Friday Pie Day Faux Pas: Speechless Sweet Potato Nothings

Ummm.

Well, I don't know what you have to say for yourself, Pie.

I guess at first glance, you don't look that bad. But I've got to be honest with you - you are definitely not a case of tastes-better-than-you-look.

I'm sorry to have to say this, but you, are just all kinds of wrong. And not in a good way.

It all started so well. I thought I'd give you a crusty sweet potato bottom. That egg was binding you together quite nicely. You even smelt decent, with that hint of paprika.

I guess your downfall though, was the filling. Admittedly, I should have stepped up and given this more thought. I mean, a layer of tomatoes and leeks? What the hell was that?

I wanted to keep it simple. I was just trying to make sure that your sweet potato paprika crust wasn't going to be overwhelmed. I wanted it to be all about you.

But as I went to put you in the oven, I still felt it wasn't enough. So I randomly poured some cream over the top. And that, is what ruined you. Because I overlooked the fact that you would need more time to adjust to this change, to allow it to set properly.

And of course, with me being ever-Hungry, I was too impatient and took you out too early. Your sides were starting to blacken, and the tomatoes were threatening to dry out, I panicked, ok?

I'm sorry, Pie, for I have failed you. I hope you'll forgive me.

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie Day adventures.

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

How to Make Your Own Cookie Cutter...

...the Hungry Jenny way...

Do you ever have those moments where someone asks you to do something, and even though you've not done it before, you just say 'yeh sure!'

Well, let me tell you the story behind this little dude.

(Eh, that's meant to be a person?)

Alright, give me a chance!

A few weeks ago, I made these Coracao de Coco (coconut hearts) for my Capoeira teacher Bia. They went down better than expected, as she asked if I could make some more for her to give to one of the other students as a gift :-)

Of course, I said yes, and Bia asked what shapes could be done. Now, my cookie cutter collection is pretty small, so all I could offer in gift form was hearts, stars or crinkled circles.

"Hm. Can you do little Capoeira men, kicking?" Bia asked.
Pause.
"Yeh, of course!" I replied.

Umm...ok, so I've never tried making my own cutters before, let alone try to make something as intricate as a kicking Capoeira man. Erk.

But, somehow, I managed it...

1. Rummage through your belongings to fashion a mould out of something bendy.
At first, I thought about making a flat mould that I would place on the dough and cut around - but then figured this would be quite fiddly, trying to cut around a Capoeira man shape.

Then I thought about going to a craft or DIY shop to get some kind of bendable metal - but I wasn't able to get to one in time.

So...I was left rummaging around my belongings to see what I could fashion a mould from. Sandwich ties? Unbending a paperclip? A big plastic bottle? No, no, and no.

Suddenly, I remembered a stack of aluminium tins in my cupboard - aha! That will do, I thought. So I cut off the thin rim of one and copied a photo to bend it into the shape of a kicking man. It took a few goes, because he kept turning out massive with slightly disproportionate limbs. But in the end I got there...

2. Find a way to stick it together.
Yes, that is brown parcel tape. The tricky part was joining the ends together - I had tried to staple it but it was too awkward a shape to get the stapler into place. I didn't particularly want to superglue it either, for fear of residue glue somehow making it into the dough. So, er, brown tape it was ;-)

3. Take care when stamping out your dough.
As for using it to cut the dough, it worked better than expected - yes, the aluminium is a little flimsy, and it does require extra care when using, so that you don't push the cutter out of shape as you stamp it into the dough. The important thing though, is that it works!

4. Feel smug, regardless of how your DIY efforts turn out.
The resulting cookie came out looking ok, though I'm not entirely convinced that it actually looks like a kicking man - it's probably the kind of cookie that needs icing on it to define its features, like adding on the white trousers and belt, but hey, it doesn't look too bad for a first attempt, right...?

Ok, so perhaps this is not quite the intricate step-by-step you were looking for, but good to go and try out your own version I hope ;-)

You might also be interested in learning How to Bake From Scratch the Hungry Jenny Way too! Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie Day: Old School Cornflake Tart

This week's pie has been WAY overdue - it's something I've been meaning to make for a few years now!

(And don't worry, that doesn't mean since I've been at school or anything, haha).

