I love tiramisu and have tried lots of different recipes. This one, adapted from Jamie Oliver, is my current fave and is also very quick to make.
You need:
500g mascapone (last time I made it I used 250g mascaopne and 250g quark)
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp khalua or other liqueur
1/2 packet sponge fingers
1/2 pint strong coffee
1/4 cup kalhua or other liqueur
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
cocoa powder/grated plain chocolate
Begin by making the coffee. Add 2 tbsp sugar to it and the 1/4 cup kaluha. Pour this over the sponge fingers which you have placed into a serving dish. Leave to soak into the fingers.
Mix the mascaopne with the remaining sugar, kalhua and vanilla. Beat till smooth. Spread over the sponge fingers and then top with some cocoa/grated choc. Chill till needed.
Beware making this with low fat mascaopne. It turns into tirama-soup rather than tiramisu. Tastes OK but looks pretty grim!!
Saturday 19 September 2009
Vegetable and Cheese Gratin
A winter staple, also know as "what the heck do I do with all the root veggies that were in the veg box rather than use them to make compost again?!"...
This reminds me of Sunday lunches at home when I was a child - mum would often use up the left over veg in a delicious gratin like this.
What we had:
1 cabbage
6 large carrots, roughly chopped into bite sized pieces
1 head broccoli
Steam the veggies to make them tender. Meanwhile make a mornay sauce from:
1 pint milk (I use soya milk)
2oz plain flour
2oz butter
Either make the sauce using the all in one method (lob it all into a pan and wait for the butter to melt) or use the traditional roux method. Once the sauce has thickened, add:
2 tsp english mustard powder
2 tsp french mustard
100g grated cheddar.
Add a drained can of butter beans to the mornay sauce then layer the veggies into a gratin dish. Pour over the sauce and beans and top with a little more grated cheddar and some Parmesan. You can add some breadcrumbs to it too to make it more crunchy.
Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees) for about 20-30 mins till browned and bubbling. Serve on it's own or with veggie sausages or just some crusty bread.
This reminds me of Sunday lunches at home when I was a child - mum would often use up the left over veg in a delicious gratin like this.
What we had:
1 cabbage
6 large carrots, roughly chopped into bite sized pieces
1 head broccoli
Steam the veggies to make them tender. Meanwhile make a mornay sauce from:
1 pint milk (I use soya milk)
2oz plain flour
2oz butter
Either make the sauce using the all in one method (lob it all into a pan and wait for the butter to melt) or use the traditional roux method. Once the sauce has thickened, add:
2 tsp english mustard powder
2 tsp french mustard
100g grated cheddar.
Add a drained can of butter beans to the mornay sauce then layer the veggies into a gratin dish. Pour over the sauce and beans and top with a little more grated cheddar and some Parmesan. You can add some breadcrumbs to it too to make it more crunchy.
Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees) for about 20-30 mins till browned and bubbling. Serve on it's own or with veggie sausages or just some crusty bread.
Tuesday 15 September 2009
Vegetable curry, tandoori paneer and sweet lassi
OK that might sound like a veritable feast for a weeknight, but I guarantee you can make it all in 30 mins and then sit down and eat like a king!
Curry
1 tbsp oil
2 large carrots, sliced
2 onions, chopped
3 tbsp curry paste (home made or from a jar)
1 tin toms
175 ml water
2 tbsp veggie stock powder
good handful new potatoes, chopped roughly into bite sized chunks
1 head cauliflower
Start by sauteeing the onions in the oil till tender. Then lob in the curry paste, carrots and potatoes and fry for a few mins. Add the tin of toms, water and stock powder. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 25 mins till the carrots and potatoes are cooked. Add the cauliflower after 10 mins.
Tandoori Paneer
Half a tub of natural yogurt (the runny kind!)
3 tbsp tandoori spice powder
1 packet paneer, diced.
Mix the tandoori powder with the yogurt and then add the paneer. Leave to marinate for a few mins (you can do this the night before if you want). The spread out onto a nin stick baking tray. Roast in a hot oven (200 degrees) for 20 mins.
Serve the curry and paneer with roti or rice. Wash down with sweet lassi
Sweet lassi
Half tub runny yogurt
Equivilent amount of water
Good couple of handfuls of ice
2 cardomon pods, seeds removed
4 tbsp sugar
Put everything into a blender and blend till smooth. Check for sweetness and serve :)
Curry
1 tbsp oil
2 large carrots, sliced
2 onions, chopped
3 tbsp curry paste (home made or from a jar)
1 tin toms
175 ml water
2 tbsp veggie stock powder
good handful new potatoes, chopped roughly into bite sized chunks
1 head cauliflower
Start by sauteeing the onions in the oil till tender. Then lob in the curry paste, carrots and potatoes and fry for a few mins. Add the tin of toms, water and stock powder. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 25 mins till the carrots and potatoes are cooked. Add the cauliflower after 10 mins.
Tandoori Paneer
Half a tub of natural yogurt (the runny kind!)
3 tbsp tandoori spice powder
1 packet paneer, diced.
