Category: Frugal

Gooey Chocolate Chilli brownie’s with cranberries

October 12, 2015




  At teatime or in the evening when it begins to get chilly, this is great to have with a cup of Coffee or tea. It gives you a real tingle inside after having one.

  I have been making this Chocolate chilli brownie recipe for years now, sometimes I drizzle white chocolate on top, add pistachios or you can even change the cranberries to dried cherries. However Ive decided to use cranberries as we only seem to see them in December but in actual fact they go perfect along side the chocolate and chilli.
This is such a super, easy, sweet treat to serve whatever the occasion. It will go great after Hot dogs, or an autumnal one pot wonder. They are even fantastic to give as a gift.

  You can serve this with double cream, ice cream or to be even more decadent and naughty, I would add some booze such as Pedro Ximenez sherry.


  I also made these for my regular cooking slot on BBC Radio Leicester a couple of weeks ago so if you click on the clip here, you can hear me making them for Ben Jackson and how much he liked them! 



Gooey Chocolate chilli brownie’s with cranberries:






Ingredients:


(Serves 8 Brownies in a tin roughly as mine was 28cmx18cm )

–  100g Dark Chocolate ( at least 60,70 % cocoa solids ) 
–  88g unsalted butter
–  163g Caster sugar
–  2 eggs
–  65g plain flour
–  50g dried cranberries
–  1/4-1/2 tsp of Ground hot chilli powder (depending how hot you want it! )I use Spice Kitchen spices
–  1/4-1/2 tsp of fresh chopped red chilli ( depending how hot you want it! )




Method:

*  Grease a tin of your choice and line with parchment paper

*  Preheat oven to 160-170c

*  Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water

*  In a separate bowl whisk eggs and sugar together and then sift in flour and fold in

*  Place that mixture into the melted chocolate and butter and mix with a spatular, add in cranberries

*  place mixture into your baking tray and pop into the oven for about 40 minutes

*  Allow to cool on a tray until you cut into squares

*  Serve with a nice cup of hot drink, double cream or Ice cream. If you want to be even more naughty, pour over some booze such as Pedro Ximenez sherry.
















Leftover Moroccan Lamb cous cous

September 3, 2015

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I want to share this recipe with you before the week is over as this week is all about promoting British Lamb week, ( 1st Sep-7th Sep 2015 ) something I feel very passionate about. I wrote this recipe for my column last month but I feel that now would be a right time to be reminded of it.

Here below is what I originally wrote:

Sometimes on a Sunday if the weather isn’t too hot then we will have a roast of some kind and if we are even more lucky it may even be lamb. Normally we go for a breast of Lamb as its cheaper however I bought this particular shoulder of lamb as it was reduced right down from £19 to £6! Bargain! An offer too good to be missed.

Because this lamb was so big for my partner and I its great for creating other dishes from it and thats what I am showing here. Sometimes the leftover recipes are the best.
So for this time of year cous cous is a lovely light alternative to have and I have included the lovely British courgettes being right in season at the minute to add a lovely texture, colour and added sweetness to the dish. Give leftovers a chance, it may even be better than the first dish was.
Leftover Moroccan lamb cous cous:

 

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Ingredients:

Cooked shoulder of lamb ( Could use shanks, breast or leg if you wanted )
1 tsp was el hangout spice ( widely available in most supermarkets or online) I use spice kitchen’s blend.
approximately 200g cous cous
1/4 tub of chicken stock gel pot
1/4 litre of boiling water
Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
3 tbsp Rapeseed oil
1 tbsp mild curry powder
small handful of almonds sliced
few sprigs of fresh mint finely chopped
few sprigs of fresh coriander finely chopped
1 courgette sliced into half moons
half a small green pepper diced
half a small red pepper diced
Half a red onion finely diced
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
Thumb nail size of fresh ginger grated
1 tsp ground coriander (Spice Kitchen)
1 tsp ground cumin (Spice Kitchen)
1 tsp ground cinnamon (Spice Kitchen)
Method:

Take your cold cooked lamb and marinate with a little rapeseed oil and the ras el hanout.