I first had a go at making cornflake tarts back in 2009. It was a bit of a random flaky approach - I mean, the recipe I ended up putting together was for 5 small tarts!

Now that's not very share-friendly is it?

So ever since then, I've been meaning to make a massive one, in a flan tin, cut into squares, just like it was done at school. Now, I've got to admit, the squares cut in this recipe are smaller than the portions I had at school - I mean, they were proper pudding sized portions, with custard and everything.

But I was making this to take into work, and man, it is like vulture town when there are cakes around - so I wanted to try and create enough portions to make this tart last at least half an hour in the kitchen!

So this tart cuts into 24 little squares, but you can easily slice into bigger squares if you decide to serve this as an actual dessert. They taste fine cold, but are best eaten still warm out of the oven, mm!

Old School Cornflake Tart

Print-friendly recipe

For a 12 x 8" flan tin (24 squares):

125g plain flour
125g ground almonds*
100g unsalted butter, cold, diced
Some cold water**

*Sub the ground almonds with plain flour if you do not wish to use almonds.
** You can also use 375g premade sweet shortcrust pastry instead of making this pastry, in which case, go straight to step 3.

100g golden syrup
100g honey
200g cornflakes
3 tbsp ground almonds
150g strawberry jam

1. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl with the ground almonds. Rub in the butter to a breadcrumb mixture.
2. Add a little cold water and knead into a dough, adding more water if needed. Wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
3. Roll the pastry out into a large rectangle onto a lightly floured surface. Transfer to line the base and sides of a non-stick flan tin.
4. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Cover with foil and push baking beads into the base. Chill again for 15 minutes whilst waiting for the oven, then bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly brown. Allow to cool completely.
5. Preheat the oven back on to 170 degrees C. Mix the syrup and honey in a large bowl. Add the cornflakes and use a spoon to crush and mix it all together.
6. Spoon the almonds evenly over the pastry base, then spread over the jam.
7. Carefully add in the cornflake mixture, using a knife to spread evenly.
8. Bake for about 15 minutes until the cornflakes turn more golden.

Allow to cool slightly before slicing, and enjoy the nostalgia…

Pie out.

You might like these Honey Nut Cornflake Tarts too!

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

Chunky Chocolate Squares (butter free)

These should really be called Crumbly, Chunky Chocolate Squares, but that would have been too much of a mouthful.

A mouthful though, is exactly what these are, because any more and you'll find yourself hurling into a bit of a sweet chocolate overload. And yes, I mean that in a dangerous way.

Now I can eat a fair amount of chocolate - my housemate Anita is always telling me off for chomping away at it like there's no tomorrow - she on the other hand can make the smallest piece of chocolate last for hours...days even! But I can't be doing with this nibbling business. I want the whole chocolate and I want it now.

With these Chunky Chocolate Squares though, I found that I couldn't eat more than a couple in one go *shock*. I suppose this is a good thing - as you should have the good intention of sharing what you bake, I guess...

Chunky Chocolate Squares (butter free)

Print-friendly recipe

Makes 25 little chunky squares (for an 8" square tin):

1 egg
225ml olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1.5 tsp vanilla
200g plain flour
100g brown sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1.5 tbsp baking powder
200g dark chocolate, roughly broken into small chunks

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Lightly beat the egg with the oil, lemon juice and vanilla.
3. In another bowl, sift in the flour, then mix in the sugar, cocoa and baking powder. Fold in the chocolate chunks.
4. Pour in the liquid mixture, then carefully fold until just mixed.
5. Transfer to a lined square tin and bake for about 30 minutes or until you can pull a fork out clean.

Other chocolately recipes you might enjoy. Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie Day: @pieminister Spring Chicken Pot Pie

In my overexcitement about British Pie Week last week, I realised how many variations of pie I've still to try (making and tasting).

It's funny that sometimes I do struggle to think up new ideas for Friday Pie Days - but much of this is to do with not knowing how to explore the unknown, rather than simply running out of pies to make.

Ok, so 'exploring the unknown' probably sounds a bit extreme! But in pie terms, what I mean is there are alot of ingredients out there that I've yet to try in pie form, and certainly need to branch out into playing with trickier pastry types like filo and suet.

