cocoa pudding cake

Ingredients

1 c All purpose flour
3/4 c Sugar
2 tb Cocoa powder
2 ts Baking powder
1/2 ts Salt
1/2 c Skim milk
2 tb Oil
1 t Vanilla essence
Nonstick vegetable spray
3/4 c Brown sugar
1/4 c Cocoa powder
1 3/4 c Hot water

Directions

1. Sift together the flour, sugar, 2 T of cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

2. Add the milk, oil, and vanilla, mixing by hand untill smooth. 

3. Pour into an 8x8x2-inch baking pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. 

4. Combine the brown sugar, 1/4 c cocoa powder, and water and pour over batter. 

5. Bake at 350/180 degrees for 45 minutes. 

Real custard

Real Custard or Custard Sauce is the most common accompaniment to English Puddings. Ask anyone what their favourite English Pudding is and they will nearly always tell you and then add "and custard". Here is a simple recipe to make the real thing.

Method

Keep back three tablespoons of the milk and put the rest into a saucepan with the vanilla pod. Brink the milk almost to the boil and then take it off the heat. Leave to cool for about 15 minutes to give the vanilla time to infuse into the milk.

Place the egg yolks and sugar into a bowl with the reserved milk and mix together until creamy. If using vanilla essence add this now. Take out the vanilla pod and gently add the warm milk to the egg mixture and stir. Put the mixture into a clean sauce pan and cook gently until it coats the back of a spoon and acquires the thickness of single cream. Serve the finished custard in a cool jug. Can be enjoyed hot or cold.

Beano sweet potato pie

I was stuck for an idea for tea one day. I knew I wanted baked beans but I didn't fancy them straight out of the tin. This is what I came up with. It is so rich and filling, pure comfort food. Definitely a winner that will grace our table regularly. Ingredients

500g (1lb) pumpkin (or butternut squash), peeled, deseeded and chopped

1 large red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
1 green pepper, deseeded diced

1 tin mushroom soup

2 tins baked beans

mixed herbs

150g (5oz) cheese, grated

butter (dollop to taste lol)

sunflower oil spray

topping

1kg (2¼lb) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
75g (2½oz) Cheddar, grated 

Method

Place the pumpkin or butternut squash in a large pan with about 600ml (1pt) water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 mins until tender. Using a hand blender or food processor, puree the pumpkin with the cooking liquid so that you have a fairly thin puree.

Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan. Add the onion, garlic and peppers and cook over a moderate heat for 5 mins.

Add the basil, canned soup and baked beans. Bring to the boil, stirring, and then simmer for 10-15 mins. Stir in the pumpkin puree, cheese, butter and mixed herbs. Mix till it's all melted and thickened. Spoon the bean mixture into a baking dish. 

To make mash: Cook the potatoes in boiling water for about 10 mins until tender. Drain.

Mash the sweet potatoes and stir in half the cheese and seasoning to taste. Spoon mash over the bean mixture and sprinkle with rest of the cheese. 

To serve now: Set the oven to Gas Mark 5 or 190°C. Bake the pies on a baking sheet for 30 mins until piping hot and the cheese has melted. Serve with green vegetables, if you like.
To freeze: Freeze pies uncooked or baked. Cool the pies. Openfreeze,
then pack individually in freezer bags. Use within 2 months.
To serve from freezer: Thaw in the fridge. If pies are unbaked, cook as above for 30-40 mins. If already baked, reheat each pie in the microwave for 3 mins until piping hot. 

Yellow Tomato Salad with Shallots and Lemongrass

Ingredients

1 stalk lemongrass 1/4 cup (50 mL) finely chopped shallots 1/4 tsp (1 mL) grated lemon rind 2 tsbp lemon juice 1 garlic clove, minced 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt pinch cayenne pepper 6 yellow tomatoes Coriander leaves

Preparation:

Cut off bottom third of lemongrass; peel off outside layer and slice stalk paper-thin. In small bowl, whisk together lemongrass, shallots, lemon rind and juice, garlic, salt and cayenne pepper. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours; whisk before using.)

Cut each tomato into 8 wedges. Place in large bowl; pour dressing over top and gently toss to coat. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Dilled Cucumber Tomato Salad

3/4 tsp (4 mL) granulated sugar
2 tbsp (25 mL) white vinegar
1 mild white onion (such as Vidalia), sliced
4 cups (1 L) coarsely chopped peeled English cucumber 2 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped
3 tbsp (50 mL) canola or vegetable oil
2 tbsp (25 mL) chopped fresh dill (or 1 tsp/5 mL dried dillweed)
1/4 tsp (1 mL) each salt, pepper and celery salt

Preparation:
In large bowl, dissolve sugar in vinegar; add onion and mix. Marinate for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Make-ahead: Cover and marinate for up to 4 hours.)

Add cucumber and tomatoes. Stir in oil, dill, salt, pepper and celery salt.

mexican street salad

ingredients

• ½ a small white cabbage
• ½ a small red cabbage
• a small bunch of radishes (about 10), trimmed and finely sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and finely sliced
• a large bunch of fresh coriander, leaves and stalks finely chopped
• 2 large jalapeño chillies (or other green chilli), to taste, finely sliced
• 1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
• extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 2–3 limes
• sea salt

servings
4-6

method

This simple little salad can be quite extraordinary, but you’ve got to season it with that Mexican spirit by being brave with the lime juice, salt and chilli, until it’s singing in your mouth. It does a great job of waking up the other things it’s served with – a few spoonfuls of this next to a grilled chicken breast or pork chop would be an absolute celebration.

Veg-wise, the onion, coriander and white cabbage are non-negotiable, as they form the base of this salad, but feel free to have a play with the other ingredients and use things like fennel or asparagus. Basically whatever’s in season and available should be a nice addition.


The easiest and quickest way to make this is to use a food processor with a slicer attachment or a mandolin. If you don’t have either of those, use a speed peeler, or simply grate everything finely.

Shred your white and red cabbage into two separate piles. Put just the white cabbage into a large bowl with the radishes, carrots and most of the coriander. Mix everything together really well, then kick up the flavours by adding almost all the chopped chilli, the sliced red onion and a good few lugs of extra virgin olive oil. Add most of the lime juice and a good pinch of salt, then toss together and have a taste. Just keep adjusting everything, adding more fragrance with the coriander, heat with the last of the chilli and acid with another squeeze of lime juice, until it’s just right for you.

When you’re happy, fold in the red cabbage right before serving so it doesn’t stain everything, and tuck in.

Orange and apricot spread

 This is a quick, healthy alternative to normal jam or marmalade. It keeps well in the fridge for 8 days. The apricots need to be soft.

Ingredients

3 1/2 oz apricots

2 oranges

1 vanilla bean

2 tbsp honey

Directions

1 chop the apricots

2 squeeze juice from 1 orange and peel and chop the other one

3 blend chopped apricots, orange, juice, seeds from the vanilla bean and honey untill smooth

4 store in an airtight jar in the fridge