Green Lentil and Coriander Soup

A new year, a new healthy diet.   That’s the plan for most of the time anyway.  Apart from that I have made no new year food plans and have written no review of the past year.   I would like to blog more frequently and I would like to be more active in commenting on the blogs I follow, but if I set that as a resolution, I feel I would just be setting myself up for failure.  After all, I am running the London Marathon on 21 April so will need to find time to fit all the training for that into my schedule!   So, I am just going to try to keep on blogging as often as I can, when I can.    I know it’s quite late to be saying this on 8th January already so that is all I am going to say on the subject.  Moving on to this green lentil and coriander soup….

I love making soups like this as they are warm, filling and are useful for using up any leftover vegetables.  Although the lentils are very dark,  I love the colours of all the vegetables showing up in the soup and I especially love the fresh coriander stirred in at the end.  It makes the soup taste very fresh.

I am linking this soup to Pantry Party, Food of the Month Club and Souper Sundays.

Ingredients – serves 2 (as a main meal)

3 tbsp dried green lentils

2 carrots, sliced

1 onion, diced

2 tbsp chopped red cabbage

2 tbsp sweetcorn

Small knob of ginger, finely diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 chilli pepper, sliced

Handful of coriander (cilantro), chopped

2 cardamom pods, crushed slightly

2 cloves

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp garam masala

How to Make Lentil and Coriander Soup

1. Put a little oil in a saucepan.   Add the cloves and cardamom pods.   Cook for 30 seconds then add the chopped onion, chilli pepper and ginger.  Fry gently until soft.

2. Add the turmeric,cumin, garam masala, carrot and lentils.   Stir in and add boiling water from the kettle.

3. Simmer for 30 minutes then add the cabbage.   Continue to simmer for another 20 minutes.

4. Add the frozen sweetcorn.   As soon as the water reaches the boil again, take out two ladles of the soup.   Blend in a food processor or with a stick blender and then return the pureed soup to the pan.   Stir in the coriander and serve immediately

 

Orange Cheesecake

This orange cheesecake is a recipe I came up with to use up the leftover mascarpone from the Cocoa Salmon Pasta.  I didn’t have much mascarpone left.   Not enough to make a whole cheesecake, but after all the indulgences of Christmas, that is probably just as well.

Usually I buy ingredients like mascarpone to make a particular recipe and half the container goes to waste before I have time to finish it.  This time, I was determined not to waste the leftovers and as this cheesecake is so easy to make, I’m sure it won’t be a problem in future.

I have to admit that I do have a weakness for cheesecakes and although I usually go for berry ones, I liked the oranginess of this one.   I know that it’s not at all healthy but the yoghurt gives it a nice tang which made it taste fresher and lighter than most cheesecakes.  Maybe the fact that I only had two small cheesecakes and so could not have a second slice (or huge first slice) also helped!

You could also make this cheesecake with lemons or limes but I decided to use oranges and so link it to the One Ingredient Challenge, hosted this month by Laura at How to Cook Good Food and on alternate months by Nazima at Franglais Kitchen.

Ingredients – makes 2 individual cheesecakes

3 digestive biscuits (approx 50g)

20g butter

75g mascarpone

35g Greek yoghurt

20g icing sugar

Juice of 1/2 orange

How to Make Orange Cheesecakes

1. Line 2 ramekins with cling film.

2. Put the biscuits in a plastic food bag and crush them with a rolling-pin.

3. Put the butter in a small dish and melt in the microwave.  Mix the butter over the crushed biscuits and press them into the bottom of the ramekins.

4. Put all the other ingredients in a bowl and mix together.  Pour on top of the cheesecake bases and refrigerate for at least 5 hours.

I am also linking this to Sugar and Slice Sunday Link Party and Sweets for a Saturday.

 

Cocoa Pasta with Smoked Salmon

I know, cocoa pasta and salmon does not sound right, but don’t judge too soon.  I wouldn’t have tried it either, except that I was given a packet of Hotel Chocolat cocoa pasta for Christmas.   Never having had chocolate flavoured pasta before, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.   As the recipe on the packet was for a savoury dish, salmon and mascarpone cocoa pasta, and the packet said, ‘made with pure unsweetened cocoa’, I assumed the pasta would not be sweet and that maybe the cocoa would just give the pasta a slight bitter flavour.   Taking the easy route, I decided to make the recipe on the pack.  After all, I reasoned, Hotel Chocolat must know what they are talking about.  The pasta must be suitable for savoury dishes.

As the pasta was cooking, a lovely chocolaty smell wafted up from the pan.  Is this really going to work with salmon? I wondered.  Luckily, the chocolate smell is stronger than the chocolate taste, but there is still a definite chocolate taste to the pasta.  Chocolate rather than cocoa.  Milk chocolate rather than dark chocolate.   I checked the ingredients.  Sugar.  The pasta contained sugar!

