Moonblush tomatoes // Get in my mouth

This is just about the easiest recipe imaginable and almost doesn't really count as a recipe, but the flavour is amazing and will jazz up even the simplest of dishes and it saves so much money over shop bought sun dried tomatoes, I'm never going back. 

The recipe for these "Moonblush tomatoes" is a Nigella Lawson one available here. Basically you just cut up and arrange cherry tomatoes as above. Pre-heat your oven to the hottest it will go. Sprinkle tomatoes with a little sea salt, sugar, dried thyme and olive oil. Pop them in to the oven and immediately turn the oven off. Then leave them overnight or all day and don't be tempted to peek! So simple!

I actually ended up doubling the cooking as mine didn't seem to dry out very well after one day in the oven, they were quite big cherry tomatoes. So I did them overnight as well and was so excited to wake up and eat them on toast that I forgot to take any pretty pictures. However I did manage to photograph them being added to our very basic evening meal of pasta and homemade walnut pesto. They really added an incredible intense flavour which made the whole dish seem a bit more special than it was. I'm already planning to make another batch tonight and am dreaming up all sorts of ways to use them.

Enjoy!

Nicci

xxx

Beetroot Burger and Green Kitchen Stories

I discovered Green Kitchen Stories this week, it is full of amazing vegetarian recipes and stunning photography, all very inspiring. I don't class myself as a veggie but I don't really cook with meat very regularly so this blog is right up my street.

I decided to rustle up their Grilled Beet Burgers for dinner, they did not disappoint and were pretty easy to make. Mine fell apart a little when grilled but I reckon next time I could make them stick!

Beetroot & Feta Burger
Makes 6-8 burgers, depending on the size

3 cups / 750 ml grated raw beetroots (approx. 4-5 beets)
1,5 cups / 375 ml / 150 g rolled oats or flakes of your choice
1 small onion
7 oz / 200 g sheep’s feta cheese or firm tofu
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp cold-pressed olive oil
2 organic eggs
1 handful fresh basil
Salt/pepper

Toppings:
lettuce or cabbage
mango
avocado
tomatoes
onions

Peel and grate beets, onion and garlic on a box grater or use a food processor with the grating blades attached. Place the grated vegetables in a large mixing bowl. Add olive oil, eggs and rolled oats and mix everything well. Add sheep’s cheese or tofu, basil, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Set aside for about 30 minutes, so the oats can soak up the liquid and the mixture sets (this step is important for the patties to hold together). Try shaping a patty with your hands. If the mixture is to loose, add some more oats. Form 6-8 patties with your hands. Grill the beetroot burgers a couple of minutes on each side – or fry them in a frying pan by heating a knob of coconut oil or ghee and fry until golden on both sides. Serve with grilled sourdough bread and toppings of your choice.

I have since discovered that you can buy Green Kitchen Stores book and app, I'm about to become a fully paid up member of their gang.

Lucy
xx

Weekend in Pictures

I had a lovely weekend in the sunshine and in between streaming Glastonbury and Wimbledon I managed to have quite a bit of fun. Here a few snapshots from the weekend.

1. Enjoying wearing my hat on Saturday morning.
2. Had a sugary disaster whilst baking.
3. Managed to bake a Rosemary and Dark Chocolate cake, it was delicious!
4. The beautiful sunshine on Sunday
5. Enjoying some park relaxation with a sleepy boy.
6. The beautiful views from Crystal Palace Park.
7. Proudly sporting my home made top.

Apologies for the quality they were all snapped on my iphone. It was too hot to carry my massive camera!

Lucy
xxx

Salad Days

Nicci and I whipped up the tastiest lunch the other Saturday, it involved halloumi and Aubergine with garlic ciabattas and a rather awesome salad. It was one of those lunches that are super simple to make but just taste so darn good!

We rubbed some ciabbata with garlic, srinkled with sea salt and grilled in the oven.

We then thinly sliced the aubergine and thickly sliced the halloumi and popped them in the pan to get cooking

Our super tasty salad had rocket, beetroot, artichokes, tomatoes and cucumber. Expertly prepared by the lovely Nicci. I think that beetroot and artichokes are some of my favourite foods. So bloomin tasty!

I also had some falafel knocking round the fridge so they made an appearance as well. We served it up with tzatziki and I had a ridiculous amount of balsamic vinegar on top. Not too shabby for a Saturday.

Lucy

xxx

Review- Betty Blythe

A little while ago I had the pleasure of visiting Betty Blythe for Afternoon Tea for my friend's birthday party. This place is tucked out of the way down a leafy street and is just adorable. We took over the entire tea room with one big table in the middle.

The food was all absolutely delicious and there was loads of it which was great as sometiimes with afternoon tea it can seem like you pay a lot for not so much. We had a lovely selection of sandwiches, scones, brownies, fairy cakes and a selection of homemade cake as well as unlimited tea. The other really great thing about this place is that for a small charge you can bring your own bottles of fizz.

But the best thing about Betty Blythe is the dressing up room downstairs stocked with vintage hats, jewellery, gloves and much more. We turned into a group of giggling girls as we raced down to try everything on and pose for photos. It was a really good way to break the ice too, there was quite a big group of us who didn't all know each other.

Hats and pearls and the dream dressing table, one day I will own one of these. And on that day I will certainly don a turban!

The staff couldn't have been lovelier either, they went out of their way to make sure we had a wonderful time and were super friendly, even letting us stay when they were supposed to be closing up! I would highly recommend this place for anyone looking for a really girly, fun way to spend an afternoon and it was such a nice change from the usual meal and a pub option. They're also open as a cafe normally, if you don't fancy afternoon tea it would definitely be worth popping in for one of their croissants. They looked divine.

