Cup of Tea, Vicar?

I love tea, high tea, tea parties, everything to do with tea! It is so very British! It is a custom that I am very proud of and love to embrace. I have previously lived in York, which is very touristy their are so many different places to go for tea, including the original: Bettys. The small towns and villages near where I live now in Derbyshire also know a thing or two about hosting tea! I think it is a sociable thing to do with friends and I'd love to host my own tea parties with friends.

Cream Tea

I love scones and the best bit smothering them in jam and clotted cream! On this occasion a friend and I were sat in a cafe opposite York Minster enjoying this one afternoon. We thought the scones looked a little too perfect, as if they weren't homemade, but they were amazing, soft and perfectly made.

Hosting Tea

I like to host more casual tea, where people just drop around for tea and cake or biscuits! However, I have collected a fair amount of tea paraphernalia over the years and I would like to get this all out to host a larger tea party.

In my home county of Derbyshire there is an amazing chain of bakery's called Birds, which do fabulous bread and cakes. If you are ever in Derbyshire, find a Birds and go there! This is a cake from there that my Mum got for me, her and my sister to share on a special occasion.

You can't beat a good cup of tea!

Frugal Friday Night Takeaway

I am a big fan of Frugal Friday posts (which this month is being hosted over at Tales of Pigling Bland) about enjoying great food, while saving money. I thought I would have a go at one myself, with a Friday theme and a few extra frugal tips!

After a long week at work there is nothing I love more than having a takeaway, a couple of drinks and vegetating with a film or in front of the TV. I like to spend at least one of the weekend evenings this way, really relaxing, whether it be alone or with friends. However, this can be an expensive affair if you buy a takeaway, a bottle of wine and rent a film, but I do what I can to make this a budget evening!

TIP #1: Buying a takeaway? Make sure you have a money saving voucher!

Money off vouchers are great if you are getting takeaway to keep the cost down.. My favourite places for discounts are Student Beans and Money Saving Expert, who have a wide range of offers, vouchers and money saving tips. But there any many other voucher websites, including Voucher Cloud and My Voucher Codes. My favourite deals are 'buy one get one free' on pizza when you are having friends over or I love getting anything for free, such as a free voucher for a portion of chips.

My burger made with Quorn fishless fingers (which were on offer at the supermarket!), cheese
and tartar sauce; accompanied with sweet potato chips.

TIP #2: Alternatively, make your own takeaway! Much cheaper and healthier!

By far the healthiest and cheapest option for takeaway type food is to make your own. It obviously doesn't have the same ease as getting a takeaway as you have to cook, but it's more about having something different from your usual weekday cooking. My favourite homemade takeout ideas are Veggie Burger/Hot Dogs with Sweet Potato Wedges (seen above), Veggie Noodles and homemade Indian food.

Previous posted recipe ideas: Green Bean & Pea Curry; Quorn Kebabs; Thai Green Curry and Cauliflower, Potato & Chickpea Curry!

TIP #3: The Entertainment- keeping it cheap!

I find renting a film to be quite expensive per film, based my experience of Blockbuster in the UK. However, I love to watch movies, without the expense of buy a new one time, so I have a LoveFilm subscription which I pay £10 a month for and includes an unlimited amount of rentals, I am allowed two discs at home at any one time and I can also watch films and TV series on my laptop. Also, if you have a TV which you already pay for then that's also low cost entertainment, I don't tend to watch much TV through the week so I save up my favourite programmes to watch on catch-up for a night in.

My LoveFilm Subscription! On this occasion I got
'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' and 'The Breakfast Club'

Tip #4: Like a Tipple? Look for a good price, promotions and offers!

I am fairly fortunate that my Gran lives in France so will bring me over beautiful wine which is so reasonably priced, much cheaper that the UK. As I'm not a big drinker this, along with the bottle of fruit schnapps my Mum gets me whenever she goes on holiday, tends to last me a long time. I do keep an eye out for offers too for special occasion's or to stock up or look at cheaper supermarkets, Aldi I enjoy Budweiser and it's always good for parties and BBQ's, so if there's an offer on I like to get some as it will never be wasted.

