The Perfect Roast Chicken and Chocolate Mousse

This weekend has been busy with cooking. With beautiful ingredients coming into season and the spring sunshine (even if it was interspersed with hail showers!) we both found it quite inspirational.

A few months back I brought a copy of The River Cottage Meat Book. Until this weekend I hadn't really read it properly. I though it was just going to be a book full of meat recipes, but in reality it's an insightful book with the understanding of meat and various ways of cooking it. I'm not a huge meat eater, but found it really interesting. Thanks to this book Hubby has come over all Hugh F-W (minus the curls) and decided to have a go at curing pork. We now have a belly of pork coated in salt living in a Tupperware box under the sink. He's then planning on smoking half of it in the chimney. After this he wants to try making chorizo.

With the duck eggs we picked up yesterday we also managed to get a beautiful local free-range chicken. With my planning quite a few chicken based dishes this week I decided it was the most economical way of buying and cooking chicken. I've never cooked a full chicken before, I guess I found it a bit scary. Last July I did cook a crown of chicken, it was nice, but not perfect and it knocked my confidence.

Well Hugh installed my confidence and I managed to cook a perfect, tasty, succulent roast chicken with a delicious non-greasy gravy to go with it (a serious achievement for me!) We had the chicken with garlic & herb stuffing, creamed leeks, carrots, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puds made with a duck egg. The duck egg made a really good Yorkie pud batter.

The Perfect Roast Chicken - thanks to Hugh!
for a 2.5kg chicken

2.5kg free-range chicken
100g butter, softened
handful of parsley, rosemary and thyme
1 garlic clove, minced
salt & pepper
100ml white wine

1) Preheat oven to 210oc. Mix butter, herbs, garlic and seasoning. Rub all over chicken. Cook for 20 min

2) Turn oven down to 180oc, baste chicken then pour wine into roasting tray (don't pour over the chicken.) Cook for a further 50 min. The chicken is done when the juices run clear.

3) Cover in foil and allow to rest for 20 min.


My rule on Sundays is always to make a dessert, just in case the roast goes wrong (once in a blue moon it does when I'm experimenting). For the dessert I was looking for Nigellas help. When sorting the kitchen cupboards I found some dark chocolate Hubby had bought back from Italy and it needed using up. In Nigella Express she makes an egg less chocolate mousse. I have to say it turned out as a beautiful, dense, rich chocolate mousse. very much an adult chocolate mousse. I took the original recipe and divided it by 3 to give enough for just the 2 of us. It was so rich we only managed to eat half of it...not that I'm complaining as it means some for Monday! Next time rather than serving it in ramekins I may make it in shot glasses.

Chocolate Mousse
Makes 2 ramekins or 4 shot glasses

50g marshmallows, chopped into small pieces
15g unsalted butter
80g dark chocolate, broken up
20ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle
95ml double cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1) In a heavy saucepan gently heat marshmallows, butter, dark chocolate and hot water. Stir occasionally until everything has melted and is smooth. Remove from the heat.

2) Whip cream with vanilla extract until thick. Gently fold in chocolate until well combined. Pour into ramekins/shot glasses, cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Duck eggs

Today we managed to get our hands on some huge duck eggs. I'm never used or eaten them before and was really drawn to their beautiful colours. All of them appeared to be different hues of blue. The photo doesn't show how fabulous the colours were.

For lunch Hubby used some of the duck eggs to make scrambled eggs with purple sprouting broccoli as inspired by a dish A Slice of Cherry Pie. The only difference was that hubby flash fried the PSB in butter for a minute rather then boiling. The duck eggs are slightly richer than hen eggs and Hubby was really impressed on how the duck eggs complimented the PSB so well.

From what I can gather you can more of less use duck eggs where you use hen eggs, but just take into account they are bigger. I'm thinking of using them to make Yorkshire puds to go with tomorrows roast chicken.

Does anyone else have any other fab ideas for duck eggs?

