Garlic, basil and mozzarella bread

A quick and easy thing to have under your belt is homemade garlic bread! It's something I don't think i'd really buy again now unless I really had to, as this recipe is so easy and tasty. It always impresses people when you say you've made it yourself (even though its not fully homemade) and adds a little something special to an everyday meal.

Ingredients:

1 loaf crusty bread e.g ciabatta, french stick

125g butter

2-3 cloves crushed garlic

a few leaves of basil or parsley

Slice your loaf the way garlic bread looks, with even slices going about 3/4 of the way deep. Or slice the ciabatta in half length ways for extra easy-ness!
Melt the butter in a bowl until soft but not melted. Add the crushed garlic cloves. Chop the herb of your choice and add to the butter mixture.
Spoon the mixture into the gaps of the garlic bread or spread along both halves.
You could now top with a little parmesan or mozzarella to make cheesey garlic bread!
Bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes on high, or until the bread has lightly coloured, the butter melted, and the cheese golden (if your using cheese).

Homemade Lemonade

Homemade lemonade is a real treat and so fresh and delicious compared to bought cordial. It's really simple to make and isn't too costly!
Scott made a delicious batch recently so we've been enjoying the benefits while the weathers been good (even though it looks likes its changed now!!)

Heres what Scott did:

Ingredients:

500ml lemon juice

The zest of 3 lemons grated finely

2kg castor sugar

1 litre water

2 tbsp citric acid

Method:

Dissolve the sugar with the litre of water and the lemon juice. Simmer gently for for a few minutes. Add the lemon zest and the citric acid. The citric acid makes the lemon flavour 'pop' and I think it also helps preserve the cordial for longer, though i'm not 100% sure about that. If you haven't got any its not  too dramatic to leave it out! It still tastes amazing :)

Simmer for another minute or so, then strain the mixture through a sieve or a piece of muslin is you have some.

Place in a sterilised bottle and once opened, keep in the fridge! 

The drink is best served 2/3 cordial:water.

We tired another version with some mint from the garden as we have too much growing, but it didn't work out as well as the pure lemon!

I had mine served with ice and a slice of lemon, and a good read of Katy Perry's interview in Elle magazine this month :)

Key Lime Meringue Pie

I made a lime meringue pie for the first time the other day and I felt such a sense of achievement! Admittedly I didn't make the pastry... but I am truly horrific at pastry so it was for the best.

It was deliciously limey and sweet and I had a lot of fun eating the left over filling....

Anyway heres how I did it :

Ingredients:

Sweet Pastry

Filling:

2 tbsp cornflour

100g sugar

finely grated zest of 3 limes

 juice from the 3 limes

85g butter

4 egg yolks

1 cap food colouring, green (optional)

200ml boiling water

Meringue:

Four egg yolks (room temperature)

200g castor sugar

1 tsp cornflour

Put a baking sheet in the oven and heat oven to Gas Mark 6. Bake the pastry case ‘blind’ (filled with dry beans) for 15 mins, then remove the foil and bake a further 5-8 mins until the pastry is pale golden and cooked. Leave on the side to cool.

Place all your filling ingredients into a saucepan and cook gently until thick. Stirring constantly as you don't want lumps.

Pour your thickened filling into you cooked pastry case and set aside.

Whisk your egg whites for a minute or so, then add the caster sugar and tsp cornflour. Whisk until the mixture is glossy, and the meringue stays in stiff peaks (if you can hold it above your head upside down you know its ready!

Spread over the filling, and using the end of a small teaspoon, make little flicks and peaks on top of the meringue. Bake in the oven on Gas Mark 4 for about 15-20 minutes or until the meringue is lightly coloured on top.

I added a little green colouring to emphasise that it was lime and not lemon :) you could quite easily change this to a lemon meringue pie by using 2 lemons instead of the three limes!

Serve with ice cream or cream, or even enjoy it on its own :)

Growing Courgette's

Just a little snap to show how the courgettes are getting on! 

 Were growing both the yellow and green varieties! I can't wait for them to grow fully, and keep checking them everyday to see their progress!

Tiramisu Teacups

This was a lovely little dessert I whipped up for a weekday pudding! They are only small so you get a little taste of what you fancy, without the extra calories!

Tiramisu is one of Scott's favourite desserts so I always feel a bit of pressure when making this particular pudding! But this is a simple quick and easy version for when you have some cream left over in the fridge.

This recipe made 5 teacups!

Ingredients:

1 Pint double cream

1 1/2 tablespoons icing sugar

1 cup of strong sweetened coffee

 lady fingers (trifle sponges)

5 teaspoons Nutella

chocolate to flake onto the top

Method:

Soak the lady fingers on a plate with the sweetened coffee.

Place 1 and a bit lady fingers in the bottom of the cup.

Layer a teaspoon of Nutella on top of the lady fingers. 

Drizzle over a litte more of the coffee mixture,

You could keep repeating these layers if you had a taller glass but you'd obviously have to adjust the ingredient quantity.

Now whip the cream with the icing sugar until it is thick but not over whipped.

Spoon over the top of the puddings.

Finally sprinkle over some chocolate gratings or shavings,

And pop in the fridge to cool!

You can see here the lady fingers soak up the moisture from the coffee mixture and become soft and tasty.

I love chocolate, so ultimately it had to make it's way into a coffee dessert!

The sizes are great when you want that little treat after your meal.

Afternoon treats

I've been loving all the delicious British strawberries we've been getting this summer since Wimbledon!   Their in perfect season and really make it feel like summer. Scott and I have been eating lots, covered with clotted cream and sugar, and here is a little snap of our afternoon treat we had whilst watching a film in bed! The perfect afternoon :)

Strawberry Jam

So a few days ago I said i'd post the recipe for strawberry jam that I used for the fruit we picked locally!

It's a really delicious jam and quite easy to make!

Recipe from BBC GOOD FOOD:

Ingredients:

1kg /2lb 3oz strawberries

1kg/2lb 3oz granulated sugar or caster sugar

½ lemon, juice only

Place the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a heavy bottomed pan. I used the Cruset which worked really well! Simmer gently until all the sugar has dissolved, and then bring the jam to the boil testing every ten minutes or so to see if its set. Heres a tip: Place a saucer in the freezer an hour before you make the jam. Then when you think the jam is set place a teaspoon of the jam onto the cold saucer. Push the jam on the saucer with your finger. If the jam wrinkles you know it has set and is ready to put into jars. If not keep boiling and checking every 8 minutes or so. 

Once your jam is set, ladle it into sterilised jars and it should keep for up to a year!

(It will be too yummy to want to keep it for a year though!!)

We had ours smothered on toast for breakfast this week!

 With a trusty mug of builders tea of course!