M.I.A

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I'll be missing in action for the next week or so. Tomorrow I'm off to Glasgow for the Glasgow International Artist Bookfair, so if you should be around why don't you pop in! There'll be loads of wonderful stalls selling limited edition hand-made artist books, prints and cards and so on.

I won't get back till late on Sunday and then on Wednesday I'm off to visit my family in Germany to celebrate my nephew's First Communion as well as the combined birthday party of one of my best friends and her hubby. So, as you can see, I'll hardly have a chance to get into my kitchen, but if I do cook anything or get hold of any wonderful recipes or goodies along the way, I'll make sure to let you all know about it when I get back.

Ta ta for now!

Could you live without Pasta?

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I think I'd struggle. Of course really fresh homemade pasta is the best, I don't have a pasta machine though so most of the time I'll buy fresh pasta from the supermarket, but I wouldn't even want to be without just the normal dried stuff. When it comes to pasta, I'm really not a food snob and sometimes, when I'm on my own I'll happily just tuck into a plate of spaghetti with tomato ketchup. There you have it, it's out, my confession of a dark food secret!

You're probably turning your head away, completely sickened, vowing to never come read my blog again now, but doesn't everyone have one of those dishes? Please, say yes! Make me feel normal!

Anyways, if you are still with me and haven't closed the browser window in disgust yet, I'll leave you with one of my favourite recipe for tomato based pasta sauce. Well, I say recipe, because this time I actually measured what went in, but I usually just throw it together and it turns out slightly different but really good every time. Oh, and yes, it does contain a little bit of Heinz Tomato Ketchup, but just a small amount that adds a nice sweetness to balance the acidity of the tinned tomatoes, and I promise nobody will be able to detect it in the finished sauce.



Sylvie's Pasta Sauce with Sausage and Peppers
(serves 4)

6 bangers, casings removed (British sausages, I like to use Cumberland or Lincolnshire, but whatever you like)
1 onion
2tbsp tomato puree
3tbsp sundried tomato puree
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 can chopped tomatoes with herbs
1 ½ tsp Italian Seasoning
2tsp dried oregano
1 ½ tsp vegetable stock powder
1 ½ tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2tsp sambal oelek (optional)
5tbsp Heinz tomato ketchup
1 ½ peppers, chopped
8 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper, to taste


Heat a little olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the onion and the sausage meat and fry on a medium to high heat until the sausage is starting to brown. You need to break the sausages up really well with a wooden spoon while they’re frying.

Add both kinds of tomato puree and the garlic. Stir to coat all the meat and onions and fry for a further minute or so.

Add the tomatoes and fill the empty can with water, adding that as well.

Now add all the rest of the ingredients and stir well.

Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer until the sauce has thickened, about 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Taste and season with salt and pepper as necessary.




Can you see the sunshine in the pictures? Finally, it actually feels a bit like spring today, not just is the sun out, but it's actually the first day where it feels quite mild. When I went out for a run in my long-sleeved winter gear, I quickly started wishing I'd put on short sleeves. Could it be that spring is finally here, or have I jinxed it all now by writing about it?

Baking Bread

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I've grown up with my mother regularly baking bread at home. She mainly bakes plain white loaves, which fill the house with an amazing smell and taste wonderful as they come out of the oven. I would happily eat a few slices just as they are, not even needing butter or anything else to top them. You can ask my friend C., she'll agree. We used to joke that she could smell my mother's bread at the other end of the village, as you could be sure she'd be around on bread baking days (and no there was no kind of schedule or regularity for her to plan her visits to).

Even though I don't think I ever baked bread with my mum, I obviously was around a lot when she did and maybe that's why I never had a fear of yeast and happily bake anything with it in. I know a lot of people are put off by baking with yeast though (honestly, don't be, just give it a try), but that doesn't mean you can't have fresh bread made in your own kitchen. If you don't like baking with yeast or don't want to or can't hang around waiting for proofing and dough rising, try baking a soda bread. There's no yeast in sight and it still makes your house smell wonderful and you get that satisfaction that comes from taking a beautiful loaf of fresh bread from the oven.