Mix the tandoori powder with the yogurt and then add the paneer. Leave to marinate for a few mins (you can do this the night before if you want). The spread out onto a nin stick baking tray. Roast in a hot oven (200 degrees) for 20 mins.
Serve the curry and paneer with roti or rice. Wash down with sweet lassi
Sweet lassi
Half tub runny yogurt
Equivilent amount of water
Good couple of handfuls of ice
2 cardomon pods, seeds removed
4 tbsp sugar
Put everything into a blender and blend till smooth. Check for sweetness and serve :)
Monday 14 September 2009
Leek and Potato Soup
Yes, it's that time of year again when a warming bowl of nourishing soup is just what the doctor ordered. One of N's favourite soups is leek and potato, and given that the veg box delivers these on a frequent basis, I thought I'd share my recipe.
For 4-5 generous servings you need:
700g potatoes, diced
3 large leeks, sliced (or a couple of leeks and some onions. Hey it even works with just onions but you'd need to change the name of the soup...)
1 litre veg stock. I like it with a dark one, e.g. one made with marmite or vecon veg stock.
1 tbsp butter/oil
Milk/soya milk if required to finish the soup.
Begin by sweating the leeks/onions and potatoes in the oil/butter. Add the stock and cook till the potatoes are tender. At this stage, thoughts are divided. N likes his soup blended till smooth and let down with a little milk. L and I like it chunky so we can eat the different bits separately. Whatever you prefer, serve with lashings of crusty bread and maybe some cheese on the side too.
For 4-5 generous servings you need:
700g potatoes, diced
3 large leeks, sliced (or a couple of leeks and some onions. Hey it even works with just onions but you'd need to change the name of the soup...)
1 litre veg stock. I like it with a dark one, e.g. one made with marmite or vecon veg stock.
1 tbsp butter/oil
Milk/soya milk if required to finish the soup.
Begin by sweating the leeks/onions and potatoes in the oil/butter. Add the stock and cook till the potatoes are tender. At this stage, thoughts are divided. N likes his soup blended till smooth and let down with a little milk. L and I like it chunky so we can eat the different bits separately. Whatever you prefer, serve with lashings of crusty bread and maybe some cheese on the side too.
Sunday 13 September 2009
Chocolate Fridge Cake / Tiffin
L wanted to do some baking with daddy today so they knocked up some tiffin which mummy then sat and ate far too much of!
Ingredients
200g chocolate digestive biscuits
110g dried apricots, roughly chopped
110g mixed vine fruit
10 glace cherries, rinsed of the sugar syrup and halved
150g butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
200g dark chocolate
Method
Break the biscuits into small pieces directly into a large bowl. Add the fruit and mix together.
Melt the rest of the ingredients then mix in the fruit.
Pour into a loaf tin lined with clingfilm and put in the fridge to set for a couple of hours. Eat and repeat!
Ingredients
200g chocolate digestive biscuits
110g dried apricots, roughly chopped
110g mixed vine fruit
10 glace cherries, rinsed of the sugar syrup and halved
150g butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
200g dark chocolate
Method
Break the biscuits into small pieces directly into a large bowl. Add the fruit and mix together.
Melt the rest of the ingredients then mix in the fruit.
Pour into a loaf tin lined with clingfilm and put in the fridge to set for a couple of hours. Eat and repeat!
Last of the Summer Strawberries
I got suckered into buying 2 packs of strawberries in Waitrose yesterday. They were on offer for 2 punnets @ £3 and smelt goooooooooood so in to the trolley they went.
I devoured one punnet with DH last night in front of the wire in an attempt to make my scoffing of a half packet of Choco Liebenz seem more healthy.
The other punnet got macerated this morning. I keep hearing about doing this to strawberries but have never actually got round to doing it. But I did this morning for the regular pancake fest that is my sunday morning brekkie and they were delicious.
You need:
1 punnet strawberries
couple of tbsp sugar
couple of shakes of balsamic vinager
a brave grinding of black pepper
Slice the strawbs and toss into a bowl with the sugar and vinegar, grind over the pepper. Mix thoroughly and then leave. A lovely syrup will form which soaks nicely into thick American style pancakes. Yummy.
BTW the strawbs I got from Waitrose were called Sweet Eve. Much nicer than bouncy Elsanta they were too :)
I devoured one punnet with DH last night in front of the wire in an attempt to make my scoffing of a half packet of Choco Liebenz seem more healthy.
The other punnet got macerated this morning. I keep hearing about doing this to strawberries but have never actually got round to doing it. But I did this morning for the regular pancake fest that is my sunday morning brekkie and they were delicious.
You need:
1 punnet strawberries
couple of tbsp sugar
couple of shakes of balsamic vinager
a brave grinding of black pepper
Slice the strawbs and toss into a bowl with the sugar and vinegar, grind over the pepper. Mix thoroughly and then leave. A lovely syrup will form which soaks nicely into thick American style pancakes. Yummy.
BTW the strawbs I got from Waitrose were called Sweet Eve. Much nicer than bouncy Elsanta they were too :)
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