Darley Park Concert 2011

Every year Darley Park has a free classical concert and fireworks for the people of Derby (and whoever else wants to come) which attracts a huge amount of people, no matter what the weather. I always go every year, armed with blankets and a picnic, you can see last years post here. For me, it sort of symbolises the end of the summer and it is so great to get everyone together before they go back to uni and work.

This year we had an army of people going, inviting anyone who wanted to come as it is so nice to get together. I encouraged everyone to bring something, my friend L made a cheese cake for dessert and my soon to be housemate, T, brought bread and olives. H bought some very lovely cheese sandwiches with chutney. My contribution was the main part of the meal, as I seemed to be the only person not doing something Sunday daytime.

This is what I did:

Mini Onion & Goats Cheese Tarts

 I used bought pastry as I'm a cheat! I rolled it on and used a circle cutter, using a cupcake tin to form the tartlet cases. I blind baked for ten minutes. Meanwhile, I fried 3 large onions, finely chopped in olive oil. When they are starting to caramelise, I added brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. Then assemble the tarts by adding a teaspoon or two of the onions and topping with a little slice of goats cheese, before baking again until the cheese is browned.

Potato Salad

So simple! Slice potatoes and boil until cooked. Drain and leave to cool. Add to a mixing bowl with finely chopped red onion and radishes and stir in free-range egg mayonnaise. Finish off with plenty of ground black pepper.

Rainbow Salad

Also very simple. Chop cucumber, tomato and celery until small chunks. Add a drain tin of sweetcorn. Make a dressing our of equal parts of olive oil and white wine vinegar, 1 clove of crushed garlic and black pepper, stir and pour over the chopped salad.


And the fireworks...

I do enjoy the music at Darley Park Concert too. It tends to be popular classical music, and last night they had a singer, who also did show tunes. My very favourite part is the fireworks at the end and they get better and better every year! I love how the compliment the classical music to the fireworks. This year, when we thought it was all over we got even more fireworks. I find them mesmerising and it's made me all excited for Bonfire Night already!!

Spiced Plum Chutney

In my Mum's garden there is a plum tree, that I can remember us planting as a family when I was a girl, it was a cutting off my Grandparents very large plum tree. For years it hasn't produced plums because after my Dad built a patio around it, it seemed to be shocked and dying a bit. However, this year it has come fully back into life and we have had a huge glut of plums off the tree. They are the sweetest and nicest plums to eat, but there have been too many to get through so I decided to make chutney.

I loosely followed this recipe here, but I made my own alternations to the spicing, adding chili and omitting the star anise- so I have labelled in Zoe's Spiced Plum Chutney, as I've decided the alterations make it my own! 

I'm really excited for it to mature and to be able to try it, as this is my first go at making preserves. I also like the fact that I will get to enjoy my plums well into winter and that I will save so much money, as I will be eating my own chutney rather than the expensive shop bought versions. I have quite a few jars of it, and with my new preserving skills, I think I will make Christmas Hampers for friends/family this year!

Risotto

Since I have moved back home, there hasn't a week gone by without me making a risotto of some sort. I think it is a fantastic healthy dish, so tasty and better still it creates minimal washing up. Risotto seems like an impressive dish to cook others but as long as you know the simple principles to making risotto and can give up 30 minutes of attention to it, it is actually very cheap and simple. There are also so many variations and combinations you can make!