As a source of exploration, I thought it was about pie time I made another recipe from the Pieminister cookbook - hence forth, the Spring Chicken Pot Pie.

Chicken? That's not so alien, surely? No, but let me tell you what drew me into it.

The fennel.

Heh?

Yes, this curious vegetable, looking like some oversized stump of a spring onion has always puzzled me. The only time I've tried it was when I randomly bought it from the supermarket a few years ago. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, so I chopped it up and ate it raw in a salad. Mistake.

It tasted like really strong black liquorice, which just did not agree with me at all, and it's put me off it ever since. But in recent efforts to get out of a fruit and veg rut, I figured it was time to face my fear - and when I saw that the Pieminister Spring Chicken Pot Pie contained fennel, I figured it'd be a safe way to try it again.

Now, the idea of making a pie with an ingredient so feared made me a little nervous - what if I hated it? The thought of throwing away an entire pie in disgust of the fennel was rather upsetting.

There are other ingredients of course - chicken (naturally), carrots, purple sprouting broccoli, fresh herbs, and all simmered together in a creamy stock. So, to be fair, there's alot of good going on in this pie anyway to balance out the fennel.

At first, I timidly just chopped a little bit of fennel into the mix - but then after a while, looking at the sorry half stem leftover, I decided to just chuck it all in. If I'm going to try fennel again, I thought, I'm going to try it properly.

Try it I did - and the result?

Hands down, the best pie I've tasted in a while!

There was no horrid overpowering liquorice taste, as I feared - it was kind of a mild aniseedy flavour, definitely more to my liking ;-) Of course, it was this, combined with the genius hint of mustard and white wine that really brought this together. Good work, Pieminister.

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie Day adventures.

You might also enjoy my trial of the Pieminister Butter 'nut nut' Pie Continue reading this post..

Say NO to Takeaway: Whip Up Some Bacon Egg Fried Rice Instead!

Egg fried rice is one of those dishes that can be whipped up relatively quickly once you get going.

But you have to be on the ball with this one.

Although made in a wok - a weapon that allows you to throw in what you please and generally turn out ok - with egg fried rice, this needs to be done carefully. Certain things may need to be cooked separately on their own first, and added later - in short, any meat you might be using, and the egg. It's also ideal (though not essential) to use rice that's already been cooked and cooled.

So, breaking it down, if you already have these 3 ingredients cooked, then you're already onto a winner. You really can just chuck those in at the end, with the rest of your ingredients (your veg and the like).

The recipe below however is for cooking from 'scratch', showing you the timings and stages to get your Bacon Egg Fried Rice just right...

Bacon Egg Fried Rice

Print-friendly recipe

Serves 4:

300g rice
375ml boiling water
1 tbsp vegetable oil
8 bacon rashers
6 eggs, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
100g red onion, chopped
6 spring onions, chopped
150g mushrooms, sliced
150g garden peas (frozen is fine)
2 tbsp soy sauce

1) Put the rice in a pan with the boiling water. Gently bring to the boil, then turn down to the lowest heat. Cover and leave to simmer for 20 minutes. Take off the heat and allow to cool.
2) Add the oil to a hot wok. Fry the bacon quickly for a few minutes, then transfer to a plate.
3) Turn the heat down a little, then pour in the beaten egg to cook through. Transfer to the plate with the bacon.
4) Add in the garlic, ginger and red onion, frying for a minute or so, before adding in all the remaining veg. Throw back in the bacon and egg.
5) Carefully add the cooked rice, then pour over the soy sauce. Stir everything through well, making sure it's all mixed properly before serving.

An alternative to cooking the egg in step 3 is to skip this and just pour the egg over your rice in step 5. You won't get the 'chunks' of egg, but it will instead seep through all of your ingredients to eggify it all :-)

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

Friday Pie Day: British Pie Overload

So it's nearing the end of British Pie Week...

...and phew, I'm officially full up!

Well yes, it was very, very tempting to blog about a different British pie to try out. And then I thought that would just be too much. The idea of tweeting a British pie out every day also crossed my mind - but I figured that would get annoying.

So I decided to pack out this week's Friday Pie Day with all the British Pie goodness instead.

Overload? Nah...