Thank you so much to Sylvie at the wonderfulA Pot of Tea and a Biscuit for her Excellent Blog award. I'm truly flattered. Now I'm meant to pass this onto bloggers whose blogs I believe to be excellent, but there are so many fab blogs out there I'm struggling to narrow it down!

Sticky Pork & Purple Sprouting Broccoli Stirfry

This months In The Bag event is to cook with purple sprouting broccoli (PSB). I've eaten this veg in various forms over the last few weeks and tonight wanted to try something a bit different with it.

As Hubby has gone to the local beer festival I wanted to cook something quick, tasty and easy giving me the longest time to watch cheesy Saturday evening tv. This recipe is loosly based on my sticky pork recipe. I meant to add sesame seeds, but totally forgot!

Sticky Pork and Broccoli Stirfry
Serves 1

1 pork steak, sliced into strips
handful of purple sprouting brocolli
1 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp soft dark sugar
1 sheet of noodles

1) Mix rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and sugar in shallow bowl. Marinade steak for up to 24 hours.

2) Cook steaks in saute pan (minus the extra marinade) for about 3 min each side until cooked. Remove steaks from pan and allow to rest. Cook noodles then drain. Add broccoli remaining marinade to pan, boil until sticky.

3) Add noodles to broccoli and mix until coated in sauce. Stir in pork. Serve.

Chocolate Caramel Nuggets

I've meaning to try these chocolate caramel nuggets for a while, but with seasonal baking, then the fact I gave biscuits up for lent I never got around to them until today. I originally came across the recipe on Cherrapeno's blog, then I realised I have a the same Cookie & Biscuit Bible cookbook.

Like Nic, I found this particular cookbook in a book section of a gardening centre. It was the best £5 I've ever spent. It's such a great cookbook, just a shame it's now out of print. I wish I had picked up other copies at the time to give to friends.

I don't have a food processor big enough to make these biscuits so did the first part of the recipe in my mini food processor then finished it off by hand. The eggs I was using were small so ended up using an additional small egg yolk and a splash of milk to get the dough to combine.

The result was a lovely, not too rich, biscuit with the texture and slight taste of shortbread. It was very much like an inside out Millionaire's Shortbread. Perfect with a cuppa. One problem, they are very moreish. One just isn't enough!

Quest for the perfect coffee

I'm known for my love of coffee, be it an ingredient in a cake or drinking it, I'm a huge fan. However I'm very fussy when it comes to coffee. For me a perfect coffee as to be so smooth I don't need sugar to take away the bitterness.

While at Chantry on Saturday, Adrian from Azurieblue was there offering samples of his espresso. Not one to turn down a sample I gave it a go. I have to say it was one of the best coffees I have ever had. It was so smooth. Even Hubby who doesn't usually drink coffee thought it was good.

The coffee is ground from ethically sourced Brazilian arabica beans (something that is important to me) and I found it rich, without being bitter and overpowering, with a hint of nutty chocolate. Naturally I was so impressed with the sample I bought some for myself, even better that the coffee tin matches my kitchen perfectly...I'm such a girl!

Over the last few days I've tried different ways of using the coffee. As an espresso, latte and mocha and each time it was delicious. I don't think I've ever come across a coffee that is so versatile.

Azorieblue are due to have a stand at the Real Food Festival in April and I seriously recommend you visit them to taste their wonderful coffee.

Ragu of Tiny Meatballs

The Easter weekend is nearly over and I can't believe how fast it's gone. My Simnel Loaf went down really well, I'll be making it again next Easter. At least I'm now on a 2 week holiday before going back to work (one of the few advantages of working in a school). As I gave up biscuits for lent I can see a surge of biscuit baking ahead!

Saturday night we camped out with Hubby's cousins. It was the first camping trip of the year. I admit I was a bit apprehensive at first, when we settled in for the night frost was beginning to form on the tent. However once we snuggled into our sleeping bags we were soon warm. At 6am I had to get up to shake an inch of snow off the tent, just a shame it had all melted by 8am.

