The Joy of Cheesecake

Yes, it's cheesecake time!

It's National Cheesecake Day and naturally, this has got me thinking about cheesecake, past times and present. And it made me realise that I've never actually made one before. Well, not successfully anyway.

And it's because I have the Fear. The Fear of creating something that tastes nothing like the creamy cheesecake delight of what I've enjoyed. The thought of a disappointing spoon of cheesecake is just too much to bear. There is enough of dealing with this at restaurants when ordering cheesecake.

Here, you will always end up with one of two options:

1. It will be amazing.
2. It will be...so-so.

Category 1 cheesecakes - these have biscuit bases that crumble gently in your mouth, and aren't just a skinny slither layer at the bottom. Category 1 cheesecakes are a decent-sized portion, with a smooth creamy texture that takes your fork at least a couple of seconds to cut through. Category 1 cheesecakes are ones that are garnished nicely rather than being slathered with a load of overly tart berries.

Category 2 cheesecakes – now these just upset me. Airless, small, dry, bland – or, in the deepest doom of cheesecake failure, all of the above. See? I can't even bring myself to go into detail.

And, as you may have figured out by now, I do feel rather upset at the thought of someone not liking cheesecake at all. I just don't understand it. So, if you don't like cheesecake, it's best not to say. Because I will react with surprise and disbelief every single time you mention it, no matter how many times you've told me in the past.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, yes. And each person has their own likes and dislikes about particular foods. But I will never be able to accept the fact that some people do not like cheesecake. This, to me, is simply absurd and completely wrong.

Why don't you love me?

Oh Cheesecake, don't you worry, for I will always love you... Continue reading this post..

Friday @Pieminister Day: Hunter's Chicken Pie

My sister, Hungrier Jemma and new husband Steven came down to visit last weekend. They were coming all the way down South from Norwich and I promised them that dinner would be ready for their arrival.

Incase you're wondering, they're doing a 'P' for Pie!

It just so happened that they were coming on a Friday evening, which of course put Pie immediately on the menu – and a Pieminister pie, at that!

Initially, they had planned to arrive about 6 or 7pm in the evening. In my excitement, and eagerness to Pie please, I planned it all out to prep the pie the day before. Then, all I would have to do on the evening would be to stick the pie in the oven for half an hour to cook through, in time for when they would arrive.

The Hunter's Chicken Pie is actually a fan's recipe; one that was chosen by the Pieminister Gods to be included in the cookbook. How cool is that?!

It is basically a mustardy chicken and bacon filling slathered lovingly with a bulky barbecue relish, and sat in a puff pastry casing. Although the recipe states it's for 4-6 people, I decided to follow it in its entirety to serve the three of us. (We are forever Hungry after all).

When it came to precooking the chicken and bacon filling, I had that greedy moment of thinking, 'Omigosh', no way is that near enough to make six servings!' So I planned to add in some extra veg to the mix later on.

Of course I forgot that this was going to be coupled with the barbecue relish, and my eyes are ALWAYS bigger than my belly. When it came to adding the filling to the puff pastry shell, there was no room at all for any extra veg! Greedy me.

The recipe suggests putting half the relish on top of the filling, and reserving the rest to serve as a side. Instead, I decided to create a kind of sandwich and put a layer of relish first, spooned over the chicken filling, then layered the remaining relish on top.

The result was a success! Hungrier Jemma and Steven ended up arriving about 3 or 4 hours later than planned because they got majorly stuck in traffic. So you can imagine their Hunger when they arrived. Needless to say, this recipe for 6 was well demolished between the three of us!

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie Day adventures.

Other Pieminister larks you might enjoy. Continue reading this post..

Banana and Chickpea Cous-cous Salad

Eh, really? Banana in a salad?

Fruit salad, maybe – but a savoury one?

I must admit that I was not at all convinced by the idea until I actually dished this up and timidly tasted it. But thank the banana that this actually works. Why try it though?

Well, I found myself with a surplus of bananas (as you do). I ate a few, put a small bunch in the freezer, but was still left with a multitude of bananas to get through.

Alright, I'm exaggerating, there was only a few left in the bowl by this stage. I was getting sick of the smell of overripened bananas hitting me upon entering the house though, and I really didn't fancy making the obligatory banana bread.

So I pondered over how to use them in a savoury dish instead. Banana Curry I'd already done, so that was out. I wondered about putting it in some form of pasta bake, but that just sounds rather wrong.

Turning to my fridge for answers, I spotted a lone aubergine that needed using up. Ah, that'll do.