In the meantime take the cous cous and cover with approximately 1/4 litre of boiling water with the chicken stock added so it just covers the cous cous and cover with foil.

Fry off your courgettes in a little rapeseed oil and after a minute or two add your peppers and cook until starting to colour and soften. Add in the garlic, ginger and chillies and cook for a further minute or two.

Stir in the ground coriander, cumin and cinnamon, add in the lamb and stir allowing the lamb to warm up. Season to taste

Stir the cous cous with a fork, add a drizzle of rapeseed oil and the cous cous should be light and fluffy. Add the curry powder a little salt and pepper if need be and pop in your chopped coriander and mint.

* Add the Lamb mixture into the bowl of cous cous, mix all through and serve.

 

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Potato and pea tart

August 3, 2015
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I have found myself baking a lot of these style of tarts over the last couple of months, as It’s that time of year when a lot of British produce is in abundance and the weather is starting to warm up. So we find ourselves entertaining a lot more outside and wanting lighter meals. If I’m invited to somewhere such as a garden party or a BBQ this is a great alternative to turn up with.
This style of tart is also very easy to swap your ingredients around. I, in fact did a tomato and aubergine one with lots of herbs on the other week and it went down a storm. However this one I feel is much better for this time of year as our peas are in season now so you can even pod them yourself for it. Also with the added pea shoots on top, there’s an extra burst of sweetness.
If you are growing your own vegetables like me and you’ve got a row of Peas, maybe not quite as many as you hoped for, then do this recipe.
This is quick and simple to make, great for using up odd potatoes that you have and possibly that Packet of Pastry that’s in the freezer. A dish that shows Seasonality at its best.



Potato and pea tart

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Ingredients:

Small handful of plain Flour for sprinkling
– Half a block of ready to roll Puff Pastry ( 250g)
– A handful of New potatoes or 4 medium sized Potatoes sliced very thinly
– 2 tbsp Rapeseed oil
– 2 Spring onions chopped finely
– 1 finely chopped garlic clove
– A good handful of British podding peas blanched for a minute or 2 or you can use
Petit pois defrosted and drained
– Sea Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
– Handful of grated mozzarella to sprinkle on top
– Handful of pea shoots to finish with





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Method:

* Preheat Oven to 200c

* In salted boiling water blanch your potato slices for only 2-3 minutes, drain and run cold water over them to allow to cool

* Half your 500g black of pastry, Roll out half on a floured work surface with a rolling pin until about 3-4 ml thick.

* Place some baking parchment on a baking tray and pop your pastry on top

* About a cm 1/2 in make a border around the edges with a knife but only slightly ( not all the way through) and then prick your tart within those boundaries with a fork

* Place your sliced potatoes on top some salt and pepper and brush with a little rapeseed oil. Pop into the oven for 10-15 minutes (once the potatoes start to brown around the edges)

* Then pop on your Garlic, spring onion and cheese and cook for a further 5 minutes. If you feel your pastry is cooking too quickly then turn the oven down slightly to 190c.

* After 5 minutes pop on your peas and pop back into the oven for approximately another 5 minutes or until your pastry is nice and golden brown and cooked in the middle.

* Sprinkle with your pea shoots and you’re done!

 

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Marinated Feta

July 1, 2015


I wasn’t going to post this as I did this about a year ago now, but a friend of mine changed my mind. 
  I had been talking about this to my friend which I though most people did this I.E marinating cheese but he said he hadn’t ever tried it. He looked very interested in it and started asking me what the process was and how long it took. He knows that Feta isn’t my favourite cheese also which made him even more interested. When I did this to the Feta Oh my! I will always do this with it and experiment with other cheeses too. In fact I may have to do it again this weekend as its great to have in your fridge when friends come round unannounced or even for nibbles.

   It gives a really nice unique flavour to it and also turns a “basic, no frills” cheese into a speciality one. When you do this to feta, you also get a fantastic oil to work with, so do not get rid of it. It works fabulously tossed through pasta or rice and drizzled over bread to make Bruschetta’s, its just heavenly. Not to forget, a ready made salad dressing in itself.