A few weeks back I stumbled upon Katie at Other People's Foods post on Jamie Olivers Ragu of Tiny Meatballs. I've made various meatballs before, but they have always been really disappointing. However these look so delicious I decided to give meatballs another go.

Both of us really enjoyed them and to make it even better we have another portion for tomorrow night. The only slight alteration I would make to it in the future is to only put zest of 1/2 a lemon in.

Congratulations to Niri who won the Hotel Chocolat Easter egg.

Simnel loaf and cupcakes

In England it is traditional to make a simnel cake to celebrate Easter. Similar to a Christmas cake in that it is a spiced fruit cake. It features 11 balls of marzipan which represent the 12 apostles excluding Judas. The cake is thought to have been around since Medieval times and the name comes from the Latin simila meaning fine wheat flour.

Tradition dictates that it should be baked on Mothering Sunday by a daughter. If it is still moist when cut open on Easter Sunday it is a sign of a good cook (and potential wife!) As I only found this information out yesterday, and had missed Mothering Sunday I still decided to go ahead with it.

The original recipe for this Simnel Loaf cake featured in this months GFM, I made some alterations due to ingredients I had available. I also made my own marzipan, which is far better than any shop bought version. It is meant to make 1 2lb loaf, but I was left with loads of extra cake batter so made some simnel cupcakes to go with the loaf. It turned out beautifully moist, I'm glad it did or I would have been proved to be a shocking wife and cook! Method wise it is very similar to a Boiled Fruit Cake. Rather than the important 11 marzipan balls being on the top of the cake they are distributed throughout the cake, a bit like a stollen. You can use this recipe to make just simnel cupcakes (I guess this recipe will make about 18), use the same amounts. The cooking times for the cupcakes are below. I've entered the cakes in to Julia's Easter Cake Bake.

It's snowing here at the moment and we've been predicted heavy snow for tomorrow so we could be in for a white Easter.

Simnel Loaf and Cupcakes
Makes 1 2lb loaf and around 6 cupcakes

Marzipan
Makes 250g

125g ground almonds
60g icing sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 egg, beaten well (you won't use all of it)

1) Sift sugar into bowl then mix in almonds.

2) Add the lemon juice then the egg a tiny bit at a time. Beat to a firm paste then knead. It will end up having the texture of grainy dough. If it is too sticky add a bit more sugar and almonds. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in fridge while you prepare the rest of the cake.

Cake

140g unsalted butter, cubed
175g golden caster sugar
250ml orange juice
75g dried apricots, quartered
275g mixed fruit
220g glace cherries
200g marzipan (see above)
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
50g flaked almonds

Icing
1 egg white
250g icing sugar
50g marzipan

1) Preheat oven to 150oc. Line 2lb with baking parchment. Ensure it goes high up the sides as the cake will rise.

2) In a large saucepan slowly heat butter, sugar, orange juice, dried fruits until boiling. Simmer for 10 minutes then allow to cool for 15 min. While this is cooling shape the cake marzipan into 11 balls around 2cm across.

3) Sift flour, spice and baking powder into the pan, then stir in eggs and almonds until everything is well combined.

4) Spoon cake mix into tin until it is about half full. Arrange the marzipan balls evenly over the cake mix then cover with the remaining cake mix (don't over fill the tin). Smooth over the top. Bake loaf for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 until a skewer will come out clean. Leave to cool in tin for 15 min, then remove and finish cooling on wire rack. Allow cake to cool fully before icing.

If cooking cupcakes bake for 30 minutes at 150oc.

5) Lightly whisk egg white then beat in icing sugar until you have thick spreadable icing. Spread over the top of cake. Roll remaining marzipan into balls and brown with a blow torch (you could do this under the grill). When the icing is almost set press the marzipan balls along the top.

