Welsh Rarebit

As it's St David's Day on 1st March I decided to see what welsh recipes I could find. One that kept cropping up was welsh rarebit. I'm slightly ashamed to say that although I'd heard of it, I had no idea what it was.

It turns out it's a kind of posh cheese on toast!

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of bread
• 60ml milk or beer
• 175g/6oz cheddar cheese
• 1 level teaspoon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 25g/1 oz butter

Method:

Pour the measured milk or beer into a saucepan and place over very low heat. As the liquid begins to warm, add the grated cheese, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to suit your taste.

Stir gently until the cheese melts and the mixture is sm
ooth and creamy. Next, add the butter and continue to stir the mixture over very low heat.

Toast the slices of bread on one side only, spread the mixture on the un-toasted side and brown under a hot grill.

It was really tasty. Even the toddler ate some and she doesn't usually eat cheese on toast. Another idea to be added to my recipe folder.

From Emma

Fairtrade Fortnight - Show Off Your Label

Today see's the start of Fairtrade Fortnight. 

This year its all about showing off your label!

Throughout the next two weeks we will be highlighting Fairtrade suppliers and producers on here and our sister site New Mummy's Tips.

To find out more about Fairtrade Fortnight and how to Show Off Your Label visit their supporters page.

Review and Giveaway - Masterchef at Home Book

by Michelle 

I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of the new Master Chef At Home cookbook to review.  I was beyond excited as I love all things Masterchef and am an avid viewer of the television series.

It is a really substantial book and is one I think I will refer back to often.  The cookbook contains 200 of the best recipes from the 2010 series of Masterchef, Celebrity Masterchef and Masterchef: The Professionals. 

It includes Forwards written by all four judges:  John Torode, Gregg Wallace, Michel Roux Jnr and also Monica Galetti.  A good number of the recipes include a ‘Master Tip’ which is not only helpful for that particular recipe but gives good general advice about an ingredient or technique.  Speaking of techniques, there are loads of Monica’s Masterclass pages dotted throughout the book.  These are step by step instructions with brilliant photographs detailing things like how to make mayonnaise or fillet flat fish.  Classic recipes from Micheal Roux Jnr are also included in abundance.  I thought that the Chefs’ Biographies section at the back of the book was a brilliant idea as it gives a short biography of all the chefs featured in the book, plus a list of their recipes including page number references.

Admittedly there are ingredients that most of us wouldn’t have hiding in our kitchens but loads of the recipes do use ingredients that are easily obtainable and not necessarily expensive.  There are recipes that would be reserved for very special occasions as ingredients would be rather costly but it is a Masterchef cookbook and you can’t expect it to be ‘feed your family for a fiver’ territory.

It is a fantastic book that I would definitely purchase for myself but also happily give as a gift to friends and family members who love to cook.  The photographs are stunning.  You definitely do not have to be a Masterchef wannabe to be able to enjoy and use this book.  There are tips and techniques to help even a novice in the kitchen to cook delicious, stunning food without it being an ordeal.

In fact to test that theory I asked my husband (OK, nagged him into submission) to try a recipe.  He made the Chaud-Froid of Salmon on Peas and Broad Beans with Lemon Hollandaise.  He followed the recipe fairly easily, although he moaned it was lucky he attempted it on a Saturday as it would be way too much faff for novice cook on a weeknight.  It was delicious!

I made the Banana Souffle with Blueberry Couli as a family dessert on a weeknight and it was straight forward and didn’t take much longer than one of my standard family puddings.  It tasted amazing and everyone loved it, in fact my daughters want me to make it at least twice a week.  I think the jury is still out on whether I’ll manage that or not.

Available from Amazon, Waterstones and all good book shops. RRP £20

Make it, Bake it has a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader.

To enter fill in the form below.

Closing date is 6pm Thursday 10th March.

*One Entry Per Household

*No Cash Alternative offered

*Open to residents of the UK only 

If I Can You Can Beef Stew

From Laura

This is the recipe for the beef stew I cooked last week.  The Husband said it was the tastiest thing I’ve cooked in ten years!  Please note I am a crap cook so this was my ‘once in ten years miraculous culinary moment’, along with the Spicy Butternut Squash soup last week. I can assure you that there will be no more recipes on the blog until 2020.

