Hungry Jenny Faux Pas: The Un-Chocolate Un-Marbled Orange Cake

Ah, this had so much promise.

My sister and I decided to make a chocolate orange marble cake over the weekend. But not only did it lack the marbled effect, it didn't taste of chocolate either!

So what went wrong?

We followed the sponge cake part of the recipe from this website to keep it simple. When it came to pouring the separate cake mixtures of orange and chocolate into the pan though, we weren't quite sure how to do it - so we just kind of took it in turns to dump alternate mixtures in. I used a chopstick to swirl it around a bit before putting it into the oven.

As you can see though, there was no marbling to be seen - more like random dark blobs acting like they're not meant to be there instead! It didn't help matters that the chocolate bits didn't taste very chocolatey. At all.

But if you ignore the fact that this was meant to be a chocolate orange marble cake, this was still a success - as it made for a delicious orange cake instead ;-)

Fancy a laugh at my other Hungry-Jenny-Faux-Pas?

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

Friday Pie-Day: Healthy(ish) Banocolate Pie Treats

This is a kind of healthy take on banoffee pie. Don't run a mile though - I know that trying to give guilty pleasures like this a lighter touch can often lead to disaster (Not-so Bakewell Tart anyone?)

But fear not, my Friday Pie-Day loving friends, these ones are edible!

They are easy enough to make, and because they are made individually, they are perfect little treats to dish up at a dinner party.

One pointer though that I must pass on about the prep...

I'm sure it may have been to do with my kitchen skills but it took ages to do the base of the pies. I lined 9 holes of the muffin tray with individual squares of clingfilm so that they could be lifted out easily after setting. It was quite a task to spoon the mixture into each hole and push up the sides evenly to create the pie cases, I tell you that!

I also found that the dates were quite strong so I have reduced it a little in the recipe below and suggest adding more almond instead - see what works for you.

The original plan was to top these with toffee shavings but I couldn't find the right kind of toffee anywhere to break up! This is why they are banocolate rather than banoffee pies ;-)

Banocolate Pie Treats

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Makes 9:

1 large banana, sliced
300g Greek yogurt
250g ground almonds
150g dates
2 tbsp brown sugar
Some dark chocolate shavings

1) Whizz the dates and almonds in a food processor to a sticky paste.
2) Line a muffin tray with clingfilm and press the paste in to line 9 holes. Cover and put in the freezer for half an hour.
3) Pour the yogurt into a large bowl with the sugar on top. Sit in the fridge.
4) Remove the muffin tray from the freezer and put a couple of banana slices into the base of each.
5) Gently mix the sugar into the yogurt then spoon into each pie. Top with another banana slice and some chocolate shavings.

Serve straight away or leave in the fridge until just ready to serve (the base, er, starts to melt a bit!)

Pie out.

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

Say NO to Takeaway: Make a Speedy Tikka Masala

I'm not the type to wait around for leave things cooking for ages waiting for the meat to soak up the sauce. It's okay if you're leaving it to marinade during your prep, or overnight in the fridge or whatever. I'm talking about when you're actually cooking, and having to stand around whilst it bubbles away. You twiddle your fingers and think 'GAH', why can't it just be done cooking already?

Thankfully, it's an easy problem to solve...

NO, don't call for a takeaway! Just use less sauce/stock in the first place. And if you really want to speed things up, use the old cornflour trick to thicken the sauce up instead of waiting for it to simmer through.

If you're worried about the meat not having enough flavour in it, sit it in some boiling water for a while first. This will stop it from drying out when you pan fry it in the sauce.

There are no exotic ingredients required to create that tikka masala flavourness either:

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
Half tsp turmeric
Half tsp paprika
Half tsp garam masala
Some grated ginger

If you're not the type to keep spices like this in your cupboard, then I urge you to go get them! I promise that you won't end up with a dusty shelf of unused and unloved spices. These are staple spices in my cupboard now and I use them all the time. So if you find yourself needing to use them up, come back to me for ideas ;-)

Speedy Turkey Tikka Masala

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For 2:

250g turkey
100g sweetcorn
1 green pepper
2 tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp red onion, chopped
4 tbsp natural yogurt
4 tbsp double cream
Tikka masala mixture (above)
Some olive oil

1) Fry the onion in the oil for a few minutes. Add the turkey to brown. Stir in tikka masala mixture and toss to coat the turkey well.
2) Add the tomatoes, puree, sweetcorn and pepper, simmering for 10 minutes.
3) Stir in the yogurt and cream, simmering for another 5 minutes.
4) Serve with steamed rice.

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

Create Your Own Pizza (complete with yeast-free crust)

I had a random urge to make a pizza the other day, but couldn't quite decide what one to do.

So I did a bit of everything...

As you can imagine, it was quite fiddly to make!

