Freezing for later use

Most of the recipes I have posted here are for more than one person which is fine if you are in a house with other people and you share the cooking.  If however, you are on your own you have the option of either dividing the measurements of the ingredients to make smaller amounts or you could cook the recipes as they are and freeze some for use at a later time.  This would provide for quick meals on those occasions when lectures go on till late or you have some other reason for being late home.  If you can take the food out of the freezer before you go out and leave it to defrost then you can cook it relatively quickly when you get in.   If you don't remember to get it out then most things can be thawed by microwaving it on the defrost setting.  
You do not have to buy expensive containers to store food in the freezer, thoroughly wash and dry your empty spread/butter containers & their lids and save until you need them, they are a good size for individual portions of food.  You could also save any empty plastic takeaway containers.   If you are making something like lasagne or cottage pie then you can buy foil trays with lids for a few pennies in Wilkinsons or in the supermarket.  If using the foil trays put the foiled side of the lid down onto the food and write on the cardboard side what is in the container and the date you froze it.  Do remember though that you cannot put the foil containers in the microwave.  Small self adhesive labels will stick to your plastic tubs to note what they contain and when it was frozen.

Hasselback Potatoes

I love these potatoes and they are very handy if you want roast potatoes in a shorter time, they are also a little healthier than ordinary roast potatoes as you leave the skins on use less fat.
Preheat oven to 200°c or gas 7
Take each potato and scrub clean under running water.  Place the potato on either a wooden or metal spoon and then slice through the potato sideways (the shorter way) to the lip of the spoon so that you don't cut right through the potato.  Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle each one with sunflower oil and then season with ground salt and pepper according to your preference.   I usually leave  them alone at this point but you can add grated cheese of your choice over the top or cut slices of cheese to stick in between each fan of the potato.


Bake for 35 to 40 minutes

Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine

For this recipe a slow cooker is recommended but if you don't have a slow cooker  you can cook it in a low oven around gas 2 or 150°  for several hours.


This recipe is so easy to prepare and the result is rich, thick, hearty and so 
delicious it melts your heart.

• 6 chicken thighs (skinless and boneless is best)  I strongly recommend thighs as chicken breast meat tends to become dry and a little tasteless
• 1 large onion thinly sliced
• 2 large carrots peeled and sliced thinly
• 50g dried cranberries (sold as Craisins)
• 50 - 60g chopped dried apricots
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves - crushed
• *1 - 2 teaspoons of Harissa Paste  (optional)
• 400 mls chicken stock (if you don't have any you can make it from a stock cube and water)
• 1 -2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 -2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• If your chicken thighs have skin and bone then remove and discard the skin then layer them in the bottom of the slow cooker
• Layer the fruit and vegetables over the top of the meat
• In a separate jug or basin mix the flour, stock, tomato puree, lemon juice, and spices together then pour over the meat etc in the slow cooker.  I suggest putting the flour into the basin first and adding a little liquid stirring it to make a paste, then gradually adding a more liquid stirring all the time to prevent lumps forming.
• Cook on high setting for a minimum of 6 hours but the longer you leave it the better it will be.

Serve with rice or cous cous and enjoy the lovely sweet richness of it all.


*Harissa Paste can be found near the spices in most good supermarkets.

Cakes v. dinners

My original intention with this site was to provide easy and inexpensive recipes to provide good wholesome food for students who were possibly away from home cooking for the first time. I hadn't  intended to give recipes for cakes etc  because they weren't totally necessary but hearing this morning from a student who was so in need of a lift, I changed my mind so now I have put on two recipes.  One is for an utterly scrummy chocolate cake and the other is for carrot muffins which are so incredibly quick and easy to make in addition to which they are so light and taste fabulous.   Although the primary purpose of food is to provide the fuel for our bodies it is also a great social tool and as socialising is a huge part of university life I have decided that it is just as important.  I will try to keep the recipes to those which are not hugely expensive because budgets still need to be borne in mind.  You will however need a little extra equipment if you are going to bake as well as cook so I will try to remember to indicate what you may need at the top of each recipe.

Carrot muffins

This recipe couldn't be easier to make and tastes light and delicious.  You will need a 12 hole muffin tin and a pack of paper muffin cases.