Nicci
xx

ANZAC biscuits

There's a coffee shop just around the corner from my work which sells, no kidding, the world's most delicious cookies. I'd never heard of them before but having googled ANZAC biscuits it would seem they're rather old hat especially to our friends down under. They're sort of a love child of a hobnob and a bounty, they're chewy and oaty and subtly coconutty and so deliciously moreish, even more moreish than Wheetos and I never thought that would be possible.

Anyway seeing as I was in serious danger of spending a small fortune on biscuits every day I decided I had better have a go at making them. I followed this basic recipe from BBC Good Food, 122 reviewers can't be wrong! But having recently been enlightened to the numerous wonders of coconut oil I thought i'd have a go at substituting the butter for coconut oil instead. Coconut oil has so many health benefits associated with it and if you're interested in finding out more then I suggest you start by reading this. Not only is good to eat but it's also amazing for your skin and as a hair mask, but that's a whole other post.

So here are your basic ingredients, nothing complicated and actually most of it I had in the cupboard already, remember you can just use butter instead of coconut oil if you're not sure you want to invest yet.

This is how coconut oil looks at room temperature, it's solid but it melts very easily. The beauty of it is though that the chemical structure is incredibly stable even when frying at very high heats, which means the fatty acids do not alter to become trans fats, which are really bad for you. One more reason coconut oil rocks. Just melt the coconut oil in place of the butter in the recipe and then follow the rest of the instructions a writ.

Stare longingly into oven while they bake and admire their oaty coconutty forms so full of potential for some where between 8-10 minutes.

Here they are! Excuse the blury photograph, this was actually the best of the bunch. I think I was too eager to start eating them! So tasty and almost as good as the ones from the coffee shop, and probably a little bit healthier! This recipe is a keeper.

Nicci
Xxx

This Morning

This morning was a lovely one, very relaxed and so very sunny! Spelt pancakes were on the breakfast menu this morning (which being a new recipe fitted in with the monthly challenge) They were yummy and a hybrid between american style pancakes and traditional ones. I also had some blueberries in the fridge which were looking a little sad so I popped them in the pan with the batter and they were all jammy and delicicious. 

Lucy

xxx

Panettone bread and butter pudding

I have to admit to not having been as on it with the monthly challenge as Lucy has been. This has been partly due to a strictly enforced food budget thanks to the horribly late pay day this month, still a whole week to go! So when Ed came home from work with this panettone I knew I could do something with it which would be slightly more inspiring than my usual pasta bakes.

Before Christmas Lucy and I found these adorable aprons at a vintage fair but this was the first time my apron got an outing! Here I am trying to channel Nigella...not sure I'm a natural.

 

the basics you need for this recipe, I loosely based mine on this recipe but adapted the quantities for just the two of us. It was so simple to make but really tasty.

Just mix up all the wet ingredients so you have a sort of custard, then pour over sliced and buttered panettone and bake until set and golden. Buttering the panettone adds a delicious savoury edge to the dish which I really enjoyed.

Voila! Baked fruity spiced custardy goodness all in less than10 mins prep time. My kind of dessert! Serve with ice cream or pouring cream for added goodness.

Nicci

Xxx

 

Monthly Challenge - New Recipes

This recipe has been my favourite of the new ones I've cooked. I saw this recipe for an Olive Oil Cake and I decided to give it a whirl but added lemon and pistachio to the recipe. It came out really well and I was pretty darn happy with it! ( I also got to use my salvaged scales!)

Lemon and Pistachio Olive Oil Cake

Makes one 20cm diameter cake

• 3 medium eggs
• 150g soft dark-brown sugar
• 150ml olive oil
• Juice and zest of 2 lemons
• 200g wholemeal spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 100g crushed pistachios

For the Lemon Drizzle icing

• Juice of half a lemon (approx)
• Icing Sugar
• Handful of pistachios to decorate

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/gas mark 4, then line the base and sides of a deep, round 20cm cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Whisk the eggs and sugar until thick, then beat in the oil, zest and juice.

Combine the flour, baking powder and pistachios in another bowl, then fold this through the egg mixture.

Spoon into the tin and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer poked in comes out clean.

Once the cake has cooled slightly, combine the juice of half a lemon and then add icing sugar 1/2 tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency has been reached. (Not too thick)

Drizzle over the cake and add pistachios on top for decoration.

Mmmmm tasty cake!

Lucy
xxx

Monthly Challenge - New Recipes

I've been trying to stick to the New Recipe challenge and it's going fairly well! As part of the challenge I made Peppery Chicken which worked out really well and I was pretty happy with the results. It was really tasty, moist and quite tangy.

Peppery Chicken from Shutterbean

I made the recipe with thighs and drumsticks instead of wings and I only marinated for half an hour as I was pressed for time. 

Serves 4-6

• 12 pieces of chicken (wings/drumsticks)
• salt & fresh ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 4 medium cloves garlic, smashed to a paste with a little salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Lay the chicken wings out on a baking sheet and season well with salt and pepper, then transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the allspice, cloves, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic and oil; toss to coat evenly. Let sit for 1 hour at room temperature, or cover and refrigerate for up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Have a large roasting pan or baking sheet at hand.
Spread the wings evenly in the pan or on the baking sheet in a single layer. Roast, uncovered, until they are nicely browned and crisp, about 1 hour.
Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

I had the chicken with buttery mash potato and green beans.

I cooked this recipe for friends and the wine was flowing so I forgot to snap pictures of the full dinner, damn wine! So this picture is from the day after of the leftovers, hence the slightly odd pic!

Lucy

xxx