It was a little odd to eat slightly sweet pasta with a creamy salmon sauce.  A little odd but not unpleasant.  I would even eat it again if it was given to me.  However, I won’t be making it myself again as my husband claimed it made him feel a little sick.

There is still some pasta left in the packet and I’m sure it’ll end up in a delicious dessert soon.

Ingredients – serves 2

150g Cocoa Pasta

100g smoked salmon, sliced into strips

2 tbsp mascarpone

Handful grated parmesan

1 Lemon, quartered, to serve with the pasta

How to Make Cocoa Salmon Pasta

1. Put the pasta on to boil.

2. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and return it to the pan along with a little of the cooking water.

3. Mix the mascarpone and parmesan into the pasta until it forms a smooth sauce and has heated through. Stir in the smoked salmon.

4. Serve with the lemon wedges.

 

Hasselback Potatoes and Review of Knorr Gravy Pots

Some recipes are so simple but it takes a long time to get around to making them.   I first came across these Hasselback potatoes a couple of years ago and knew I wanted to make them.   They looked so crispy and delicious.   Since then I’ve cooked baked potatoes many times and made quite a few roast dinners, but I love roast potatoes so much (and I make pretty good ones) that I’d rarely done anything more adventurous.   Hasselback potatoes are Swedish in origin and the slices that are cut into the potatoes provide a larger surface area and so more surface of potato to crisp up.  If you love crispy potatoes then you should try these.  You do need to be having a roast dinner to prepare the potatoes in exactly the same way that I did.   However, if you are not, you could use butter as an alternative to beef fat.  I used baking potatoes and we had one each but you could use smaller potatoes as well.  Then you would have even more crispiness.

I served the roast dinner with beef gravy made from Knorr Gravy pots.  It was quick and easy to make and although not an alternative to real homemade gravy, it did  have a rich taste and it was easier to avoid it having lumps in than in gravy made with granules.  For a quick almost instant gravy, it is something that I would use again.

Ingredients – per person

1 baking potato

Salt

lard (or butter)

How to Make Hasselback Potatoes

1.Wash and dry the potatoes. Cut slices 2/3 of the way through the potato about 5mm apart along its length.  Rub salt in and leave for an hour.

2. As I was making  a roast dinner I sealed the beef joint in the frying pan then drizzled the fat that came off over the potatoes.  Seasoned them again and put them in the oven.

3. Bake the potatoes for up to 2 hours. Every 20-30 minutes baste the potatoes with the fat from the meat.

Disclosure – I received the Knorr Gravy Pots for free, as a BzzAgent but the views are my own.

 

White Chocolate and Raspberry Tart with Cinnamon Crust

I may have mentioned before that I sometimes like to borrow recipe books from the library, especially books that I don’t actually plan to buy, but am quite interested in.  I’ve also mentioned my love of Masterchef on many many occasions.  Well, last week in the library I walked past a display stand of recipe books and having been engrossed in the current Masterchef the professionals series, I couldn’t resist picking up, Greg’s Favourite Puddings.  As I’m sure you know, Greg Wallace loves a good pudding.  As far as savoury dishes go, I think I’d probably agree with Michel Roux, but puddings, well, I’d trust Greg on those.

I did change the recipe a little.   The original called for cherries, rather than raspberries.   I also didn’t dust the top of the tart with cinnamon, but served the cinnamon alongside so if anyone wasn’t so keen on it, they wouldn’t have to have too much of it.   There is still cinnamon in the pastry,  which gives just a hint of cinnamon.  It was definitely a success as all my guests asked for seconds so I never got to find out what it would have been like cold.

I am submitting this to We Should Cocoa, an event run by Chocolate Teapot and Chocolate Log. This month it is hosted by Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog and the special ingredient is cinnamon.

I am also linking to Sweets for a Saturday and Sugar and Slice Link Party.

Ingredients for the Pastry

175g plain flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

125g unsalted butter, diced

25g caster sugar

Ingredients for the Filling

2 eggs

40g caster sugar

150g white chocolate, chopped

300ml double cream

Punnet of raspberries

Ground cinnamon (optional)

How to Make White Chocolate Raspberry Tart

1. First prepare the pastry.   Sift the flour and cinnamon into a large bowl.   Add the diced butter and rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips. When the mixture is like breadcrumbs, add the sugar and then a tbsp water and bring the mixture together to form a dough.

2. Dust the work surface with flour and knead the dough briefly.   Wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.

3. Lightly oil a 23cm tart case.   Flour the work surface and roll the dough out as thinly as possible.  Put it in the tart case.   Prick the pastry with a fork, line with parchment or foil and add baking beans or something similar.   Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 200C.   Take the baking beans out and continue baking for 5 minutes.