My Simple Risotto Recipe:

• Onion (finely chopped)
• Lazy Garlic (1 tsp)
• Risotto (Aborio) Rice (good handful per person)
• Vegetable Stock (as much as required, using a stock cube per person)
• Pepper & Herbs to taste

1. Start by gently frying your onion in a little olive oil until tender. I recommend using as wide a pan as you can as it will cook quicker 
2. Add the risotto rice and fry for a minute, keep stirring so it doesn't stick to the pan. Have your stock made up in a large jug and add a little to the pan, stirring it into the rice
3. Add flavourings at this point, your garlic can go in, along with you pepper and any herbs you may want to use. I don't use salt as I find the stock cubes have a salty enough flavour for the risotto
4. Keep adding the stock and stirring the rice. You need to add only a little stock at the time, stir the rice and then add a little more when this is absorbed, this is why you need to be able to give your risotto 30 minutes attention
5. Your risotto should start to look creamier and the rice more plumped up. Taste the risotto for seasoning and also check the rice is cooked. It shouldn't be too soft and should have some bite to it, but also shouldn't be hard. The consistency shouldn't be too thick or too runny

When you have nailed the simple art of making risotto there are so many variations that you can make. Here are some of my favourites:

 Mushroom Risotto

Simply add the a variety of mushrooms at stage 3. Regular closed cup mushrooms do not make a good risotto, as they don't have a strong enough flavour. I tend to use chestnut, portobello and oyster mushrooms and use at least two different types of mushrooms. I also like to add a handful of spinach each person to the risotto at the end of cooking.

Lemon & Rocket Risotto

A friend made me this at a dinner party and I was really impressed with it. I recreated it at home with my basic risotto recipe and adding the zest and juice of a lemon (this is for a two person portion) to my vegetable stock and then adding handfuls of rocket at the end of cooking. You may want to omit the onion in this recipe, as it may be a little too much with the light lemon flavour.

Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

I have also previously made butternut squash risotto and you can see the post here. This has some helpful pictures of what the rice should look like at different stages.

I am very eager to make even more risotto! Does anyone have an idea's of other great variations?

Homefried Potatoes

When I was in New York, I ate so much food and went to loads of different places to eat, trying lots of new things. When we had room service for breakfast one morning, I had home fries on the side, having no idea what it was and assuming it was shop sort of chips (fries) or hash browns. I was pleasantly surprised when I got spicy potatoes with onions and peppers in them, and I fell in love with them. As soon as I got home, I looked for recipes for them and put together these, which are now one of my favourite breakfast/brunch recipes.

How To: Chop potatoes into small chunks and boil them, I leave the skins on and I boil them in the microwave to save time. While the potatoes are cooking, add finely chopped onion and pepper to a pan coated with olive oil and lightly fry until tender. Drain and add the potatoes when cooked, fry a little and add hot sauce, a knob of butter, salt and pepper to flavour the potatoes. Then you have yummy home fried potatoes to accompany your breakfast or brunch!

I know my eggs look strange, but I can't stand it when the white isn't cooked properly. I always use organic free range eggs, better for the chickens and taste better too.

Spicy Bean Soup

There is an area of cooking in which I am particularly confident and this is soup, which is one of my most favourite things to eat. I think it could be genetic as my Grandad can make soup out of anything he has leftover in his kitchen. In my gap year, I worked for 3 months in a fantastic job where I met my boyfriend RB, and we used to alternate making lunch to share each day and I always made different soups. I can't think of how many different types of soup, perhaps 30, I wished I had documented them now. I am now finished for the summer and I am back home, spending time between my parents and RB's, so with the help of RB I am starting making the soups again and documenting them all on here.

You will need...

(for 4 portions)

• 3 regular sized carrots, chopped
• 2 small potatoes, diced
• large courgette (zucchini), chopped
• 10 mushrooms, quartered
• a large onion diced
• 2 hand-fulls of shredded cabbage
• can of mixed beans, drained
• tin of chopped tomatoes with a sprinkle of sugar
• tbsp of tomato paste
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• tsp of cayenne pepper
• tsp of paprika
• vegetable stock
• salt & pepper
• coriander (cilantro)
• olive oil

1. Heat a little olive oil in a large pan and add the onion, gently frying till tender
2. Add the potato and carrot to the pan to saute before adding vegetable stock to generously cover the vegetables, let this simmer for 10 minutes
3. Then add the tomatoes, mushrooms, courgette, beans, garlic, paprika, cayenne pepper, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Simmer until all of the ingredients are tender, I estimate this will take about 15 minutes
4. Add the cabbage right before the end of cooking and let it summer for just another 5 minutes so that greens are still full of life
5. Garnish with coriander to serve

Enjoy!