Heat the oven to 180c (or 160c if it has a fan) gas reg 4

• 175g dark brown sugar
• 100g wholemeal self raising flour
• 100g self raising flour
• 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice
• finely grated peel of 1 orange
• 2 eggs
• 150ml sunflower oil
• 200g carrots - grated

• Place one muffin case in each of the holes of the muffin tin
• Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl along with the finely grated orange peel.
• Whisk together the eggs and oil then stir into the dry ingredients along with the grated carrot.
• Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 muffin holes and bake for approximately 20 minutes.  Slide a cocktail stick into a muffin, if it comes out clean they are cooked but if not leave in the over for a couple of minutes then repeat with a different muffin.
• When cooked remove from oven and leave to cool.

To top them, mix together 300g of cream cheese with 100g icing sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla essence, spread thickly on top of the muffins.

For those who are in need of cheering up - the best, richest, most moist Chocolate Cake ever

The title says it all - this chocolate cake, if done right, is incredible.  Scrumptious.
You will need two 7" cake tins or a roasting tin and baking parchment 


Preheat the oven to 180c  350f or gas reg 4

• 2oz cocoa (definitely NOT drinking chocolate)
• ⅓ pint of warm water (around 7fl oz)
• 4½ oz trex or spry or White Flora
• 10½ oz caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 7 oz self raising flour

• Grease and line (with baking parchment) two 7" sandwich cake tins or an 8"x12" roasting tin.
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•  Mix the cocoa with the water to make a smooth paste, set it aside to cool.
• Put the fat and the sugar into a mixing bowl and cream them together until soft.
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
• Fold in the flour with a metal spoon (do not beat or bang - folding means to stir it in gently with the side of a metal spoon in a figure of 8 pattern.  
• Stir in the cocoa mix until it is just mixed with the rest of the ingredients - don't overwork it.
• Spoon it into the prepared tins 
• Place in the oven for 40 -50 mins or until cooked, then allow to cool in the tin.

To test if a cake is cooked gently press on the surface with the pad of your finger, if it leaves a depression then it isn't done but if it springs back to its former shape it is cooked.


If you have made this cake in two sandwich tins then you need something to sandwich the two halves together.  The simplest solution is whipped cream - yummmm.  Alternatively you could make a butter icing with 

• 3oz icing sugar
• 1oz cocoa
• 1oz butter 
• a tablespoon of chocolate spread
• a drizzle of cold water

• sieve the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl, add the butter and chocolate spread and mix together.  It won't come together very well at first and will be to thick but persevere. 
• Put the cold water into a jug or a cup - don't try to do it from the tap as you could get too much and that would make the icing too thin.  Drizzle a little at a time into the icing mixture and keep mixing until you have the perfect spreadable consistency which is thick enough to stay put on the cake. 

If you have made the cake in a roasting tin it will be to thin to cut in half but you could still spread the gorgeous chocolatey butter icing on the top or if you feel brave there is a very tricky but utterly delicious caramel icing which can go with it.  For this you will need:

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3oz butter
• 5 tablespoons water 
• 12 oz icing sugar

• Place the sugar in a small thick based pan and heat gently until it melts and turns golden brown.  DO NOT STIR OR ADD WATER AT THIS STAGE.  
• Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, add butter and water and stir to mix.  Beat in icing sugar and spread it over the cake whilst the icing is still warm then leave to set whilst you scrape out the pan and eat whatever you can dig out.

(Be sure to follow these instructions carefully or you may end up with toffee stuck firmly to the bottom of your pan)

When the icing has set use a long, sharp knife to cut the cake into squares.

Gravy

In response to an SOS I am re-posting the section on making gravy.  This method is for using cornflour, if you don't have any cornflour look out for an amendment at the end.

place some of the cooking liquid into a pan, with a stock cube (or gravy granules if you prefer) if you haven't used one earlier, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring until the stock cube is dissolved. 

