Nut-ella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh...

After another night of snow showers today is yet another Snow Day. I have been to work this week, honest! This inturn lead to a slight Nutella crisis. Today is officially World Nutella Day and it is paramount I eat Nutella on this important day. World Nutella Day this year is being hosted by Sarah from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso.

Now, usually I have always have jar of the sweet chocolatiness in the cupboard for those spoon-straight-in-the-jar emergencies but after making Nutella & Peanut Butter Brownies for Hubby's workmates I forgot to pick up a jar. Snowed in and a 2 hour walk for Nutella I decided to see if it is possible to make Nutella from scratch. Lo and behold Su Good Sweets came to my rescue.

Now, the major difference between Nutella and my version was that I didn't have any hazelnuts in, so instead used cashew nuts and almonds. I also used rapeseed oil as it has a pleasant nutty taste. Although I think I may have nearly killed my food processor in the making of this nutty chocolate butter it was worth it. It's not quite a smooth as tradition Nutella, but just as delicious. It was interesting watching the nuts turn from the whole nuts into a paste. My home-made Nutella certainly helped the with Nutella craving that was going to go unsatisfied otherwise. I'd be interested to try it again with hazelnuts.

The culinary equivalent of superglue...

The past week has been a bit of a crazy one. Christmas festivities in school are in full swing and Hubby has been working every hour under the sun to get a project finished in work so it can be shipped. Over the weekend I was back in the Homeland for an annual Christmas Ball at my dad's work and a Victorian Christmas festival in their village. At the festival in amongst the roasted chestnuts and hog roasts we decided to choose mulled Vimto. Bad choice, I usually love Vimto but words cannot describe how awful the a mulled version of it was. It left me wishing I had gone for the hardcore mulled wine after all.

There are some recipes that sit on my cookbook stand for a while waiting for me to get the balls to try them. This recipe for nougat was one of them. I'm not too confident with boiling sugar and always worry about burning myself. Last year when making cinder toffee, hubby dropped the spoon into the boiling sugar, reached in to pick the spoon up and burnt his fingers. Although he put ice on it straight away he could feel it burning for the next 24 hours...ouch.

Now the pronunciation of "nougat" in our house is a bit of a contentious issue. I say "noo-gaar" where as Hubby along, with the rest of his family, say "nugget" as in chicken nugget. I still argue I'm in the right because nougat is a french word.

I have to admit I'm not too sure if I got it to the right constancy. I whisked it until it wouldn't thicken anymore and considering the sugar took nearly an hour to get to the right temperature I was getting a bit fed up with it. It tastes like beautiful nougat and is sticky like anything, but slowly melts in the mouth. Cleaning the bowls after making it is another matter. This stuff is like superglue and sticks to everything and anything. The best tip I can give for cleaning all the bowls/saucepans is to use lots of boiling water. Pour it over the cemented nougat and it will melt away.

Just a warning this involves boiling sugar and it probably not a very child friendly. Be very careful when beating together the sugar and egg, if your mixer has a splash guard use it. Dentists turn away now...

Nougat
Adapted from Fresh Magazine

680g granulated sugar
340ml (about 1 tin and a bit) golden syrup
60ml clear honey
235ml water
2 egg whites, beaten until stiff in a large bowl
1 tsp vanilla extract
75g dried cranberries
200g mixture of almonds and macadamia nuts

1) Gradually heat the sugar, syrup, honey and water in a heavy saucepan until it reaches 154°C (hard-crack stage)

2) When the sugar has reached the correct temperature carefully beat into the whisked egg whites until the mixture is stiff and waxy. At the beginning of this stage don't worry if it looks a bit like fine scrambled egg in sugar syrup. Keep beating and it will thicken and combine.

3) Carefully fold in the vanilla, cranberries and nuts using a large metal spoon. The metal spoon, rather than a wooden spoon, helps stop the mix collapsing.

4) Pour the nougat into a tin lined with baking parchment. Allow to cool before cutting into squares...or if your nougat is anything like ours a knife won't cut it and we ended up using a meat mallet to bash it with another sheet of baking parchement.

Spicy Peanut Chicken Stir Fry

As the weather is slowly getting better we are trying to eat more quick, light(ish) dishes. This dish is based on a recipe in this months Delicious. We both really enjoyed it. Next time I may add a bit more chilli to give it a better kick.

I was unable to find skinless peanuts in the shops so set about skinning some red skinned ones. It took for flippin ever and as soon as Hubby came home from work he commented how I should have just blanched them, we live and learn!

Spicy Peanut Chicken Stir Fry
Serves 2

25g of unsalted peanuts or 3 heaped tbsp of crunchy peanut butter
1 garlic clove
1 red chilli, deseeded
2 tsp ginger, grated
3 tbsp coconut milk
1.5 tbsp soy sauce
2 chicken fillets, diced
1 small head of brocolli, cut into florets
2 sheets of noodles
1 tbsp lime juice

1) Blitz the peanuts, garlic, chilli, ginger, coconut milk and soy sauce until you have a paste.

2) In a wok, fry chicken in a small amount of oil for around 5 min until golden. Stir in the peanut paste and cook for a further minute.

3) Add the broccoli to the wok and stir fry for a further 3 min (or until brocolli is tender) Stir in noodles, cook for 2 min. Add lime juice then serve.

Lamb, Pistachio & Mint Burgers

Apologies for the lack of updates. What with going back to work after the Easter Holiday I lost my cooking mojo. I cooked a dire cake at the weekend and it knocked my confidence even more...but I'm back!

In this months Delicious magazine there is tonnes of fab sounding recipes...to be honest most of this weeks dinners are based on Delicious recipes. Tonight we tried lamb, pistachio and mint burgers. The only alterations I made was to use couscous instead of bulgur wheat, cook them in the oven and omit the sultanas (don't get me started on fruit in savoury dishes!) The burgers were really, really delicious and we'll be trying them again soon.

Lamb, Pistachio & Mint Burgers
Makes 4 small burgers

30g couscous
300g lamb mince
2 tbsp pistachios, chopped
1 tbsp mint
1 tsp garlic paste

1) Preheat oven to 200oc. Pour boiling water over couscous, until it is just covered, stir. Cover bowl in cling film and leave for 8 min. After 8 min there should be no water left. Fluff couscous up with a fork

2) Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl (I find it easier to use my hands to make sure the ingredients are thoroughly combined). Shape into 4 burgers. Cook on a lightly oiled baking tray for 25-30 min.