Vegetable Pizza

I am so proud of myself.   I am about to present to you my first ever homemade pizza.    Well, actually, that’s a slight lie.   It’s the first ever pizza I’ve made on here but I did have an experiment with a frying pan pizza about 15 years ago.    This one is way better.   I was feeling a bit lazy and didn’t want to do all the kneading when I got back from work so I put all the dough ingredients in the breadmaker, left it on the dough setting, and set out for a run to work up a big pizza appetite.   When it finished I just left it in the breadmaker to rise again, until about an hour later when I decided to begin making the pizza.    I tried doing the thing you sometimes see in Italian restaurants where they toss it from hand to hand and it gets bigger and bigger.   Not surprisingly, this did not work for me.   I ended up with lots of holes in the dough and it didn’t really grow much.   Maybe Italians manage to have much stretchier dough than I managed to make, after all, I used ordinary strong white flour, not Italian Tipo “00″ flour.   Anyway, I tried rolling it out, which was interesting.   It kept flattening, then shrinking back a little.  Finally once it was already fairly flat, I decided to just put it on the baking tray and press it down to make it a bit flatter and bigger still.   So, a combination of methods worked out for me in the end.    As far as the toppings go, these worked nicely, but other vegetables would be equally good.   In fact, I liked it so much that I used the rest of the dough the next day with a topping of courgette, aubergine, sweetcorn and mushrooms.

If anyone can tell me why my dough was so springy, please let me know.

Ingredients – Makes 2 big pizzas and serves 4

1 tsp dried fast action yeast

300g strong white flour

1 tsp sugar

15g olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp milk powder + 160 ml water OR 160ml milk

Topping – for 1 pizza

1 tbsp tomato puree

1/4 onion, thinly sliced

1 tomato, cut into wedges

1/2 pepper, thinly sliced

4 mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 handfuls of grated cheese (I used red leicester)

How to Make Pizza Dough

1. Put all the ingredients in the breadmaker.   As when I make bread, I put the yeast in first and then the flour and then the other ingredients as the yeast and salt should be kept separated.   Set the breadmaker to the dough programme and leave.   Mine took 45 minutes.   I then left it in the breadmaker to rise again for about an hour.

2. Take the dough out of the breadmaker and knead briefly.   Divide into 2 balls.   At this point the dough can be frozen or kept in the fridge for a day.   Wrap in cling film first before freezing.

3. Lightly oil a baking tray.  Roll the dough out.   As it may keep shrinking back, be patient and keep working on it.   Press it down onto the baking tray to make it as large and thin as possible.

4. Spread the dough with the tomato puree.  Arrange the vegetables on top and then top with the cheese.

5. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes at approximately 200C.   The cheese should be melted and bubbling  and the base should be crisp on the bottom.

 

Blueberry Cheesecake

There is something I love about cheesecake.   No, not just something, lots of things.   Firstly, I love the biscuit base.   It has to be biscuit.   Why does anyone make anything else?   If you’ve experienced the disappointment of ordering cheesecake in a restaurant for it then to come with a sponge or pastry base, you’ll know exactly what I mean.   I also love the creaminess of it.    Creaminess but in a cheesy way.   I’ve also been disappointed by ordering a cheesecake that managed to provide a tasty biscuit base but then topped this with a mixture that tasted like little more than whipped cream.    And finally, I like fruit in or with my cheesecake, not chocolate.    So you see, I’m not picky.     Of course, I will eat all of these creations, and may even like them, but they are not going to satisfy my ultimate cheesecake cravings.   Sometimes when you know exactly what you want, you have to make it yourself, and that’s what I did here.   And I’m rather proud of my very first cheesecake, inspired by BBC Good Food.

I stuck with their recipe for the base, but for the filling I used blueberries instead of raspberries.   I also only had two eggs left so I missed out the extra egg yolk.    It may have made a difference, but not one that I could taste.   So now I’ve dipped my toe in the world of cheesecakes, expect a few more over the coming months.    I may even break my principles and make a chocolate one.    But don’t worry,   I’ll never venture near a sponge base.