Since the bananas were pretty ripe, I decided not to cook them through with the veg, for fear of it turning overly soggy and sweet. So I gently fried the aubergine with some courgette in lemon juice, then gently stirred through the banana afterwards to warm through.

The base of the salad, as given away by the title is simply cous-cous. Chickpeas are mixed in to add another layer of texture. You can then either mix this altogether with the lemony banana veg before serving – or dish up the chickpea cous-cous first, and spoon the banana goodness on top.

Trust me, it works!

Banana and Chickpea Cous-cous Salad (v)

Print-friendly recipe

Serves 2:

100g cous cous
125ml hot veggie stock
1 tbsp olive oil
100g chickpeas
100g aubergine, diced
75g courgette, diced
Juice of 1 small lemon
200g banana, sliced

1. Put the cous-cous in a large bowl with the hot stock. Cover and leave to sit for 5 minutes, then mix in the chickpeas.
2. Add the oil to a hot pan, then gently fry the diced aubergine and courgette for a few minutes. Squeeze over the lemon juice.
3. Take the pan off the heat, then add in the banana slices, carefully mixing through.
4. You can then either dish up the chickpea cous-cous, and spoon the banana mixture on top, or mix it altogether first before serving.

Other veggie recipes you might like. Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie Day: Mini Chocolate Crumble Pies

A mini crumble that tastes more beautiful than it looks. Though it has one snag.

For a Mini Chocolate Crumble Pie, it doesn't look very chocolately at all, does it?

Oops.

Fear not though - it wasn't that I forgot to put any trace of chocolate in or anything! Now that would be pretty silly.

Towards the start of this year, I had a bit of an awkward chocolate crumble pie incident. I hadn't fully thought the recipe through, and didn't even have some ingredients to hand when I came to make it (hm, which is rather important). The result was quite a mess, albeit a tasty one.

This time round, I decided to do a chocolate pastry casing, with a more basic chocolate crumble on top. I didn't want to go too overboard with the cocoa though, for fear of it becoming too bitter.

The resulting pie, as you can see, is something that looks more like a normal apple crumble pie. But when you get stuck in, you can most definitely taste the chocolate - and makes for a pleasant surprise when serving to guests :-)

Mini Chocolate Crumble Pies

Print-friendly recipe

Makes 4 (using 3.5" individual ramekins):

For the chocolate pastry
200g plain flour
3 tsp sugar
1 tsp cocoa
100g cold butter, diced
Some ice cold water
(or you can just use 300g normal shop-bought sweet shortcrust pastry)

For the filling
200g apple, skinned, cored and diced
150g banana, mashed
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

For the crumble topping
50g plain flour
2 tbsp ground almonds
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cocoa powder
50g butter, softened

If using premade pastry, go straight to step 2.

1. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl with the sugar and cocoa. Rub in the butter to a breadcrumb mixture. Adding in a little cold water, bring the mixture together and knead into a dough. Wrap and chill for half an hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Cut the dough in half and set one piece aside. Roll out the other piece onto a lightly floured surface. Roughly cut out two circles to line the base and sides of 2 individual ramekin dishes. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
3. In a large bowl, mix together all the filling ingredients, then divide evenly into the 4 ramekins.
4. In a smaller bowl, mix together the flour, almonds, sugar and cocoa powder. Rub in the butter well. Spoon the crumble mixture evenly over each ramekin, then bake for about 30 minutes until the filling is bubbling hot and the pastry is cooked through.

Allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.

Pie out.

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

Cranberry and Peanut Butter Squares (butter free)

Watch out now, this is one of those deceptive-looking cakes.

Quite simply, it's rather more substantial than it looks.

This one was actually kind of inspired by the peanut cakes you find in Chinese bakeries. You may or may not have come across them, but the taste and texture of these is something quite special. And quite tricky to describe - it's not a light sponge, nor does it have a heavy beefcake kind of stodge either.

Imagine a flapjack (the oat bar kind, not a pancake!) - but a very smooth one that manages to crumble delicately in your mouth at the same time when you bite into it.

Make any sense?

Er, perhaps not. Best get on and try it out then!

Cranberry and Peanut Butter Squares (butter free)

Print-friendly recipe

For an 8” square tin (20 squares):

4 tbsp smooth or crunchy peanut butter + 2 tbsp
100ml rice bran oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
150g self raising flour
100g rolled oats
75g sugar
1 /2 tbsp baking powder
100g fresh or frozen cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. In a small bowl, beat the oil and egg together. Add in the 4 tbsp peanut butter and mix well.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift in the flour, then mix in the oats, sugar and baking powder. Fold in the cranberries.
3. Add in the peanut butter mixture carefully, until the flour mixture is moistened.
4. Transfer to a lined square tin and smooth over with a knife. Roughly spread the remaining 2 tbsp peanut butter randomly over the top, then bake for 30-35 minutes until lovely golden brown.