This stew serves 4 – to be fair it fed 2 adults, one teenager and 2 littlies … just.

Tips : If your kids aren’t partial to leek it’s fine, the leek dissolves to nothing along with the onion.  Do not, I repeat, DO NOT lift the lid on your dumplings until the time is up!  … and you can use fresh rosemary in your dumplings instead of  dried herbs if you like.

• 2 pinches dried mixed herbs
• 440g diced beef
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 1 leek
• 8-10 new potatoes
• 400g passata
• 200g self-raising flour
• 1 tablespon olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 beef or vegetable stock cube
• 100g butter, grated
• 1.4 litre water

1. Peel and finely slice the onions. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a deep saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry for a few minutes until soft, then add the diced beef and continue to fry.
2. Add the leek and carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks. Season with salt and ground black pepper and add 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs, then fry for approximately 10 minutes. Stir in the passata, 1 litre water and crumble in 1 beef or vegetable stock cube. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 2 hours.
3. Meanwhile, place 200g self-raising flour in a bowl and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grate 100g chilled butter into the flour, add a couple of pinches of dried mixed herbs (or some freshly chopped rosemary) and then rub together with your fingers so the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Gradually mix in small amounts of cold water until it forms a soft dough. Roll the dough into approximately 12 evenly-sized balls.
4. Chop the new potatoes in half and add to the stew 20 minutes before you add the dumplings.
5. The stew should be nice and saucy by now but, if it looks a little dry, stir in another 400ml water. Turn up the heat and bring it to the boil again. Add the dumplings, pushing them under the surface of the liquid. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes until the dumplings are puffed up and cooked through.
6. Serve with green of your choice!  We opted for green beans and a nice glass of red (Ribena for the kids!) 

 

Review - Chantra Authentic Thai Red Curry

We regularly enjoy cooking curries in our house but we always stick to Indian dishes so I was looking forward to a change when I was recently sent a Chantra Authentic Thai red curry kit to try out.

You just need to add the meat and vegetables and the kit contains everything else you need.

The instructions were really simple and easy to follow:

•Heat a little oil and fry the curry paste (add more or less depending on how hot you want the curry)

•Add the meat (we used beef) and cook for a few minutes

•Add some water, the coconut cream sachet and the sachet of herbs

•Add some chopped green beans

•Bring to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes

•Add a teaspoon of sugar and the fish sauce to taste

That's it! We had ours with rice but the box also has instructions for a Thai style omelette which sounded nice.

The curry was really tasty and the kit is definitely something I'd buy again.

From Emma

Friday Freebie - Win £100 voucher for Tesco Direct and a Tin of Douwe Egberts Aromettes

Along with my serious addiction to chocolate and cupcakes, I also have a thing for coffee. I call them my 3 C's!


Nothing beats a great cup of coffee in the morning. I have a collection of coffee machines including a very nice espresso machine with milk frother that I got for Christmas. 


The people from  Douwe Egberts have come up with a great idea that make my coffee life just a little bit easier. Their new Aromettes are pressed coffee grounds in the shape of a coffee bean (which I rather love). Which means no more spooning and spilling coffee everywhere.


Each bean is one cup of coffee and can be used in a cafetière or filter 
machine. They come in two strengths, Smooth Aroma 3 and Intense Aroma 5.

I have tried both and they are really good, the Intense is perfect for that morning kick.


They go on sale on Monday 14th February.


To celebrate the launch I have a £100 Tesco Direct Voucher and a Tin a Aromettes for one lucky winner!


To enter just fill in the form below with your details.
CLOSED
Closing date is 6pm Thursday 24th February


Good Luck


*one entry per household
*no cash alternative offer
*open to residents of the UK only.  

Clotted Cream Truffles

I attempted to make truffles at Christmas for gifts and no matter what I did the mixture just split. So when I was send a recipe for clotted cream truffles and offered the cream to try it, how could I say no!

I split the batch in two and added Peppermint Extract for a mint truffle. 

I was sent some Rodda’s Clotted Cream to test out this recipe.  

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Makes about 25
 
1x 227g tub Rodda’s clotted cream
200g 70% cocoa solids chocolate
50g good quality cocoa powder

Melt the chocolate either in a bain-marie or in the microwave.
 

