Hungry Jenny Goes Soft

No, not soft like a fluffy cute bunny, nothing like THAT. I'm a hard nut, me.

Let me explain...

So, around this time last year, I went on a meat ban for a month to be more open to vegetarian dishes, experiment more with my home cooking and generally calm down my beefy tendencies. Being Veggie Jenny was certainly an interesting and challenging phase, especially in the run up to Christmas. But, I survived and it made me more hungry to hunt out all sorts of different recipes however meaty or meat-free.

One year on, I find myself with a rather unintentional challenge:

Eating with braces for the next two years.

As I sat in the dentist chair, being told that this was to happen, the first thought that flew through my mind was - omigosh, what won't I be able to eat?!

I've worn braces before when I was a teen but I can't remember how it affected my eating at all. Of course, since then, I have become a bit of a greedy eating machine, so the implications of wearing them now in Hungry Jenny land are rather substantial.

Since it hurts to chew and my tongue is sore at the moment, I'm on the hunt to find soft, brace-friendly recipes for Metal Mouth Jenny. My first week has mainly consisted of mashed potatoes, yoghurts, soups and mushed-up bananas. Not particularly exciting recipes worth blogging about.

As you can imagine, I'm suffering a few teething problems (ho, ho - sorry, I couldn't resist!) with the whole thing, so I do apologise in advance for the odd Hungry-Jenny-Faux-Pas that is bound to occur over the coming weeks... Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie-Day: Almond-topped Apple Pie

With my braces now in, I found myself with a bunch of crunchy apples to use up. Too nervous to try anything too solid at the moment, I decided to make a nice apple pie. The thought of getting pastry flakes stuck in my teeth and all that metal was not too appealing so I made an apple crumble-like topping instead:

You'll be surprised at how nice it tastes - I certainly was! Better still, it's very simple to make and your friends will be well impressed (if there is any left for them to eat, that is).

I used eating apples so the pie started to bubble dangerously in the oven, what with all the sugar. Luckily my housemate Grace came to the rescue with a bit of tin foil on a baking tray and shoving it underneath the pie tray to catch the splatter and smoke.

When it came to cutting the pie, I was feeling nervous again about eating it as the topping felt pretty hard. Surprisingly though, it was actually alot softer than I thought and perfectly manageable with my current chewing limitations. Pie applause for this one, I say, pie applause.

Almond-topped Apple Pie

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For a 9" pie dish:

3 medium apples, peeled and chunked
1 tsp cinnamon
200g caster sugar
170g unsalted butter, softened
125g plain flour
50g almonds, chopped
1 beaten egg

1. Add the apple chunks and cinnamon into a pie dish.
2. Mix together the sugar and butter, followed by the flour, almonds and beaten egg.
3. Spread almond mixture over the top and bake for about an hour at 180 degrees C.

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie-Day adventures. Continue reading this post..

3 Orange Dishes (That Don't Look Orange)

I've recently been making alot of orange-flavoured dishes because it's an ingredient that gives a surprisingly interesting kick to an otherwise ordinary dish.

Ok, so it still looks pretty ordinary and none of them look particularly orange though as you'll see...

It was really because I once ran out of lemons, had an orange lying nearby and used that instead. And found it was rather nice. This isn't in any of the following recipes mind you because I can't actually remember what it was now. Just that it tasted good. Here's a few of the ones that I do remember!

Orange Duck with Pak Choi (above)

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For 4:

4 duck breasts
200g orange marmalade
Juice of half an orange
6 tbsp soy sauce
2-3 heads of pak choi
300g rice

1) Bring the rice to the boil, then cover and leave to simmer for 20 minutes. In the last 5 minutes, add the whole bulbs of pak choi.
2) Meanwhile, pan fry the duck breasts for a few minutes on each side.
3) Mix the marmalade, orange juice and soy sauce in a large bowl. Add the duck and turn to cover with the sauce completely.
4) Transfer the duck to a baking tray and roast for 10 minutes at 220 degrees C.