    This would be a great present for a foodie lover, possibly for Christmas, a Birthday or even to turn up to an al fresco party of some kind.  Just imagine, you have an old Jar left over from something, spend 90p roughly on a block of Feta, use up some herbs and oil, stick a bow on it and what a great gift that will surely bring a smile to a friends face.


Marinated Feta:



Ingredients:

–  An Empty Jar, approximately one that had 300g/300ml product in, sterilised
–  A block of Feta or Greek style salad cheese approximatley 200g
–  Olive oil or Rapeseed oil to fill the Jar
–  Handful of “Sun-blushed” Tomatoes 
–  Selection of fresh herbs such as Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano and Lemon Thyme just pulled not chopped
–  3-4 Garlic cloves bashed
–  Small handful of Black peppercorns
–  Few slithers of chopped red chillies or chilli flakes

Method:

*  Its very simple: You put all ingredients into the jar and let it sit in the fridge for about a week for all the flavours to infuse and you are done! 

BBQ roast chicken pizza

May 28, 2015
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Pizza is one thing in our household that we make every couple of weeks. Reason why? Its cheap, you can use things up in your fridge and you feel like you’re having a takeaway but with better benefits.  Its very, very tasty and ultimately satisfying when you make your own.

I have so many families that have said to me in the past that they don’t have the time to do this, but I beg to differ…

Firstly the dough takes 5 minutes maximum to make, 30 minutes to rise and yes then putting on a topping and baking…another 18 minutes (approximately)  Not long hey? Surely that is the time it takes for a family to decide firstly what cuisine they are having? Who the takeaway is going to be, ordering and then waiting? Thing is…the great thing is, YOU and your FAMILY have made it and put on exactly what you want on it!

That’s really what I wanted to show you in this write up and when I went on my regular slot with Ben Jackson on BBC Radio Leicester a couple of weeks ago. It’s a great recipe to do together as a family and more to the point, the one we did here cost roughly around 85p-£1 per pizza! Bearing in mind my plain flour only cost me 45p for 1.5kg bag!

So imagine if it was just cheese and tomato, or another vegetarian option? Would be a lot more cheaper too! This week is half term, so why not have a go at making them or even on a weekend sometime.

Here I am showing Ben Just how super easy and cheap it is to make these tasty pizzas at home:

Roast BBQ Chicken Pizza:

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Ingredients  ( Makes two large pizzas)

Dough

 –  500g Plain flour

–  Good Pinch of Salt

–  A drizzle of Rapeseed Oil or Extra virgin Olive Oil

–  1 Sachet of fast action dried yeast

–  350ml of warm water added a bit at a time

 

Topping:

 

–  Roughly 1/2 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes (400g tin)

–  1 heaped Tbsp Tomato Puree

–  A few Herbs such as Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary etc chopped

–  BBQ Sauce

–  Leftover Roast Chicken

–  Bag of Grated Mozzarella (250g)

–  1 Sliced Green Pepper

–  2 rashers Chopped cooked Bacon

–  1  Red Onion sliced

 

Method:

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*  Get a Large mixing bowl and add all dry ingredients into your bowl. Pop in a drizzle of your Oil and then start to add in your warm water bit by bit.

 

*  With a Wooden Spoon, use the Handle to mix, not the spoon end as this is much easier, trust me!

 

 

*  Start to mix your Dough together, you’ll feel it starting to Gel. Keep adding your water until you have a nice dough texture. Too wet, you need to add a little dusting of flour.

 

*  On a floured work surface, just bring the dough together with your hands, kneading only slightly.

 

*  Leave the dough in the bowl, cover with a warm, damp tea towel and place in a warm place. I put mine in the Airing cupboard. Leave for about 30-45 mins to rise.

 

*  Bash together with a fork in a bowl or in a Food Processor your Tomato Puree, Tomatoes and herbs.

 

*  Preheat oven to 200c

 

*  Once the Dough is ready, Sprinkle some flour onto a work surface and shape the dough out flat using your fingers as thin as you can. You can put onto a tray first if easier.

 

*  Add the Tomato paste allowing to leave an inch all around the Pizza. Add on top the bbq sauce, not too wet though.

 

*  Pop on a little cheese, then veg, meat and cheese again. Pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until pizza is done.

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