Stir the clotted cream into the chocolate until the mixture is silky smooth. Chill for 2-3 hours. 
 

Have a plate ready with the cocoa powder. Then use a melon baller dipped in hot water to shape the truffles by running it through the truffle mix. Drop into the cocoa. You will need to dip the melon baller into the hot water after each truffle.

Alternatively you can use 2 teaspoons.
 
After making 5 or 6 truffles, roll them in the cocoa and then set aside. Continue rolling and dusting until you have finished all the mixture. If you want a more uniform finish dust the truffles, roll in your hand to form a smooth ball, and then dust again in cocoa. 
  
Chill overnight if you can or for at least 4 hours. 

They turned out really well, I didn’t use cocoa power I went with icing sugar for dusting mixed with some edible glitter!

Valentines Sugar Cubes

These are so easy to make and look beautiful in a pretty bowl at a tea party or wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon as a gift.

There are so many shapes and colours that you could attempt.

You will need;

• Sugar 
• Water 
• Food Colouring 
• Small Cookie Cutters or shaped icecube trays

1. Mix ½ cup of sugar with 1tsp of liquid (either just water if you want your shapes to be white or a combination of food colouring and water for coloured shapes).

2. Mix the water/food colouring and the sugar together with a fork. It should resemble damp sand.

3. Tip the sugar onto a flat surface and use something to compact it, your hand, a plate or a rolling pin.

4. Press your cookie cutter into the sugar and then use a spoon or your finger to compact the sugar into the cutter, gently slide the cutter onto another flat surface (plate or chopping board) and very gently press the sugar out. You need to be very careful here and handle the sugar as little as possible. Alternatively you can press the sugar into shaped icecube trays.

5. Once you have cut all of your shapes out leave them on the flat surface for several hours to dry out. When they dry they will be nice and hard.

6. Store in an air tight container.
 
I used a small paintbrush to paint the centres of my hearts.

From Snaffles Mummy

Up Cycle a Child's Fleece - Flip Camera Case

We're having a bit of a declutter at the moment. A good thing considering I got a call from the letting agency yesterday informing us that our landlord is selling to his brother, and we've got to be out by the end of March. Great. I guess it's even more incentive to get organised... and pretty darn quick.

As part of the clear out I've been going through bags and bags of baby clothes... sorting those that we've borrowed, those to be binned, those to be sold... and getting stuck on the sentimental ones! So I thought I'd see if I could 'upcycle' some of the special ones so that they can live on a little bit longer.

I've got a few ideas of what I can make with them already. And as Keith was tapping away on the computer last night I happily got crafty and whiled away a couple of hours making my first creation. Punctuating the silence with the occasional 'ouch' as I stabbed myself with the needle!

First to go was Tilly's lovely fleece, given to her by her Great Nan.

It saw a lot of wear last winter, and had coordinating fleecy leggings too... ahh, the memories!

I took off an arm, measured it to fit my beloved Flip (now named Filippa) and sewed to create a little fleece pouch. Because the body of the fleece wasn't lined, and I wanted my case to be, I then made a rough lining out of the lining fabric from the hood... then slip stitched into the pouch.

I then found a piece of pink ribbon from my stash, made a couple of slits in the hem opening and threaded it through with the aid of a safety pin, attached the toggle from the original case... and voila...

One funky little case for my lovely little Filippa!

By Rebecca 

Now, what to do with the rest of the fleece?

Caramel Cupcakes …........ a successful failure

The recipe I used was taken from 'Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery' by Martha Swift & Lisa Thomas. I have made a few successful cupcakes from this book so I thought I would give this 'less simple looking' one a try.

Firstly it was necessary to make a caramel sauce.....and that's where it started to go wrong.

Caramel Sauce

250g golden caster sugar

135ml water

Put the water & 5tbsp of the water into a saucepan & stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Increase the heat and cook over a high heat for about 10 minutes, after which the mixture should be dark amber in colour.

Remove the pan from the heat & leave to cool slightly. Stir gently to help it cool but take great care as the sugar is extremely hot.

Once the mixture has cooled slightly add the remaining water to the mix & continue stirring.

When the sauce is completely cool, pour into a bowl & cover until ready to use.