Girls Who Like To Gorge Hangover Recipe

 The other day I stumbled across Girls Who Like to Gorge, a wonderful foody blog written by girls at university. They have some wonderful features, including reviewing foody films and they also have delicious recipes! I wish they were at my university! I would be round for dinner all the time.

I really liked the look of their Light Hangover Breakfast and decided to cook it for RB and I when I was home over Easter and the bank holiday, but with a few of my own creative touches.

The end result...

Instead of using just watercress, I used a mixture of watercress, spinach and rocket, I dressed it in a similar way to the Girls Who Like to Gorge version. As you can quite obviously see I have added some yummy toasted broiche, because I like a good dose of carbs with my brunch. I also added a little blasamic, a sprinkling of sugar and black pepper to my mushrooms and tomatoes.

The end picture above is my fairly nicely presented regular persons sized portion. However, RB, who has the stature of a basketball player, decided that this wasn't enough and decided to plate himself up this monster sized portion of brunch, below. So depending on your hunger, you could go for either one!

A Beautiful Easter Weekend

Have you had a wonderful Easter Weekend? I have! I don't know about elsewhere but England has had some absolutely beautiful weather this weekend, really sunny and warm, the sort of weather that makes you happy.

I had a great Good Friday! RB and I went on a glorious bluebell walk, his Mum had been talking about it the past few weeks and it was so pretty. I put us together a picnic, yes everything was shop bought, but it was lovely. It had some of my picnic favourites including: bread, cheese, salad, olives, crisps, danishes and a little glass of cider (it was a grown ups picnic after all).

The Beautiful Bluebell Walk

It was so warm, and we walked in shorts and vests, which is not the sort of weather you'd usually expect for an English April. The weather on Good Friday continued into the evening, staying warm enough late in the evening to have a BBQ. As it was Good Friday (and you apparently can't eat meat) RB, I and his family had a solely vegetarian BBQ (usually we have a meat and a veggie one). This is the first solely veggie BBQ I have ever been to, I left RB in charge of it and he did such a great job, no-one missed having meat (and I was the only veggie) and people commented on new things that they liked and would have again.

The Perfect Veggie BBQ: Quorn Burgers, Mushroom Burgers, Linda McCartney Sausages, Quorn Sausages, Quorn Fillets in Hot Sauce, Peppers, Portobello Mushrooms & Corn on the Cob. This was just the BBQ food that we had along with salad, potatoes, bread, onions and homemade coleslaw- yummy!

Easter wouldn't be complete without over-indulging on chocolate eggs. RB made an egg hunt for my all around his house with different clues and eggs. I still get eggs off my family so I had loads! I feel pretty sick now... I feel a May detox so I feel all fit, healthy and radiant for going to New York.

The rest of Easter was pretty good, meals with family, sitting in the sun and that kind of thing. I unfortunately broke my toe, but it didn't spoil the Easter fun!

Did you have a great Easter?

Giant Cupcake!

I got a giant cupcake mould for Christmas and last week was the first time I tried it out for RB's Birthday!

 I am sometimes a little lazy with cake making and buy my frosting from the shop, but this time I made it all from scratch and decorated it using my piping bag set which I also got for Christmas. It is a plain vanilla cake with vanilla butter cream, topped off with blue butter cream. The cupcake 'case' is made from royal icing, which I did buy, but if I made one again, I would make it myself so I could using the cupcake mould to recreate the folds in a regular case.