Orange and Mustard Chicken Drummers

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For 2:

4 chicken drumsticks
2 tbsp orange marmalade
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp olive oil

1) Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
2) Marinade drumsticks in the marmalade, mustard and olive oil.
3) Roast the drummers for half an hour, turning once.


Orange Laced Minced Turkey

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For 2:

250g lean turkey mince
200g can of cannelini beans
Half small red onion
4 tbsp frozen garden peas
6-10 cherry tomatoes, halved
Juice and zest of half an orange
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp cornflour
Half tsp chinese five spice
Dash of oil

1) Marinade the mince in the oyster sauce, cornflour, chinese five spice and oil.
2) Fry the onion and mince to brown, followed by the cannelini beans, tomatoes and peas over low heat.
4) Add the orange juice and zest, cover and leave to cook for about 15 minutes.

Continue reading this post..

Crusty Toe Nails Anyone?

No? You sure? Nice Monday morning image for you.

Oh come on, you don't think I'm really offering you some crusty toe nails do you..?

Ok, so perhaps this is not the most appealing way to entice you towards a dish - you still clicked through though, eh? But it was all I kept thinking as I ate this. Yes, this was something I chose to eat.

I couldn't bring myself to tell my fellow diner Sam what I truly saw them as though, since she also had them with her meal. We were at the Spur Steak and Grill restaurant in the O2 arena for a Muse gig (which was absolutely awesome by the way!).

If you're wondering, we really didn't know what they were going to look like before we ordered our meals. But you know what? Those crusty toe nails were most delicious. Single onion rings crisped up they were.

(Oh, and the side of rib-eye steak wasn't too bad either!)

Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie-Day: Bacon Root Veg Pie

I'm loving potato-topped pies at the moment.

Much less stressful than pastry pies but still gives you that lovely homecooked pie feeling. This is a particularly nice one to make when it's cold outside and you need something comforting to warm you up...

It is also really simple and doesn't take long at all. The filling is nice and chunky with swede, carrot and parsnip pieces, and bacon slices are added in for good measure if you need a bit of meat.

Bacon Root Veg Pie

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For an 8" pie dish:

4 bacon slices, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 swede, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 parsnip, chopped
1 large potato, chopped
200ml hot beef stock
1 tbsp milk
Handful of grated cheddar
Parsley
Thyme

1) Fry bacon and onion, followed by swede and carrot. Add hot stock and leave to simmer.
2) Boil potatoes and parship chunks til soft. Drain and mash up.
3) Pour filling into pie dish, spoon mash on top and grill til crispy brown on top.

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie-Day adventures. Continue reading this post..

Moral Dilemma: To serve or not to serve?

Well, what do you think?

Seems ok to serve, right? Well actually...

Maybe not.

See that white spot? That's flour. Uncooked flour. And I'm pretty sure that's not right.

The morning after I bake my cakes, I eat a slice to test it - my digestive system is fast so I'd know pretty soon if something doesn't agree with me. So a morning slice gives me plenty of time to work out if it's satisfactory for post-training later in the evening.

Well in this case, I got a strange knot in my stomach. Not that horrible churning one or anything where you need to reach for a bucket, but simply that niggling feeling that...something just wasn't quite right.

When I got back from work that day, I tried another piece just to be sure. (And no, I wasn't just being lardy and craving cake!) Again, the same niggling feeling. But nothing of the food poisoning sort.

And so the moral dilemma began. Was the cake edible enough to serve to others? My main issue was that over the last 7 weeks, I've successfully made a cake for post-aikido training. Would I be able to do the unforgivable and turn up with nothing for the others to eat?

Terrible I know! Now I certainly wasn't intending to turn myself into some sort of weekly baking lady for a group of guys, I must tell you that. But I was really getting into trying out a new baking recipe and having a group of people to test them out on. It's hardly worth making a cupcake-sized one every time is it?

On the other hand of course, I didn't fancy the risk of upsetting the stomachs and minds of my baking guinea pigs. My stomach is quite strong so it takes alot to upset it. So I figured that if this ginger-cake-with-random-uncooked-flour-blob managed to niggle MY stomach, it could possibly do worse to someone else's stomach. Eek!

In conclusion? A definite Hungry-Jenny-Faux-Pas. So to the bin the cake went.