4. To make the filling beat the eggs and sugar together until light and a bit fluffy.   Put the cream in a saucepan and heat until it almost gets to the boil.   Put the chocolate in a large bowl and pour the cream over the top.   Stir until the chocolate has melted.   Then slowly stir in the egg and sugar mixture.

5. Put the raspberries in the pastry case and pour the chocolate mixture over the top.

6. Bake for 45 minutes at 200C.   Serve warm with cinnamon on the side to dust over the top.

 

Baba Ghanoush

I love aubergines.   I possibly like them even more these days as my husband isn’t keen on them so I don’t eat them quite as often as I would like.  Just thinking about them now, I’m now thinking of all the recipes I haven’t made for a while and need to make again.   Stuffed aubergines is one of my favourites and also Chinese stir fried aubergine.  Delicious!

But, getting back to the topic in hand, although this is an aubergine post, it’s a post about an aubergine dip – baba ghanoush.  Usually when I make dips I make houmous.   Everything just goes in the blender so it’s quick and easy.   No need to roast an aubergine first, which is perhaps partly why I haven’t made this dip quite as often.  You see, I’m not always the most organised cook in advance of cooking.   If I’m having a snacky lunch I don’t want to wait an hour while the aubergine roasts.   I want something I can eat relatively soon after beginning to prepare it.  But, I promise you, if you just remember to switch the oven on and put the aubergine in about an  hour before you plan to eat, this is just as easy as houmous.   I ate this for lunch with oatcakes but it would also be perfect as a dip at parties or on picnics.

Ingredients

1 aubergine

1 clove garlic

2 tsp tahini

1/4 tsp smoked paprika + extra to garnish (optional)

1/4 tsp cumin

3 tsp lemon juice

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Black pepper

Salt

How to Make Baba Ghanoush

1. Prick the aubergine with a fork.  Roast in the oven at about 180C for about 50 minutes, until the skin has blackened. Leave to cool.

2. Slice the aubergine in half and scrape out the flesh with a spoon.  Put it in the blender with the other ingredients.

3. Taste and add a little extra of any of the ingredients if necessary.

4. Serve as a dip with vegetable sticks, pita breads or other savoury biscuits or breads.

 

 

Banana Upside Down Cake

I made this banana upside down cake a couple of months ago but somehow I didn’t quite get around to writing up the recipe.  It’s been sitting in my drafts folder staring at me ever since.   Now, if I hadn’t enjoyed it so much I might just have left it there and eventually forgotten about it, but this is certainly not a recipe to be forgotten about.

I was inspired by The Great British Bake Off.  One week, fairly near the beginning of the series, the contestants had to make upside down cakes and someone, I can’t now remember who, made a rather delicious looking banana one.  Until then, the only upside down cake I remembered eating was the pineapple and glace cherry one my mum used to make. As soon as I tried this one I knew I wanted to keep the recipe and make it again.   I loved the layer of sticky caramel on the bottom coating the banana slices, especially around the edges where it was lovely and chewy.  Absolutely delicious warm with ice-cream or custard but still nice cold too.

Inspired by this cake, the very next week I made the blackberry upside down cake I’ve already blogged about and I had all sorts of plans to make more similar cakes.   Those plans have not quite been realised yet, but, there’s time.  This cake was adapted from a recipe on this site.

I am  linking this to Sweets for a Saturday at Sweet as Sugar Cookies.

Ingredients for the Cake

2 ripe bananas

2 tbsp yoghurt

180g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

90g room temperature butter

180g caster sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

Ingredients for the Cake Topping

3 bananas

120g brown sugar

60g butter

1.5 tbsp golden syrup

How to Make Banana Upside Down Cake

1. Line a  20 x 20cm baking tin with baking parchment.

2. Put the butter, sugar and golden syrup for the topping in a small saucepan. Cook until all the sugar and butter have melted.  Stir gently and pour into the tin.  If necessary tilt the tin backwards and forwards so the layer of caramel covers the bottom of the tin.

3. Slice the bananas into pieces about 2cm thick.  Place them in the caramel.

4. Mash the bananas with a fork then mix in the yogurt.  Set aside.

5. Put the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.   Whisk till pale and fluffy.

6. Add the vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, whisking after each one.

7. Sift  the flour and spices and gradually beat into the mixing bowl.  Then beat in the banana and yoghurt mixture too.

8. Spoon the batter into the cake tin on top of the caramel and bananas.

9. Bake at 180C for about 45 minutes.  Test with a skewer to see if it’s cooked.  If necessary bake for a little longer.

10. When ready, let the cake stand for a couple of minutes out of the oven.   Place a plate on top of the tin and turn it over to remove the cake.