It went down well with everyone, they were impressed but I think my baking skills need a little more practice, namely my icing skills and how to make my sponge lighter! Any tips? I don't have an electric blender or whisk.

Breakfast

 As people say, it's the most important meal of the day! Yet so many people skip it or eat on the run. I know this is probably because of how busy people's lives are and their rush to get to work; and I myself can be a culprit of occasionally missed breakfast, but more often having a coffee and cake on the run or the tiniest bowl of cereal. If it is so important though, why are we neglecting it so much? Why can't we just get up just 20-30 minutes earlier so that we can enjoy a good breakfast that will set us up for the day?

Porridge: I love Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe. It always makes the porridge so creamy. I usually serve it with extra milk and jam.

I'm making a pledge, and I hope others will too! I want to make an effort to stay healthy and feed myself properly, and therefore I want to always partake in a good breakfast that will set me up for the day! I know I will feel better if I do this and that my energy levels will be so much greater to do everything I want to with the day.

Muesli: You can make it with all most anything you like and although it is not my most favourite breakfast, I do value how healthy and balanced it is. I find it quite dry so I usually soak it over night with grated apple and orange juice, then have it in the morning with yoghurt and honey.

I love when breakfast can be sociable. On a Tuesday morning I usually enjoy breakfast at the University canteen (which isn't great) but it is great to sit, eat and chat with people on my course. I also love it when RB and I have lazy mornings, getting up late and having a substantial brunch! I do make more of an effort when he is around often having pancakes.

Pancakes: Making your own is great, but I am lazy and mainly buy ready made ones. They make a quick easy breakfast but also a very pretty breakfast with fruit and syrup (and the optional fake bacon, for an American feel) to serve to others. I think pancakes feel nice for breakfast, because they feel a bit special.

I have no issue with making a cooked breakfast, if I get up late I often have beans on toast (or next to in my case, who wants soggy toast?) and I will occasionally make a vegetarian alternative of a British fry up or full breakfast when RB is around, but it is too much effort for breakfast for one. I think a fry up (which I prefer to grill myself) is also a great dinner every so often. I do like to go out for breakfast and if I do go out, I will usually have a vegetarian cooked breakfast.

This is a Vegetarian English Breakfast made by RB and I. I love mushrooms, so always want plenty on a cooked breakfast and I don't mind fake meat, but I don't think it is needed to make a great cooked breakfast. I eat eggs, so I usually have them, but if you don't eat eggs then scrambled tofu is also great.

I hope you like my breakfast suggestions and that they have inspired to set more time aside in the morning to look after yourself and have a good breakfast. Please tell me what is your favourite breakfast and breakfast situation?

Butternut Squash Risotto

I haven't done many food posts lately, I haven't been eating anything particularly interesting, just using up leftovers as I am now in Derbyshire with family and RB for a few weeks. Hopefully there will be more coming up as I cook more elaborately and inventively when there is a wealth of people around me. As I am not very good at using measurements, I'm trying to get better, I thought I would document me making it with pictures. However, as RB was running late and I panicked, I didn't get my pretty final picture of it on the plate, but I hope this will do!

My friend made me this when I went to hers for dinner, it was so yummy and I definitely wanted to make it again, this time I did it for RB and I, and I am looking forward to trying it on my Mum soon as I think it will be a good recipe for her new low cholesterol and low fat diet.

First you start off by roasting your butternut squash, it only takes the time it takes to cook a risotto. I cut it in small-ish cubes, as demonstrated, and roasted it with olive oil, honey (obv. a vegan alternative can be used), salt and pepper.

Onto the basic risotto recipe! Dice a medium onion and fry it off with a little olive oil, then add your risotto rice (arborio), I used half a pack, about 250g and this was a huge amount for 2 people, RB and I are very greedy though so we managed it. I added a big teaspoon of lazy garlic, about the same as two fresh garlic cloves.