On the plus side, you don't have to wait around for the dough to rise here because there's no yeast needed :-)

Yeast-Free Pizza Crust

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Makes an 8" crust:

200g plain flour
75ml water
25ml olive oil
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt

1) Mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
2) Add the oil and begin to knead into a dough, gradually adding the water until it comes together.
3) Roll out the dough onto a floured surface, then brush with a little more oil.
4) Prick with a fork, then bake for 5 minutes at 220 degrees C.
5) Add your topping, then return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes.

And here are some toppings you might like to try...

Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella:

Smoked Sausage and Onion:

Aubergine and Pepper:

Mushroom, Sweetcorn and Broccoli:

Ham and Pineapple:

The tomato base is made by bringing some chopped tomatoes to the boil with garlic, oregano and finely chopped onion, and leaving to simmer for about half an hour. Allow it to cool completely before spreading onto your pizza base otherwise it will go soggy.

The white based sauce is simply cream cheese :-) If you've never tried it on a pizza before, you'll be pleasantly surprised how delicious it is! Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie-Day: Scallop and Aubergine Spud Pie

I planned to do a crab and avocado pie with a creamy mash potoato topping this week. But I couldn't get hold of any fresh crab, and the avocados at the market were looking a bit mangled. I also wasn't really in the mood to do a massive dinner pie.

So I made a single-serving scallop and aubergine jacket potato pie instead.

Close enough?

The filling is kept simple with just some double cream and paprika to pep it up. I also mixed in some cream cheese in the mash potato topping which made it even tastier! This is belly-warming stuff.

Scallop and Aubergine Spud Pie

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For 2:

2 large baking potatoes
100g scallops
100g aubergine, diced
2 spring onions, chopped
4 tbsp double cream
2 tbsp cream cheese
2 tbsp paprika
A bit of olive oil

1) Prick the potatoes with a fork and put on a dinner plate, loosely covering with a kitchen towel. Microwave on high for about 5 minutes on each side, until you can stick a skewer through.
2) Meanwhile, gently fry the scallops and aubergine in the oil. After a few minutes, add the spring onions, then mix in the paprika and double cream.
3) Slice the top third off each potato. Gently scoop out the flesh from the bottom.
4) Mash the potato flesh in a separate bowl (including the potato tops if you wish) with the cream cheese.
5) Spoon the scallop mixture into the potato shells and top with the mash.
6) Grill for 5-8 minutes to get a nice crisp topping.

Pie out.

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

Redcurrant Surprise Cupcakes

This isn't one of those lame surprises where it's not redcurrants at all, as you can see.

Nice juicy redcurrants here!

BUT. The 'surprise' was a last minute thought I had, literally just before putting these in the oven, so inevitably, something was bound to go wrong.

So basically I added a nice dollop of apricot jam in the middle to act as a gooey surprise.

Erm...

Hmm. No such goo here.

Damnit! It's worked with strawberry jam before. I think next time I might just beat the jam into the whole mixture.

On the plus side, they still tasted good - and you do get a nice apricot-flavoured bite in the centre - it's just more subtle than I would have preferred!

Redcurrant Surprise Cupcakes

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Makes 12 cupcakes:

375g fresh redcurrants
6 tbsp apricot jam
2 eggs
225g plain flour
100g brown sugar
4 tbsp grapeseed or olive oil
1 tbsp baking powder

1) Mash up about two-thirds of the berries and set aside.
2) Sift the flour and baking power into a bowl, then mix in the sugar.
3) In a large bowl, beat the oil and eggs, followed by the mashed berries.
4) Stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture, then crush the remaining berries and fold in carefully.
5) Line a cupcake tray then spoon mixture halfway into each. Add half a tablespoon of jam, then top with more mixture.
6) Bake at 175 degrees C for about 20-25 minutes.

More Hungry Jenny cakes here.

Other butter free baking recipes that might take your fancy. Continue reading this post..

The Hungry Way

People often comment that I look alot like my dad.

Hungry Pa

I really don't know what gives people that impression...

Hang about...

So presence of food = happiness...

Hungry Ma

Hungrier Jemma

(Erm, yeh, I'm hugging a menu here)

So absence of food =

...well, not so happy folk.

So clearly, this is the Hungry way. And quite the cause for a Kodak moment!
Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie-Day: Blackberry Orange Custard Tart

Ok, so no pie points for presentation this week. It's another case of it-tastes-nicer-than-it-looks. I promise.

My housemate Grace and I discovered a blackberry bush at the back of our garden the other day - we've lived there for a year and erm, we're a bit slow on the uptake. It was brimming with loads of fresh juicy berries!

Grace promptly made a yummy blackberry and apple pie and I made this blackberry orange custard tart.

This has got that gorgeous cheesecake texture with a mix of cream cheese and double cream for the filling. The zest of an orange gives it a citrus kick and of course, the juice of the blackberries seep through nicely.