I am submitting this to Sweets for a Saturday.

Ingredients – Serves 12

600g cream cheese

150ml sour cream

100g blueberries + extra to serve

8 digestive biscuits

50g butter

2tbsp plain flour

175g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

How to Make Blueberry Cheesecake

1. Put the biscuits in a food processor to make into crumbs or put in a food bag and bash with a rolling pin.   Melt the butter and mix into the crumbs.  Then put into the bottom of a cheesecake tin (about 23cm) and press down.   Bake for 10 minutes at about 180C.

2. In a large bowl put the cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, vanilla essence, flour and sugar.  Whisk briefly until smooth.   Add 100g blueberries and mix in.

3. When the base has cooled.   Add the cream cheese mixture and return to the oven.   Bake for 40-45 minutes.   It should still be a little wobbly in the middle but set around the edges.

4. Leave to cool in the tin then serve with the extra berries.

 

Piadina

This month’s Fresh From the Oven Challenge was to make Piadina, which is an Italian flat bread.  The challenge was hosted by Alex of Dear Love Blog and was inspired by a trip to Milan when she was 15 and first ate this bread.   It took her many years to then find it again and discover what it was.   Now, I’ve been a bit lax in taking part in the last two challenges but as soon as I saw that this month we were to make flat bread I knew I had to take part.   I love flat bread and have made it in cookery classes and at home before, but it has never quite made it into the blog until now.    As I haven’t eaten real piadina I didn’t have a fixed idea of how exactly the final result should taste.   My piadina looked quite yellowy – possibly from the olive oil, was soft in the middle and almost like a cross between bread and pastry in texture.   I liked it.   It was quite different from my previous attempts at Middle Eastern flatbread and naan.    It also reminded me how easy flat bread is to make.  Yes, you have to knead it for a while, but it doesn’t take long, and once you want to eat it, it’s so quick to make in the frying pan.

We ate half of the piadinas warm with houmous, and this was definitely my favourite way of eating them, but they can be made into sandwiches and served hot or cold.    Hot with goats cheese and spinach was one way I would have loved to eat these, and possibly will next time.   I ate the rest of the piadinas cold as sandwiches with houmous and carrot.   They were still nice, but nothing beats fresh warm bread of any type.

Ingredients

250g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

50 ml olive oil (traditionally lard should be used)

100ml warm water

How to make Piadina

1. Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.   Add the olive oil. Mix then start adding the water.   Add a little at a time and mix it in.  Stop adding the water when it all begins to stick together and you have a dough.

2. Knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes until it becomes smooth and shiny.   Divide  into four, put on a lightly oiled tray and cover with lightly oiled cling film.   Leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.   I left mine for about 2 hours and it was fine.

3. Roll out the balls of dough so they are about 2-3mm thick.   Prick them all over with a fork and put in a hot dry frying pan.   Cook for about two minutes on each side.

4. When fresh I served them with homemade houmous and vegetable sticks.  I then made sandwiches with leftover houmous and carrot slices to eat for lunch the next day.

 

Toad in the Hole

This month My Kitchen My World was asking us to make a British dish.    I set to thinking about what dish to make and the more I thought, the more I realised that most typical British dishes are more suited to Autumn or Winter.    And then I looked outside and reminded myself of why.   Seeing all the rain, why not make a hot comforting dish with lots of gravy.    After all, maybe it was the recent rain that had completely driven away all thoughts of any more summery British dishes.

Anyway, I felt like eating sausages and gravy, and so toad in the hole seemed a perfect choice.  In essence, toad in the hole is just a big Yorkshire pudding with sausages baked in the batter.   It’s an easy everyday dish to make at home, and it is also sometimes served in pubs.    My mum didn’t often make it when I was a child, but I remember eating it at school and when I went to stay with relatives and at schoolfriends’ houses.    I hadn’t actually made it before but I love Yorkshire puddings.   I especially love them when they rise up and go crispy around the outside but stay soggy in the middle.   And of course, lots and lots of gravy is absolutely essential.   I could have made gravy from scratch, but in keeping with the way most people eat this, I decided to just stick with gravy granules.   The amount I made served two of us, but it could easily stretch to serving four, especially if an extra sausage was added.