If you are using gravy browning add that now 

Put one tablespoon of cornflour into a cup and add a little cold water, stirring to a loose paste, if the cornflour feels resistant to stirring add a little more water until it loosens up.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow any bubbling to subside, then add about half of the cornflour mixture stirring all the time, return to the heat and bring back to the boil.  If the gravy isn't thick enough repeat the process with the rest of the cornflour mixture always remembering to remove the gravy from the heat before adding the cornflour otherwise it will go lumpy.

Remember that gravy is not scary - if it goes lumpy you can either whisk the lumps out or you can put it through a sieve.  If it is too thick, add more water, if it is too thin, make more cornflour paste and add that.

If you don't have cornflour then you need to do things slightly differently.  Place a  tablespoon of cooking liquid into a saucepan, add a tablespoon of flour and stir them into a paste.  Slowly add more stock until the gravy is the required consistency and don't forget to add your stock cube.

If you prefer onion gravy, slice an onion and fry it in a little butter and oil until it is translucent.  Sprinkle the flour/cornflour over the onions, stir it in and then add boiling water stirring all the time.  Add stock cube and browning or gravy granules keep stirring until it is boiling and then reduce heat and simmer. 

Freshers

So it is Freshers time again - depending on your university.  My daughter is returning to university this weekend in time to get settled in her new house before Freshers Week starts.  Although not a Fresher she will be helping out during the week.  Is this a good idea?  Poor confused Freshers will be totally lost by the time they have heard her ranting for any length of time, and rant she will.  The university are not allowing registration until October 4 which means that her student loan will not arrive until around October 7 - rant, rant, rant.
We visited her house on Monday.  She was understandably excited about the prospect of having her own house, and the excitement wasn't dented too much by the state it was in.  Sadly it hadn't been cleaned very well - she was particularly revulsed by the sight of a used cotton bud on the floor of one of the bedrooms.  I cleaned the kitchen and all the existing (and disgusting) kitchen utensils were relegated to the cupboard under the stairs.   Although the kitchen of the house is significantly smaller than the one in the university flat, at least she got the choice of who she shares it with.   Once we finish cleaning the house I am sure the three girls will enjoy living and cooking there.  All the kitchen equipment went over with us on Monday so it is already installed.


I hope these recipes will be of help to the new cohort of students - enjoy cooking and eating them and feel free to pass on the links.

Remember this?   if not have a look at the following link 


http://studentsinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2010/06/if-you-dont-have-garlic-press-and-dont.html
I gave you a link for it on Amazon but today I found it in Sainsburys priced at £6.50.  It is also available for online shopping with Sainsburys. 

Basics: How to chop an onion without tears

All the acids which cause your eyes to water are concentrated in the root end of the onion so the way to avoid tears is to avoid the root end of the onion.

Using a strong sharp knife, cut off the stalk end of the onion.

Peel back all the outer layers of the onion, if possible keep the outer layers intact as they make a convenient handle. 

Slice lengthways through the onion but don't go right down to the root, repeat this across the onion,


then turn it around other way and slice through again to produce a criss cross pattern  pictured below

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Lay the onion on its side and slice across the the diameter of the onion and as the pieces fall off you will see that they are diced.




If you want slices  rather than diced onion, stop when you have the criss cross pattern and just cut the root end off.

Now just toss the root end and the outer layers in the bin and you are done - onions chopped and dry eyes in the house.

Chocolate Pudding to die for (otherwise known as a Chocolate Cobbler)

This is unbelievably easy to make and so scrumptious you will think you are in Paradise.  It is not a pretty dessert but if you love chocolate pudding you won't care - I promise 

The recipe is all in cup sizes but I have found that as long as you use the same size cup for everything it doesn't matter what sort of cup you have.  When I first started making it I didn't have any measuring cups so I used ordinary ones, now I don't bother with measuring cups, if I just want to make a small one I use espresso cups or for more people I use large mugs.  I only make an espresso sized one if I am making a gluten free version just for my son - otherwise it is a big one - the bigger the better - slurp.

