Salted Caramel Shortbread

This recipe is great as it makes so many little bites so can last for ages.  I found that the caramel didn't set as firmly as I'd quite hoped, although it tastes ridiculously good, but if you are one who hates sticky messy hands, I'd suggest you coat only half of each piece of shortbread by dipping it in the caramel then leaving to set.  Either way, you are in for a taste sensation!

Here's how:



For the Shortbread:

250g Plain Flour

275g Salted Butter

125g Castar Sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract



For the Salted Caramel Topping:

450g Tin of Condensed Milk

125g Butter

100g Castar Sugar

1tsp Salt

1tsp Vanilla Extract

To make the shortbread, mix all of the ingredients until it forms a very stiff dough, press down into a lined 8" x 11" tray, prick all over with a fork and bake in a 200 degree oven for 5 minutes before turning down to 150 degrees and cooking for a further half an hour.

In a wide pan, on a very low heat, melt the butter then stir in the sugar, salt, condensed milk and vanilla, stirring thoroughly ensuring all of the sugar has dissolved.

Once cooked and cooled, either spread the caramel all over the top, leave in the fridge to set, then cut into small bites.

OR cut the shortbread into pieces, dipping half into the caramel then leaving to set

OR if you are entertaining people, why not cut the shortbread into strips and serve the salted caramel warm in a bowl or jug for guests to dip in or pour over and enjoy warm.

There's no reason why you can't melt some chocolate and smother over the top to have an indulgent salted caramel millionaire's shortbread.  Personally, I didn't feel it was needed, but if you are a chocolate lover...go for it!



Perfection

Hx

Pin It Now!

Boozy Summer Snow

Wake up your taste buds! These are so easy to make but really impressive to the unknowing eye and tongue, they are essentailly frozen cocktail/sorbet/desserts that are insanely refreshing, perfect for an evening like tonight. 

By rougly following my recipes there is no reason why you can't try out your own favourite cocktail - say a creamy Piña Colada sorbet, or a tangy Cosmopolatin one with orange, cranberries and Vodka?

I introduce to you the Lemon, Elderflower and Limoncello, French Martini and Mojito sorbets...

For the Lemon and Elderflower

4 Lemons, zested and juiced

75ml Limoncello

75ml Elderflower cordial

250ml Sparkling water

200g Castar Sugar

For the French Martini

1 punnet (200g) Frozen Blackberries

100g Frozen Pineapple

100ml Pineapple Juice

150g Castar Sugar

50ml Gin

For the Mojito

1 bag (about 6) Limes, zested and juiced

1 Bunch finely chopped Mint

200g Castar sugar

50ml White Rum

250ml Sparkling Water

Make all 3 or make just one, but for each there is no method apart from thoroughly stir (or blend, in the French Martini's case) all ingredients BAR the sparkling water, which should be added last and gently stirred in to avoid it going instantly flat.  Try and resist the temptation to add TOO much extra alcohol as you will end up with more of a summer slush due to the high freezing point of alcohol.

Pour the mixture into large shallow tubs and put in the freezer.  After 45 minutes, stir and put back in.  After a further hour, stir and put back in, then leave to set for good. 

After about 6 hours, it shoud be properly set.  If it doesn't scoop up into perfect ice-cream like balls, don't worry! It's about flavour, not shape.  The main reason for this is because the ingredients are so pure and there are no thickeners or other nasty E numbers to pretty them up - hence the name Summer Snow!

Soak up the glory and enjoy!

Hx



Pin It Now!

Courgette Fritters

I was mucking about this evening with a vague idea of cooking something courgette orientated, and after much adding of random ingredients I found myself with this batter-type mixture, so thought it would be rude not to fry it!  I must say it was a smash hit with the family so even though I wasn't planning to, thought I ought to share with everybody, and I will try to be as accurate as possible with measurements, so long as my memory serves me well!  

Here Goes:

2 Courgettes, Grated

2 - 3 tbsp Plain Flour

100g Cheddar

75g Parmesan

1 Egg

1 Finely chopped Small bunch of Mint

Juice of 1/2 a Lemon

2 Garlic cloves, grated

100g Mascarpone

100g Cream cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Literally just throw all the above into a mixing bowl, as I did earlier, it didn't seem to do it any harm!  Get a large frying pan and fill with about 2cm deep of vegetable oil and put on a high heat, when hot enough, using a spoon, gently spoon in small balls into the hot fat, there should be room for 3 or 4 fritters.  After about a minute, turn over using a spatula and brown the other side.  Remove and place on a tray and put in the hot oven.  Spoon 3 more into the pan and carry on until all batter has been used up.  

