So after 730 posts and a ridiculous number of photos I have run out of space! I couldn’t decide what to do or how to fix it, so I have decided to start another blog…Good Food Seeking Part 2!
Am going to use that to carry on with these recipes, until I run out of space on that one!
So if you want to keep following my progress click on the link below and can follow me on that blog now!
Enjoy..
We were having pork tenderloin for dinner tonight and I fancied jazzing it up a bit so decided to make this to stuff it with..
I had half a cooking apple to use up which worked out as just over 4oz so I reduced the rest of the ingredients, and mixed them all together..
I bashed out the pork as thinly as I could and then spread the stuffing over that..
I rolled up the pork as tightly as I could and then put in baking tray in the oven for about 40 mins. It did actually keep its shaped quite nicely!
I sliced up and served with some hasselback potatoes and sweetcorn..
This stuffing does go nicely with the pork, and the sharpness from the apples and sweet prunes all blend together well. I did feel it was lacking something! I’m not sure what, maybe I just simply under seasoned it!
Overall though it was nice stuffing and a great dinner!
Would I make this again? Yes..
I had some stewed rhubarb in the freezer left over from the summer so decided to us that for this recipe..
The recipe doesn’t give a quantity for the fruit, and I didn’t weigh out what I had, but was enough to fill my Pyrex dish..
I didn’t think this was enough for 4 portions so I halved everything for the dough. I mixed all those ingredients together to make a soft dough then cut into little circles..
The recipe says to use a flutted cutter, I didn’t read that bit properly and had just cut them with the smooth side!! I didn’t want to mix up and cut again in case that would over work the dough so used them as they are to line the edges of the fruit..
I glazed them with a little milk before going into the oven..
After 15 minutes I didn’t think it looked ready, the cobbler bits were still a bit pale so I put back in for about another ten minutes and by then was looking good..
So I’m not sure how many this should serve but we polished the whole lot in one sitting between the 2 of us!! The fruit is great and the topping is perfect with it, browned on top but soft inside..
You could serve this with some cream or custard but it’s good enough on its own!
Would I make this again? Yes definitely!
I’m a fan of salt sweet things but vinegar and cake seems very unusual!!
I had a cupboard full of dried fruit for all my Christmas baking so had plenty left to make this. It’s a weird recipe when you read the ingredients, obviously the vinegar is unusual but then there’s no egg. So am thinking there must be some sort of a scientific explanation for the vinegar!
I mixed all the dry ingredients together..
I do think some cinnamon and mixed spice would be good added at this stage. Then I mixed the bicarbonate with some of the milk and added that with the vinegar, I just used regular malt vinegar. I then needed to add way more than another 2 tbsps of milk in order to get a dropping consistency, and it is quite a sticky mixture..
That all went into a 7 inch tin..
….and then into the oven for just over an hour.
After all that time cooking it does smell great and has browned nicely..
It just hasn’t really risen very well..
I let it to cool for only a few minutes before trying, and still warm it is great! It’s quite a dense texture but I like that.
Once it cooled a bit it was slightly drier, maybe some more milk would avoid that happening. As a fruit cake it is good, on eating it I can’t taste any vinegar which is probably a good thing, and I guess it’s handy to have a cake recipe with no eggs.
Would I make this again? Yes
I love the sound of this recipe and love all things that involve apple and cinnamon..
I think I actually imagined this to be made with more of a sponge rather than a pastry. I made up the pastry and rolled out half of it to line a cake tin. I had halved this and was using a 6 inch cake tin..
I needed 2 apples for this and perhaps could’ve made more of an effort to place them in some sort of a pretty design but I just kind of throw them on top of the pastry!
Then I sprinkled over the sugar and cinnamon..
Then that was topped with the rest of the pastry..
An hour and a quarter seemed like an awfully long time for this to cook, but even after all that time it was just a light golden..
I have to say this smells amazing! I cut into quarters and probably should’ve picked up some cream to have with it..
So I know this doesn’t looking particularly exciting but it tastes pretty good! The pastry is nice and crisp but some bits are all sticky from the apples and sugar which is fab. The filling is soft and tastes great!
Would I make this again? Yes!
I used to get my macaroons and macarons mixed up and then there’s the other kind of macaroon bar with the chocolate and coconut that also adds to the confusion! I’ve tried macarons once and wasn’t exactly successful, this recipe looks really easy and quick but I thought macaroons were meringue like biscuits with coconut and these are made with almonds!
This whole entire process was really quick, I started making these at 6pm and were out of the oven and tested by 6:50! The egg white is whisked until stiff and then the rest of the ingredients folded in, all mixed together in a matter of minutes!
I opted to pipe out the biscuits and the plain nozzle I have is under half an inch so I ended up with more than 10..
Each one was topped with half an almond..
Then they were brushed with egg white and then into the oven. After just about 20 minutes they were started to brown round the edges..
They turned out flatter than I expected, they have spread out quite a bit but I did think they’d still have a bit of height. Anyway I don’t care what shape they are because they taste blooming great! I love almonds and the extra essence in these is fab, they also have a lovely chewiness which is also great.