Hot Cross Buns - 2nd attempt

These hot cross buns were the third thing I baked on Sunday during my marathon baking session; However they never got to work. I was so ashamed of them, I have a reputation to upkeep! The crosses went a great deal better than last year as I pipped the crosses on, but they still looked like something one of the kids in Foundation had made. I also didn't leave long enough for the dough to rise so they ended up dry and quite heavy. The photo features the one bun that was remotely decent looking.

I wasn't prepared to throw the whole batch away so was really glad when I came across Margaret's post for Jamie Oliver's Hot Cross Pudding. I made an individual portion tonight and it was lovely. A perfect antidote for the cold, frosty evening.

Don't forget the Hotel Chocolat Easter Egg hunt finishes tonight. Enter now to have you chance of winning a fab easter egg.

Irish Mocha Cupcakes - Homage to the Baileys Blitz

The second item for my marathon "cheer up" baking session are Irish Mocha Cupcakes. These cupcakes are inspired by Sugar Plum's St Paddy's Day Pub Crawl Blogging Event and a coffee called a Baileys Blitz that fueled my university days. Baileys Blitz was a mocha coffee with a shot of Baileys topped with lashings of whipped cream and (rather randomly) maltesers....mmmmmmm..

In these cupcakes I've forgone the malteasers, but all the other ingredients are there in some form or another. I'm really pleased how well they turned out. Of course I had to "test" one of the cakes just to check they are fit for my workmates ;) The rich coffee chocolate sponge is complimented perfectly with the Baileys icing.

Irish Mocha Cupcakes
Makes 12

For the cupcakes
110g butter, softened
110g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
85g self-raising flour
30g cocoa
2-3 tbsp cold strong coffee

For the Baileys icing
210g icing sugar, sifted
95g butter, softened
2 tbsp Baileys

1) Preheat oven to 180oc. Cream butter and sugar together into light and fluffy. Stir in one egg at a time so they don't curdle.

2) Fold in sifted flour and cocoa, then stir in the coffee one tbsp at a time.

3) Spoon into cupcake cases then bake for 15 min. Allow to thoroughly cool before icing.

4) Beat all of the icing ingredients together. If the icing it too stiff add some more baileys, if it is too runny add a tiny bit more icing sugar. Ice cakes using a piping bag.

Pea & Goat's Cheese Risotto

I took a break from my marathon baking session to make my dinner. I've only had risotto once before and that was in a restaurant so when the local supermarket decided to get with the times and stock risotto rice I decided I would give it a go.

It made a huge portion and I only managed to eat half of it. I enjoyed it to start but was fed up of it by the end. That could be due to me having a low boredom threshold when it comes to food. I prefer to have lost of different flavours on the plate rather than everything mixed together, I'm an odd one me! However saying that the rest will probably be my lunch tomorrow.

Pea & Goat's Cheese Risotto
Serves 1-2

1 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, sliced
1 clove of garlic, sliced
200g risotto rice
50ml white wine
300ml hot chicken stock
50g frozen peas
50g goat's cheese
1 tbsp mint
2 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tbsp butter
seasoning

1) Gently fry shallots and garlic in the olive oil in a deep saucepan for 3 min. Add rice and stir for a further 2-3 until the rice is translucent.

2) Pour in the wine and turn up the heat until the wine is absorbed. Gradually add stock 1 ladle at a time, each time waiting for the stock to be absorbed before adding more.

3) Mix in peas, mint, half of the cheese, creme fraiche, butter and season. Leave for 2-3 min. Serve then garnish with the remaining cheese.

Vegan Flapjacks

Things have been rough in work recently and we all can't wait for half term, bring on Thursday. To help cheer everyone up I've had a bit of a baking marathon today. First to be made was a batch of vegan flapjacks. One of my workmates is vegan and I didn't want her to feel left out.