Blackberry Orange Custard Tart

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For an 8 x 12" tin (15 squares):

150g fresh blackberries
Zest of 1 orange
150ml double cream
125g cream cheese, room temperature
100g sugar
2 eggs
Dash of vanilla extract
375g sweet shortcrust pastry
A bit of egg white or milk

1) Roll out the pastry to line the tin, including up the sides. Prick the base, cover and freeze for 15 minutes.
2) Bake blind for 15 minutes at 220 degrees C. Brush the base with the egg white/milk to seal the fork holes and allow to cool slightly.
3) Meanwhile, whisk the cream cheese with the sugar, cream, egg, zest and vanilla until smooth. Carefully mix in the berries.
4) Pour into the baked tart base and return to the oven at 180 degrees C for about half an hour. It should be springy to the touch!

Pie out.

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

Say NO to Takeaway: Kick Up a Lamb Kabob Instead!

This is how dense I can be, right. Up until fairly recently, I always thought that the word 'kabob' was just a silly way of saying 'kebab'. I picked it up when I saw it in the World of Warcraft game (no, it wasn't mine and I wasn't playing it!). Seasoned Wolf Kabob, mm.

Of course, 'kabobs' are not a fictional thing of the gaming world. It's just an alternative spelling! *slaps own forehead*

Enough with my shameful confession. Onwards with the recipe!

In any case, just to clarify, the ones you see above are not Wolf Kabobs I'm afraid, they are of the Moroccan lamb variety!

Now this is really meant to make 16 kabob balls to create four skewers for 2 people. But I got too engrossed with what I was doing and accidentally made 8 large kabob balls! Oops.

This is a very quick dish to make, bar the slight issues I personally had with turning the kabobs on the grill, which may have been to do with weight of the oversized kabobs. I don't know. But despite not turning them over properly halfway as you usually do when grilling, these still cooked through perfectly.

They only take 10-15 minutes on the grill, during which time you can whip together a chickpea and apricot couscous salad to serve the kabobs with. Divine.

Moroccan Lamb Kabobs with Chickpea and Apricot Couscous

Print-friendly recipe

For 2:

250g lean lamb mince
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 tbsp red onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves, crushed
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp coriander
Pinch of cinnamon
100g couscous
150ml hot veggie or chicken stock
100g chickpeas
2 spring onions, chopped
6 dried apricots, chopped
2 tsp dried mint

1) In a bowl, mix the oil with the cloves and the spices.
2) Add the lamb, celery and onion, mixing well.
3) Form into 8 balls and thread onto 2 skewers. (Alternatively, form into 16 balls and thread onto 4 skewers!)
4) Grill for 15 minutes, turning once.
5) Meanwhile, pour the stock over the couscous in a bowl and cover for 5 minutes.
6) Stir in the chickpeas, apricots, spring onion and mint.
7) Divide into two bowls and serve with the lamb kabobs.

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

Strawberry Cake (butter free)

Mm, a nice sweet strawberry cake to start off the week.

I did have a slight issue with the strawberries though.

Yes, they look nice and juicy as you can see. But they all rose to the top whilst in the oven. So although the cake is wonderfully moist and sweet, you don't quite get the full strawberriness with each bite. (In which case, you might be better off trying these fully Strawberry Jam Oat Bites instead!)

This a really easy recipe to remember though because you basically use the same quantity for all the main ingredients:

300g strawberries
300g sugar
300ml grapeseed oil
(and er, 350g plain flour)

Add to the mix some eggs, cinnamon, bicarb of soda and salt, and there you have it.

Strawberry Cake (butter free)

Print-friendly recipe

For an 8" square tin (18 triangles):

300g fresh strawberries, sliced
300g sugar
300ml grapeseed oil
350g plain flour
4 eggs
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt

1) Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Add in the sugar, cinnamon, salt and soda.
2) Beat the eggs with the oil, then stir in the strawberries.
3) Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture, stirring until mixed in well.
4) Transfer to a lined tin and bake at 170 degrees C for 50-60 minutes, or until you can pull a skewer out clean.

Other butter free baking recipes that might take your fancy.

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

Friday Pie-Day: Accidental Salmon Pie

When it comes to making stuff for the blog, I'm usually quite organised. I plan ahead to find snatches of time in the evenings to cook something when I don't have the luxury of an empty weekend to do a mass cook. I write down the quantities and ingredients as I make something because it usually changes as I go.

Then there are the other days when I don't need to cook specifically for my blog and those are the times that I end up quite literally throwing things together.

It just so happened that I had some complementary ingredients for something rather marvellous - an Accidental Salmon Pie:

Since I didn't have this in mind for the blog when I made it, I didn't write it down. But I've taken a shot at doing the recipe anyway because it was so yummy and I really want you to try it...

