Month: Sep 2021

Apple sauce

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

I love eating this on its own. My husband likes to eat it with cornflakes (weird). And it’s a great shortcut for a crumble or accompaniment to roast pork. Makes a 1 litre jar.

  • 6 large bramley apples, peeled and cored
  • 100g sugar
  • 100ml water
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  1. Slice the apple into rough slices
  2. Dump the apple pieces into a large saucepan
  3. Sprinkle over the sugar and cinnamon, and add the water
  4. Cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the apple collapses. It won’t take long
  5. If you want to keep it for later, decant while hot into a sterilised glass jar. Tap on the work surface to dislodge any air bubbles and seal. Leave to cool and then store in the fridge.

Roast plums with bay and honey

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A delightfully autumnal sort of pudding, tart and sweet and fragrant with bay, cinnamon and honey. It’s the perfect way to use up a garden glut of plums and dig into that fancy honey that someone gave you as a random gift. Vanilla ice cream is a must as an accompaniment.

  • 400g plums, halved and stones removed
  • 4 bay leaves, scrumpled up gently
  • 1 cinnamon stick, snapped in half
  • 2 scoopy, generous tbsp honey (the fancier the better!)
  • 150g walnut pieces
  1. Pre-heat oven to 170C fan (190C)
  2. Tumble the plums into a baking dish, ideally in roughly a single layer
  3. Drizzle over the honey and mix in well so the plums are coated
  4. Tuck the bay leaves and cinnamon among the plums
  5. Bake for 20-30 mins until sticky and juicy
  6. Put the walnuts on a little baking tray and bake them next to the plums for 10-15 mins until golden and toasty
  7. When the plums are done, take them out of the oven and scatter over the toasted walnuts
  8. Serve hot with lashings of vanilla ice cream

Ricotta lemon cake

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Beautifully moist sunshine cake. Not at all fancy, but all the better for that. Serve with tart poached fruit. Cherries are AMAZING. Also try plums, apricots, gooseberries, raspberries, greengages, blueberries….

  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 180g caster sugar
  • 100g ricotta
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 65g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 130g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan (180C)
  2. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin
  3. Beat the egg, yolks and sugar together until pale and fluffy
  4. Drizzle in the cooled melted butter, whisking while you do it
  5. Then whisk in the ricotta and the lemon zest
  6. Gently fold in the flour, baking powder and salt
  7. Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth it out on top
  8. Bake for 20-25 mins until golden (and until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean)
  9. Cool in the tin and then serve with poached fruit

Creamy sweetcorn soup

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Sunshine in a bowl. Perfect with a big chunk of buttery bread. Feeds 2

  • 1 tbsp salted butter
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • ½ stalk celery, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 285g tin sweetcorn (or 265g frozen corn or corn cobs from 2 cobs)
  • 1 potato, peeled and diced
  • 500ml chicken stock (1 stock cube and boiling water)
  • 100ml double cream
  • Salt and pepper
  • Handful chives, snipped into bits
  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat
  2. Add the onion, celery and garlic. Cook for 7 mins, stirring occasionally, until completely soft
  3. Add the potato to the pan and stir into the buttery veg
  4. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes
  5. Turn up the heat, add the sweetcorn (including the liquid from the tin) and heat for a further 5 mins
  6. Take off the heat and use a hand blender to whizz until smooth
  7. Add the cream and season well. Re-heat gently until piping hot (don’t let it boil) and taste to check seasoning
  8. Serve sprinkled with chopped chives

Spring onion noodles

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Deliciously slippery, savoury, spring oniony noodles. Serve with grilled garlic chicken or crispy tofu (this one crumbled into chunky pieces and fried) or spicy cashews. So many delicous options! Feeds 2.

  • 7 spring onions
  • 4 tbsp veg oil
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted
  • 200g thin egg noodles
  1. Trim the spring onions. Cut into half or thirds across and then cut the pieces in half lengthways, giving you long strips
  2. Heat the oil in a wok over a low-medium heat and then add the spring onions
  3. Cook gently for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until completely soft and starting to go golden. Don’t let them get brown!
  4. In the meantime, cook the noodles in a pan of boiling salted water, then drain
  5. Add soy sauce and sugar to the wok
  6. Stir to dissolve the sugar and heat gently until it bubbles
  7. Dump the noodles into the sauce and use tongs to turn them through until everything is coated with everything else
  8. Sprinkle over the toasted sesame seeds and eat immediately – on its own or with the delicious accompaniments of your choice

Chicken tikka salad

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Not traditional AT ALL, but so delicious and crunchy I couldn’t not share. This is the ultimate lunch and a sublime way to use up leftover chicken tikka. Not so much a cooking job, as a tossing job – and then immediately eating with undignified grunting sounds job. Feeds 2.