I have to admit I feel confident with vegetarian cooking, but not vegan. I'm always worried about putting in an ingredient that isn't vegan. A few months back I nearly made a huge booboo when in a fleeting moment I thought of putting honey in a vegan dish, luckily I clicked before putting it in! I decided vegan flapjacks was the fail safe option. Of course if you wanted to make an non-vegan version just replace the soya spread with butter.

I've entered these flapjacks into Mansi's Weekend Breakfast Blogging event.

Vegan Flapjacks
Makes 8

170g soya margarine
170g golden caster sugar
225g muesli base mix or rolled oats
handful of sultanas

1) Preheat oven to 180oc. In a saucepan melt soya margarine. Take off the heat then stir in the remaining ingredients.

2) Pour into a lined 8inch square tin. Flatten with the back of a metal spoon.

3) Bake for 25 min until golden. Slice as soon as it is out of the oven.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli Pot Pie

I'm on my little lonesome for most dinners this week so have taken the opportunity to eat veggie and try out some new recipes, so expect a lot of updates this week! I'm renowned for eating badly when I'm cooking for 1 so I've planned my whole menu for the week and already have most of the ingredients in. I don't have an excuse not to eat well.

This morning I took the chance to check out the market in town where I managed to pick up lots of lovely veg. Just a shame the people who served me on both stalls were miserable so-and-sos, I won't be visiting their stalls again and sticking to my usual veg provider.

Tonight I made a delicious (if I must say myself!) purple sprouting broccoli pot pie. I was worried the PSB may bleed into the sauce, but it kept it's colour beautifully. I had the pie with some peas plus roasted baby potatoes and radishes, as inspired by The Great Big Vegetable Challenge. The pie is based on the cauliflower and bacon pie I made back in October. I've submitted the pie to The Mini Pie Revolution for their pot pie blog event.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli Pot Pie
Serves 1

handful of purple sprouting broccoli
2 spring onions, chopped
100ml creme fraiche
50g mature cheddar (I use Quickes cheddar)
seasoning
120g puff pastry
egg, lightly beaten

1) Preheat oven to 200oc. Fry spring onions until they have softened. In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients together (apart from pastry) then spoon into the pie dish.

2) Roll out puff pastry to size of dishes then place on top. Pinch around the edges to help seal. Then use a knife to put 2 slits into the piece of pastry to stop it getting soggy underneath. Brush with a small amount of egg. Cook for 25-30 min.

Lamb Biryani

Ever since seeing the recipe for Lamb Biryani in this months Delicious I couldn't wait to give it a go. I'm a fan of Indian food, but struggle to find recipes that make dishes as good as the local Balti house.

The original recipe is for 6 so I had to tweak it slightly. The recipe also calls for ghee (clarified butter), I didn't really want to buy ghee from the supermarket as I can't see me using the rest of it so I made my own. I also don't own a casserole dish with a lid that is hob safe do had to dramatically alter the times to take this into account (the times here are the times I used).

We had it with naan bread and some riata I made. I was nice and certainly smelt of a biryani, but I felt it needed more of a spicy kick. Next time I'll make a basic vegetable curry to accompany it. It would have looked far more photogenic if I had remembered to buy fresh coriander!

Lamb Biryani
Serves 2 with leftovers

Marinade (prepare the night before)
125ml natural yogurt
400g lamb leg steak, cut into bite sized pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small green chilli, sliced
1 inch ginger, grated
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin

1) Mix all the marinade ingredients together, ensure lamb is thoroughly coated. Cover, chill and marinade overnight.

2) Next day, remove from the fridge and allow to get to room temperature.

Biryani
50ml milk
1/2 tsp saffron
40g ghee (if you are making your own, 50g unsalted butter will make enough ghee for this recipe)
1 large onion, finely sliced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
180g basmati rice, rinsed and soaked for 30 min in cold water
6 cardamom pods
1/2 cinnamon stick

1) Preheat oven to 180oc. Heat milk and stir in saffron, put to one side. Heat all but 1 tbsp of ghee in pan. Gently fry onions for 15 min. Stir in cumin and coriander for the final minute.