Ingredients – Serves 2-4

110g flour

3 sausages (225g)

125ml milk

2 eggs

oil

Salt

Black pepper

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp rosemary

How to Make Toad in the Hole

1. Make the batter.  Put the milk, flour, eggs, a little salt and  pepper in a mixing bowl.   Use a whisk to mix until smooth.    Leave to stand for half an hour.

2. Heat the oven to about 200C.  Put a little oil in the bottom of an ovenproof dish.   Cut the sausages in two and put in the bottom of the dish.   Bake for about 10 minutes.

3. Turn the sausages over and pour the batter around the sausages.   Return to the oven for about 30 minutes until the batter has risen up at the sides and the sausages are cooked.

4. Serve with vegetables and gravy.

 

Tuna and Cannellini Bean Salad

At the moment I keep trying to make my packed lunches a little more interesting than just sandwiches.   I’ve been making rice, pasta, quinoa and millet salads, adding whatever vegetables I can find in the fridge, nuts, seeds or cheese, and dressing with a variety of oils, vinegars and citrus juices.    So when I came across this salad on the Bad Girl’s Kitchen, I decided it would be perfect both for lunch, and as this month’s Taste and Create dish.   The salad was originally based on a Giada de Laurentis recipe.  The beans and tuna mean it’s quite filling, and I added extra vegetables for a bit of variety too.  I only wish I had the organisation and motivation to make delicious salads like this for lunch every day.

Taste and Create is an event where food bloggers are paired together and each make a dish from the other’s blog.    To see what everyone else has made, have a look at the Taste and Create website.   It’s one of my favourite events as I love discovering new blogs and pushing myself to try new dishes, I may not have decided to make otherwise.   This month I was lucky enough to be paired with Min, who helps run Taste and Create.   There are hundreds of all types of recipes on her site and as ever I spent a long time browsing before making my decision.    If you like the sound of this then come and join us for the next one!

I am also submitting this to Anamika at Taste Junction for Salad Spread and to Ali at Jam Hands for Summer Cookout Food.

Ingredients – Serves 2

400g tin cannellini beans

120g tin tuna

3 spring onions

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tomato

Handful olives

How to make Tuna and Cannellini Bean Salad

1. Drain a tin of tuna.   Empty it into a bowl and mash a little to break up the chunks.

2. Drain and rinse the beans and add to the tuna.

3. Slice the tomato and chop the spring onion and add to the tuna along with the olives.   Season with salt and black pepper.   Add the vinegar and mix well.

 

365 Challenge: Curried Pork

When I first looked at this recipe I have to admit that I was sceptical.  I like to make curries by adding different spices and experimenting to get different flavours.   If a recipe just says curry powder, I imagine that it’s going to be a bit boring.   Nevertheless, I’d chosen to make this as part of the 365 Challenge so there was no getting out of it.   I knew I had to make it.    Another problem was that my lovely husband does not like dried fruit, is not keen on nuts and loves really hot and spicy curries.   I knew this dish would not suit him and so I decided to adapt it to serve just one – myself, while I also made a one person sized serving of pork vindaloo for him.   At least we would both eat the same rice!

So how was it?   I love it when I am wrong about my expectations about a dish.   I loved this so much that I made a very similar version the next day to use up some of the cream.   If my husband liked dried fruit, it would become a regular dish.   Oh well, all that cream.   Maybe it’s just as well he wouldn’t like it.

This dish is part of the 365 Challenge which is run by Murdoch Books.  The team are cooking their way through each dish in Stephane Reynaud’s 365 Good Reasons to Sit Down to Eat.  This dish has been adapted from his recipe for curried pork tenderloin.