Fancy a laugh at my other Hungry-Jenny-Faux-Pas? Continue reading this post..

Say NO to Indian Takeaway: Have a Tikka Pork Chop instead

I must say upfront that Indian food is something pretty alien to me, simply because I've never really experienced alot of it. In the few instances that I have tried it, I've always found it way too spicy! Yes, I seriously need to eradicate this notion of 'Indian food = spicy' from my mind, much like how some people think 'Japanese food = sushi'.

Now what we have here isn't quite what you'd expect to find on a takeaway menu, but is certainly an interesting and simple choice to make - especially to avoid the sloppy sauces and colourings you get from takeaway dishes. What is the appeal of a sea of gloopy sauce and five small lumps of meat swimming inside anyway?

Tikka Pork Chop with Sweet Potato Wedges

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For 2-4:

4 pork chops
4 tbsp natural yoghurt
Juice of half a lemon
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp paprika
1 crushed garlic clove
Half tsp turmeric
Half tsp cumin
Dash of cayenne pepper
Pinch of salt

4 sweet potatoes, cut into long chunks
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp oil
Dash of turmeric

2 finely grated carrot
1 finely grated cucumber

1) Sit the chops in the lemon juice, cayenne pepper and salt, followed by a mixture of natural yoghurt, ginger, paprika, garlic, turmeric and cumin. Leave to marinade for about 15 minutes.
2) Toss the potato wedges in the cumin, coriander, turmeric and oil. Bake at 190 degrees C for 30-40 minutes.
3) Meanwhile, panfry the chops over a low heat, then finish off under the grill if desired.

If you liked this, you might want to try making these other takeaway alternatives too. Continue reading this post..

A Good Day to Meet Everyday Harumi!

I was at the BBC Good Food Show in London yesterday with my fellow food friend Sam. As we wandered around, we came across The Oishii Pavillion demo stage where the work surfaces were being feverishly cleaned, cameramen were pulling out wires and plugging things in, and others with headsets were stepping over them with clipboards.

We thought we'd just come to the end of something but as it turned out, Harumi Kurihara was about to do a cooking demo right there and then!

To be honest, I'd never heard of Harumi, other than recognising her from her recent book Everyday Harumi but after her demo, I can definitely see why she is known as the 'Martha Stewart of Japan'..!

Harumi is all about easy Japanese homecooking with uncomplicated recipes that focus on variety and health. Her travels have influenced her cooking and recipes (she said she loves celery, carrots and potatoes, hurrah!) and incorporates these different ingredients into her recipes to make Japanese food accessible to everyone. It's not all about sushi!

Personally, Japanese food is something I've rarely tried to make at home, simply because I've never really explored what kind of recipes are out there. Well, apart from dishes where I can make teriyaki sauce.

During the demo, Harumi made two dishes. To start, a super-speedy batch of pickled cucumbers. It perhaps doesn't sound like the most exciting thing in the world but you'd be surprised at how amazing it tastes - especially with so few ingredients - cucumber and ginger, shaken up in a mix of soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil - that's it!

Next up - Japanese Tsukune - ie meatballs. Plenty of samples as you can see! Harumi adds celery and onions to these meatballs for a more interesting texture.

With the help of Takanori Kurokawa, top sushi chef of Nobu, London, the 50-odd Tsukune are made to perfection:
Harumi also designs beautiful tableware, a set below which I'm sure you'll agree finishes off the presentation of those delicious patties nicely. I'm so chuffed that I got to try one and am definitely going to give these a go. Thanks Harumi!

Oishii!!

Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie-Day: Turkey Shepherd Potato Pie

The ultimate pie-warmer.

Mmm, it just sends out comforting vibes to you right away, doesn't it?

I haven't really been in the mood to make pastry these last few weeks. Uh, this is nothing to do with the fact that I've resorted to using premade packs after throwing out uncooperative homemade pastry the last few times.

Now that it's getting colder, and your stomach is calling for some really warming food, don't just make soup. Sorry, but that's a bit boring sometimes isn't it? You need proper, solid food!