2) Boil rice, cardamom and cinnamon in pan of water for 2 min, then drain. Stir in onions.

3) Melt remaining ghee and pour onto the bottom of your casserole dish. Spread a small amount of rice at the bottom of the dish. Pour over with half of the lamb and marinade, top again with half of the rice. Cover with the remaining lamb and finally the last of the rice (think, layering up a lasagna!). Drizzle the saffron milk over the rice.

4) Tightly cover with foil, then place the lid on top. Bake for 45-55 minutes until rice and lamb are tender.

Your Eggsellency

It was a Hotel Chocolat Easter egg I was given as a gift about 2 years ago that bought this chocolate company to my attention.

At the beginning of the week Hotel Chocolat sent me anYour Eggsellency Easter Egg. (You can win one of your own Hotel Chocolat Easter egg here) The packaging it arrived in was so beautiful and enticing. I opened a black embossed box to find a large keyhole that led me to perfect silver foil-wrapped egg. It sounds odd, but I think chocolate tastes better when it's been wrapped in foil, just like KitKats did until they wrapped them in plastic...anyway slightly digressing there... Inside the two extra-thick eggshells were 10 truffle eggs. As I'm a huge lover of dark chocolate I was really pleased to see that half of the egg shell was 72% dark chocolate with the other half being 40% milk chocolate. The dark chocolate was beautiful not too bitter and with a hint of orange. The milk chocolate shell was incredibly smooth, not too sweet with the subtle taste of caramel.

The truffles came in 10 mouthwatering flavours including Bellini, Amaretto, Whisky and Calvados. My personal favourite was Pink Marc de Champagne that reminds me of Hotel Chocolat's delicious strawberries and cream chocolate that appeared in one of their tasting selections a few months back.

Hotel Chocolat haven't let me down with this Easter selection and anyone who loves their chocolate would love to receive this for Easter.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Goats Cheese Tart

The chicks have gone back to school and the house seems very quiet without them. However it was nice to get our dining table back!

Purple Sprouting Broccoli is one of my favourite vegetables and whenever it's in season I make a concerted effort to eat as much as possible. After seeing David at Book The Cook's Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Sheep's Cheese Tart I decided to have a go at making my own version using some of the leftover goat's cheese from the Mother's Day Feast.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Goats Cheese Tart
Serves 4

9-inch baked shortcrust pastry base (do a Delia and cheat with a ready-made one or make your own)
3 eggs
200ml milk
50g goats cheese, broken into small chunks.
handful of small purple sprouting broccoli florets
a couple of twists of black pepper

1) Preheat oven to 160oc. Whisk together eggs, milk and pepper.

2) Sprinkle broccoli florets and goats cheese over the base then pour egg mix over. Bake for 30-40 until golden. Allow to cool for 10 min before eating.

Feta Stuffed Beef Burgers

Usually for Sunday dinner we have something like a roast, but with our little furry friends living on the dining table until tomorrow we needed an easy meal we could eat on our *ahem* laps on the settee.

We used to have homemade burgers quite a lot, but with us becoming a bit more experimental with food they went by the wayside. Tonight was the perfect opportunity to resurrect them. I believe the key to a great burger is good quality ingredients and not too many ingredients. I use the same basic recipe for most burgers but just change the meat, filling and/or herbs.

I rarely put fillers like breadcrumbs in my meat burgers and only use egg to bind if it really needs it. There are various way you can cook your burger. I prefer to cook them on a rack over a baking tray in the oven. There are two reasons for this:
1)It solves the problem of trying to turn them over if your frying them
2)It's healthier than frying
3)We usually have them with homemade oven chips and we don't have a separate grill and oven.