Ingredients – serves 1

1 pork chop

1 small onion, sliced

1 carrot, cut into thin slices

10g sultanas

2 dried apricots

1 dried prune

10g flaked almonds

10g pistachio nuts

1 tsp hot curry powder

100ml stock

20ml double cream

oil

How to Make Curried Pork

1. Heat a little oil in a saucepan and add the onion.  Fry until softened.

2. Add the carrot, dried fruit, nuts and curry powder.   Stir then add the stock.

3. Bring to the boil then simmer for about 10 minutes.    Add the cream and heat through.

4. Heat some more oil in a frying pan.   Season the pork chop and cook for about 4 minutes on each side, more or less depending on the thickness.

5. Serve the pork with rice and top with the curry sauce.

 

Spaghetti Carbonara and Review of Dreamfields Pasta

When I was a student in Durham we never used to eat out in restaurants except on someone’s birthday.  And then, it was always an Italian restaurant.   At the time, I hadn’t got into spicy food.   I was wary of chilli and so scared of Indian food, I thought I didn’t like Chinese food much as I didn’t like sweet and sour or lemon chicken, which everyone else seemed to love.   It may sound hard to believe, considering what I now like to eat, but I grew up in the middle of the countryside, 8 miles from the nearest town (of about 10,000 people), which had no Indian restaurants and only one Chinese one which I went to for the first time when I was 17.   My mother was (and is) a very good cook and made healthy but traditional dishes – pies, quiches, casseroles with potatoes and vegetables or salad.   A lasagna or moussaka was about as exotic as it got!  The nearest dish to curry was coronation chicken.  Really, when I look back at what I used to eat and what I used to avoid, I can hardly believe I was the same person.

Once I got to university, I think a lot of my university friends were the same with the result being that spaghetti carbonara is a dish that reminds me of my pre-spice days, as it was the dish I always used to order.   I loved the creaminess and the bacon and the fact that it was not something I would make for myself.  Not at that time anyway.  How things have changed!

So, why did I suddenly decide to step back in time and make a carbonara, perhaps ten years since I’d last had one?   Well, I recently received some spaghetti, penne and rotini pasta from Dreamfields to review.   And what better recipe to make with the spaghetti than carbonara.   Now, I’m not an expert on nutrition, but Dreamfields pasta claims to be different from other pastas in that it has only 5g of digestible carbohydrates, a 65% lower glycemic index and twice as much fibre as regular pasta and therefore could be good for people wanting a healthier pasta or those on a lower carb diet.  The Dreamfields website gives a lot more information about the nutritional content because here I have to be honest and say that as a runner, as well as a food blogger, carbs don’t bother me.   But, I do try to eat healthily and like to include foods with a low glycemic index and lots of fibre.  To me, what’s most important is the taste, the texture and does it fill me up.   And on these criteria I was very happy.    When cooked it didn’t go at all soggy like some pastas, it was nicely al dente and held the sauce well.

And it was definitely a good sauce.  It may look like a rich sauce full of cream, but, like a true Italian carbonara, it is cream-free.   The creaminess of the sauce comes entirely from the egg, parmesan and cooking water.    When you add the egg mixture, take the pan off the heat and stir quickly so you get  a silky smooth sauce, not a scrambled egg mixture. I ended up thinking, if carbonara is this easy, why does anyone ever buy a jar of sauce.   And why have I practically given up ever eating it?  Well, as it’s so simple, I still won’t be eating it in restaurants, but I might now be making it at home instead.

For more information about Dreamfields, take a look at their website.

I am also linking this to Presto Pasta Nights, this week hosted by Debbie Does Dinner Healthy.

Ingredients – Serves 2

120g spaghetti

2 eggs

4 rashers bacon

Black pepper

2 handfuls grated parmesan

1 clove garlic, chopped

Olive oil

How to Make Spaghetti Carbonara

1. Put the bacon in a frying pan to cook.   When ready remove.   Leave to cool and then chop.

2. Put the pasta on to cook according to the pack instructions.   It’ll probably take about 10 minutes.

3. Put the eggs in a bowl and beat them.   Season and add the grated parmesan.

4. Drain the pasta but reserve the water.

5. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan or wok.   Add the garlic.   As it begins to colour add the pasta.    Toss.

