Guilt-free crisps?

My weakness for salty snacks knows no bounds. Give me a pack of peanuts or a dish of salted almonds and I cannot stop until each morsel has found its way down my gullet. Friends know never to pass the sharing bowl of crisps to me first. But a summer holiday pig-out has taken its toll on my waistline. Crisps are out of the question for now – but what to have with that nice cold beer? There is, I guess, the option of baked crisps but the ready-made ones just don’t do it for me. So, I rustled up my own. It’s as easy as thinly slicing a couple of potatoes, placing in a single layer on a baking tray greased with a little olive oil, and waiting for them to turn golden in the oven (about 20 minutes should do it and do turn them over half-way through). Then sprinkle with a top-quality salt such as Maldon.

Raspberry ripples

Basically a mound of sugar (albeit cut with some whipped cream and a handful of fruit), the pavlova has tooth fairies and private dentists rubbing their hands in glee. And Mary Berry has done the impossible by making the pudding even sweeter – but what a combination it is – crispy peeks of meringue, cream, raspberries, pistachios – topped with warm butterscotch sauce. I’m too lazy to bother with the piping bag for the meringue so I follow my usual trusty BBC recipe, then switch to Mary Berry’s.

Raspberry pavlova

Nice, rice baby…

Oh yeah, this one is good, really good – it started with leftover chickpeas (balilah if you must know, from the delightful Jerusalem cookbook) and ended with the best and easiest pilaff ever. It was make-it-up-as-you-go-along-time as I was in no mood for a recipe book. Improvise as you wish but as a quick summary: Fry a teaspoon of whole spices (I used cumin and cloves) in butter, stir in a big mugful of basmati, top with water (until there is around a 1cm puddle left on top of the rice) then boil until large holes appear in the surface. Turn right down low, place on the lid and let it steam away until cooked. Meanwhile, slice an onion into rings and dredge in seasoned flour. Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a frying pan and on a medium heat, cook the onions until golden. Heat up whatever you have left of the chickpea dish (or simply drain a tin of chickpeas, warm through and season well), scatter into the cooked rice and top with the crispy fried onion. Add some fresh herbs for interest: parsley or dill are good. Then serve with grilled meats, yoghurt and chilli sauce.

Twice as nice

 

In the Brownies

The brownie: apparently one of the world’s simplest things to bake, so countless cooks claim. But a few seconds too long, and your cocoa creation turns more dry biscuit than gooey cake. And so I usually avoid, and my chocolate staples tend to be a trusty birthday cake recipe or a simple torte.

The other reason for my reluctance is my brownie pan – bought deliberately to make brownies, it even had the words ‘brownie pan’ emblazoned all over the packaging. However I could never find a recipe that was designed for its dimensions. So, some digging uncovered this recipe and the result was a fab: but even so, only a minute away from being consigned to brownie biscuit status. I skipped the drizzle in the recipe, and substituted dark brown muscovado for light, which gave it a deep treacly taste.

still gooey…

It’s beginning to look a lot like…

The Christmas school bake sale. Words that strike fear into any parent who has a life. No, sorry, I don’t have hours to spend making some wonderful confectionary creation, especially at that time of the year. Still, I wanted to feel a little festive so here’s the result. Simple chocolate cupcakes, taken from a Mary Berry recipe, with Frozen-themed sprinkles.

Christmas cupcakes

 

Florentine Romance

I love these biscuits with a passion but this is my first attempt at actually making them, based on Delia’s version (I skipped the angelica called for in the recipe). They won’t look like the perfect round discs you buy but who cares? They are damn delicious. There’s a fair bit of faff involved in actually getting the chocolate at the right consistency to make the wavy lines – patience is a virtue – just keep checking back until the chocolate has set a little. Then give them a quick chill in the fridge to set completely. Other than that, easy…

Not just for Christmas

 

Berry Cheesecake

I love a baked cheesecake but I find them a bugger to make without them cracking as they cool. Yes, I know you are supposed to turn the oven off after they have set and just leave them in there but leave it too long and the texture is somewhat claggy. I’ve no idea if that is real word but it seems to fit. Anyway, covering it with a generous layer of soured cream, as in the BBC’s recipe here, conceals any imperfections.

Say cheesecake

 

You say potato…

…I say, yep, but let’s spice it up a little… taking inspiration from Nigella’s recipe, this makes a wonderful side dish with tandoori-style salmon and a dollop of tomato and onion raita. My cupboard isn’t as ample as Nigella’s – so I dropped the, erm, Nigella seeds and swapped chilli powder for chilli flakes. Make sure you get the potatoes nice and crispy…

 

Spice up your life

Sugar Spun Fairy

My favourite time of the year. Autumn leaves, misty mornings and HALLOWEEN! I’m sure I get more excited than my kids about our annual party, but anyway… my dessert, I wanted to create some kind of spider web effect for a pavlova. I’ve never attempted spun sugar before but had a lot of fun in the process. I created the web on baking parchment, then peeled it off carefully and placed over a layer of meringue, cream and fruit.

 

Banana Bashing

We had a surfeit of bananas this week, all going hideously brown in the fruit bowl. It was breakfast time, we were peckish and there was no bread for toast. So, ta da, the genius that I am rustled up some banana muffins.

The recipe is  here, although I admit I took the sugar up to 130g and used golden caster sugar. They’re delicious warm – reheat them gently if need be as they’re just not the same stone cold.