I'm not exactly sure what went wrong as it was all going so very well, the mixture had been bubbling away nicely for around 5 minutes and turning a deeper shade of amber, so I quickly checked on my emails, firstly re-reading the recipe to make sure that I wasn't supposed to be 'stirring constantly'. When I turned back the pan looked as though it was full of sugar and no longer my lovely caramel sauce, it had all somehow crystallised. I continued to follow the recipe regardless, allowing to cool & adding the water. I decided that I would still use the 'sauce' in the cakes anyway, thinking that it would perhaps melt somehow during the baking process.

 Caramel Cupcakes

110g unsalted butter at room temp

120g light soft brown sugar

120g dark soft brown sugar

2 large eggs

½ tsp vanilla extract

125g self raising flour, sifted

120g plain flour, sifted

75g caramel sauce, cooled (from caramel sauce recipe)

50ml double cream

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C (fan) / 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F / gas mark 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tray with cupcake cases.

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugars until pale & smooth, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing for a few minutes after each addition, add the vanilla extract.

Combine the flours in a separate bowl. Add one third of the flours to the creamed mixture and mix until the batter just comes together. Add the caramel sauce and beat well. Add another third of the flour and beat until it just comes together. Add the double cream and again beat well. Add the remaining flour and beat until the mixture is combined.

Carefully spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about two thirds full. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes until slightly raised and golden brown. To check they are cooked, insert a skewer in the centre of one of the cakes – it should come out clean.

Remove from the oven and leave the cakes in their tins for about 10 minutes before carefully placing on a wire rack to cool.

Once they are completely cool, ice with caramel buttercream icing.

I checked on my cakes about 15 minutes into the baking time & they were rising nicely. I kept my 22 month old out of the kitchen as he has a habit of opening the oven door if anything is cooking (2 oven door locks tried & failed to keep him out, that's another story....) so I had no reason to think they would do anything different than rise........well the next time I checked (at about 20 minutes) they had all developed a crater in the middle......this had NEVER happened to me before, I was gutted!!!

I left them for the remainder of their baking time, removed them from the oven & allowed them to cool whilst I made the icing.

Caramel Buttercream Icing

60g unsalted butter

6 tbsp milk

220g light soft brown sugar

240g icing sugar, sifted

½ tsp vanilla extract

Double cream, as needed

Place the butter, milk and brown sugar in a saucepan over a high heat and stir to combine. Bring to the boil, stirring continuously, and allow to boil for 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and stir in half of the icing sugar. Leave the mixture to cool slightly, then add the remainder of the icing sugar and the vanilla extract and stir until it thickens to the desired consistency. Double cream can be added to think it as needed.

I must say this was one of the easiest icings that I have made & I figured that this lovely toffee coloured topping would fill those craters in the cakes beautifully and the kids would still like them regardless..... and they did.

And from what I thought was an epic failure came one of my best ever cupcakes, they have a kind of crunchy, chewy, moreishness to them and in the words of my husband this very evening 'I think it makes them nicer being a bit crusty'


by Helen

The Winners of The Jamie Oliver DVD's are.....

Amy Lane and Kizzy!

Well done ladies I will post them to you this week!

Review and Giveaway – Jamie at Home Complete Series

Jamie Oliver is a bit like Marmite; you either love him or hate him. I rather like him, he’s recent series Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals was a hit in this house.

Last week I was sent the complete series of Jamie at Home to watch. For those of you who haven’t seen this series it was based around his home and garden.  

Each episode has a different theme from Furred Game to Rhubarb.

I love Jamie’s passion for his food it really comes off on screen, though I am slightly jealous of the amount of kitchens he seems to have.

The Jamie at Home series has a nice range of recipes and I really like the use of fresh fruit and vegetables that you can grow at home yourself.  They are realistic recipes.

The Sun Buzz starts a promotion this Saturday to get the whole series for free.  All you have to do is collect tokens in the Sun which you can instantly redeem at Tesco’s.

There are 6 DVD’s to collect, each with two episodes on.  The 1^st token will be in this Saturdays The Sun Buzz and then the rest are available in the Sun Newspaper.

The offer runs from 5^th to 11^th February.

I have two sets of the promotional DVD’s to giveaway before the promotion starts!!

The giveaway ends 1pm Friday 4^th February and I will then pick two winners at random to receive the sets.

Good Luck

*Open to residents of the UK only

* No Cash alternative

*One entry per household