Hot Puds

Fruit salads, ice cream and jellies are all well and good in the summer,

but sometimes I still hanker after a hot pud.

These coconut sponges fit the bill perfectly - 

lovely and sweet, with just the right amount of stodginess :-)

 

The recipe is for Hot Coconut & Raspberry Puds,

but with the glut of strawberries around at the moment,

I used them instead of the raspberries.

I think I may have a little trouble with my portion control - 

the recipe says this will serve 6, but I only managed 2 cups

and 2 little ramekins.

You could probably stretch it out to 4 cups with a little extra room for the strawberry sauce.

Oven Baked Sausages

Here's another really simple, but tasty supper dish - 

Oven baked sausages with balsamic tomatoes

I served this with some crusty bread and a green salad.

Store Cupboard Ice Cream

Even after 10 months in our new house, we still have unpacked boxes.

In one of them I discovered my ice-cream maker.

Here's a simple, strawberry ice-cream recipe

500g Strawberries

400g tin of evaporated milk

100g icing sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

Chill the tin of evaporated milk overnight, or at least for a few hours.  

Hull the strawberries and mash them with the lemon juice.

Beat the chilled milk until thick, stir in the icing sugar and strawberry puree.

Pour the mixture into the ice-cream maker and churn for 20 - 30 mins.

This ice-cream is best eaten straight away, but you can freeze it for later.

It can go quite hard frozen so make sure you allow it to soften a little before serving.

Weekly Menu Friday 26th July - Thursday 1st Aug

Friday - Strawberry Salad with Halloumi and Pancetta
Saturday - Ploughman's Lunch
Sunday - Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese Bagels
Monday - (FAST) No Potato Tuna Nicoise
Tuesday - Chicken Cacciatora
Wednesday - Homemade Ham & Pea Pasties
Thursday - (FAST) Cottage Pie

Fish supper

Not a great picture here I'm afraid (it was taken on my phone), 

but I wanted to share this quick, supper recipe with you.

 I've made this a few times now and it's always turned out well.

Sizzling cod recipe

The oil from the peppers gives the potatoes a really lovely flavour,

 but I do par boil my potatoes before adding them.

The fish itself, cooks beautifully sat on top of the other ingredients.

I see that someone has added some chorizo, and a splash of white wine, 

so I will try that next time.

 

Weekly Menu: Friday 19th - Thursday 25th July 2013

Friday - oven baked sausages with balsamic tomatoes
Saturday - night out :-)
Sunday -  chicken hoisin wraps with spring onion
Monday - oven baked salmon with asparagus, broccoli and cherry toms
Tuesday - crab noodle salad. Hot stawberry and coconut puddings
Wednesday - lamb, lemon and rosemary traybake
Thursday - runner bean, smoked trout and potato salad.

     

 

It's Margarita Time!

When it comes to making cocktails, I always discover that I have a vital ingredient missing. 

I have no triple sec, or angostura bitters, no grenadine or dry vermouth.

If I want to get serious about my drinks, I will have to invest in some of these :-)

For now though, I am happy to throw a few things together.

This melon margarita was quick and easy to make

and just perfect for a hot, summers day.

  

Recipe.
1/2 cantaloupe melon, de-seeded and peeled.
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tsps sugar
3oz tequila (about 6 tbsps) You can add more, or less to your taste.
8 ice cubes

Blitz everything together in a blender.
This made enough to fill that little glass jug that you can see above - about 500ml.

Oodles of Noodles

Noodles are something that I rarely use and I've never tried them in a salad before, 
but this dish was a big hit.
It looked good, tasted great and was suprisingly filling.

The recipe, Thai Beef & Basil with Glass Noodles, 
comes from Harry Eastwood's book, A Salad for All Seasons.