Don't be too worried about the making process of this, it all sorts itself out in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 190 or reg 5 and put the kettle on to boil 

Ingredients

• 1 cup of Self Raising Flour
• ½ cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of melted butter (don't panic I usually just pile  a good tbsp of solid butter into a cup and then melt in the microwave)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• ½ cup of milk

Topping

• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• ½ cup of sugar
• 1½ cups of hot water

• Mix the flour and sugar together and put into a greased ovenproof dish
• put the butter (or spread) into the cup and melt in the microwave then add to half a cup of milk and add the tsp of vanilla essence.
• Pour onto the flour & sugar and mix well until it is all combined.
• Using a dry cup of the same size as the first one measure the sugar into a basin then add the cocoa powder (if you should accidentally add more cocoa powder than required don't worry it will just add to the deliciousness of the dish) put them into a medium sized basin so that you can mix them together well. then sprinkle it on top of the pudding mix but do not stir it into the pudding just let it sit there.
• Mix some of the water you boiled in the kettle with some cold water so that it is hot but not boiling, measure it in the cup as the cocoa and sugar  and pour over the top of the sugar and cocoa, again you can be more liberal with the water if you wish - it will make extra chocolate fudge sauce.  Again - do not stir or mix - just leave it alone and let it do its own magic.

• Put the whole thing into the oven for approx 1 hour.  When done there will be a vanilla sponge swimming in a thick, gooey chocolate sauce - sorry I'm slurping again.  

We always serve this with Tip Top but you could use ice-cream or possibly pouring cream or just eat it straight from the dish - but not if you have company, it tends to put people off.

Kashmir Chicken (for 4)

I have just come up with this one and am very pleased with it, it is utterly delicious.


4 Chicken portions 
approx 30 - 60 mls (2- 4 tablespoons) of cooking oil
1 large or 2 small onions - sliced
1 tbsp ground Cumin
1 tbsp ground Coriander
¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cornflour
500g natural yoghurt
60mls cold water
1 tin sliced peaches 
1 tsp Garam Masala

• Cut up the chicken portions into reasonably large pieces then fry the pieces in the oil until well browned on both sides.  
• Remove the chicken from the pan, putting it into an ovenproof dish, and add the cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, salt and onions to the frying pan and cook gently for 2 minutes.  
• Sprinkle the cornflour over the onions and stir in.  This step is important as it will help to stop the yoghurt curdling as it heats.
• Stir in the yoghurt and water and gently bring to the boil.
• Pour it over the chicken pieces.  Cover and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.
• In the meantime drain the tinned peaches, discard the syrup and rinse the fruit with cold water.
• After the 30 minutes is up add the peaches to the chicken, stir well, replace the cover and return it to the oven for a further 30 minutes.
• At the end of the cooking time separate the chicken and the sauce, transfer the sauce to a pan and add the Garam Masala.  Bring to the boil stirring all the time.  Return the sauce to the chicken.

Serve with boiled rice.

Savoury bread and butter pudding

For an inexpensive and easy meal a savoury B&B pudding is a good option.  As it is one of my daughter's favourites you might guess that it contains cheese!!  For one or two people I would suggest halving the amounts shown - except for the eggs - just use two.

• 300mls whole or semi-skimmed milk 
• approx 75g butter (you can use spread but butter really is preferable if you can afford it)
• 8 slices of slightly stale white bread, cut into triangles.  If it isn't already stale leave it out for a few hours.
• 3 eggs
• 1 onion
• cream cheese
• grated strong cheese 

1. Put the milk into a pan and heat to just below boiling point then allow to cool
2. Peel and chop the onion very small
3. Butter the bread and the dish
4. Spread the bread with the cream cheese
5. Arrange half of the slices of bread in overlapping rows in the dish and sprinkle half the onion over the top
6. Beat the eggs until well mixed, then beat the milk (and cream) into the mixture
7. Pour half the mixture over the bread and leave to soak in for around 20 minutes
8. Preheat the oven to 180ºC  gas mark 5
9. Arrange the other half of the bread and onion over the top and drizzle over the remainder of the egg custard mixture. 
10. Place the dish in a roasting tin and half fill the tin with water to create a bain marie then place in the oven for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown.
11. When ready remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Basics: Spoons

It occurred to me that not everyone is familiar with the sizes of spoons.  I can remember when I was much younger thinking that a tablespoon was the sort that was put on the table to eat dessert with.  It isn't.  In a set of cutlery there can be several different sizes of spoons. 