Soda Bread (makes two loaves)

3 cups plain white flour
3 cups wholemeal flour (You can use just just white flour if you prefer. If you do 2 1/2cups of buttermilk should be enough.)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 - 2 3/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 190C/Gas 5.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Add the buttermilk, starting with 2 1/2 cups and mix into the dry ingredients. If you are using both, brown and white flour, you might need to add up to 1/4 cup more to bind the flour.

The mix will be a bit lumpy and not too sticky.

Turn it out onto a floured surface and kneed it for a minute or so until well combined, it stops being lumpy.

Divide into two and form round loaves with a flattened top.

Place on a non stick baking tray.

With a sharp knife slash a cross into the top and rest for ten minutes.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown. If the loaves are done they will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Any homemade loaf, yeast bread or not, is best eaten fresh on the day you bake it. If you want to store it though, I find the best way is to cut it into slices as soon as it is cool, wrap it in freezer bags and freeze it straight away. That way you can take the required portions out of the freezer as and when you need it. The slices defrost in less than half an hour and taste pretty much as fresh.

Not Quite Sunday Roast

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The plan was to have traditional Sunday Roast with all the trimmings today, but as I had some braising steak in the fridge that really needed using up, the plan was quickly changed. Instead I made a Spicy Beef Stew and baked some Soda Bread (which I'll post later) to go with it.

Since we've had more April showers this year as I can count and spring is still keeping us waiting here in the UK, the stew seemed to just hit the right spot. Adding the chili and the sweetcorn, obviously makes it quite different to the usual beef stew and gives it a nice kick.



Spicy Beef Stew (serves 4)

1-1 1/2 lbs braising steak, cut into cubes
1tbsp flour
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
1tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 onion, diced
1 can chopped tomatoes
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 bay leaf
300ml beef stock
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1/2 tbsp butter butter
1/2 tsp sugar
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thickly
3 potatoes, cut bite-sized (you can leave the skin on)
1 small can sweetcorn, drained

Mix the flour, paprika, chili powder and salt in a large bowl.

Add meat and toss until it is well coated.

Heat the oil in a heavy based casserole pot (with a lid) and fry the meat until sealed on all sides and brown.

Add the garlic, onion, chopped tomatoes, chili powder, bay leaf, beef stock, chili flakes, butter and sugar. Mix well, bring to the boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.

Add the carrots and potatoes, cover and simmer for another 25-30 minutes or until tender. If you haven't got enough liquid add a bit more beef stock or just water.

Add the sweetcorn and heat through.

Don't forget to remove the bay leaf before serving.

If you like your stew thicker, mix 1tbsp of cornflour with 1tbsp of water and add to the stew whilst stirring. Simmer for another few minutes until it begins to thicken.

A Breakfast Treat

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During the week breakfast is usually a very non-eventful meal in our house. Sometimes it doesn't happen at all. In any case it's usually nothing much more exciting than some cereal, a slice of toast with cream cheese and honey or porridge.

At the weekend it's a different story though, we take our time and we usually don't have it until at least mid morning, so it often replaces lunch. Most times we have a continental style breakfast with warm bread rolls, boiled eggs and a selection of sliced meats, cheese, jam and honey (not all on the same bread roll of course), plus fresh juice and plenty of coffee. Every now and then we feel like something different and therefore special though, and we might have a Full English or Pancakes with Maple Syrup and fruit.




When I saw that The Passionate Cook was hosting this month's 'Waiter! There is something in my ....' blog event and that the theme is breakfast, I thought I could join in. As our usual weekend breakfast doesn't involve any recipe (apart from ones for homemade jams, but I'll safe those for a different post) I thought we'd have one of those 'weekend specials' and made Scrambled Eggs and Smoked Salmon on a fresh bagel. It's one of those breakfast dishes that I'll happily eat for a quick dinner.

Bagels with Scrambled Eggs and Smoked Salmon (serves two)

5 free range eggs
one packet Smoked Salmon, cut into strips
2 bagels
cream cheese
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Crack the eggs into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whisk with a fork until the yolks and egg whites have completely blended.

Heat a knob of butter in a non stick frying pan.