Just try not to go overboard with the filling though - it's way too easy to make too much. You can stuff those potatoes, but those skins will only hold in so much you know. The one in the picture above may look delicious but if you turned it around, you would see a bit of a crack with the filling pouring out, whoops! Yes, I was being greedy again.

Turkey Shepherd Potato Pie

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For 2:

2 meaty jacket potatoes
200g lean minced turkey
half a small onion, diced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp sweetcorn
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp soy sauce
handful of grated cheddar

1) Microwave the potato at 750W for about 15 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, fry onion and mince, followed by tomatoes, sweetcorn, tomato puree and soy sauce. Leave to simmer for about 10 minutes.
3) Scoop out the potato flesh and mash up with cheese, a bit of milk and butter.
4) Spoon the mince mixture into the potato skin, with the mashed potato on top. Grill for 5 minutes until the top is nice and crispy.

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie-Day adventures. Continue reading this post..

Dirty Carrot Cake

Being relatively new to baking, I thought I'd try out using sunflower oil as a sub for butter. Oil, yes, can sound unhealthy, but sunflower oil has less saturated fat than butter and some good old vitamin E too. So surely, I thought, that must make the cake a bit less devilish than most? Well I made it, ate it (even shared it out) and realised that actually, it's pretty filthy.

Just look at that dirty little so.

Biting into this makes you feel rather naughty and is heavy enough to allow you to stop at just the right moment. Well, after 2 or maybe even 3 iddy squares. Now that's a clever cake. I just don't understand how this cake does it. But I do know that I'll make it again.

Dirty Carrot Cake

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Makes 15 squares (13 x 8" tin):

175ml sunflower oil
175g golden caster sugar
175g self-raising flour
100g dried mixed fruit
3 finely grated carrots
3 beaten eggs
grated zest of 1 orange
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Half tsp ground nutmeg
175g icing sugar
2 tbsp orange juice

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2) Mix the sugar, oil and eggs. Stir in the carrots, dried fruit and zest.
3) Sift in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Fold into the mixture carefully until all is smooth.
4) Pour into a shallow rectangular baking tray and stick in the oven for 45 minutes.
5) As you leave the cake to cool, beat the icing sugar and juice in a jug. Drizzle the frosting generously over the cake, then cut into squares.

More Hungry Jenny cakes here. Continue reading this post..

How do you get vegetables to co-operate?

Train them into regimented soldiers of course!

Ok, so where am I going with this...?

Nowhere to be honest. It's very late, and I've got to that stage where my imagination starts to go a bit funny (a bit like when Dumbo sees pink elephants on parade in the sky). My reason is extreme tiredness though - I haven't been drinking like that naughty little bugger did.

Orange and Pineapple Chicken with Veggie Soldiers

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For 2:

4 small chicken breasts
4 pineapple rings, sliced in half
3 oz orange juice concentrate
2 tbs butter, softened
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tsp soy sauce
Small handful of sugar snaps
Small handful of baby corn
Steamed rice to serve

1) Marinade the chicken in the orange juice, butter, soy sauce and ginger.
2) Fry the chicken in a large pan, later adding in the baby corn and sugar snaps, followed by the pineapple slices.
3) Sit the pineapple slices over the chicken breasts, lying your veggie soldiers neatly on top!

Hup hup!

(Ok, time for bed) Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie-Day: All Puff....

...and no pie filling...

...makes Hungry Jenny oddly full.

Yes, this lamb and butternut squash pie from The Wheatsheaf pub in Ealing was MASSIVE. But how can a pie consisting of layers of light pastry with such little filling be so, well, filling? (My capacity for pastry is freakishly large by the way).

This will forever leave me puzzled.

Oh, and I only had one of the pies above of course. I'm not THAT lardy!

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie-Day adventures.
Continue reading this post..

Hungry Jenny Faux Pas: The Right (and Wrong) Way to Use Breadcrumbs

First, the Right Way. (I don't want to put you off straight away you know...)

It's good to make things from scratch and I try to avoid ready-made or instant cans of stuff. But sometimes you just have to give in to them. Especially if you want to use breadcrumbs and don't have a food processor. I mean, who would be silly enough to try making their own breadcrumbs by breaking them up with their own hands? Er...