6. Add a little of the reserved pasta cooking water.  Take off the heat.  Add the egg and parmesan mixture.   Keep stirring.   Add extra cooking water if it is too dry.   You should get a smooth creamy sauce.

 

Slow Cooked Barbecue Ribs

This is my first month of taking part in the Secret Recipe Club. If you like the idea of being a secret agent then this is the perfect event to give you that feeling.  About a month ago I was sent my assignment: 365 Days of Baking.  This blog is written my Lynne, who manages to bake something every day.   Now that is impressive!   So even though she only began her blog this year there are over a hundred recipes on her site, so I didn’t have any trouble finding things I wanted to make.   I liked the fact that part the reason for her writing a blog was to have a place to keep recipes she’s been given by family and friends and one of the things I liked most about her site is that she rates all her recipes, with 1 rolling pin being the worst, and 4 rolling pins being the best.    Once I discovered this through a little secret investigation, I decided to focus on her best recipes – the ones with 4 rolling pins.

It wasn’t long before I came across this recipe for barbecue spare ribs.   It was a long time since I’d last made spare ribs, before I began my blog, and I’ve never posted a recipe for them, so I knew at that moment that what my blog was lacking was a killer spare rib recipe – and it seemed like I might have just found it.   Now, the last time I made spare ribs I made them in my slow cooker and they turned out absolutely gorgeously and the one slight issue Lynne mentioned with this recipe, was that the meat was not quite at the falling off the bone stage in some places.     As I’m going through a slow cooker phase at the moment, I decided to adapt the method but the ingredients are almost the same.

And the verdict:  They were lovely, the meat was tender, falling off the bone and full of flavour and the sauce was amazing.   According to my husband:  ‘This is the best new recipe you’ve made in a long time’.   Need I say more.   It looks like I’ll be making them again soon.

If you don’t have a slow cooker, don’t worry, just have a look at the original recipe on 365 Days of Baking.

Ingredients – Serves 2

500g ribs

1 tbsp light brown sugar

20ml  Worcester Sauce

30ml soy sauce

20ml cider vinegar

40ml ketchup

2 red chillies

1/2 tsp mustard

1 clove of garlic, crushed

Pinch black pepper

How to make Barbecue Ribs

1. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce.

2. Arrange the ribs in the bottom of the slowcooker.    Pour the sauce over the top.   Add a little extra water so the ribs are covered.    Cook for 9 hours.

3. Before serving, drain the liquid into a small saucepan and boil to reduce.   Serve the reduced sauce over the top of the ribs.

To see what everyone else has make, click on the link below:

 

Stir Fried Duck with Asparagus and Green Beans

I don’t often add fruit to savoury meals, but duck and orange is a classic combination, and a combination that I think is much better Chinese style than French.   I have had duck a l’orange, a long long time ago, I wasn’t impressed, and it wasn’t a combination I wanted to repeat.   So why this?   Well, I had some duck breasts and  some asparagus and I haven’t posted a Jamie recipe for IHCC for  few weeks and so I did a search for Jamie Oliver, duck and asparagus, and this is what came up.  I didn’t have any mange tout or sugar snap peas in, but I did have green beans which I felt would be an acceptable substitution, and I always have oranges as  I eat an orange every morning for breakfast.   But what really persuaded me to make this was the picture on Jamie’s website.   All that green and orange, it just looked so pretty I had to make it.  And it was good. The honey was subtle – not too sweet and the oranges did not overpower the rest of the flavours.   Definitely a success.   Maybe I should give the classic French dish another chance…

Ingredients

2 duck breasts

1 tsp five spice powder

10 asparagus spears, each cut into about 3 pieces

Handful of green beans

1 red chilli, sliced

Small knob ginger, diced

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

2 tsp honey

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 orange, segmented

How to Make Stir Fried Duck with Asparagus and Green Beans

1. Rub the five spice powder into the duck breasts.   Fry for about 3 minutes on each side in a wok. (I had removed the skin as I don’t like it, but if the skin is still on it may need a little longer).  Remove and set aside.