You then add a small glass of white wine and let it bubble down. Those who have experience making risotto will know this, but in case you don't: you add liquid a bit at a time, wait for it to go and add a bit more. I added around a litre of vegetable stock throughout the cooking process. This usually takes around 20-30 minutes, it should be fairly soft but have a nice bite to it. I also seasoned with salt and pepper throughout to my personal taste, I didn't do this at the time but on after thought I would have added rosemary or thyme to it.

A few minutes before the end of cooking time I added the roasted butternut squash and some frozen peas. As this is a healthy version I did it without cheese and also because I couldn't get vegetarian/vegan Parmesan cheese, which I would usually always use in a risotto. My aunt makes this a lot and she adds blue cheese.

Now this is the point where I am missing my glamorous photo, however there is a photo of the finished product, so I hope this will suffice! It is so yummy and I think will become a staple recipe in my repertoire. Hope you enjoy it too!

The Lazy Sunday Dinner

As you may have read in my previous post, I am starting to have a hearty meal on a Sunday, rather than the very simple and quick food I usually make. This week however, was a bit of  a quick fix... but pretty hearty nonetheless. It has just been little old me this Sunday for dinner and I have been pretty busy, which is my justification for using all prepared food. Positively, I think it does show that not all pre-packaged food is unhealthy, I think prepared veg is especially good when you live a busy life and want a healthy diet. I thought I would also introduce those who have not tried/heard of it before to the Quorn 'steak' and Mushroom Pie.

This is the pie!

I like pie, and I think meat replacements are very useful, but I don't use them all the time as I don't need something to replicate meat, to make me feel like I am having a good meal.

 This is a great for the lazy girl inside me. Asda had these winter veg trays for £1, they are usually only £1.50 though which is pretty reasonable! They have prepared potatoes, onions, parsnips and carrots, it also comes in a disposable roasting tin so all you have to do is shove it in the oven for an hour.

Then you get this wonderful easy dinner! I love roasted vegetables and I have some leftovers for tomorrow lunch. The pie was good, I don't know how alike it was to a steak pie, as I have no memory of what a steak pie is like. I thought it was mushroomy and moreish, which I really enjoyed.

Quick, Easy & Simple Green Bean and Pea Curry!

During the week, I am pretty lazy vegetarian, I eat simply and healthy but I like things that are cheap, easy, quick and use as little kitchen equipment as possible! Being a poor student, quite often I have to improvise with things that I have to hand, I tend to eat well of the weekend and more cheaply during the week. Today's improvised recipe is inspired by green bean curry I had when I visited Cardiff, which also contained peas.

 Ingredients: tsp lazy garlic, two tsp curry powder, half a tsp of this special chili and coriander chutney that I get from a Derbyshire countryside pub, half a tin of chopped tomatoes, frozen peas, tinned green beans and half a chopped onion.

1. I fried a chopped onion in olive oil until tender, added the garlic, chutney and curry powder. I added a little water to prevent it burning.
2. I then added the green beans and peas, frying them off a little before adding the chopped tomatoes and a little more water (I like my curry with a lot of sauce).

Two steps! How simple and fabby! Perhaps not a sophisticated dish but a great student dinner!

Burns Night Bake!

This evening is Burns Night, more about Burns Night and Supper. I have made my own variation of a Burns Night Supper with a Burns Night Bake! An idea I came up with on Monday during my lectures!

Traditionally on Burns Night you would have Haggis (you can get vegetarian recipes) with Tatties (potatoes) and Neeps (swede or turnip- depending on where you live). Instead of Haggis, I decided to make savoury mince. Its rather like a Vegetarian Shepherds Pie, however, there is a layer of swede between the mince and potato.

I didn't follow all the traditions, no sherry or whisky, no trifle or cheese, perhaps next year, as I am a bit of a novice at celebrating Burns Night but I am rather impressed with my bake for this year!

Greener Living

I'm now using more organic, only eggs and products that contain eggs that are free range, recycled toilet paper and eco & animal friendly cleaning products!