & nut lemon drizzle loaf:
This one is for me! My type of treat for afternoon tea.

1. Sift 350g plain flour and 1tbsp baking powder in a large bowl.  Rub 175g butter in until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Stir in 75g caster sugar and a mix of roughly chopped walnuts and hazelnuts.
3. Beat together 3 medium eggs, 1tbsp milk, 1tbsp lemon juice, 2tbsp golden syrup and 3tbsp honey (you could just use 5tbsp of honey or maple/golden syrup). 
Add to the dry ingredients and gently mix to make a soft-dropping consistency (add little more milk if need)
4. Pour mix into prepared greased and lined loaf tin.  Bake on middle shelf of preheated 170 degree oven for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
5. Remove loaf and cool on rack.
6. For the lemon drizzle, sift 75g icing sugar into a bowl.  Add 1tbsp lemon juice and stir to make a smooth icing, adding little by little more juice if needed.  Drizzle how you want over the cooled loaf and top with some walnut pieces.

The perfect afternoon tea loaf!

Simple Veggie Soup!

SOUP is such a simple thing to make!
-It can be as simple and healthy as you wish,
-you can add in whatever flavours and ingredients you like,
-it's great to use up any left over veggies,
-it is really a one pot wonder and
-the best thing is you can whip up a batch and freeze it.

I find soup a great thing to have if you're eating healthy. 
It will fill you up and is great to have in the pot to go to during the day if you feel peckish.  It holds great in flasks too for packed lunches.

ALDI do an amazing "Super 6" offer every week where they have 6 fruit/veg on offer for 39c each!  I tend to start here and work my shopping around it!
This week i picked up some packets of juicy granny smith apples for snacking and lunches.  I also picked up packs of leeks and carrots & parsnips to make some yummy soup.  All these packs are just 39c this week!  Amazing.

So in the evening i decided to whip up some soup for supper.  I made enough for 2 days snacking and also freezing. 
Here's the very simple version i did. 
As i said, you can add in whatever you like - this is just what worked for me this time around.  It turned out so tasty without tweaking it at the end, i said i would share it with you all.  (all the veg i mention here i have chopped up ready)

1. In a skillet, on medium heat, heat some flora cuisine and saute 2 carrots; 1/2 large onion; 1 parsnip; 1 leek; 1/4 white cabbage; 1 garlic clove; fresh ginger (literally a tiny bit as it's strong) and a little fresh parsley.
(i start with the carrot, soften a little and add each ingredient in, softening a little before the next ingredient is added)
2. Season with salt; blk pepper; red & yellow aromat; cumin seeds and pour in boiling water to cover.
3. Remember that chicken stock we made from our chicken a few weeks back?  Well, now is when we will use a tub of it from the freezer! (check out my blog on making stock) I run a pallet knife around the tub and top the frozen stock straight into the mix.  If you don't have homemade stock, you can add a chicken stock cube or pot with some water instead.
4. Simmer for about 15 minutes. 
5. Blitz your soup with a hand held blitzer if you have one.  If you don't you should invest in one.  I picked mine up for literally nothing - about 10 - 15 euro.  It's hassle free as you can do so in the same cooking pot. Less cleaning or washing up..... result!
If you don't have a hand blitzer, you will need to liquidize in batches.

I did not need to add any more seasoning as i had enough from what i added already plus from the chicken stock. 
I also was happy with the consistency of it.  I did not need to add any cream or anything else.   It was a thickish consistency and very tasty and flavoursome.

Served with some homemade brown bread or soda bread and butter is a recipe for contentment and satisfaction! 
Sure to warm you up on these cold wintery evenings.

BANANA BREAD CAKE

This is without doubt, one of my favourite sweet cakes to go with a coffee.  Its moist and yummy and, not too heavy and easy to make.  It's a great treat to whip up for afternoon tea or to bring when visiting.

I use cup measures in this.  You can pick up a cup measure jug anywhere and find it very handy when baking.  Especially if you find a recipe online and are following it by cup measure.
Here's how i make mine:
1. Cream together 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup of sugar.
2. Add 2 beaten eggs and 4 mashed bananas.  Combine well.
3. In a large bowl, sieve together 1 1/2 cups plain flour; 1tsp baking powder and 1/2tsp salt.
4. Add 1/2tsp vanilla extract and combine well for a minute or two.
5. To this i folded in chopped walnuts but you could add in whatever you fancy here if you like.
6. Pour into greased and lined tin of choice. Bake 175degrees for 1 hour.  Check by inserting skewer in. If it comes out clean, your cake is done!
7. When cooled i poured over a mix of a little water and icing sugar just to give a little sweet texture glaze.
DELICIOUS!

Super easy BUNS!!

These little beauties are so easy to make, with very simple measurements for you to memorize so they can be whipped up within minutes to satisfy the family. 
The simple recipe is as follows:
-6oz sugar
-6oz s.r. flour
-6oz butter softened
-3 eggs
-vanilla extract

I use a mixer to make mine........fast and easy!
-Mix butter and sugar together for few mins.
-add 1 egg at a time with a spoon or 2 of flour after each one (so as not to curdle)  Mix well.
-add remaining flour and mix on high speed for a few minutes.  Add about 1tsp vanilla extract.
(make sure no butter lumps) Use a spatula to scrap down the sides also and mix again.
-spoon mix into cupcake/bun cases, half way up case.  Bake in pre-heated 180 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes.
-i like them nice and light/pale so take them out and check them with a skewer.....if it comes out clean, they're done. 
-cool them on a rack.

You can add in some chocolate chips to the mix at the end when everything is mixed and just combine with a spatula. 
It's nice sometimes also to decorate them with a topping. 
You could add cream cheese frosting.  Here i melted some chocolate and topped each bun (when completely cooled) followed by some sprinkles or marshmallows for example and set aside to set.

Simples!  yummy!