2. Add all the vegetables to the wok and stir fry quickly at a high temperature for about 2 minutes.

3. Slice the duck thinly and return to the wok along with the soy sauce, honey and orange segments.   Add a dash of hot water if it is too dry.   Bring back to the boil and then take off the heat.

4. Serve with rice or noodles.

 

Spaetzle with Caramelised Onions, Bacon and Cheese

Don’t you just love it when you haven’t thought of something for a while and then you get reminded of it and the opportunity to make it.   That’s exactly what happened with this month’s Daring Cook’s challenge.   The task was to make homemade pasta without using any motorized machinery.   One of the suggestions was spaetzle.   Spaetzle. Now, why hadn’t I ever thought of making it before.   The last time I ate spaetzle was back the nineties  in my year abroad in Germany.    It was in a restaurant and as far as I remember it was served with loads of cheese, bacon and leeks.   It was heavy but delicious.  The melting cheese and leeks clinging to the spaetzle.   A really hearty meal.   With that in mind,   I wanted to make a dish similar,  but if possible, not quite as heavy.   Well, I’m not sure if I managed that but I did add some peas and serve it with a huge spinach salad.

A recipe was provided for the spaetzle but it didn’t look anything like the spaetzle I remembered.   I searched around online and came across another site with very clear pictures and step by step instructions. The only hiccup was that the recipes required you to have a spaetzle press, but looking at it, it looked remarkably similar to my new potato ricer.  I wonder…   A little more searching revealed that you can use a potato ricer to make spaetzle, as long as you use the attachment with the large holes.    Any if you don’t have a potato ricer, you can even use a colander.   And if you don’t have a colander, well,  I don’t suppose you’d be trying to make spaetzle anyway.

When I first pushed the spaetzle through the ricer into the water I was a little worried as a lot of them seemed to stick together,   but as they cooked I prodded them a bit and most of them separated again.   Spaetzle is supposed to be very irregular with thinner and thicker strands and knobbly bits so don’t worry if it appears to be going wrong, it will almost certainly turn out ok.    I was really pleased with the end result and it was much easier than I would have expected before starting.

Blog-checking lines: Steph from Stephfood was our Daring Cooks’ July hostess. Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine. She provided us with recipes for Spätzle and Fresh Egg Pasta as well as a few delicious sauces to pair our noodles with!

Ingredients – Serves 2

200g plain flour

2 eggs

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 rashers bacon

Handful grated parmesan

3 tbsp peas

3 onions

Breadcrumbs

Olive oil

Salt

Black Pepper

How to Make Spatzle with Caramelised Onions, Bacon and Cheese

1. Make the batter.  Add a pinch of salt and the nutmeg to the flour.    Break the eggs into the flour and mix with a wooden spoon.

2. Add 100ml of water, a little at a time.   Stir well so you have a wet dough/thick batter.   Don’t worry about one or two lumps.

3. Put the batter in the fridge to rest.

4. Slice the onions into strips and begin to fry in a frying pan over a low heat.   Stir every so often to stop them from sticking and burning.  Add a little salt.   If you want you can also add sugar but I don’t like the onions to be too sweet and they are sweet anyway.

5. While the onions are cooking fry the bacon in a separate pan until crispy.   When cool, use a pair of scissors to snip it into small pieces.

6. Bring a pan of water to the boil. Position a potato ricer or colander above the pan.  Add half the dough and squeeze through.     When it rises to the top and has been in the pan for about two minutes,  lift out with a slotted spoon and put in a bowl of cold water. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

7. Add a little extra oil to the pan with the caramelised onions in. Drain the spatzle and add it to the frying pan with the onion.   Add the bacon too and the peas.   Fry for about 5 minutes, stirring so it is completely heated through.

8. Just before serving, stir in the grated parmesan.   Divide between two plates and sprinkle breadcrumbs on the top.