I think this would taste great with tzatziki, so feel free to use my recipe from a week or so ago http://the-student-housewife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/greek-bbq-on-summers-evening.html

Enjoy :-)

Hx

Pin It Now!

Roasted Tomato, Basil and Mascarpone Soup with Pesto and Parmesan Thins

This, in my eyes, is THE best tomato soup...although yes, I am biased. It's a great versatile meal as it's portable and can be eaten hot or cold.  The parmesan thins just melt in your mouth and are a less bulky alternative to your usual hunk of bread.

You'll need:

For the soup

1 kg mixed tomatoes (I used a pack of baby plum tomatoes, a pack of beef tomatoes on the vine and some medium sized ones)

2 carrots

2 onions

1 garlic bulb

A large bunch of fresh basil

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp mascarpone

1 Tbsp oregano

300g passata

For the Pesto topping

Large bunch of basil

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 garlic cloves

2 Tbsp grated Parmesan

For the parmesan thins

4 tbsp Grated parmesan

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp plain flour

50g Butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

For the croutons

Half a loaf of ciabatta, cut into cubes

2 garlic bulbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

For the soup:

Cut all of your tomatoes in half (and the beef ones into quarters), chuck into a roasting dish and cover in olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano.  Peel 6 garlic cloves and dot them around, whole in with your tomatoes.  Bake in a 170 degrees oven for 1 1/2 hours.  (Patience, my friend, patience.)

Dice your onions and peel and roughly chop your carrots and cook in olive oil on a very low heat and slowly cook, stirring occasionally until soft.  When soft, add your basil, passata and a cup of water and leave on a low heat to reduce down (if it has reduced down and the carrots are still not soft, add more water - it will only evaporate away anyway so don't worry too much about losing flavour).

Once your tomatoes have roasted, pour into the pan including any juices and oils, add a splash of balsamic, 2 tsps of sugar and salt and pepper to taste.  Blend.

For the pesto:

Literally put all of the ingredients into a bowl and blend.

For the Parmesan thins:

In a mixing bowl, using your hands, combine all ingredients listed above.  On a tray lined with greaseproof paper, divide the dough into 8 small balls and push down onto the paper. Put into a hot oven (say 200 degrees) and cook until golden brown on top, take out and turn.  Cook until both sides are brown.  Do not remove from paper until cool!

For the croutons:

On a small tray, cover your bread cubes in olive oil, salt and pepper, add 2 halved garlic cloves and bake in an oven on 200 for about 10 minutes.

Absolutely gorgeous, trust me!

H x

p.s. I must thank my lovely boyfriend, Logan for being my sous chef this afternoon!

Pin It Now!

Get ahead Mojito's

This way of making your mojito's is perfect as most of the preparation is done in advance.  Not your usual predrinking material (Echo falls or Glen's finest anyone?) but perfect for girly birthdays and special occasions.



To think I was in Puerto Banus this time yesterday sipping on this...wah

To make 6 Cocktails

8 Limes
A bunch of Fresh Mint
250g Caster sugar
A small bottle of white rum
1 Litre of sparkling water
Plenty of ice

The 'get ahead' tactic I use is to make your lime syrup in advance, literally squeezing your limes into a small jug mixing with the sugar and stirring....simples.  This is what takes all the time when fussing about making cocktails.  Keep some of the lime skins for decoration and an added kick for when you make the cocktails. Put in the fridge

When coming to make your cocktails, Tear off a small bunch of mint for each drink, put in the bottom of the glass and push down using the end of a wooden spoon.  Pour in a little lime syrup, say a tablespoon.  Fill the glass with ice, add your rum - I'll let you decide the strength ;) and top up with sparkling water.

So good!

Hx Pin It Now!

Greek BBQ on a Summer's evening

This is more of a Meze with a little BBQ on the side (to keep Dad happy) on such a gorgeous evening like tonight, I thought I'd transport us back to Greece with our own Big Fat Greek Feast.  I had just veg kebabs, being a veggie and all, but stuck some chicken on the others for my parents.

