Mushroom and Sausage Pasta

Mushroom and Sausage Pasta Recipe

With the sausage, mushroom, bacon and egg in this dish,

 it's like a big, breakfast pasta.

It's a great way to stretch some basic ingredients 

and perfect for those chilly nights, 

when you want to comfort eat, in front of the TV.

Frozen Banana and Peanut Butter Cheesecake

I can't believe, that a couple of weeks ago, we were sitting outside, having our first BBQ, 

and enjoying some sunshine.

This weekend, instead of spring tarts and salads, I am back to making warming stews and rich hotpots.

Here's a dessert I made last week, which is great whatever the weather :-)

Frozen Banana and Peanut Butter Cheesecake.  

Ha! I know it looks like the cheesecake is sitting on a cork board, 
but I can assure you they are crumbled, chocolate digestives :-)
This was a really nice dessert and had a much stronger banana taste than I expected.
I covered mine with nestle caramel and then scattered on some peanuts, for extra crunch. 
 
Recipe notes.
I skipped the bit about freezing the bananas, as the ones I had were very ripe to start with. 
To serve the cheesecake you are supposed to take it out of the freezer for 20mins - don't leave it too much longer than that, or the banana in it will start to turn black. 
If you cut it into slices, then you can just take out as many as you need.

  

Simple Coleslaw

Along with the rest of the country,  we dusted off the BBQ at the weekend. 
I love the smell of 'charcoal' in the morning! (in my best Robert Duvall voice).

Leaving Mr Kiss to play with the grill, I made a batch of coleslaw.
This is a really great coleslaw on it's own, but you can also jazz it up with whatever you fancy - 
grated cheese, apple, raisins, etc.

Basil, Pea and Pancetta Tart

Basil, Pea and Pancetta Tart

This was a delicious, fresh, spring tart that I will definitely make again.
I admit, I didn't follow the recipe to the letter.
It called for infusing the cream with the basil - who has time for that??
For the filling I lightly cooked the pancetta. I use the little cubes from Sainsbury's, which come in a 206g packet, that's twice as much as the recipe, but I added it all anyway ;-)
Then I cooked the broad beans and peas for a few minutes - podding the beans once they had cooled.
I put the filling in my cooked tart case and scattered the chopped basil over the top. Then poured over the beaten eggs, cream and parmesan and baked for 50 minutes.
Simple :-)

Boozy Black Forest Cupcakes

I'm not saying Mr Kiss is stuck in the 70's, but when I asked him what cake he would like for his birthday, his answer was Carrot Cake or Black Forest Gateau!!!

Here's my attempt to bring those Black Forest flavours a little more up to date.

I baked a simple, chocolate cupcake and then used my new little gadget to remove the core from each cake. You could do this with a sharp knife, but this little tool is so easy to use and makes a nice, neat hole.
I filled the holes with cherry pie filling and, since I didn't have any Kirsch, I added a glug of my favourite liqueur - Chambord,  (Black Raspberry).
 

The cakes were then topped with some whipped double cream,

 a morello cherry and some chocolate sprinkles.

 

They were delicious. 
The soft, cherry filling inside can make them a little messy to eat - but I can do messy!!
The alcohol turned out to be quite subtle - Chambord is only 16.5% proof, 
so next time I will try them with a stronger Kirsch, or Brandy.

'99' Cupcakes

Fact: cupcakes make you feel better.

And that's not just eating them!

I took a plate of these round to a neighbour who was having a bad day - share the love :-)

There's nothing complicated about these little beauties.

They are a basic chocolate cupcakes, with a swirl of vanilla, cream cheese frosting -

decorated with a flake and a drizzle of strawberry sauce.

 

Two notes for anyone trying these - 

1. swirl the strawberry sauce on before you add the flake

2. buy twice as many flakes as you need, because you will eat test, half of them!

Bacon, Leek and Mushroom Quiche

Somehow, over the Easter weekend, most of the ingredients I bought for this
Leek, Mushroom and Gruyere Quiche, got used up in other things.
So, it ended up a bit of a mish mash.

I followed the recipe as much as I could - using a rolled sheet of ready made shortcrust pastry.
I only had a few mushrooms left, so I bulked it up with some bacon (4 rashers back bacon and 4 of smoked streaky) and
instead of the Gruyere I grated some extra mature cheddar.

When I mentioned 'quiche' to Mr Kiss, I think he was expecting something light and insipid, but this proved to be much more substantial and very tasty.
I can't wait to get stuck into the leftovers later :-)