Accidental Salmon Pie

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Serves 2-4 (depending on how greedyhungry you are..!)

220g tinned salmon
6 chopped broccoli florets
4 chopped mushrooms
Juice and zest of half a lemon
2 medium potatoes, sliced
250ml double cream
Some mixed herbs

1) Gently bring the potatoes to boil in salted water, then leave to simmer for 15 minutes until just cooked. Drain and keep warm.
2) In another pan, gently boil the broccoli and mushrooms til cooked.
3) Drain and mix in the salmon, lemon and herbs.
4) Transfer to a pie dish, layer the potatoes on top, then pour over the cream.
5) Bake at 180 degrees C for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden on top.

If you're good with your timings, you can boil the potatoes, broccoli and mushrooms all in the same pot to save on washing up :-) Just add the broccoli in the last 10, and the mushrooms in the last 5 minutes of your potatoes being done.

Pie out.

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

Hungry Jenny Faux Pas: Miscellaneous Mango Cake

Ever had one of those moments where you make something and can't quite tell if it's a success or not?

Like this nice little mango squares with an almond crunch on top. They look alright don't they?

They were happily eaten as well (for the most part) and they tasted fine, so that was all good.

But they didn't taste anything like mango. The flavour was more like honey.

What?

When I first took them out the oven, I was overpowered by the sweet smell of honey. But it doesn't have any honey in it. They were still pretty good even through confused chomps - it was just that they didn't taste anything like they were meant to!

I worked out in the end that it was probably the syrup from the tinned mango I used that must have overpowered the cake. Serves me right for not using fresh mango eh?

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

Three Ways With Pork Chops

I feel like I've been baking loads recently, up to my eyeballs in cakes and pies.

What's happened to good old lardy meat-eating Hungry Jenny? To be honest, I don't cook that much meat when I'm at home these days. I think it's mainly because it's easier and cheaper just to stock up on veg at the local market (there is a Big Meat Van there but it scares me), so I've sort of fallen out of the habit of buying meat.

At the same time, I've picked up a new criteria for meat buying - I need to make something different with it each time. I rarely make the same thing twice now in general anyway, but with meat, I feel like I need to 'justify' buying it, by making a different dish each time. A bit irrational I know, but it works out alright because it gives me new recipes to upload here. You lucky things.

So I got a big ol' pack of pork chops the other week and have gradually chomped my way through them, using it as an opportunity to try out some new flavours of course.

So here are three of my favourite ones (well, the ones that turned out a success!)...

All recipes serve 2 people but secretly, you might wish to double the marinades/sauces and have 4 pork chops between 2 people instead. Because for some people, ahem me, one pork chop may simply not be enough.

Mustard Pork with Orange Bulgar Wheat Salad (above)

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For 2:

2 pork chops
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp orange juice
100g bulgar wheat
200ml hot veggie stock
2 spring onions, chopped
1 satsuma
1 tbsp courgette, diced
1 small green pepper, chopped

1) Mix together the mustard, honey and orange juice. Spread over the pork chops and set aside.
2) Sit the bulgar wheat in the hot stock. Cover and leave for about half an hour.
3)Add in the chopped spring onion, courgette and green pepper and mix through.
4) Grill the chops for 4-5 minutes on each side.
5) Squeeze the juice from half the satsuma into the bulgar wheat salad. Dish up onto two plates with the chops and top with the remaining satsuma slices.


Apricot Pork on Apricot Mash

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For 2:
2 pork chops
4 tbsp apricot jam
3 tbsp sake or orange juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp grated ginger
Bit of garlic
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
8 chopped dried apricots
2 tbsp apricot jam
1 tbsp honey
Juice and zest of 1 orange
Bit of cinnamon

1) Mix the jam with the sake, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and garlic. Add the chops and leave to marinade for at least 20 minutes.
2) Gently bring the potato to the boil, then leave to simmer for 15 minutes until just cooked. Drain, mash and keep cool.
3) Meanwhile, heat the jam with the honey, orange and cinnamon, adding a little water if necessary to mix. Add in the mash and stir in the dried apricots.
4) Bake the chops at 175 degrees C for 45-50, and add in the mash for the last half hour.


Lemon Pork with Pepper and Sweetcorn

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For 2:
2 pork chops
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp parsley
200g sweetcorn
1 red pepper, chopped
2 tbsp onion
1 large potato, chopped
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

1) Mix the lemon juice, zest and honey. Pour over the pork chops and leave to marinade for 15 minutes.
2) Bring the potato chunks to boil in lightly salted water. Cover and leave to simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and keep warm.
3) Fry the pork chops for a couple of minutes on each side.
4) Push the chops to the side of the pan, and quickly fry up the onion, pepper and sweetcorn, mixing in the juices. Scatter over the parsley.
5) Add the mustard to the potato and mash well to serve.

More pork recipes here! Continue reading this post..