Home made Tzatziki, Greek Salad, Fried courgettes, Veg and spicy chicken Kebabs and Pitta

For the Tzatziki:

5 Tbsp Greek Yoghurt

2 Cloves of grated  garlic

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp white wine vinegar

A small bunch of mint finely chopped

Half a cucumber, peeled and grated

The main reason most people get this dip wrong is because they put the cucumber straight in without salting them, doing this will make a watery, flavourless Tzatziki.  So once grated, put in a sieve and cover with salt, leave them for about 10 minutes, then push them down and see how much water comes out! Pat with some kitchen towel and literally mix everything above together and voila.

For the Greek Salad:

Half a cucumber

A handful of cherry tomatoes

Quarter of a red onion

A red pepper

Half a block of feta

2 tbsp Olive oil

1/2 tbsp White wine vinegar

1 tsp Oregano

As with the cucumber, once you have halved the tomatoes, put them in a sieve, cover in salt and leave them for 10 minutes, when you come back, give them a good shake and watch all that flavourless water leave, leaving you with gorgeous jam-packed-with-flavour cherry toms!

Chop everything else up fairly small (the onion finely diced) and chuck it all in a salad bowl.

In a jar, pour in your oil and vinegar, cover and shake vigorously to form an emulsion.  Pour over the salad.  Sprinkle with your oregano and there you have it.

For the fried courgettes:

One courgette

4 tbsp plain flour

1 Egg

75 ml sparkling water (maybe more if it needs loosening)

400ml vegetable oil

4 ice cubes

Flour for dusting

Using a peeler, peel the courgette lengthways to form lots of thin ribbons, keep doing until the courgette disappears!  In a bowl, coat them in flour (to ensure the batter sticks to them).

At this point, put a medium sized pan on a high heat and add your oil.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg and flour, then stir in the sparkling water until you get a pancake type batter.  Add some salt and pepper to taste.  Put your ice cubes in.  The sparking water and very cold batter (in contrast to very hot oil) will make you the lightest most perfect batter (I use this as a tempura batter too).

You can tell your oil is hot enough by dropping a small piece of courgette in the oil, if it floats and bubbles, it is hot enough.  (please see post below regarding hot-oil-etiquette). 

Coat your ribbons in batter, allowing most to drip off back into the bowl, then GENTLY drop into the pan.  I found I could have no more than 4 in the pan at the time.  Note they will cook almost instantly and float, so using a skimmer, turn them over to ensure both sides are brown and lift out (I had a warm oven at the ready to keep them warm as I did the others).

When serving, squeeze a little lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

For the kebabs:

1/2 a yellow pepper

1/2 a red pepper

2 Handfuls of button mushrooms

1/2 a red onion

2 chicken breasts (I used pre-marinated garlic chilli ones from Waitrose)

2 grated garlic cloves

a few lugs of olive oil

Roughly chop the veg so they are fairly good sized chunks (the button mushrooms can generally remain as whole) and cover in olive oil and grated garlic, get your hands in there and make sure it is all evenly coated.

Cut the chicken into chunks about 2 inch X 2 inch. 

Get your skewers and get cracking (I'm going to resist temptation to state the obvious on what to do here!)

Whack them on a hot barbie.

Here's to alfresco dining! Cheers!

Hx



Pin It Now!

Sweet Potato Fries in a crispy paprika and chilli coating

Having spent this morning swimming then wandering around London for the best part of the day, I fancied a really simple snack: enter these bad boys.  I had them on their own but I would imagine they would be a great side dish to most gastro-pub type mains.  Incredibly easy to make, although I wouldn't advise as a 'post-lash' drunk-eating snack as (and this will sound so patronising but having been in a&e twice due to burns I feel obliged to point out the blatantly obvious) hot fat is seriously dangerous and should be treated with a little respect!  Anyway, less of the crap, on to the food...

You're gonna need: (based on two portions)

One large sweet potato peeled and cut lengthways into, well, chip shapes!

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp chilli powder

Salt and pepper to taste

400ml vegetable oil (I used olive oil this evening but purely because I had no other oil but olive oil - mum, if you're reading this...Sorry....I will replace it I promise ;-) )

Get a medium sized pan and put on a high heat.


In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients together and coat the sweet potato in it.


When the oil is hot enough (test using a small wedge of potato, if it bubbles and floats, its hot enough) GENTLY place the potato in the fat using a Skimmer (picture below) and leave until they are golden brown and remove using the Skimmer.


Phwoar!


Hx Pin It Now!