Steak and Sweet Potato Pie

See full recipe

You've got to have some sort of steak pie surely - there are actually two steak pie classics that I've yet to try making (steak and ale, and steak and kidney), but for now - here is a Steak and Sweet Potato Pie to keep you going. Use stewing steak, and you won't end up chewing for ages on tough chunks.

Triple Topped Triple Filled Fish Pie

See full recipe

Ok, so not the most attractive of pies. But a fish pie is in order for Britishness. My take is using three different veg for the mash topping - carrot, parsnip, swede - and three different types of fish for the filling - salmon, haddock and prawns. Yes, that's why it's called a Triple Topped Triple Filled Fish Pie - funny that!

Veggie Potato Pie With Paprika Crust

See full recipe

This is my version of the homity pie, a traditional wartime open potato and veg pie. I livened up the pastry with paprika to give it a smokey kick, and the potato is mashed with lemony creme fraiche and mixed with broccoli, spring onions and mushrooms. And don't be shy to add lashings of cheese ;-)

Bangers and Mash Pie

See full recipe

I guess this isn't a traditional British pie as such, but bangers and mash definitely tops the list for classic British dishes. And I couldn't help but turn this wonder into pie form. Don't you dare scrimp on the sausages! Only good'uns will do.

Chicken and Leek Pie

See full recipe

Finally, this is a pie I made only a couple of weeks ago, when I realised that there are still quite a few traditional British pies on my list that I haven't yet made.

Ah, which reminds me...*scurries back to pie land*...

Pie out.

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

Coracao de Coco!

Behold the Coconut Heart!

No, this is not an extremely overdue Valentine's day post, this is a birthday gift that I made for my Capoeira teacher Bia.

Now I'm pretty cynical these days when it comes to love. Well that's not entirely true - I love the idea of being in love, seeing other people who are truly in love, and am quite floaty about things that are heart-shaped or that have the word 'love' on it. It's the whole 'finding-the-love-of-your-life-and-everything-falling-into-place' that I'm not so convinced about - well, me personally I mean, I'm not sure the idea fits well with me.

Of course, you experience love from your family and your friends, and that's completely irreplaceable - partners come and go, and all that. But what I've discovered over the last year and a half, since starting Capoeira is a whole other experience of love.

Now I'm not going to go off on one and get all mushy, but it's like entering a different world when I go to a class, event or anything that involves seeing anyone from the Capoeira family. There is an immediate acceptance and warmth, no judgements, and the energy you get from this alone is immense.

So the reason why I made such a massive Coracao de Coco (coconut heart) is because I've never experienced such an envelope of love from a group of people (other than my family of course) before - and I wanted to show you the gift I made to represent that :-)
Continue reading this post..

4 Healthy (yet still tasty) Ways With Chicken Breast

I could so easily talk about pie for the next 6 days, what with it being British Pie Week. It's taking all the willpower I have in me to stop myself retweeting everything about pie that has grabbed my interest (and it's only the second day of British Pie Week).

But I do need to practice a bit more self-restraint.

So I'm going to talk about, er, chicken today instead.

Every now and then, I go through phases where I suddenly decide to experiment with different ways to cook up the same thing. Something broad like ways to try out different types of seafood, playing around with a cuisine-specific dish like congee, or something randomly precise like er, pork strips.

This brings me to the breast of chicken - it's one of the more budget-friendly, healthier cuts of meat - also thought to be super versatile. Yet it can be so easy to just make the same 2 or 3 dishes over and over.

Nothing wrong with that of course (if it's not killing anyone), but it's good to be able to excite your stomach with something different for a change, with that smug feeling that what you're eating is rather good for you too.

So that's what the following four chicken breast recipes are about...

Oat-Topped Chicken with Lemon Polenta (at top of post)

Covering something meaty with oats and grilling it is something I've tried only a couple of times before and it's always come out a bit burnt on top, with the meat still only half-cooked. But a good trick that works is to add the oats on once the meat is halfway through cooking and ready to be turned.

The chicken is marinated with lemon, olive oil and honey to keep it lovely and moist whilst it's under the grill. The equally lemony polenta provides a welcome change to your usual potato mash.

See full recipe for Oat-Topped Chicken with Lemon Polenta

Five Spice Almond Chicken

This Asian-influenced dish has Chinese five spice and soy sauce in the mix, along with some flaked almonds for added crunch. The spinach works really well in this too, as it soaks up all the flavours. Other leafy vegetables, like pak choi would also be good to try in a dish like this.