Tonight we had them with in ciabatta with a basic tomato salsa, home-made wedges. The burgers turned out quite rounded so the salsa didn't sit very well on top of them, but they still tasted delicious.

Feta Stuffed Beef Burgers
Makes 2

300g good quality beef mince
1/2 tsp mint
12 small cubes of feta (or however many you can stuff in your burger!)
splash of Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1) Preheat oven to 200oc. Mix all ingredients (apart from feta) until well combined. Roll mix into 2 balls

2) Flatten each ball into a disk and make an deep indentation in the middle. Push feta into the hole and mould mince around feta.

3) Place on rack in baking tray (you don't have to do this but I think they cook better). In the style of Jamie O drizzle with a small amount of olive oil. Bake for 25-30 min.

Malt Loaf

Today has been "come and visit the chicks" Day. The kids loved to stroke and hold them. To go with the countless cups of tea being made today I made a malt loaf. This was partially inspired by the jar of malt extract I found at the back of my baking cupboard. It only comes out when I'm making malt loaf or granola.

My memories of malt loaf go back to my school days where we used to literally fight over the slightly burnt corner piece of malt loaf that had a lovely caramelised, chewy texture. This recipe isn't as chewy as Soreen, but the taste is very close. If you want you can soak the fruit in tea for 30 min before adding to the cake mix.

Malt Loaf

75ml/3fl strong hot tea
8 tbsp (about 200g) malt extract
175g/6oz self-raising flour
1/2 tsp mixed spice
150g / 6oz mixed fruit
1 egg

1) Preheat oven to 140oc. Line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment. Mix malt extract and tea, then allow to cool

2)Mix all ingredients together, including malty tea and pour into tin. Bake for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours. Stand for 10 min before slicing.

Say "Hello" to Tikka and friends!

Every year at school, around this time, we have Living Eggs. This years batch were delivered on Monday afternoon and by Wednesday afternoon all had hatched. The kids have been obsessed with them, finding any excuse to go out and look at them. As they needed to be looked after over the weekend I offered to chicksit. They are now living in a brooder on our dining table.

They are now 4 days old and how much they have grown. Over the last day the adult feathers on the wings have appeared and they have started pecking. Hubby (who now thinks he is Hugh F-W!) is becoming very attached to them. They are very cute and very cheeky. Earlier one was sitting on top of the water dispenser and seeing how far they jump could across the brooder. If we had room I'm sure we would have chickens, but right now it's just not possible.



On Friday the chicks will return to the company where they will become free-range chickens (I don't know what happens to the male chicks) or responsible families will be able to take some chicks home. I'm not sure if the kids are associating the fact that these little chicks will grow up to provide us with eggs and meat. If asked the question "Where do eggs come from?" they would still reply "Tesco"!

Vanilla Sugar

Vanilla sugar has been a staple in my kitchen for a long time. I first came across the idea many moons ago on a Jamie O programme and decided rather than paying a hefty amount for shop bought vanilla sugar I would make my own.

Vanilla Sugar

500ml Kilner jar (or similar)
500g caster sugar
2 vanilla pods slit down the length

Pour sugar in jar then add vanilla pods. When ever you use a vanilla pod and have removed the seeds put the in the jar and add to your vanilla pod collection!


I use it in the majority of baking I do and it's a great way to use up expensive vanilla pods that have had the seeds removed. I used it to make Lemon Drizzle Cake a few days ago. I have to admit the second time round for making the cake I got a bit cocky and used 2 small lemons and a lime, well they did need using up. Although the cake was still nice, it wasn't a good as the original cake from a few weeks back. It was almost too tart.

Tonight's dinner was another recipe from my sister. Essentially I dipped a pork steak in egg then coated in dry stuffing mix then baked for 25 min at 180oc. It was lovely but the photo I took looked like it was straight out of a 1960's cookbook so I won't be sharing that with you!