Allow to cool before cutting into munchable squares.

More peanut buttery recipes you might enjoy.

Other butter free baking recipes that might take your fancy.
More Hungry Jenny cakes here. Continue reading this post..

The Olympic Torch in Chi!

Just wanted to share this with you - here is Katie Mindo, one of the 15 torchbearers relaying it through the city of Chichester today.

It was literally a blink as she bounded past, but I somehow managed to catch this snap.

Ooh, what fun to be hanging around in the pouring rain for a glimpse of such a historic moment!
Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie Day: Comfort Chicken and Baked Bean Pie Bowl

Hm, that's quite a mouthful, that name.

But this is one of those comfort meals that will give you a warm and fuzzy feeling as you eat it. Ooh!

It's the middle of July and not wanting to go into a complete British rant about it, the weather in the UK has been ruddy awful. Sideways rain, cold winds, random flooding (with surprise bursts of sunshine), it's all been a bit confusing.

At times like this, you're just better off cosying in. One of my favourite comfort foods is mash and baked beans, and as you can see, it's been bundled into pie form here, with lemony bits of chicken, tomatoes and mushrooms. Give it a nice cheesy mash hat and let it bubble merrily in the oven for half an hour, before getting stuck in.

Aah, it's just nice to have a foodal hug sometimes.

Comfort Chicken and Baked Bean Pie Bowl

Print-friendly recipe

Makes 2 (in small 350ml dishes):

350g potato, chopped
200g chicken breast, chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 / 2 tbsp honey
Juice of 1 small lemon
1 tbsp veggie oil
200g baked beans
100g tomatoes, chopped
75g mushrooms, chopped
50g red onion, diced
Good splash of milk
Good splash of double cream
50g grated mature cheddar cheese

1. Put the chopped potato in a pan of water and bring to the boil. Turn down to the lowest heat and leave to simmer for about 15 minutes until just cooked. Drain and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Mix together the soy sauce, honey and lemon in a large bowl. Add the chicken and mix well.
3. Heat a pan and add in the oil, followed by the chicken to brown for a few minutes. Add the baked beans and tomatoes, then when it starts to bubble, turn down the heat.
4. Add in the mushrooms and onion, stirring well, then divide the whole lot into two 350ml ovenproof dishes.
5. Get your potato pan, and add a splash of milk and double cream. Mash well, then carefully mix in the cheese. Spoon the mash over the two pies, then bake for about 25-30 minutes.

Pie out.

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

A Kind of Strawberry Shortbread Shortcake

This looks like a cake, but the taste has more of a crumbly biscuit texture to it.

You can see the problem I had with naming this then.

Sure, 'strawberry shortcake' is no alien concept at all, and neither is 'shortbread' - infact, I'm pretty sure that they come from the same family. Like distant relatives. They're related, but you're not entirely sure how or why.

My understanding of what makes shortbread is simply the ratio of ingredients (3 parts flour, 2 parts butter, 1 part sugar). This ratio is not the case here.

But then 'strawberry shortcake' I've always interpreted as those American biscuity sponge cakes, with layers of strawberries and cream. Non?

It probably doesn't help matters that I don't think I've actually tasted that version of 'shortcake' before, and that the use of this word in the UK sometimes refers to 'shortbread'.

Well, the important thing to know is that biting into this strawberry-whatsit is quite like a crumbly biscuit. But softer like a cake. Albeit in a very good way.

Confused, much? I sure am.

Strawberry Shortbread Shortcake

Print-friendly recipe

For a 7” tin (6-8 slices):

175g fresh strawberries, diced
1 tsp lemon zest
100g plain flour
50g sugar + 1 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
50g cold butter, diced
25ml double cream

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Put the diced strawberries in a bowl with the lemon zest and tsp of sugar. Mix and set aside.
2. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl with the remaining sugar, and baking powder. Rub in the butter to a breadcrumb mixture. Pour in the cream and gently fold in.
3. Carefully mix in the strawberries, then spoon the mixture into a lined 7” tin.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden.

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

Say NO to Takeaway: Throw Together Some Tomato Egg Fried Rice Instead!

Ah, this one's a bit of a home comfort of mine.

