Leek and Potato Soup

It is freezing outside! Its on days like this that I just crave comfort food, and there is nothing better than a nice steaming bowls of soup. This is a really easy soup to make but it is a delicious way to banish those winter blues.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 25g Butter
• 1 White Onion, peeled and finely chopped.
• 1 Clove Garlic, peeled and crushed.
• 550g Leeks, chopped
• 200g Floury Potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1cm cubes
• 3 Sticks Celery, Chopped
• 1.3 Litres Hot Vegetable Stock
• Salt and Pepper to Season

How to:

1. Melt the butter in pan over a low heat and cook the onion and celery for 10 mins until soft.
2. Add the garlic and cook for an extra minute.
3. Add the Leeks and coat in butter and cook for 5 minutes until soft.
4. Add the potatoes and stock.
5. Bring to the boil, the reduce the heat and simmer for about 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
6. If you want you can cool the soup completely then whiz in the liquidiser before reheating and serving. I didn't do this as I wanted chunky soup but its completely up to you what you do.
7. Season with salt and pepper.

What to do?

So I am wondering if there is any recipe / cake etc that you would like to see me make? If so please leave a comment below and I will give it a try.

Goji Berry Flapjacks

I decided to make some Flapjacks today. These are great, but don't taste overly sweet so make a great breakfast bar. The Goji berries add that 'healthy' factor so its a win win.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 Cups Oats
• 1/4 Cup Goji Berries (chopped)
• 1/4 Cup Chopped Almonds
• 1/4 Cup Toasted Coconut
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 Cup Clear Honey
• 1/2 Cup Golden Syrup
• 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter

How to:

1. Pre heat oven to Gas 4
2. Line shallow tin approx 7" by 8"
3. Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl.
4. Heat the syrup, honey and butter in a pan over the hob until the butter has melted and the syrup is runny.
5. Add syrup to dry ingredients and mix well.
6. Tip mixture into prepared tin and press down firmly with the back of a metal spoon or use your knuckles. 
7. Bake for 20-25mins until it starts to turn golden brown.
8. Leave to cool completely before cutting. 

My Moussaka

Ok before I start, I know this isn't exactly the traditional way to make Moussaka,  but it is the way we like it in our house and I just wanted to share it with you. This recipe should feed between 2-3  people.

Ingredients:

• 1 Aubergine
• 500g Lamb Mince
• 1 White Onion
• 1/2 Yellow Bell Pepper
• 1 Clove of Garlic
• 400g Tin Chopped Tomatoes 
• 1/2 tsp Oregano
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Paprika
• 3 tbsp Self Raising Flour
• 3 tbsp Butter
• 350ml Milk
• 1 Cup + 1 extra Cup Mature Cheddar Cheese.

How to:

1. Pre heat oven to Gas 6
2. Wash and Slice Aubergine. Sprinkle the slices with salt and put to one side for 30 mins. Then wash and pat dry, fry on each side for a few minutes and set a side.
3. In a sauce pan, melt the butter, add the flour to make a paste, add the milk a little at a time to make a thick sauce. Melt one cup of cheese in to the sauce and set aside.
4. Dry fry the lamb mince until browned then drain off the fat and set mince to one side.
5. Fry onion, pepper and garlic. Add mince and chopped tomatoes, turn heat down, simmer and reduce.
6. In an oven proof dish, layer mince, white sauce and aubergines, like for a lasagna.
7. Top with the other cup of cheese and a cup of bread crumbs.
8. Cook for 1 hour.

Pistachio Nut Biscuits

These pistachio nut biscuits are mouth watering delicious. Every bite melts in your mouth and leaves you wanting more.

I used salted nuts in my biscuits as I think they add more flavour, but if you want to use unsalted nuts that is also fine but I would suggest adding 1/4tsp salt  to help bring out the other flavours.

Ingredients:

• 4oz Butter ( room temperature)
• 1oz Light Brown Sugar
• 2Tbsp Light Honey
• 1/2 Cup Pistachio Nuts + 1 extra handful (shelled)
• 6oz Plain Flour

How to:

1. Pre heat oven to Gas 4
2. Grease and line a baking tray.
3. Grind the 1/2 cup of nuts in a blender until they are a course powder. Set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together.
5. Add honey and mix well.
6. Add the 1/2 cup nuts, mix, and add flour.
7. Mix until a stiff dough is formed, if your mix is a little too dry, add a tsp cold water.
8. Roll the dough into little balls and place on baking tray.
9. Take the remainig handful of nuts and roughly crush in the blender. Now take a pinch of these nuts and push them onto the top of each biscuit flattening them down.
10. Place in oven and cook for 15-20 mins until golden brown.

Cranberry and Red wine Christmas Sauce

The festive season is well upon us. Now that Halloween and Guy Fawkes night is over I can now say that. With all the hams and turkeys that will be cooked over the next month or so, I decided to make some cranberry sauce. This recipe is so yummy! The only problem is it doesn't make a massive amount.  I wanted to make some for Christmas hampers and from this recipe I got 6x110ml of sauce.

Ingredients:

• 300g Caster Sugar
• 250ml Dry Red Wine
• 340g Dried Cranberries
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 2Tblsp Orange Zest

How to:

1. Sterilize jam jars. To do this see http://britishfood.about.com/od/glossary/ht/sterilizingjars.htm
2. Combine sugar with red wine in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat. 
3. Add the cranberries, cinnamon stick and orange zest.
4. Bring back to the boil and , reduce heat, and simmer for 15-30 mins until cranberries are softened.
5. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly then spoon into jars. Leave to cool and store in refrigerator. 
6. Delicious with hams and turkey. 

Iced Cup Cakes

I had the girls over for coffee today and decided to make some of these pretty cup cakes. 

Ingredients for cake:

• 150g Self-raising Flour
• 100g Butter (room temp)
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 2 Medium Eggs
• 2-3 Drops Vanilla Extract

Method:

1. Pre heat oven to Gas 4 and place 12 cupcake cases on a tray.
2. In a food processor or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
3. Mix in the eggs, vanilla then the flour.
4. Use and ice cream scoop to measure out one scoop of batter per case. 
5. Place in the centre of the oven for 15-20 mins.
6. Remove and cool.
7. Once cool spread icing over then with a knife and sprinkle with decorations of your choice. I used pink edible sprinkles.

For Icing:

• 100g Butter (room temp)
• 225g Icing Sugar
• 1tsp Milk
• Optional - food colouring

Place all ingredients in a food processor or use hand mixture to mix together until pale and creamy.