Win luxury Easter eggs from Hotel Chocolat

Easter is coming around the corner very quickly and everyone wants that extra special Easter Egg! Domestic Goddess in Training has teamed up with Hotel Chocolat to offer you a chance to win some of Hotel Chocolat’s extra special, extra thick Easter Eggs. To enter, click here and simply answer six questions which will take you on an Easter egg hunt to find the secret code. Once you have answered each question, use the first letter of each answer to reveal the secret code. If you have found the right answer you stand a chance to win one of Hotel Chocolat’s stunning Extra Thick Easter Eggs!

Please read the terms and conditions. Only UK residents are eligible to enter this competition.
Closing date for entries is 11.59 pm 18/03/08.

Oven-Baked Thai Rice

We had a dusting of snow over night. Rather than it being the thick blanket I was secretly hoping for it was as if someone had got overexcited with the icing sugar! Yesterday in school we had a delivery of Living Eggs and they started to hatch today. I lost count how many of this kids today asked to go to the toilet when it was clear they were off to nosy at the chicks. Our dream is to own somewhere like River Cottage with our own brood of pigs and chickens.

For tonight I tried a recipe my sister gave me. It certainly had a spicy kick (I never learn with thai green curry paste!) and am very glad there is some leftovers for lunch tomorrow. The red pepper does look quite psychadelic compared to the rice. Next time I may try a green pepper.

Oven-Baked Thai Rice
Serves 2

1 tsp olive oil
3 shallots, chopped
2 chicken fillets
2 tsp thai green curry paste
125g basmati & wild rice, rinsed
1 small red pepper, sliced
zest and juice of 1/2 lime
200ml coconut milk
125ml boiling water
4 kafir lime leaves
dash of fish sauce

1) Preheat oven to 180oc. In oven-safe pan soften shallots for 5 min, then add chicken and curry paste. Cook for 3 min.

2) Stir in the remainding ingredients. Bring to the boil then bake in the oven, uncovered, for 15 min. Stir every 5 minutes.

Mother's Day Feast & Kinder Bueno winner

Today is Mothering Sunday (or Mother's Day) in the UK. Yesterday evening my sister, brother(who took the photos) and I managed to pull off quite a feast. As our mum is jetting of to New Zealand next week for a month, rather than going out for a meal on Mothering Sunday, (which is usually a guaranteed sign for having a terrible meal, poor service and longs waits for the meal) we decided to have a go at cooking a 3 course meal. With my sister doing the starter, me the main and brother making the pud, the kitchen was quite a scene.

As we live a 2 hour drive from my parents we decided to have the meal Saturday night meaning we could all drink and have a leisurely meal. Original intentions was for it to be a Welsh themed meal as we were eating on St Davids Day, but I'm not too confident with roast lamb, and we couldn't think of a quick easy Welsh dessert. However sis did manage to get Welsh goats cheese into the starter.



Sis made Goat's Cheese and Cranberry Parcels on a bed of leaves dressed with blackberry vinaigrette. They were delicious and I'll certainly be making them at home.



For the main course Hubby and I cooked topside of longhorn beef with mustard crust from Quenby Hall, honey roasted parsnips, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puds, cauliflower cheese and purple sprouting broccoli. The smell of the beef cooking filled the house and mum commented on how good the beef was. It tasted like beef should taste. It was rarer than the photo shows. This was the first time I've cooked roast for 7 people and I must say myself we didn't do too badly! Sis made the gravy as I just can't make it.



For pudding my brother made strawberry gratin. We found the recipe in Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook. It was really easy to make and delicious. It tasted a bit like cheesecake with a creme brulee sugar topping.



I was a really enjoyable evening and it was all washed down with various liquor coffees and Hotel Chocolat truffles. It was far better (and cheaper) than any meal we could have had if we had gone out for Mother's Day lunch.

Congratulations to Barbara Ghezzi from Suffolk who won a years supply of Kinder Bueno. The prize should be with you by the end of the week.