11. Serve warm with cream, custard or ice cream.

 

Chicken and Bacon Chilli

There are some ingredient combinations which are always going to be good together.   One of these is chicken and bacon.  Add some tomato and some cheese and it is hard to beat for autumn comfort food.  This month I was paired with Jean at The Tasty Cheapskate for the Secret Recipe Club and I decided I wanted to make something tasty, warming and of course easy, not taking too much time to prepare.  I had so many recipes to choose from but I soon chose this chilli.  Not only did it contain ingredients I love, I already had everything I needed in the flat.   No shopping required.   Even better.

Jean actually created this dish to use up some leftovers and liked it so much she began making it regularly.   I can see why as it turned out just as nicely as I’d expected.   I used a bit more chicken than in the original recipe and more greens, but it was very similar.   One of the good things about this dish is that there are so many variations that could be made to it, just depending on what you have left in the fridge.

Ingredients – serves 2

1-2 chicken breasts, sliced into strips

3 rashers bacon

300g tin cannelini beans

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 onion, chopped

1 chilli pepper, finely sliced

Handful of chopped spring greens (or other green vegetable)

Handful coriander leaf (cilantro)

Grated cheese (optional)

Sour cream (optional)

How to Make Chicken and Bacon Chilli

1. Chop the bacon and fry in the bottom of a saucepan in a little oil.  When it is cooked, remove from the pan.

2. Add the onion and chilli pepper to the pan and cook until it is soft.   Add the chicken and cook, stirring occassionally, for a few minutes until it is white on the outside.

3. Add the beans, greens and chopped tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Stir in the coriander, season with salt and pepper.  Optionally serve with grated cheese and sour cream.

To see what other Secret Recipe Club participants have made, click on the link below.

 

Review of Kettle Tortilla Chips and Black Bean Salsa Recipe

I don’t do reviews very often but I was recently sent a couple of complimentary packets of the New Kettle Tortilla Chips in Nacho Cheese flavour and Sea Salted.

I like strong flavours so of course I tried the Nacho Cheese ones first.   They were nice and crispy and I could definitely taste the corn, which made them feel quite natural.  I also liked the cheese flavouring, which was slightly more subtle than some other similar brands.  The sea salted ones were also good and I would recommend them if you like plainer tortilla chips, but as I like more strongly flavoured ones, I personally wouldn’t choose them if I was shopping.  They needed a dip to go with them.  They also come in Cool Sour Cream and Sweet Chilli Salsa flavours, which I haven’t tried, but based on the two flavours that I have tried I would be happy to buy in the future.

Because of the more natural flavours these Kettle tortilla chips were good for dipping and not just eating by themselves.  Luckily I was sent a recipe card with a dip/salsa to match each flavour of Kettle tortilla chip.  As I like black beans but have never made a black bean salsa before,  I decided to follow the recipe on the card.   Well, I used more or less the same ingredients but didn’t stick strictly to the same quantities.  It was delicious with both flavours and also went well the next day as a side dish with marinated grilled chicken.

Ingredients for Black Bean Salsa

100g dried black beans

1 tomato, diced

1/4 medium-sized red onion, finely diced

1 green chilli pepper, thinly sliced

About 10 stalks of fresh coriander(cilantro), chopped

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Drizzle of olive oil

1/2 tbsp tomato puree

1 garlic clove, crushed

Salt

Black Pepper

How to Make Black Bean Salsa

1. Soak the beans overnight.

2. Boil the beans for 10 minutes then lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes.  Drain and leave to cool.

3. Prepare all the salsa ingredients.

4. In a bowl put the black beans, tomato, onion, chilli, coriander, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil.

5. Put the tomato puree in a small bowl.  Add a couple of tablespoons of water and mix it until the paste is more like liquid.  Add this to the bowl with the other ingredients.  Season with a little salt and pepper.

6. Mix well. Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary.

 

Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake

There is something about a microwave cake that always attracts me.   I love cake.  I don’t make a lot or eat a lot, but I love it.   If I had the choice of cake or ice-cream, cake would always win.   When I read through other blogs, I always like to read about microwave cakes so perhaps it is not surprising that this is not the first microwave cake that I have made after reading another blog.  This time, the cake comes from Seduce Your Tastebuds, who I was paired with for Taste and Create.

I’m always amazed at how well microwave cakes turn out.  This one was incredibly easy to make and I liked the fact that as it didn’t contain any eggs, it was possible to make just an individual portion.  I ate it warm straight out of the microwave and it was lovely and light.  I’m not saying this can match a traditionally made cake, but it’s perfect to whip up quickly if you fancy a piece of cake and there’s none in the house.
I am also linking this to Sweets for a Saturday.

Ingredients – per person

3 tbsp icing sugar

3 tbsp plain flour

Pinch of bicarbonate of soda

1.5 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp cooking oil

3 tbsp milk

How to Make Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake

1. Mix all the ingredients together well in a mug.

2. Cook in the microwave.  It will cook and rise very quickly.   My microwave is 1,000 watt and it only needed 50 seconds.   It will need a little longer in less powerful microwaves.