Crispy Sesame Chicken Strips

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For 2:

1 large chicken fillet, cut into strips
1 large portion instant egg noodles
Half a courgette, cut into matchsticks
Small carrot, cut into matchsticks
Half a small onion, sliced
3 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp breadcrumbs
2 tbsp flour
1 egg, beaten
Some soy sauce
Some oyster sauce
Splash of sesame oil

1) Cook the noodles according to the instructions. Drain, rinse with cold water and toss generously with sesame oil.
2) Mix the breadcrumbs and sesame seeds together.
3) Roll each of the chicken strips in flour, dip in egg, then roll in the breadcrumbs and sesame seeds.
4) Fry the coated chicken over a low heat, turning regularly. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.
5) Stir fry the vegetables for 5 minutes, then add the noodles. Add some soy and oyster sauce to taste.
6) Return the chicken to the pan for a few more minutes before serving.

And now, the Wrong Way...

"Potato Cod Cakes"
I wouldn't actually recommend you try this, haha...

1) Refuse to buy a tin of breadcrumbs because you've got bread at home.
2) Despite not having a food processor, decide to break up slice of bread instead with hands.
3) Realise this is going to take a year and give up after creating some lumpy crumbs.
4) Ponder over this potential disaster as you create balls out of cod and mashed potato.
5) Dip the balls in flour and beaten egg.
6) Roll the balls over the lumpy crumbs to coat them completely. Let your heart sink as you realise it really isn't going to happen.
7) Fry them up anyway and make note to self that this is NOT a dish to be proud of.

Fancy a laugh at my other Hungry-Jenny-Faux-Pas? Continue reading this post..

Fruit Cakes for Hard Nuts

Every Tuesday for the last month or so, I've been testing out my cakes on the Hungry Aikido guys. So far, no disasters. Well, there was that funny textured apple cake I made last week - but I chucked it away instead of forcing it on them, so that doesn't count. And then there were my Sausage Woahs, which were sausage rolls of questionable shapes and sizes.

But the ones that have gone down really well so far? The ones with a bit of fruit in! Peach, orange, raspberry, lemon, banana...Who would have thought it eh?

Yes, they are all encased in sugar and butter of course but the fruit cancels it out, right? ;-)

These cakes are not just reserved for tough nuts of course. I mean hello, I ate them too!

Peach and Raspberry Squares (above)

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For a 12 x 8" tray (18 squares):

300g sugar
250g unsalted butter
200g self-raising flour
3 eggs
100g raspberries
1 large peach, diced
1 tsp vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2) Melt the butter over a low heat in deep saucepan. Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth, then add the flour and a dash of salt.
3) Pour the mixture into a shallow rectangle baking tray. Add the peach pieces and raspberries evenly over the mixture.
4) Bake for about an hour until it looks all bouncy.
5) Leave to cool completely before cutting into squares.


Banana and Pumpkin Seed Cake

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Makes 1 loaf:

3 mashed up bananas
50g pumpkin seeds
250g plain flour
125g unsalted butter
150g brown sugar
2 beaten eggs
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp ground nutmeg

1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2) Mix the butter and sugar, gradually adding in the eggs and bananas.
3) Sift the flour in, along with the baking powder and nutmeg. Fold into the mixture slowly.
4) Pour into a loaf tin and bake for about an hour until a skewer comes out clean when you poke it through.


Orange and Caraway Seed Cake

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Makes 1 loaf:

400g plain flour
170g unsalted butter
170g sugar
40g caraway seeds
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 small carrot, grated
70g orange marmalade
3 eggs, beaten
1tsp baking powder

1) Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.
2) Mix together the flour, baking powder, carrot and seeds.
3) In a separate bowl, mix the butter and sugar, gradually adding in the egg.
4) Add the mixture to the flour bowl and fold in the marmalade, zest and juice.
5) Pour the mixture into a loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes.

All go well with a cup of tea of course - but taste much better with a pint in the pub after a good training session!

More Hungry Jenny cakes here. Continue reading this post..