One of the dishes that my mum often used to make was tomato egg fried rice. Her version usually had pork mince in it too, but it was the combo of tomatoes and egg that did it for me. What's funny is that I used to absolutely hate tomato skins – it was just the texture of them that never felt quite right. Rolled up like a bit of scraggy sticky tape, eugh.

But of course, as with many silly childhood food dislikes, I eventually got over that and now love all things tomatoey, skins included. Which I'm sure my mum is well proud of me about now. *beams*

Anyway. This is a super-easy dish that can be thrown together with whatever extra ingredients you might have in the fridge. Of course, sticking to the core of tomato, eggs and rice here is a must (otherwise you can't really call it Tomato Egg Fried Rice, eh?).

I always have a stash of frozen peas on standby if I'm low on fresh veg, such is the case here. But you could also try adding mushrooms, peppers or even spinach in this, and you'll be onto a winner.

Tomato Egg Fried Rice

Print-friendly recipe

Serves 3-4:

150g uncooked white rice
250ml boiling water
OR 400g cooked rice
1 tbsp veggie oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten with 1/2 tsp soy sauce
2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 large spring onions, chopped
50g frozen peas
2 tsp sesame oil

If using leftover/already-cooked rice, go straight to step 2.

1. Put the uncooked rice in a pan with the boiling water. Bring to the boil, then turn down to the lowest heat, cover and leave to simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before uncovering.
2. In a hot wok, swirl in the veggie oil. Add the soy beaten egg and allow to cook through completely, for a few minutes. Take out the pan and set aside.
3. Add the tomatoes into the hot wok, followed by the spring onions and peas, keeping everything moving. Stir in half the sesame oil.
4. Add in the cooked rice, and remaining sesame oil, mixing everything well. Carefully add in the cooked egg, making sure not to break it up too much.

Divide into wee bowls and get stuck in!

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

Other veggie recipes you might like. Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie Day: Cheesy Spring Onion Tart...and a Revelation

You may remember a while back that I had a slightly volatile 'incident' with a cheese tart. (Well, 12 of them.) I fully blame my non-co-operative fan oven for that.
Over the last week or so though, I've discovered something that I think may be the answer to all my recent baking failures.

So, you know when you have a problem and the solution is often right there infront of you? Well yes, this was one of those times.

Now, I've been 'making do' over the last couple months with the old oven that came with my new house. Let me point out to you the confusion this has caused me, from the fact that it has many a knob:

The oven itself has two parts: the main fan (convection) oven at the bottom, and then a 'top' oven, on the er, top.

I've just been using the fan oven, which has caused me much grief in refusing to cook things evenly, burning things on top (or on one side) and just generally being stubborn and unhelpful.

This 'top' oven though. Excusing the fact that it's labelled as an oven, I just assumed that this was a grill only, and that it was a ye olde name for it. In any case, I hadn't used it.

Then, I was looking at the knobs properly the other day (as you do) and noticed that the unlabelled knob next to the top oven one has a squiggly line on it - yes, denoting a grill.

Like a tubelight, the realisation was slowly flickering into place in my mind. The top oven has oven temperature numbers on it, whereas the other knob has numbers 1-5 on it. Up until now, I thought it was something extra to do with the electric hobs (despite there already being a knob for each of the 4 hobs).

But no, they are of course, the grill settings.

Ohhh.

I immediately decided to try and bake a pie in this top oven. A version of the volatile cheese tarts - in big tart form. A little risky, yes. But it worked perfectly. Obviously, the top oven is smaller than the main fan oven and so I won't be roasting any chickens in there at any point. But I think it's safe to say that I'll mainly be using this one from now on.

Gah, I'm so slow sometimes!

Cheesy Spring Onion Tart (v)

Print-friendly recipe

For an 8” pie dish:
150g plain flour
Pinch of salt
75g unsalted butter, cold, diced
Some ice cold water
OR 250g shortcrust pastry

75g grated cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
125ml double cream
4 spring onions, chopped
1 tbsp oregano

If using premade pastry, go straight to step 3.

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl with the salt. Rub in the diced butter to a breadcrumb mixture.
2. Adding in a little water at a time, start to bring the mixture together to fold into a dough. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Roll out the dough into a circle on a floured surface. Transfer to line a 8” pie tin. Cover with foil and fill with baking beads. Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden. Allow to cool.
4. Put the oven back onto 190 degrees C. Mix the cheese with the beaten egg, followed by the cream. Carefully fold in the spring onions.
5. Scatter the oregano over the base of your cooked pastry case. Pour in the cheesy spring onion mixture, then bake for about 30 minutes, until set – it should spring back a little when you gently press with your finger!