Would I make these again? Yes definitely!
I made the cheese and vegetable tart a few weeks ago and this is pretty much the same recipe except it’s called a flan and has a boiled egg added!
I started by making the pastry and left that to chill in the fridge before lining two mini tart tins. I had made the full 4oz of pastry and plan to use any leftovers for mince pies!
They were baked for about 15 minutes until lightly golden..
I don’t think there’s anything more tedious than peeling a boiled egg. Am sure I’ve seen a tip or gadget somewhere that can make it quicker and less annoying, anyway I only boiled one egg for the two tarts/flans and that was sliced and into the tins.
Next I made the white sauce which was then mixed with the veg, I didn’t use half a packet as my packet is pretty big, I just cooked about a mug full.
That was all added to the cases..
They were topped with more cheese and then under the grill for about 5-7 minutes until they were bubbling and browned..
So how did this compare to the cheese and veg tart? Well it’s pretty much exactly the same except with the egg! I don’t think I made quite as a good job with my pastry and it wasn’t as crisp as I would’ve liked! The egg in its alright but kind of gets lost, am thinking I maybe should’ve put a whole egg in each one.
Would I make this again? Probably..
I think this is one of those recipes that anyone would struggle to make look appetising, I am actually a bit embarrassed to actually post any photos of this one!!
I had decided to make this with a can of ham! I just felt that was fitting with this book, and can imagine that’s what the recipe intends! I decided to blitz that in a food processor for a few seconds, I think too long and I would’ve ended up with a mush!
The ham I had weighed 200g so I had to try reduce everything else, but I actually ended up using a whole onion, 2oz of oats and the whole egg in an effort to bulk this up..
All mixed together and then pressed into a tin. Really doesn’t look great at this point..
After about 40 minutes it doesn’t really look much better, but it does smell quite nice! Maybe I’m just so hungry that I’d say that about anything..
I think because I had used significantly less meat compared to the other ingredients, my loaf has ended up a tad soft and kind of falls apart a bit too easily..
Well I have to say this tastes way way better than it looks! It’s really soft and hasn’t kept its shape at all but we did eat the lot!
Would I make this again? Even though we did eat it all I don’t think I’d bother making again!
I’ve never tried to make hot water pastry before and never attempted to shape a pie by hand so allowed myself plenty of time for this recipe..
The day before I cooked the pork in the stock for about an hour, I had bought 1lb of meat and so only used half the amount of stock. After the meat was feeling tender I drained off the liquid and at that point I really didn’t have much left. So I had to skip the next step of boiling the stock down even further.
Even thought the meat felt soft it was looking a bit dry. So I left that in the fridge and then the next day started the pastry.
So this was easy enough to mix up but I think the idea is to work quickly! I found it took a while to knead to get a smooth dough..
Then I was attempting to shape the pie by hand. It was easier than I expected and the dough does cool and start to stiffen up quite quickly which helped keep the shape. I do think I maybe left it a bit too thick but I was afraid it might all collapse!
Then I put the meat in the pastry case with some seasoning and herbs. Then I checked the liquid left from yesterday which didn’t have a layer of fat and wasn’t particularly jelly like, and actually there was hardly any of it. I did pour a couple of tablespoons over the meat before adding the lid.
I made a small hole in the top like the pastry recipe suggests and decorated with some leaves with the last wee bits of remaining pastry. Then I doubled wrapped it with greaseproof paper before going in the oven..
So after the full cooking time it was looking nicely browned ..
So according to the recipe it’s supposed to be left to cool the jellied sauce added, but we were having this for dinner, so instead I poured what little liquid I had left into the hot pie and then I didn’t leave it to set before cutting it!
It was looking a wee bit dry and the meat was falling out, which I’m guessing would’ve been avoided had I left to cool and added some gelatine to the liquid and left to set, but I was skipping all that!
We ended up having this with beans for tea!!
Well this was a pretty good pork pie! Yes it could do with some more liquid, or maybe the pork did not need all that initial cooking time, but despite that it’s really tasty.
The pastry is quite thick, but we didn’t mind that but I’ll try be a bit more brave and make it bigger and thinner next time!
Would I make this again? Yes!
I do love a nice bowl of lentil soup and do love bacon so this is a perfect combination!
I don’t usually bother to soak the lentils overnight, but I decided to do it anyway and see if that makes any difference.
After soaking I just added the bacon, garlic, herbs and seasoning to the pan and it all did look a pale and rather unpleasant at that point..
So not much to say about this recipe, it’s all left to simmer away for roughly an hour and by then it had thickened up and the lentils were super soft..
Then I added the potatoes and left for another 20 minutes until they were cooked and by then it was looking much more appetising!
So I actually left this overnight before trying it and I had forgotten to take the clove out! The flavour from the clove is actually really nice. It is a very thick soup, perfect for winter and very filling!
Would I make this again? Yes!
goodfoodseeking 