See full recipe for Five Spice Almond Chicken

Garlic Chicken with Wholegrain Rice

Wholegrain rice can be tricky, but I've found that a ratio of 2:1 of water to rice works pretty much every time. It does take a little longer than normal white rice to cook (about 30-35 minutes), and has a slight nutty taste to it, so is actually quite a nice substitute to make for other rice dishes on your repetoire.

The chicken is kept relatively simple here too with just garlic and white wine vinegar to liven it up.

See full recipe for Garlic Chicken with Wholegrain Rice

Ginger Chicken with Spring Onion Mash

Finally, a grilled chicken dish, which is marinated in ginger and honey. You've got a nice bit of mash here too, with creme fraiche rather than your usual blob of butter to make it nice and creamy. And instead of sticking some veg onto the side, stir it right in there with the mash - fresh spring onions, crunchy green beans and broccoli, yum!

See full recipe for Ginger Chicken with Spring Onion Mash

Well, it's official, I've waffled on about chicken for ages now - and believe or not, there are more chicken recipes here that you might like. Enjoy! Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie Day: Mini Minced Beef and Onion Pies

Out of all the pies I've made, there aren't really that many beefy pies at all.

Now this doesn't make much sense to me, because out of all the pies in the land, the beefy ones are what I enjoy eating the most!

Goodness knows what I do with these Friday Pie Days - last week I realised that I've barely made many traditional pies and now this week I realised they generally lack the beef too.

So this week I'm bringing back the beef.

These are Mini Minced Beef and Onion Pies, made in a cupcake tray to create cheeky little snacks.

Now, minced beef and onion is a real classic pie filling. It reminds me of eating my dad's chip shop versions, mm!

With these being so wee, I used shop-bought pastry rather than making my own, because frankly, making small pies can get quite fiddly. You might as well take a shortcut if you can ;-)

It's best to make the beef filling a while before you want to bake the actual pies, to allow time for it to cool down completely. This means that you won't get soggy pie bottoms from spooning hot fillings in. Nobody wants that now, do they?

They will want this...

Mini Minced Beef and Onion Pies

Print-friendly recipe

Makes 10:

125g lean minced beef
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp + 1 tbsp olive oil
75g carrot, grated
50g onion, finely chopped
25g frozen peas
25g mushrooms, finely chopped
50ml hot beef stock, mixed with 1/2 tbsp cornflour
300g shortcrust pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten

1) Put the beef in a bowl with the soy, cinnamon and 1/2 tbsp oil. Mix well and leave to marinade for at least 15 minutes.
2) Pour the remaining oil to a hot wok, then add the beef to brown for 3-4 minutes.
3) Add the carrot, onion, peas and mushrooms, mixing together well for another couple of minutes. Pour in the cornfloured stock, turn down the heat and leave to simmer for about 7-10 minutes. Take off the heat and allow to cool completely.
4) Cut a third off the pastry and set aside. Roll out the larger piece onto a floured surface. Use a 3.5" cutter to stamp out 10 rounds and transfer to line a cupcake tray.
5) Spoon the mince mixture evenly into each pastry case. Gently brush a little beaten egg around the top edge of each case.
6) Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Roll out the remaining third of the pastry. Use a smaller 3" cutter to stamp out another 10 rounds.
7) Place each round atop a case, and use a fork to crimp around the edges to seal together. Brush the tops with more egg and prick the fork through the top.
8) Bake for about 25-30 minutes until nicely golden.

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie Day adventures.

Other beefy recipes you might enjoy. Continue reading this post..

Hungry Jenny Faux Pas: Peanut Wrong'uns

Well.

These are rather, um, unfortunate-looking.

I'm gonna keep this one brief.

In my mind I saw cinnamon rolls transformed - chocolated dough versions, with crunchy peanut butter and nuts wrapped inside.

But for some reason, the dough came out quite crusty and they didn't even spread out like regular cinnamon rolls do. What's that about?

To be honest, I haven't figured this out yet. But they actually still tasted good, despite looking unsightly, and being rather tough on the old jaw. Definitely need to work on this recipe...

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