  • Leftover chicken tikka (equivalent of 4 thighs)
  • 1 gem lettuce, cut into bitesized pieces
  • 10 cm piece cucumber, cut into little chunks
  • 8 radishes, sliced
  • 1 avocado, peeled and cut into bitesized pieces
  • ½ mango, peeled and cut into small bitesized pieces (could replace this with apple if you like)
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • Flaky salt
  • Pinch of chaat masala spice mix (optional)
  • 6 tbsp plain Greek yoghurt
  • Couple of handfuls bombay mix
  1. Mix together the lettuce, cucumber, radish, avocado and mango and dress with the lemon juice, oil and a pinch of salt
  2. Toss together gently, then top with (in this order) big dots of yoghurt, a little sprinkle of chaat masala, the chicken pieces and then a generous cascade of bombay mix (which should be added just before serving)

Warning: may incur office-based jealousy and lunch thievery. I take zero responsibility for this.

Chicken tikka

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

Pretty in pink, succulent and tender. Feeds 2 generously.

  • 6 chicken thigh fillets (skinless, boneless), cut into chunky pieces
  • 5 tbsp plain yoghurt
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cm fresh ginger, finely chopped/minced
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 heaped tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp mild chilli powder
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  1. Mix all the ingredients except the chicken together
  2. Mix the chicken into the marinade, turning to coat every piece
  3. Cover and refridgerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight
  4. String the marinated chicken pieces onto metal skewers
  5. Grill under a very hot grill for 10 mins, then turn and give them 10 mins on the other side

Serve with a simple salad of crunchy lettuce and cucumber, tangy raita and naan

Potato and chard croquettes

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Small and tasty. Crunchy on the outside and fluffysoftcheesy on the inside.

  • 400g mashed potato
  • 50g parmesan, grated
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 150g chard stalks, roughly chopped (keep the leaves for something else, like spanakopita)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Grate of nutmeg
  • 4 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 1 whole egg plus the extra egg white, beaten
  • 30ml milk
  • 50g plain flour
  • 200g breadcrumbs
  • Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  • Cook the chard in salted boiling water for 4 mins
  • Press the water out in a sieve or a clean tea towel
  • Mix together the mashed potato, egg yolk, nutmeg, parmesan, chard and spring onions. Season with salt and pepper (if the mashbisnt already seasoned) and make sure it’s all thoroughly combined
  • Create little cylinder shapes in the palm of your hand about an inch and a half long. They are easiest to coat if you chill the cylinders in the fridge for 30 mins to firm them up, while you get on with other stuff
  • Beat together the egg and milk
  • Put the flour and the egg mixture and the breadcrumbs into separate shallow bowls next to each other
  • Coat each croquette gentlt in flour (shaking off the excess), then in egg, then roll in the breadcrumbs. Repeat the egg and crumb layers so each one has a double coating
  • Place the croquettes onto a lined baking tray and bake for 20-25 mins, until golden brown (or deep fry, which is probably nicer, but makes the whole house smell of hot oil and leaves you with quite a lot of oil to dispose of afterwards)

Eat straight away with lashings of sriracha and mayo. Or something a bit fancier probably.

Very berry cookies

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Sweet and fruity, crunchy on the outside and beautifully soft on the inside.

  • 150g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 120g soft light brown sugar
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs, cold from the fridge
  • 300g plain flour
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • 24-30g freeze-dried berries, roughly scrunched into pieces. I LOVE these brilliant mixed berries from The Rotten Fruit Box but you could choose any other freeze-dried fruit. It’s all great! (Although I’m not 100% sold on the olives)
  1. Pre-heat oven to 150C fan (170C)
  2. Tip melted butter and both sugars into a bowl. Whisk vigorously until creamy
  3. Beat in the vanilla extract and then the eggs, one at a time
  4. The whole mixture should be light and voluminous
  5. Tip in the flour, bicarb, salt and mixed berries. Stir in gently (but don’t over-mix) until combined into a soft dough
  6. Pick up large pinches of dough and roll between your fingers until they are walnut-sized balls, again being careful not to overwork it
  7. Pop them onto a lined baking tray a couple of inches apart to allow for spreading
  8. Bake for 16 mins or so until golden round the edges. Leave to cool on the tray for a minute before lifting onto a wire rack to cool fully (or just enough to pop one straight in your mouth and another for each hand)