1. A teaspoon - I think most people know what this is, it generally holds approximately 5mls.
2. Dessert spoon - this is the one which you put on the table to eat dessert or cereal with.
3. Soup spoon - this is a round shape and is usually very distinct from all the other shapes.
4. Tablespoon - this is similar to a dessert spoon but is much larger, you really wouldn't want to put it in your mouth.  It usually holds approximately 15mls.

There are sometimes other spoons as well, some sets include a cereal spoon which is larger than a teaspoon but smaller than a dessert spoon.  A grapefruit spoon is a similar size to a teaspoon but is elongated and has a slightly pointy end.  An ice-cream spoon is teaspoon sized but is squarer although there are spoons for tall ice-creams which are like teaspoons but have very long handles.

I would recommend the purchase of a set of measuring spoons for cooking - usually you can pick them up for around £2 - to ensure consistency of measurement as different brands of cutlery are different sizes. 

Bread & Butter Pudding

There are a number of variations you can make to this classic dessert depending on your tastes.  I will show the standard recipe first and then give a few ideas of how you can change it.
For one or two people I would suggest halving the amounts shown - except for the eggs - just use two.

• 50g dried fruit - your choice - currants, sultanas, raisins or a mix of all three.
• 300mls whole or semi-skimmed milk or 200mls milk and 100mls double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla essence - optional
• approx 75g butter (you can use spread but butter really is preferable if you can afford it)
• 8 slices of slightly stale white bread, cut into triangles.  If it isn't already stale leave it out for a few hours.
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons sugar

1. Put the milk into a pan with the vanilla essence and heat to just below boiling point then allow to cool
2. Butter the bread and the dish
3. Arrange half of the slices of bread in overlapping rows in the dish and sprinkle half the fruit over the top
4. Beat the eggs with the sugar until well mixed, then beat the milk (and cream) into the mixture
5. Pour half the mixture over the bread and leave to soak in for around 20 minutes
6. Preheat the oven to 180ºC  gas mark 5
7. Arrange the other half of the bread and fruit over the top and drizzle over the remainder of the egg custard mixture. 
8. Place the dish in a roasting tin and half fill the tin with water to create a bain marie then place in the oven for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown.
9. When ready remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

As an alternative to the usual fruit based bread and butter pudding you can add marmalade to the bread (also known as Osborne pudding), alternatively you could use jam or even chocolate spread.  A favourite with us is to spread the bread with butter and a caramel spread which we buy in France although we have occasionally found it in England.  In France it is called Confiture du lait (which translates as "milk jam") although I can't remember what the English label says,   it does clearly say it is caramel, and is made by Bonne Maman.

Tuna Pasta Bake

This is just as good cold as it is hot.  I usually make it with thread egg noodles (in which case it is called Tuna Noodle Bake).  When we eat this hot I often serve it with hot beetroot - just buy the vacuum packed stuff from the supermarket (it keeps for ages unopened in the fridge) empty it into a microwave friendly dish and using a fork to hold it cut it into quarters with a knife then microwave it for a couple of minutes.  Cold, it can be served with either beetroot, salad or whatever you want.


You will need

• 1 onion
• 1or 2 can(s) of tuna
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1oz flora
• 1 pint milk
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Breadcrumbs
• Grated mature cheese
• 1 mug of dried pasta per person

• Put the pasta on to boil

• Melt a 1oz knob of butter or flora in a pan
• Dice the onion
• Place the onion in the melted butter and stir, do not over cook, this needs to be very al dente.
• Add 1 tablespoon of flour and a teaspoon of paprika, stir into the onions and cook for approx 1 minute.
• Remove the pan from the heat, add the milk a little at a time and stir in well, until the sauce is smooth.
• Drain the can of tuna, flake the fish and add to the sauce.
• Drain the pasta when cooked and add to the sauce.  
• (At this stage you can stop if you wish and just eat it as a pasta dish)
• Turn the mixture into an ovenproof dish and smooth the top.  Put the breadcrumbs and cheese into a dish and mix together then sprinkle them over the top of the dish.  
• Put the dish under the grill to melt the cheese.