Pie out.

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

Lazy Veggie Dauphinoise Bake

Is it me or is there a slight green tinge to this photo?

Um, yep, that's my Hungry camera skills tripping up there. This is what happens when I start to get impatient with myself and want to get stuck into the eating part. But to be honest I don't think it was entirely camera-foolishness.

I've had these new potatoes sitting in my kitchen for over a week. Usually, I buy my groceries with at least a vague idea of what I might use them in. In this case though, I had a driftless moment at the market and just decided to buy a load. You know how you just go with these random urges sometimes.

As you have probably worked out, they were starting to go a little green by the time I came to use them. There they were, looking at me forlornly, and I just didn't know what to do with the buggers. Then it hit me – dauphinoise potatoes!

Now they're usually done as more of a side serving, right? But I was feeling lazy and wanted to make something low maintenance, ie an all-in-one dish kind of meal. And the simplest way I could think of to do this was to insert layers of veg into the dish, rather than the usual layering of just potatoes that you get in a er, dauphinoise potato dish (funny that).

You should really cook this at a lower temperature and for longer, so that you can really allow time for all the veg and potatoes to roast through, and seep up all that double creamness. But, as you can safely assume, I'm not patient enough for that, and so I just bake at a higher temperature to get to the stage of eating in the most speediest way. And even so, I took mine out after half an hour! I was just wanted to eat, man.

So adjust the temperature below as you will – if you're more patient, and want a truly baked dauphinoise result, lower the temp by maybe 20-30 degrees, and cook for 50-60 minutes. If you're Hungry...well, just bake til it looks hot enough, like I did ;-)

Lazy Veggie Dauphinoise Bake (v)

Print-friendly recipe

Fills a 1 litre casserole dish (serves 2-3):

300g new potatoes, thinly sliced
Pinch of salt
100g courgette, thinly sliced
200g aubergine, thinly sliced
200g tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 tbsp oregano
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
100ml double cream

1. Put the potatoes in a pan with a pinch of salt and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then turn down to simmer for 10 minutes until just done. Drain and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. In a 1 litre dish, layer the courgette, followed by the aubergine and tomatoes, overlapping if necessary. Sprinkle over the oregano.
3. Layer over the cooked potato, overlapping to cover the whole top. Scatter the chopped garlic evenly over the top, then pour over the cream.
4. Place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes until the cream starts to set.

Other veggie recipes that might take your fancy. Continue reading this post..

Banana and Coconut Cupcakes (butter and sugar free)

Now, these are not cupcakes in the traditional sense.

Hm, sounds promising, eh?

When someone mentions 'cupcake' to you, I bet you imagine a sweet and fluffy little cake, topped with icing, frosting or buttercream, whilst looking oh-so-pretty at the same time.

Well these ones are not too bad-looking (I suppose). But as you've probably worked out from the blog title, these 'cupcakes' are butter and sugar free. Which makes for a slightly different texture to what you might be expecting.

I don't even know what I was expecting to be honest, but as I put this together, I was resigned to the fact that they wouldn't work. The mixture was quite tough, and the ratio of wet-to-dry didn't look quite right. There didn't seem to be enough liquid, but I decided to just go with it and bake them anyway.

Yes, when you need two utensils to scrape a thick mixture off one spoon from another into a cupcake hole, it aint looking good. But I'm really glad that I decided to ignore the demons inside my head screaming at me to stop and just give up.

Cos look!
They did not turn out tough and tasteless - they actually have more of a 'bready' texture and pretty moist.

And well as the banana and coconut, these have orange juice concentrate and vanilla essence too, to add to the sweetness. So, don't be put off by the tough mixture if you try this out - it's er, 'meant' to be like that - as you will still end up with delightfully sweet cupcakes!

Banana and Coconut Cupcakes (butter and sugar free)

Print-friendly recipe

Makes 10:

100g overripe banana, mashed
1 egg, lightly beaten
50ml orange juice concentrate
2.5 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
150g plain flour
50g dessicated coconut + 1/4 tbsp
1 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. In a small bowl, mash the banana with the beaten egg, orange juice, oil and vanilla.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift in the flour with the 50g coconut and baking powder.
3. Fold in the banana mixture, then spoon evenly into 10 lined cupcake holes. Top with a little extra coconut, then bake for about 20 minutes until just risen.

Other healthy baking recipes you might enjoy.

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