Pour in the eggs and top with the salmon strips.

After about half a minute start to scramble the eggs with a wooden spoon. Continue to stir and fry for a few minutes, until cooked but still a little moist. (You don't want to cook them until completely dry as they will continue to cook a little once on the plate/bagel.)

Divide the eggs between two bagels, which you have liberally spread with cream cheese (or butter if you prefer) and serve immediately.

Passing it on

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Okay, I've had some time to think about who to pass the You Keep Me Blogging Award on to, that did not make the decision any easier, but at least it meant I got to make a little logo thingy to pass on along with it, in case you want to keep it displayed on your site.

I had a really hard time as there are many of you who encourage me with your lovely comments all the time, some of you I already knew before I started this blog and some I have 'met' since. In order to narrow it down at least a little, I thought I'd like to pass it on to one of you who I hadn't known before I started blogging.

Firstly, I do want to use this opportunity though to say a special thanks to Nic of Cherrapeno, Marie of A Year from Oak Cottage and Julie of Tulip's Kitchen, for getting me into this in the first place and for your continued support and encouragement.

Now to passing on the award though, I have chosen Rosie of Rosie bakes a 'Peace' of Cake, a fellow UK food blogger, whose blog is great and I really enjoy reading. I've chosen Rosie, because even though she didn't know me at all, she started leaving lovely comments on all the posts and continues to do so. Thank you Rosie, for finding me in the first place and for helping to keep me going and a big THANK YOU to everyone else who takes the time to leave comments as well. I love to hear from you, so if you're a lurker, come on, don't be shy!

Rosie, this one's for you.....

Houmous or Hummus or .....

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...even humous, hommos, hommus, hummos, hummous or humus.

Well, who knows? I'm sure some of you do, but I usually go with one of the two at the top.

I'd never heard of it until about six years ago (is it really that long ago since I was a postgrad student) it seemed to become really popular all of a sudden and appeared just about on every menu and on the shelves of all the shops. Or, did I just not notice it before?

I have to admit though that the first time I tried it I didn't like it at all, which seemed to become a problem as the stuff was everywhere and everyone was eating it, so it was constantly offered to me. My Eureka moment came when my friend brought a huge bowl full of the stuff to a BBQ at my house. I gave it another chance and have never looked back.

Of course my friend didn't have a recipe though, like with so many good things that you make a lot all she could say was add a little of this and add a little of that. Not very helpful at all. That's when my quest for a great Houmous recipe started. I've tried many different ones over the years and this is the one that I have settled with (for now...I'm open to temptation) because it's pretty close to perfection in my opinion. Plus, a huge bonus in my eyes is, that it uses no olive oil (I can hear some of you cry out in despair: How can it be Houmous if there is no olive oil in it?! Trust me, if only this once!), so it must have less calories and be even better for you. Right? Well, I don't care really, I just eat it!



The Best Houmous or Hummus or.....

1 can chickpeas
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp tahini
1 tsp cumin

Drain the chickpeas, but save the liquid.

Add chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, and tahini to the food processor or place them in a large bowl if you're using a stick blender.

Blend until you have a coarse but even consistency. You might need to srcape the sides down.

Add some of the reserved chickpea liquid until you get your preferred consistency. I'd start off with 3 tablespoons and add more if you like.

A thank you

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One of the steadily growing number of blogs I subscribe to in my Google Reader is It's Melissa's Kitchen. When I first came across it I never realised that like me Melissa is quite new to blogging, I just really liked her blog and as with all the blogs I like, I started to leave little comments. Now, Melissa has just posted her 50th post (coincidentally so did I) and she wanted to make it special, so she started a new award, which she called the 'You Keep me Blogging Award' and best of all she gave it to me. I couldn't believe it.

So, Melissa, here is a big THANK YOU, but now comes the hard part, I don't want to keep it to myself, so I'm gonna have to think of somebody to pass it on to. Somebody, who through their encouragement and comments keeps me switching the computer on, logging in and rambling about what's happening in my kitchen. I'll think about it for a couple of days, as there are quite a few people who'd deserve it and while I do that, I'll try and come up with a little logo thingy to pass on as well.